Jacob's Run one to beat

Jacob's Run, who endured a rough trip in his stakes debut three weeks ago, has a good shot to make amends when he faces seven other 3-year-olds in the six-furlong, $75,000 Sonny Hine Stakes at Laurel Park.

After losing his first four starts, Jacob's Run switched from a turf route to a dirt sprint at Laurel and crushed maidens by more than 10 lengths. He followed up by easily defeating first-level allowance runners at Philadelphia Park, earning a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

Facing a good field in the $250,000 Gallant Bob Handicap, Jacob's Run was in contention when he was bumped by eventual winner Premium Wine and fanned wide heading into the stretch, and had to settle for third. He essentially paired up his top Beyer with a 92.

The chief competition figures to come from rail horse On the Vineyard, who has finished first in 4 of his last 5 starts, including a stakes at Suffolk Downs, and Ravalo, who returns to dirt after posting back-to-back wins on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs.

Also intriguing is Bet a Buck, undefeated in three starts but idle since winning a Pennsylvania-bred stakes at Penn National in early May. He is based at Laurel with trainer Michael Trombetta and shows a pair of bullet works this month for his comeback.