Laurel: Metaboss makes first start for Dickinson
Trainer Michael Dickinson will have the second starter of his comeback at Laurel Park on Friday, when he runs Metaboss in race 9, a second-level optional $28,000 claiming race on turf.
Dickinson won with his first starter in more than eight years at Laurel on April 2, when Tide Is High scored by two lengths in a first-level turf allowance. Like Dickinson, Tide Is High was coming off a layoff, although it was a bit shorter at seven months.
Metaboss has not raced since finishing sixth in the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park in March 2015, when he was trained by Jeff Bonde. Dickinson has given him eight timed works at his Tapeta Farm in North East, Md. – five over the various turf layouts there and three on the synthetic Tapeta gallop, which climbs an incline on the 250-acre farm.
Prior to the Spiral Stakes, Metaboss won a Santa Anita maiden race at 1 1/8 miles on turf and the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at 1 1/8 miles over the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields.
Charmed Victory, who will be returning from a seven-week layoff after not firing his best shot in the Private Terms Stakes at Laurel, will make his turf debut against Metaboss on Friday. Charmed Victory was impressive in winning his first two career starts for trainer Rodney Jenkins prior to finishing second in the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel. It will be interesting to see how Charmed Victory, a son of Flatter, takes to the grass.