Mean Season pointing to General George

Mean Season, who came off an 11-month layoff to win a third-level allowance race at Laurel Park last Saturday, likely will return to Maryland for the $250,000 General George Handicap on Feb. 15.

“That seems logical,” Leanna Willaford, the Belmont Park-based assistant to Bill Mott, said Wednesday. “We’re just happy he came back good.”

Mean Season is 2 for 2 at Laurel, including a win going a mile. The General George is run at seven furlongs.

Last Saturday, Mean Season was making his first start since being vanned off following a last-place finish in the Gulfstream Park Sprint last Feb. 21. In Saturday’s race, he was headed and passed by D C Dancer but came back on again for the victory. Mean Season, ridden by Trevor McCarthy, ran six furlongs in 1:10.56 and earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I was a little concerned when Trevor let him get headed,” Willaford said. “He showed a lot of determination to come back. He didn’t have a lot of training in him.”