Laurel: Gazillion scores at odds-on

After running second to Xtra Heat in January, Gazillion apparently needed a race to recover. She came back a month later and was beaten as the odds-on favorite in an optional claiming sprint. But Gazillion ($3.60) regained her best form with a 1 1/2-length victory in the $60,000 Conniver Stakes at Laurel Park.

"When she finished second to Xtra Heat, that took a little bit of the spark out of her, and in her next race back she did well, but I think she didn't give quite 100 percent," said Hamilton Smith, who trains the 4-year-old Gazillion. "Sometimes it takes a little longer to rebound from a race against a champion. She's done extremely well as of late, and coming to the paddock I could see she was walking with some authority."

Gazillion, second to Xtra Heat in the What a Summer Stakes, has now won 6 of 11 lifetime, including two stakes at Laurel.