French Friction stays with 3-year-olds in Weather Vane Stakes
:quality(75))
Between 2005 and 2025, trainer Mark Casse ran just seven horses at Laurel Park, but the track has been a minor foothold for his operation in recent months. French Friction, a 3-year-old filly starved for spots elsewhere, will be his fourth starter to ship there this year when she runs in the $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes on Saturday.
“We don’t ship to Maryland very often, but there’s just not a whole lot out there for her,” Casse said.
The Weather Vane will be French Friction’s first start at six furlongs since the $150,000 Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park in February, when she won her stakes debut on a sloppy track in her second career start.
The front-running filly has run three times since in less-than-ideal conditions. After stretching out in distance and finishing well back in the Grade 1 Ashland and Grade 2 Eight Belles, Casse gave her a break and brought her back on the turf in August. She handled the surface switch well and finished second in a $108,000 allowance at Ellis Park with an 82 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She’s won on the dirt,” Casse said. “When you get these 3-year-old fillies, it’s important to try to keep them in their same age group. And when that happens, there’s not a lot of opportunities.”
Casse, who recently earned his 4,300th victory as a trainer, has never had a winner at Laurel in 29 career starts.
In a more familiar dirt sprint conditions, French Friction will break from the rail in an eclectic field of eight 3-year-old fillies, which includes the usual Mid-Atlantic runners and several more shippers trying to stay in age-restricted company.
Sneaky Good, a graded stakes-placed filly trained by Brad Cox, will travel from Saratoga in search of class relief off a two-month break.
The Into Mischief filly has never finished worse than fourth in seven career starts, though she is coming off a 7 1/4-length defeat in the Grade 3 Victory Ride. In April, she earned a career-best 84 Beyer when she finished second by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2 Beaumont at Keeneland.
Among the local stakes contenders, the Maryland-bred fillies Slewperstitus and Just Philtored will square off for the sixth time in their careers. Slewperstitus, a runner-up in three straight starts, is arguably in better recent form for trainer Robert Bailes, but Just Philtored still holds the head-to-head advantage and will switch back to dirt for Michael Trombetta.
“She’s run with some of these horses before,” Trombetta said. “But there are a couple new shooters in the race, too. Looks to be a very competitive race.”
Late Night Text, now based in New York, will make her first start for new trainer Rob Atras off a three-month layoff. After an impressive maiden win at Gulfstream Park in April, she faded badly as the 3-2 favorite in the $100,000 Azalea in June.
Trainer Pedro Nazario will continue moving forward with For the Ladies, who pulled off a 19-1 upset in the $75,000 Shine Again at Timonium last month. Nazario claimed her for $25,000 in July at Delaware Park, where she won the first of three straight races.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.