Eres Tu makes Allaire du Pont third straight victory

Perseverance and patience have paid handsome dividends for the connections of Eres Tu as the 4-year-old filly has returned from a 571-day layoff to win three consecutive races, including Saturday's Grade 3 Allaire du Pont Stakes at Laurel Park.

Eres Tu is a Malibu Moon homebred racing for Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson. She began her career under Steve Asmussen's tutelage and finished third in last year's Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds.

She was transferred to the Arnaud Delacour barn this summer and responded with a comfortable victory over two other next-out winners in an entry-level allowance race at Keeneland on October 14. The following month, she produced a 91-Beyer performance in taking the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes at Laurel.

Eres Tu ($3.40) was sent off as the odds-on favorite in the du Pont, the last graded stakes race contested on the East Coast in 2020. Jevian Toledo, substituting for Trevor McCarthy, positioned Eres Tu three wide and close to the pace as Needs Supervision cleared off from her far outside post to set fractions of 24.61 and 48.34 seconds, with Landing Zone in closest attendance to her outside.

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"I let my filly go away from there because I want to be forward," remarked Toledo in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. "I want to be in a good position. I was in a perfect spot the whole way."

Eres Tu made a three-wide bid to the front after six furlongs in 1:12.41 and the stout daughter of Malibu Moon kept to her task despite failing to switch leads in the stretch. She completed the 1 1/8 furlongs in 1:50.57 and was a length better than late-charging Wicked Awesome. Another Broad was another head back in third. Completing the order of finish were Landing Zone, Needs Supervision, Ice Princess, and Alittlelesstalk.

"Coming for home, she's got her ears up waiting for horses," continued Toledo, who won three stakes races on the Saturday card. "I was a bit worried because she didn't want to switch leads and I knew they're coming, but she got the job done."