Complexity Jane ends 3-month layoff with Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes triumph
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Complexity Jane’s summer might not have gone to plan, but in a long-awaited return to Laurel Park on Sunday the 3-year-old filly put the Mid-Atlantic region on notice with a score against older rivals in the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes.
She remains undefeated in four starts at her home track.
In her last race at Laurel in April, Complexity Jane looked the part of a budding star for Brittany Russell when she made her stakes debut in the $150,000 Weber City Miss and held on for a hard-fought gate-to-wire victory. Her trainer wasn’t sure if she could consistently handle routes, but it was hard to argue with the result in her first test at 1 1/16 miles.
Instead of shipping to Pimlico for the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan, in which she would have had an automatic bid, Russell decided to give the filly a short break and brought her back in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks in June. She was outmatched in that field and finished eighth. Cutting back to seven furlongs in the $100,000 Tyson Gilpin at Colonial Downs proved even worse in a 17 3/4-length defeat.
In her homecoming on a wet-fast track Sunday, bettors gave Complexity Jane a tepid welcome, making her the 5-2 second choice in the relatively soft field of seven. Those who supported her off a three-month layoff were rewarded when she kicked away to win by 3 1/4 lengths, paying $7.80 to win.
The race was mostly contested on the backstretch, where Complexity Jane made an early challenge to 12-1 pacesetter Di’s Surprise. The Hugh McMahon filly ran clear around the first turn and completed an opening quarter-mile in 24.99, but jockey Sheldon Russell urged Complexity Jane forward to take a short lead through a half-mile in 49.54.
When Di’s Surprise began fading on the far turn, none of the challengers behind sustained the initiative for the lead. Doctor Abbie and Backstretch Rose made up late ground from the rear of the field to take second and third, but they were far outclassed by the winner. In her second stakes victory at 1 1/16 miles, Complexity Jane was largely untested and completed the distance in 1:46.80.
Doctor Abbie, a 5-year-old mare trained by Timothy Kreiser, finished second by a neck over Backstretch Rose, a 4-year-old filly making her stakes debut for Lacey Gaudet. Sheilahs Warcloud, the 9-5 favorite, was trying two turns for the first time, but did not advance from an early stalking position, finishing fifth.
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