Late Night Pow Wow notches seventh straight win

Late Night Pow Wow has been the queen of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races this year. She broadened her reign Saturday to Laurel Park, where she won the $100,000 Willa On the Move Stakes - and won it easily.

Late Night Pow Wow finished second by a half-length in a minor stakes race this past April at Charles Town, the only track at which she had raced until Saturday. But she had won seven other races this year – including the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks – and came into the Willa On the Move on a six-race win streak.

That streak moved to seven after Late Night Pow Wow powered past pacesetting Ms Locust Point at the furlong grounds and quickly drew clear to post a five-length victory. Ms Locust Point, who set splits of 22.02 and 45.48 over a muddy, sealed track, held second by three-quarters of a length over 18-1 shot Moonlit Song. Shimmering Aspen, surprisingly favored at 17-10 over Ms Locust Point, checked in a well-beaten fourth.

Late Night Pow Wow was timed in 1:10.53 for six furlongs and paid $9.60.

Charles Town-based jockey Freddy Petroche rode the winner for trainer Javier Contreras, who also owned the 3-year-old daughter of Fiber Sonde and the Indian Charlie mare Holy Pow Wow through her most recent start. The racing partnership Breeze Easy LLC purchased Late Night Pow Wow following her win Oct. 13 in a West Virginia-bred stakes.

The filly appears to have been well bought. Contreras shipped early to Laurel to get Late Night Pow Wow a work over the track, but after stalking a lead group of four down the backstretch, she briefly appeared to be in trouble while losing a couple lengths into the far turn. Petroche steered Late Night Pow Wow outside horses and by the three-furlong pole his mount was back on track, mowing down the pace-pressers and taking aim on Ms Locust Point, whom she easily collared in midstretch.

“What a race and what a filly,” Contreras said. “We knew we had a shot. She’s the real deal.”

After a nine-start, eight-win campaign, Late Night Pow Wow now gets a break to freshen up for her 2019 season. There will be plenty of opportunities again at Charles Town, but the West Virginia filly showed Saturday she can make her way just as well in the wider world.

Victory Rally rallies in Geisha

Victory Rally came up the fence and into the winner’s circle in the $75,000 Geisha Stakes, the supporting feature Saturday at Laurel.

Jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. tucked Victory Rally into the pocket behind the speed, went for a gap that opened inside at the top of the stretch, and had plenty of horse to hit it hard.

“She was just full of run when I asked her. She was there for me, and that was it,” Vargas said.

Trainer Mike Matz began racing Victory Rally in blinkers four starts ago and after two route tries in late summer cut the filly back to seven furlongs in a Nov. 3 allowance race at Laurel. Victory Rally responded with a blowout win and ran right back to that performance Saturday.

Another Broad, who made her run on the outside, battled tooth and nail through the final furlong but fell a neck short of the winner. My Magician, the tepid 3-1 favorite, was another 4 1/4 lengths back in third.

Owned by Richard Golden, Victory Rally is a 4-year-old filly by Jump Start out of American Victory, by Victory Gallop. She won for the fourth time in 15 starts, ran one mile over a sloppy, sealed track in 1:38.08, and paid $15.80 to win.