St. Benedicts Prep will return to Laurel Park in search of her second stakes victory in the $100,000 Twixt Stakes on Saturday. The 5-year-old mare has had trouble finding the winner’s circle elsewhere, but trainer Linda Rice has had better luck shipping her to Maryland. After seven straight stakes defeats, including five in-the-money finishes, to begin her 2025 campaign, St. Benedicts Prep finally broke through at Laurel to win the $125,000 Alma North by two lengths in June. She went right back to her usual ways when she finished third in the $100,000 Regret at Monmouth Park in July, but Rice is sending her to Maryland in search of a bounce-back effort. “I think she prefers the course at Laurel over Monmouth,” Rice said. “At Monmouth, the turns are a little tight for her. I think she runs better at the Laurel course. She’s okay at the mile as well.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Rice also entered the 4-year-old filly Tipple, who has not run in stakes company since her last trip to Laurel for the $100,000 Primonetta, a runner-up performance in April. She has since run in two allowances and won last time out at Colonial Downs. “Yes, well, these are fillies that have broodmare potential in the future, and I’ve tried to get them black type,” Rice said. “That was St. Benedicts Prep’s first stakes win [in the Alma North]. She’s been placed many times and graded stakes-placed as well. So, you know, we’re in the process trying to build some broodmare value for both of these.” St. Benedicts Prep and Tipple have both been training in New York, but 4-year-old filly Wild Bout Hilary is taking an even more ambitious trip from Hawthorne for trainer Tanner Tracy. The filly pulled off a front-running upset at Oaklawn Park to win the Grade 3 Bayakoa at 16-1 in February. Subsequent efforts in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom and Grade 3 Shawnee weren’t as fruitful, but she recovered nicely with class relief in July to finish second in the $100,000 Iowa Distaff at Prairie Meadows. She will be the likely pacesetter in the Twixt. Trainer Kenny McPeek intended to bring the 5-year-old mare Corningstone, the third-place finisher in the Iowa Distaff, from Kentucky, but he said that he will have to scratch because of shipping complications. In her first weekend back home at Laurel, leading trainer Brittany Russell will enter Ragtime Belle with a live outside chance in the Twixt. The 6-year-old mare has taken a nice step forward since entering Russell’s barn, finishing third in the $150,000 Obeah at Delaware Park at 28-1 before taking an allowance at Colonial in July. “I love this filly,” Russell said. “They sent her to us and we didn’t really know what we had. But I’ve seen her train better every day since I’ve gotten her. “She showed up in the Obeah, exceeded expectations because I couldn’t get an allowance to go. I was really confident in how she was doing before her race at Colonial, and she really seems to like the one-turn mile, which sets her up well for Saturday.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.