MATCH series, turf stakes add spice to strong Laurel card

Laurel Park has put together a beauty of a card Saturday that includes seven stakes, including the Federico Tesio and Weber City Miss, in which Alwaysmining and Las Setas will, respectively, attempt to earn their way into next month’s Preakness and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan.

But the most refreshing part of the 11-race program is the return of turf racing. Five of the undercard events are scheduled to be run on grass, and they drew 59 entrants, not counting main-track-only runners, an average of 11.8 possible starters per race.

As always, the key will be keeping those races on the turf. Laurel, Md., is forecast to receive more than a half-inch of rain Friday. This comes after a difficult 2018 in which spring and fall rain severely limited the number of turf races that could be held.

The Laurel turf course is an impressive 142 feet wide, which allows six different racing lanes. The Saturday races, which consist of two overnights and three stakes, are split among the Dahlia and All Along layouts. Hopefully, this will help keep the stakes on the turf.

Four of the Saturday undercard stakes begin the Mid-Atlantic Championships, or MATCH Series, with future legs to be run at Penn National, Delaware Park, Parx Racing, and Monmouth Park. The MATCH races are the Frank Whiteley Jr. and Primonetta, six-furlong sprints for 3-year-olds and up; the Dahlia, a one-mile turf race for fillies and mares; and the inaugural King T. Leatherbury, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for horses ages 3 and up.

Both the Rainbow 6 and late pick five, which has a 12 percent takeout, are made up entirely of stakes. Alwaysmining in the Tesio and Las Setas in the Weber City Miss look like singles in both wagers.

Here is a look at the undercard:

◗ Frank Whiteley Jr. (race 5): Following a rugged 4-year-old campaign in which he made 10 starts, Lewisfield returned with a strong effort to win the Maryland-restricted Not For Love Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. He will be favored in this eight-horse field for trainer Jeff Runco, but may not be a lock.

Home Run Maker won three straight at Laurel, all for Jeremiah Englehart, before finishing sixth, beaten 4 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 3 General George. He has been freshened for nine weeks, comes into this off a nice pattern of five works, and looks to be sitting on a top effort.

Laki and Mr. Brix also figure to be in the mix.

◗ King Leatherbury (race 6): This race starts the Rainbow 6 and could go a number of different ways.

Dubini ran too good too often in 2018 not to win, but that’s what happened. He makes his 6-year-old debut for Parx-based Kate DeMasi.

Proforma, who won the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint for Mike Stidham in September, also will be making his first start of the season.

American Sailor comes out of good efforts in the Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint at Sam Houston and the Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs for trainer Wayne Potts, but will have to overcome the inside post in this 14-horse field.

◗ Primonetta (race 7): The late pick five starts here. Ms Locust Point enters off a 7 3/4-length win in a no-conditions allowance prep at Parx and will be very difficult to beat. The eight-time winner earned a career-best 93 Beyer for that effort and is 4 for 6 at Laurel, including a win in the 2018 Barbara Fritchie.

◗ Dahlia (race 8): Secret Message got better and better for trainer Graham Motion as her 3-year-old campaign progressed last year, winning the Grade 3 Pucker Up at Arlington and finishing second in the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont. She should be a force at this level even though she is coming off a six-month layoff and facing older fillies and mares.

La Moneda returns from a four-month layoff for trainer Tom Morley. She finished second in the Grade 3 My Charmer at Gulfstream in her most recent start.

Mrs. Ramona G. also fits well in this 12-horse lineup for Englehart.

◗ Henry S. Clark (race 11): The card concludes with this wide-open one-mile turf stakes, which has a field of eight.

Motion holds a strong hand with the duo of Irish Strait and Just Howard. Although both horses are coming off a layoff, they ran well in their first start of 2018, with Irish Strait dropping a nose decision after a heated stretch battle in the Cliff Hanger at Monmouth and Just Howard finishing third, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 3 Dixie at Pimlico, which was switched from turf to the sloppy main track.

Other top contenders include Real Story, Phlash Phelps, and O Dionysus.

Real Story is a 4-year-old on the upswing for trainer Ignacio Correas. The front-runner prepped for this with a second-place finish in a high-level optional claimer at Gulfstream.

Phlash Phelps, 8, runs well fresh and is 4 for 10 over the Laurel course, all for trainer Rodney Jenkins.

O Dionysus got very good for trainer Gary Capuano when moved to turf last year, but is returning from a seven-month layoff. His expected long odds make him worth using.

If the Clark is moved to the dirt, the main-track-only Cordmaker becomes a top contender.