Cutback shouldn't hamper Speedyness in Not For Love

The Maryland-bred Speedyness will have the chance to win his second straight stakes race in the $75,000 Not For Love Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday. Anyone who beats the aptly named front-runner will likely have to chase him down.

The 4-year-old gelding by Great Notion is coming off a commanding wire-to-wire victory in the 1 1/8-mile John B. Campbell against open company. Though he’s cutting back to six furlongs in the state-restricted Not For Love, his triumph last time out and strong form last year make him the horse to beat.

After a solid start to his 3-year-old season, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the Federico Tesio, Speedyness returned from a layoff in November and instantly showed signs of further improvement. He ended his 2024 campaign in December losing a photo finish to older rival Film Star in the Robert T. Manfuso.

Trainer Jamie Ness offered no explanation for a poor start in the Jennings in January, but it proved to be an aberration when Speedyness bounced back to win the Campbell last month. The biggest issue for the gelding entering the Not For Love will be handling six furlongs, but Ness thinks his front-running style will give him a chance.

“Cutting him back to six furlongs, as a trainer, is not the move you want to do,” Ness said. “But he’s got speed and it’s a Maryland-bred race, so I think he’ll be fine in there.”

Speedyness was bred and is co-owned by Ness’s Jagger Inc. Ness is locked in a tight training title battle with Britanny Russell at the Laurel winter meet, which concludes on March 30.

Speedyness is out of the now 20-year-old mare Hartigan, who won five races and more than $197,000 for the late trainer Dickie Small. Ness purchased her for $13,000 out of the 2020 Keeneland January sale. Looking back, he glibly called it a decent investment – Speedyness has earned $390,000 on the track and shows no signs of slowing down. Neither does Hartigan, even in her later years.

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“Speedyness is her second foal for us, and we’ve got a couple more coming,” Ness said of his broodmare. “She’s a producer.”

Though Speedyness won his last stakes in open company, two of his strongest challengers this time around will be familiar rivals. Hittheroadjak has faced Speedyness in three straight starts, getting the better of him once. Circle P has gone up against Speedyness seven times in his career, finishing behind him on five occasions, but cutting back to a sprint is a change in his favor.

Conniver Stakes

The boys aren’t the only ones dealing with a cutback at Laurel on Saturday. Call Another Play, a 15-1 winner in a mile stakes last time out, will face another stiff test when she tries to repeat, this time going seven furlongs in the $75,000 Conniver for fillies and mares.

The 4-year-old Audible filly took the state-restricted Geisha Stakes in January, suddenly improving after three subpar efforts. Trainer Mike Trombetta blamed a grueling 3-year-old campaign, including two graded stakes, for her regression at the end of last year.

“I think some of those hard races is what caught up with her and made her go off form a little bit,” Trombetta said. “Those races are pretty hard with really good horses, and she had a good campaign, so maybe she was telling us she was a little tired.”

Though Call Another Play seems to be rounding back into form entering the Conniver, the distance will be a challenge. She hasn’t won a sprint since her maiden victory on second asking as a juvenile in September 2023. She made her last try at seven furlongs in January 2024 and immediately improved upon that effort at a mile next time out.

“Not real sure how that’ll go,” Trombetta said of the cutback. “But I’m sure with a bigger field, they’ll have an honest pace and she should have something to run at.”

While Call Another Play is adjusting, several key opponents will enter the Conniver with far more recent sprint success.

Spencerian, a 5-year-old filly trained by Hugh McMahon, won the state-restricted Politely at six furlongs in December and has made five straight starts at Laurel under a mile. Front-runners Spencer Tiara and Stickwiththecolors will both make their stakes debuts Saturday with recent wins going shorter.

Call Another Play may have to deal with a few natural sprinters, but she won’t be the only Conniver contender grappling with the cutback. Intrepid Dream, a 7-year-old mare and six-time winner in 10 career starts, has never run in a sprint. Gold Digging Broad, a consistent allowance runner in open company, has only raced at seven furlongs three times in 25 career starts, never finishing in the money.

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