Three stakes winners square off in Saturday’s $100,000 Gin Talking for 2-year-old fillies racing seven furlongs at Laurel Park. The Gin Talking shares top billing on the nine-race program with the $100,000 Heft for juveniles, also at seven furlongs. Trainer Butch Reid seeks his second Pennsylvania-bred stakes winner this week with Carmelina after Uncle Heavy captured Wednesday’s Wait for It at Parx Racing. Carmelina has already had a productive 2023 with restricted wins in Colonial’s Keswick on Aug. 8 and an authoritative 8 3/4-length victory in last month’s Shamrock Rose at Penn National. Described by Reid as a “high-wire act,” Carmelina was scratched before her scheduled debut when she got loose from the groom heading to the paddock, then “sat down a little bit and got the jock off” before her Keswick win. Reid was pleased with how Carmelina behaved prior to the Shamrock Rose. “She did really well up there at Penn National under the lights,” he said. “She had a lot to absorb. Hopefully, it’s part of the process and she’s maturing.” Reid expects Carmelina to be “forwardly placed” stretching out to seven furlongs for the first time. “She’s got good gas, and I don’t see a lot of speed in the race,” he said. While Carmelina likes to race close to the pace, unbeaten Cap Classique saves her speed for the end. Trainer Brittany Russell told Daily Racing Form before last month’s Smart Halo Stakes that Cap Classique was a “classy, honest filly,” and the daughter of Vino Rosso lived up to the billing with a professional, rail-skimming rally. Russell has looked forward to stretching Cap Classique out in distance. “The way she breezes in the morning, her gallop-outs and how she trains doesn’t seem like extra distance will be an issue,” she said. Trainer Joanne Shankle claimed Kissedbyanangel for $12,500 out of a winning debut on Sept. 10 at Pimlico. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “She’s a Maryland-bred by Golden Lad, and we just took a shot,” Shankle said. That gamble has certainly paid dividends as Kissedbyangel won 2 of 5 starts for Shankle, including a gate-to-wire score in the restricted Maryland Juvenile Filly four weeks ago. “She was a little nervous kind of a filly, but she’s calming down,” Shankle said. Munny Grab ships down from trainer Horacio De Paz’s New York base after a popular front-running victory against statebred maidens on Nov. 16 at Aqueduct. The Munnings filly breezed a half-mile on Dec. 16 in 49.88 seconds in company with Grade 2-placed Stonewall Star, who finished third in this race last year. Roanan Goddess beat Kissedbyanangel in a first-level allowance two starts back, but that race is sandwiched between two defeats at the hands of Cap Classique. Roanan Goddess broke poorly in both of those losses. Go Sherry Go and Shine On Moon complete the field. Heft Stakes “When he saw room, he just exploded,” jockey Xavier Perez told trainer John Robb as he dismounted Heft Stakes contender Catahoula Moon in the winner’s circle following the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery on Oct. 14. Although winless in two subsequent races, Catahoula Moon was faced with difficult circumstances in both of those starts. First, there was traffic in the James F. Lewis Stakes on Nov. 11. Then, the Maryland-bred got hooked up in a fast and contested speed duel in the Maryland Juvenile on Dec. 2. Despite that strenuous trip, Catahoula Moon finished second. Any of Catahoula Moon’s last three Beyers would qualify as the field’s best last-race number. Perez might opt for the rallying tactics that worked so well in the Nursery. Russell sends out Great Opportunity, a Connect colt owned by Repole Stable who enjoyed a runaway debut victory over a sloppy, one-turn mile on Dec. 3. “He’s a big horse,” Russell said. “As big as he is, I didn’t really want to sprint him. He was a little tired. That last eighth, he looked like he struggled a bit, but he kept on. He’s a tough horse.” After winning his first two starts, including the Timonium Juvenile, Sweet Soddy J looks to snap a five-race losing streak. He finished last of 11 in Oaklawn’s Advent earlier in the month. “I don’t know what happened,” owner Lynn Cash told track publicity. “He might have just been plain outclassed there. He’s a really nice horse, and I think I need to leave him in the Mid-Atlantic.” Cash and trainer Ray Ginter Jr. have worked on getting the Bee Jersey gelding to change leads, something he hasn’t done in several of his starts. Mister Agent, American War Hero, Cool in Blue, Davyjonz, and Deposition also entered. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.