The post parade for the $200,000 General George Stakes looked like a cavalcade of Mid-Atlantic stars at Laurel Park on Saturday, with Quint’s Brew and Slam Notion headlining a field of four stakes winners. By the time they hit the stretch, however, those two standouts and many others had been reduced to also-rans behind the mighty Point Dume. Overlooked to an extent amid such strong company, the 5-year-old gelding was more than ready for the bright lights, paying $12.20 to win. Angel Cruz hustled him to the early lead, and without any opposition on the backstretch, the jockey quickly understood that he was aboard for a special race. “I'm telling you, when he gets to the lead, he's just a different horse,” Cruz said. “He's really brave. He takes a hold of you and he just keeps going. But today, he was really good. He was impressive.” In January, trainer Tim Kreiser shipped Point Dume from Pennsylvania for the $100,000 Fire Plug Handicap at Laurel. Cruz didn’t bother trying to rein in the front-runner through a hot early pace that day, and when the gelding prevailed by a half-length with a 97 Beyer Speed Figure, Kreiser knew he was ready to take the next step. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “He’s probably the best one I’ve ever had, believe it or not,” Kreiser said. “He’s just fast, strong.” Sure enough, when Point Dume kicked clear early in the General George, completing the opening quarter-mile in 23.25 seconds and the half-mile in 46.18, the strength of his opposition proved inconsequential. Slam Notion, who upset Quint’s Brew in the $100,000 Bender Memorial in December, was the first contender to take a crack at the early leader. Traveling wide, he quickly tired and faded to fourth. Next up was the Mid-Atlantic superstar himself, as Quint’s Brew and jockey Yedsit Hazlewood angled into the three path to fire their shot on the outside. Cruz merely had to flick the reins, and Point Dume drew away from that three-time stakes winner as if he were stuck in place. In one last desperate try, jockey Mychel Sanchez tried to sneak Blue Kingdom up the rail. The Jamie Ness-trained gelding is all but a stakes winner after several close defeats in recent months, but he had to settle for second again on Saturday. Blue Kingdom finished 1 1/2 lengths clear of Quint’s Brew, exacting some measure of revenge on that rival after their hard-fought finish in the $100,000 Jennings last month. In his six prior starts for Ned Allard since January last year, Quint’s Brew had never finished worse than second. After dispatching all of his key rivals on the far turn, Point Dume extended to lead by 1 1/2 lengths entering the stretch. There were no challengers left, allowing him to pull away by 3 3/4 lengths at the end. He completed the seven-furlong distance in 1:23.14. “He digs in every day and in the race, he digs in even harder,” Cruz said. “Tim told me, ‘this horse is doing really well. I think we're going to be all right for the stakes.’ And he was right. He had him ready.” After claiming him for $40,000 in July last year, it wasn’t long before Kreiser began seeing glimpses of brilliance from Point Dume. The trainer has known for some time that he had a special runner, difficult and headstrong in training and just as competitive in the afternoon. “He's very tough,” Kreiser said. “The gallop guys come back, and that’s $40 because their hands are numb. Their shoulders are numb when they get done with him.” Prepared for a strong run, Kreiser was still left flat-footed by the sheer dominance Point Dume displayed Saturday. His next start is unknown, but Kreiser made it clear that the sky is the limit now. That ceiling is higher than the trainer ever could have imagined. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.