Laurel Park: My Wandy's Girl looks to bounce back in Barbara Fritchie

During her first two seasons of racing, which came in Puerto Rico, the filly My Wandy’s Girl won 13 of 17 starts. As a 4-year-old based in New York last year, My Wandy’s Girl raced only sparingly. She made just three starts, but twice was a runner-up at the Grade 2 stakes level.

What baffles trainer Mike Hushion is why My Wandy’s Girl beat only one horse when she returned from a seven-month layoff in December in a listed stakes. That’s why Hushion is not quite sure what to expect when My Wandy’s Girl returns to Laurel Park, where she ran so well a year ago, to take a second crack at the Grade 2, $300,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap on Saturday.

Last February, My Wandy’s Girl launched her 4-year-old campaign by finishing a close second as the 6-5 favorite in the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie. She followed up with another close second going a one-turn mile in the Grade 2 Ruffian. But after an extended vacation, My Wandy’s Girl never fired and was a distant fifth of six in the six-furlong Garland of Roses at Aqueduct.

“I still don’t understand why she didn’t run better in her first start back,” Hushion said. “She trained really well for the return. It was just a disappointing race.

“We took her to Florida and pointed hard for this race. She is a nice, sound filly. If she can get back to the form she showed us when we got her, we could have a lot of fun.”

The 5-year-old My Wandy’s Girl will be ridden for the first time by Rajiv Marah. They will break from post 4 in the field of seven fillies and mares.

One other intriguing New York shipper in the field is Merry Meadow. She was not part of the original lineup when the race was scheduled to go a week ago, but trainer Mark Hennig decided to take a shot when he learned that two Parx Racing-based contenders, Winning Image and Villette, would not be allowed to ship to Maryland because of a quarantine imposed because of a possible equine herpesvirus case at Parx.

“The quarantine at Parx made me look at the race since it isn’t as tough as it was a week ago,” Hennig said.

Although Merry Meadow needed 11 tries to finally clear her maiden condition, she has been ultra-consistent since last July, crossing the line first or second in eight consecutive starts.

“She turned the corner mentally last summer when she won that first race,” Hennig said. “She has also filled out and has changed a lot physically since last year at this time. She is a blue-collar kind of filly. She gives 100 percent every time, which is kind of unique.”

The two logical favorites are Centrique, who shipped north from Florida after winning her last two starts at Gulfstream Park, and the New York-bred La Verdad, who makes her stakes debut after winning five straight races and is racing beyond six furlongs for the first time.

◗ Six older horses will contest the $100,000 John Campbell Handicap at 1 1/8 miles. The field is led by Managed Account, a Jamie Ness-trained 5-year-old who won two minor stakes during a five-win season in 2013, and Mercenary, a 4-year-old whose first 15 races were almost exclusively on Polytrack at Woodbine. He won his dirt debut by 4 1/4 lengths in a first-level allowance at Laurel on Jan. 23.