Laurel Park: It's a Bang, Joint Custody meet again in Maryland Juvenile Championship

It’s a Bang already has beaten Joint Custody twice this season. The situation might be ripe for Joint Custody to turn the tables, however, when the pair of Maryland-bred geldings meet for the third time since mid-October in Saturday’s $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Championship at Laurel Park.

The seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Championship is the co-feature on a card with the $100,000 Willa On the Move, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.

Joint Custody’s only two losses in five starts came when he was the runner-up to It’s a Bang, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, in the Maryland Million Nursery and fourth, 5 1/4 lengths behind third-place finisher It’s a Bang, in the James F. Lewis III Stakes almost a month later.

Stretched out to seven furlongs against open company in the $100,000 Marylander – a race that It’s a Bang did not enter – the John Robb-trained Joint Custody scored a front-running 1 3/4-length victory. That performance looks even better after fourth-place finisher Extrasexyhippzster returned to romp by five lengths, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure, in last weekend’s Don Rickles Stakes at Aqueduct.

It’s a Bang, 2 for 3, will be making his first start since Nov. 16. His trainer, Donald Barr, is 0 for 6 with 2-year-old sprinters returning after a break of 31 to 60 days.

The eight-horse field includes two colts cutting back in distance following a win going two turns. Fleet Gold Digger turns back following a neck win going 1 1/16 miles in a first-level optional $40,000 claimer Nov. 20. Buck n’ Ham Lane delivered the best performance of his career when he crushed maidens by 9 1/2 lengths going 1 1/16 miles two weeks ago.

◗ Five Star Momma and She’s Ordained, separated by a neck as the 1-2 finishers in the $150,000 Lady in Waiting at Penn National a month ago, square off again going the same six-furlong distance in the Willa On the Move.

The New York-based Five Star Momma will be seeking her fourth straight win and her third consecutive stakes score. She has led wire to wire in her last three starts.

Penn National shipper She’s Ordained almost overcame an awkward start to just miss as the 9-5 favorite in the Lady in Waiting. Like Five Star Momma, the 4-year-old She’s Ordained does her best running on the front end, the tactics she used in the three most recent victories of her seven-win campaign. She did successfully stalk and pounce in a third-level optional $40,000 claimer at Parx in June.

Additional early speed is likely to come from Malibu Beach Bunny, who has raced at 5 1/2 furlongs or shorter in four of her six starts this year.

A hot, contested pace could set things up for Lady Sabelia, the winner of the seven-furlong Safely Kept Stakes for 3-year-old fillies two starts ago, or the 5-year-old mare Strike the Moon, who rallied from sixth to win a seven-furlong overnight stakes at Charles Town two races ago.