Noteworthy Peach ends long layoff
Noteworthy Peach, the runner-up in last year’s Federico Tesio Stakes and the winner of the 2015 Jennings Handicap, will make his first start since January for trainer Gary Capuano in the eighth race at Laurel Park on Sunday.
Noteworthy Peach, a 4-year-old Maryland-bred son of Read the Footnotes, made one start after defeating older statebred rivals by six lengths in the Jennings last December, then was given the winter off. He has worked six times since June 2.
On Sunday, he will square off with the consistent 6-year-old Mr Palmer in a third-level optional $35,000 claimer at a one-turn mile. This race could set up Noteworthy Peach for a start in a Maryland Pride Day stakes at Laurel on Aug. 20.
Mr Palmer, trained by Rudy Rodriguez, returned from an 11-week layoff to be second-best to Bodhisattva a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming race June 19. That win was the first for Bodhisattva since he defeated Noteworthy Peach in the Tesio in April 2015.
There are three other allowance or optional-claiming races on the Laurel card.