Laurel: Promenade Girl gets up late

After a zigzag run down the Laurel stretch, jockey Erick Rodriguez got Promenade Girl to straighten out and run down the pacesetting Princess Pelona to win the $75,000 Nellie Morse Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths. Ask Queenie, who had vied for the lead early before falling back, held third, another three lengths back.

Rodriguez and Promenade Girl sat off the early fractions of 23.60 and 46.81 seconds, then made their move heading into the stretch run after Princess Pelona led through three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.72. Promenade Girl drifted wide, back in, back out, then back in again before bearing down for good on the leader, finally passing her inside the sixteenth pole.

For Promenade Girl, it was her third straight victory, coming after December victories at Laurel in the Geisha Handicap and an optional claiming race. Trained by Murray Lawrence for owner Sondra Bender, Promenade Girl has now won 6 of her 9 races.

A 4-year-old daughter of Carson City, Promenade Girl covered the one mile in 1:38.58 over a fast track. She paid $2.80 to win in the Nellie Morse, which was the first leg of Saturday's Magna 5 wager, linking five races from Laurel, Gulfstream, and Santa Anita, all owned by Magna Entertainment Corp.