Doctor Abbie ($64.80) surges in Thirty Eight Go Go
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Doctor Abbie closed from ninth under jockey Angel Rodriguez to score a 31-1 upset in the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park.
The Tim Kreiser trainee picked up her first stakes victory in her second start off a seven-month layoff, outkicking the Chad Brown-trained filly Aeolian by a head.
In a much weaker Thirty Eight Go Go last year, Doctor Abbie went off at 7-1 and closed from well back to finish second. This year, the 6-year-old mare was not necessarily overmatched by the top contenders on paper, but after a runner-up finish in a Penn National allowance last month, she easily got lost in the shuffle in the field of 10, and paid $64.80 to win.
The $1 exacta with Aeolian, who went off at 6-1 despite her classy background in New York, paid $221.80. The $1 superfecta with 7-1 outsider Especially and 13-1 shot Pink Ruby paid $17,294.80.
Kreiser, who won two stakes between 2023 and 2025, has now won four stakes with three different horses in 2026. It was Rodriguez’s second stakes victory this year and first at Laurel since 2016.
At the top of the stretch, all four of the top finishers, along with several more like Ivy Girl and Waveless, seemed to have every chance of winning the 1 1/16-mile race. Amalfi Drive and Late Nite Call dueled for the early lead through an opening quarter-mile in 23.47 seconds and half-mile in 47.16 before quickly fading, setting it up for the cavalry behind.
Waveless, the 2-1 favorite trained by Brittany Russell, took over with an early move on the far turn, only to be overtaken by Pink Ruby, who kicked clear by 1 1/2 lengths at the top of the stretch for Lindsay Schultz. Aeolian was driving close behind with a late-flying Doctor Abbie, while Ivy Girl closed from last while traveling eight wide.
It took nearly the entire stretch run for Doctor Abbie and Aeolian to emerge from the pack, and even then the race was from over. Aeolian, whose last win for Brown came through a disqualification in June, seemed intent on finding the winner’s circle again. But just to her outside, Doctor Abbie never relented and eventually poked a head in front, completing the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:46.
Especially, who Russell suspected would improve in her second stakes start at Laurel, finished three-quarters of a length behind Aeolian and 5 1/2 lengths clear of Pink Ruby.
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