By the Moon stretches out for Thirty Eight Go Go

The $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go, one of five stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday, looks like an ideal spot for By the Moon to get back into the win column following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. It will also give By the Moon a race over the track if trainer Michelle Nevin decides to send her back for the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie in February.

By the Moon raced just off the early leaders in the Filly and Mare Sprint but lacked the needed closing response and was beaten three lengths. Nevin has since worked her four times at Belmont Park.

“I mean, she ran okay in the Breeders’ Cup. I feel she didn’t fire like I thought she would,” Nevin said. “But she’s come out of it well and is training nicely.”

This will be By the Moon’s first start beyond seven furlongs since June 2015, but she has always raced well at a one-turn mile. In her three previous efforts, she finished second, beaten a neck, in the 2015 Acorn; won the Caesar’s Wish in her lone prior start at Laurel; and won the 2014 Frizette. The Acorn and Frizette are Grade 1 races.

Nevin said that if By the Moon races well Saturday, she will be considered for the $300,000 Fritchie, a seven-furlong race on Feb. 18. Her stablemate Paulassilverlining, the third-place finisher in the Filly and Mare Sprint, also is a candidate for the Fritchie.

“I think either one would fit well in a race like that,” Nevin said.

Victor Carrasco will ride By the Moon in the Thirty Eight Go Go, which is carded as race 7.

There are two $100,000 stakes for 2-year-olds on the program, the Marylander and the Gin Talking, for fillies. Both are at seven furlongs.

The Marylander, race 4, will match the promising Curlin colts Undulated and Irish War Cry.

Undulated, who is coming off a victory in the Swynford Stakes over Tapeta at Woodbine, will be making his dirt debut for trainer Cal Lynch. Irish War Cry rallied from ninth position to win a Laurel maiden race in an eye-catching debut for Graham Motion.

While Undulated and Irish War Cry have not shown much early speed, neither have their rivals in the seven-horse field, making it difficult to predict the pace. Two Charley’s, trained by Lynch, and O Dionysus, who races for trainer Gary Capuano, could be dangerous if they shake loose early.

The Gin Talking, race 6, is the most wide-open stakes on the card. There is not much early speed in this field, and it is possible that Ms Locust Point is the most capable front-runner. Trained by John Servis, Ms Locust Point comes into this off a 4 3/4-length maiden victory at Parx Racing.