Laurel Park: Harrison Johnson favorites bring question marks

The two most logical contenders in Saturday’s $100,000 Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes at Laurel Park have major question marks with no easy answers. Ground Transport has been running well at Fair Grounds, but travels north for a trainer who has had little success shipping to Maryland. Bandbox comes off a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure for winning the Grade 2 General George Handicap, but stretches out from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles.

Handicappers must gauge whether Ground Transport or Bandbox is worth backing at a short price, or else find a viable alternative in a field of eight horses.

Ground Transport’s last four races, all at Fair Grounds, produced Beyers between 91 and 97, although he has only one win in that sequence. Most recently, the 4-year-old Ground Transport was fourth, beaten less than four lengths, in the Grade 3 Mineshaft Handicap.

Trainer Mike Stidham is only 1 for 12 the past five years with shippers he has run in Maryland. But he won the Grade 3 Chick Lang in 2012 and picked up a second in the Grade 2 Dixie last year. Shipping into all tracks for non-graded stakes routes on dirt, Stidham is 2 for 7 (29 percent) with 71 percent in the money.

Bandbox tried going from a win at seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles early in his career, when he was beaten 18 lengths in the 2010 Remsen. But he steadied and clipped heels in that race, so it’s probably not an accurate barometer of his ability to get nine furlongs. Overall, trainer Rodney Jenkins is 2 for 8 with last-out dirt winners going from sprints to routes.

"Hopefully we will sit off the pace and make one move at the end," said Bandbox's rider, Xavier Perez. "He showed so much potential to start his career, then had problems on two different occasions. Rodney Jenkins has done an amazing job with him and the sky is the limit if he can keep him healthy.”

Swift Warrior was a two-time Grade 3 winner last season and won a $250,000 stakes going 1 1/8 miles in September. But his last 12 starts have been on turf, and his lone win on dirt came in an off-the-turf maiden race at Calder in 2010. He has not raced since October. On the plus side, trainer John Terranova is 2 for 6 with a $4.44 return on investment with long layoff types going from turf to dirt.

Indian Jones makes his first start since finishing second as the 8-5 favorite in Lauarel’s Native Dancer in January. His trainer, Phil Aristone, is 9 for 38 (24 percent) the past three years with horses back from a layoff of more than 45 days in dirt routes.

The New York-based Mr Palmer is cross-entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior at Aqueduct, but trainer Bill Mott said he intends to run the 4-year-old colt in Maryland. In his only previous visit to Laurel, Mr Palmer won the nine-furlong Private Terms by 3 1/2 lengths in March 2013.

◗ In the co-featured $100,000 Conniver, a seven-furlong race for Maryland-bred fillies and mares, Tell a Great Story makes her first start since finishing third in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks last July against four rivals.

"We shipped her to Saratoga but she broke out with hives, which took us two months to get rid of,” trainer Ignacio Correas said. “So we decided to give her some time off and mature. We ended up being very lucky when we decided to come to Florida for the winter with all the weather issues in Maryland. She has been training well. I don’t like the inside post or think the distance is her game but we have her where we want and she should have a good effort.”