Laurel: Amazing Buy hangs on

Heavily favored Amazing Buy had just enough left in her tank to hold off Take a Check for her second straight stakes victory in the $55,750 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies at Laurel Park.

Sent off at 2-5 in a field reduced to six fillies by two scratches, Amazing Buy looked like she would be an easy winner after putting away Dixie Talking after dueling for six furlongs of the one-mile Wide Country in 1:13.09. Ridden by Norberto Arroyo Jr., Amazing Buy ($2.80) opened up a four-length lead with a furlong remaining but began drifting out and was all out to withstand Take a Check's late rally by a nose. The winning time over a fast track was 1:40.40.

"That other horse ran very game, but I don't think she would have let her go by," said Amazing Buy's trainer, Jennifer Pedersen. "She just digs in."

Pedersen indicated Amazing Buy, who won the Busanda in New York in her previous start, will be pointed to the Kentucky Oaks.

"She's the best filly I've ever owned," said owner Ernie Paragallo. "She's as good as any 3-year-old filly in America."

Pedersen, who has trained privately for Paragallo's Paraneck Stable since 2001, has shipped down to Maryland from her Aqueduct base two of the last three Saturdays with great success, saddling four winners from six starters