Fascinatin’ Rhythm on a roll for All Brandy

The versatile mare Fascinatin’ Rhythm, a winner coming from far back sprinting on turf and then going long on dirt in her last two starts, will try to make it three in a row on Saturday in the $50,000 All Brandy Stakes at Laurel Park.

The All Brandy, restricted to Maryland-bred fillies and mares, is scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on Laurel’s turf course. But after heavy rain hit central Maryland on Thursday, Friday's races were taken off the turf, and it appears likely the All Brandy will be shifted from the grass to the main track.

Two starts ago, over yielding ground, the 5-year-old Fascinatin’ Rhythm rallied from ninth to score by two lengths in the six-furlong Jameela. She followed up by opening up a big lead and holding on by a length in the one-mile Geisha on dirt. She must carry six more pounds than she did in either of those wins as the co-highweight at 124 pounds on Saturday.

“It looks like this race will be coming off the turf and that is probably better for me,” said Hamilton Smith, who trains morning-line favorite Blind Date.. “She ran real well in the Maryland Million and she came out of the race well.”

Blind Date, a stakes winner on both the main track and the turf, comes into the All Brandy off a victory in the Maryland Million Distaff Handicap on Oct. 2, her first win since capturing the Pearl Necklace Stakes 14 months earlier. Both races were contested on the main track, but she also won three stakes on the turf in 2009, including the Grade 3 Virginia Oaks. Erick Rodriguez picks up the mount because regular rider Sheldon Russell has been sidelined for the rest of the year with broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Love’s Blush won the All Brandy in the slop last year. In her last two starts, Love's Blush was third in the Geisha and second in the Maryland Million Ladies, contested over the turf.

The field also includes My Sweet Nenana, who upset last month’s Maryland Million Ladies at 58-1.

Turf specialists Theda’s Smile and It’s Not for Love will likely scratch if the race comes off the grass.