Robb loaded for pair of 3-year-old stakes
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Trainer Jerry Robb holds a strong hand in the two $100,000 stakes for 3-year-olds Saturday at Laurel Park. This is not an unusual occurrence in Maryland as Robb has been developing young talent for decades.
Robb has Governmentshutdown and Notional Debt in the Frank Whiteley Jr., a seven-furlong race for males, and Lake Sebago in the six-furlong Marshua’s River for fillies.
Lake Sebago closed out her 2-year-old season with wins in the Gin Talking and Smart Halo, $100,000 stakes at Laurel. Governmentshutdown, who will be making his first start since June, won the Rollicking Stakes at Pimlico on Black-Eyed Susan Day in May.
In 2013, Robb won a total of six 2-year-old stakes with Debt Ceiling, Joint Custody, and Jonesin for Jerry.
“I concentrate on the babies,” said Robb, 62. “I enjoy training them. It’s what I’ve done for 40 years.”
Lake Sebago will be favored in the Marshua’s River, but the distance may be a little short for her.
“I backed off her since the last race, freshened her up,” Robb said. “Six furlongs is not really what she wants to do. After this, the series gets good. It goes from six furlongs to seven furlongs to a mile.”
The seven-furlong Wide Country is Feb. 16, and the one-mile Caesar’s Wish is March 14.
In his last start, Governmentshutdown bumped with a horse before fading to fifth at Churchill Downs in the Bashford Manor, a race Robb won in 2013 with Debt Ceiling.
According to Robb, Governmentshutdown “hurt his stifle in the race” and was turned out.
“I would have liked to have brought him back in an easier spot, but the race didn’t go, so I entered here,” he said. “He ran good fresh in the spring, but with those early races, you don’t really know what quality you are facing.”
Notional Debt has started twice. He finished a close fourth in his debut at Delaware Park, then won a Laurel maiden race.
“He’s training better than all of them,” Robb said. “He had a dynamite work last week.”
Robb’s success is not limited to young horses. A winner of 1,832 races, including 125 stakes, he won the $450,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic with Fred High in 2013 and trained Little Bold John, a winner of 38 of 105 starts and more than $1.9 million from 1984-92.
KEY CONTENDERS
WHITELEY S. (RACE 6)
Golden Years (Last 3 Beyers: 84-77-80)
◗ The likely favorite enters off a blowout victory over a sloppy track in the $100,000 Marylander on Dec. 6 for trainer Rodney Jenkins.
Governmentshutdown (Last 3 Beyers: 12-73-83)
◗ He has five works for his comeback, but seven furlongs can be a testing distance.
Notional Debt (Beyers: 71-52)
◗ His six-furlong work in 1:13.20 on Jan. 17 was the fastest of seven at the distance that day.
MARSHUA’S RIVER S. (RACE 8)
Lake Sebago (Last 3 Beyers: 70-74-52)
◗ She was purchased as a yearling at Keeneland for $22,000. In five starts, she has earned $159,120.
“She got kicked in the field and had a torn stifle at the sale,” Robb said. “That kept all the pinhookers off her.”
Rocky Policy (Last 3 Beyers: 50-55-60)
◗ She may have been a bit short in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship after a 10-week break. She had come out of her previous start with a tender shin, according to trainer Robert Leaf Jr.
Lindisfarne (Last 3 Beyers: 58-64-46)
◗ She scored a sharp optional-claiming win at Laurel in her debut for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. She had previously raced for Jerry Hollendorfer in Northern California.