Farrior making mark in stakes
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Anthony Farrior does most of his damage with claiming horses in the Mid-Atlantic region, but after winning two six-furlong stakes in the span of three days in late November, the trainer seems to be expanding his horizons.
With a strong hand at the end of a successful year, Farrior will likely keep his two recent stakes winners apart a little longer. At the end of a busy 3-year-old campaign, the trainer said that he intends to give Faster Gator significant time off – likely two months. Petingas Twin, a 4-year-old gelding, just recently began to display improved form, however, and the plan is to take advantage in the $100,000 Fire Plug, a 6 1/2-furlong stakes at Laurel Park on Jan. 18.
On Nov. 22, Petingas Twin backed up an improved allowance victory in October when he closed fast to win the $100,000 Dave’s Friend by a nose at Laurel. The sprinter has enjoyed similar hot streaks since Farrior claimed him in his November 2023 debut, but this torrid stretch is his first to have yielded a stakes victory.
“I think he’s just a lot more comfortable after we gelded him,” Farrior said. “In the mornings, he was always laid-back in training, and then he was a pain in the butt in the barn. But now, he's laid-back in the barn and he's a pain in the butt to train. So he kind of switched on us a little bit, but he's a nice horse.”
Two days later, Farrior shipped 3-year-old gelding Faster Gator from Maryland to Ohio for his second straight start at Mahoning Valley. Often considered by the trainer to be the most promising horse in his barn, Faster Gator finally made his breakthrough in stakes company when he cruised home to win the $300,000 Steel Valley Sprint by 1 3/4 lengths.
“He finally got a post position where he didn't take the pressure, where he could actually sit off of it and make the one run,” Farrior said. “[Jevian Toledo] rode him great and everything worked out.”
Farrior is the leading trainer at Charles Town in 2025, having earned 126 victories in 476 starts, including another three stakes wins. At the Laurel fall meet, he has won 9 of 57 races and is ninth in the trainer standings.
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