Laurel: Jazzy Idea sets course record winning Jameela

Jazzy Idea, returning to turf after chasing Grade 1 sprinters on the main track in each of her last two starts, drew clear to a three-length victory in Wednesday’s opening-day feature at Laurel Park, the $100,000 Jameela Stakes for Maryland-bred fillies and mares.

In winning the six-furlong race, the 3-year-old Jazzy Idea ($4.20) set a course record by completing the distance on firm turf in 1:07.45. Colony Club finished second, a neck in front of Queen Chatanika.

It was the sixth win in 15 career starts for Jazzy Idea, a daughter of Great Notion trained and owned by Edwin Merryman. She previously won the Crank It Up at Monmouth Park and the Thirty Flags at Belmont Park this season. Jazzy Idea spent the summer at Saratoga, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Prioress and fifth in the Grade 1 Test, both on dirt.

“I knew we got a really nice horse so there isn’t any reason to get in trouble so I just let the speed go and asked her from the three-sixteenths until the end,” said winning rider Luis Garcia. “I never thought she would run that 1:07. This was fun. I have ridden a lot of good horses but this filly is something else. When I asked her she was as strong as any I have been aboard.”

Merryman said Jazzy Idea will make her next start on Jim McKay Maryland Million Day on Oct. 6. She is expected to be nominated to the Sprint, Distaff, and Oaks.