Lured by a new condition, long lost trainers return to Laurel
A new maiden special weight condition for Maryland-bred juveniles is provoking several trainers to take rare trips to Laurel Park this week.
Ohio-based trainer Tim Hamm will bring filly Jen d’Oro for the fourth race on Friday, while Chad Summers will ship Tartabull from New York for his debut in the fifth race on Saturday. Both races will be run at 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt.
In May, the Laurel racing office adjusted its conditions book to remove waiver maiden claiming races for statebred runners in open company. They were replaced by $45,000 statebred maiden special weights, and the new condition is already luring promising runners back to Maryland.
In a sense, the urgency to face Maryland-bred company in the final three days of racing at the Laurel Park summer meet is historic. To put Hamm’s impending visit into context, four United States presidents have left office since the Ohio-based trainer last brought a horse to the track, when 3-year-old filly Abundantly Blessed finished third in the $50,000 Stefanita in November 2002.
Jen d’Oro, purchased for $140,000 by Americas Thoroughbred Investors at last year’s Keeneland September Sale, began training in Florida in April and soon moved to Hamm’s barn at Belterra Park. The Bolt d’Oro filly is training forwardly, encouraging Hamm to ship her to Laurel with intentions to win on debut.
“I probably wouldn’t make that long trip if we thought we were dead in the water before we did it,” Hamm said. “We’ve been breaking all our own babies at Ocala since 1996, then they all go through our program up here. She’s been very forward and shown enough in the morning to warrant the trip over.”
Hamm’s filly is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line, just behind Dazzling Dame, a filly making her debut for Brittany Russell.
Summers’s first race at Laurel doesn't date quite as far back as Hamm’s, as Summers has not been back since 2018. On Saturday, the trainer will finally return to the track with Tartabull, who will travel from Belmont Park to Laurel with added sentimental purpose.
The $310,000 Tapit colt, purchased by Gold Square LLC at the Keeneland September Sale, is the first foal out of Anna’s Bandit, a West Virginia-bred mare who became an 11-time stakes winner racing in her home state and Maryland.
“His mother was the pride of Maryland for a long time, so I guess we feel some added responsibility with the horse,” Summers said.
Summers understands that he’s representing the local legend by bringing Tartabull to Laurel, where his dam twice won the Conniver and also took the Maryland Million Distaff and Politely in 2019 for trainer John Robb. Xavier Perez, Anna’s Bandit’s longtime rider, will ride Tartabull in his debut Saturday.
“It was only fitting, if we went down there, that the X-Man was going to get the ride,” Summers said.
Between popular sentiment, his purchase price, and his improving work tab at Belmont, Tartabull will almost certainly be the favorite breaking from the rail Saturday.
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