Shake Em Loose gets jump on favored Joe to take the Private Terms

Shake Em Loose made a sustained bid beginning at the half-mile pole, took over the lead on the second turn, and then fended off favored Joe's stretch challenge to capture Saturday's $100,000 Private Terms Stakes for 3-year-olds traveling 1 1/16 miles at Laurel Park.

The Private Terms was one of five stakes on the 11-race program.

Longshot Conclusive blasted out to a clear early lead from his inside post and carved out fractions of 23.73 and 47.59 seconds. Shake Em Loose, fifth in the early going under jockey Charlie Marquez, advanced from the outside late on the backstretch and got to within a half-length of Conclusive following six furlongs in 1:12.80.

Conclusive offered little response to Shake Em Loose's bid and the winner made the front. Joe, favored on the strength of three consecutive victories, picked up Shake Em Loose's cover on the far turn and loomed large at the three-sixteenths pole, but couldn't impose his will in the late stages.

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Under the wire, it was Shake Em Loose by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:46.80 seconds over the fast track. Joe was six lengths clear of Local Motive in third. Then came Majestic Frontier, Conclusive, Micro Star, and Eagle in Love. Maximum Impact was scratched.

Shake Em Loose returned $12.40 as the third choice in the wagering.

"If you just tap him on the shoulder, he starts moving," said trainer Rudy Sanchez-Salomon via telephone following the Private Terms. "He makes his move too early, but that's the way he is."

Shake Em Loose has now won three of his last four starts, two of them stakes.

Not bad for a $1,000 yearling purchase that was claimed for $16,000 out of a maiden victory on Nov. 19.

"I liked the horse when I watched him train a couple of times and was going to claim him for $25,000 [out of a fourth-place finish on Oct. 31]," Sanchez-Salomon told Daily Racing Form earlier this week. "I waited for him to drop for $16,000 and took advantage of it. I've been nothing but lucky with him."

Shake Em Loose pulled off a 59-1 stunner in his first start for his new trainer, the Heft Stakes at Laurel on Dec. 26. According to Sanchez-Salomon, Shake Em Loose “rapped himself” leaving the gate when seventh in the Spectacular Bid on Jan. 29.

In his final prep before the Private Terms, Shake Em Loose overcame a wide trip to win when offered for the $62,500 claiming option on Feb. 27.

Bred by Pillar Property Services and owned by J.R. Sanchez Racing Stable, Shake Em Loose is by Shakin It Up and is a half-brother to Grade 3-winning dirt router Praying for Cash and stakes-placed dirt sprinter Credit Report.

Sanchez-Salomon said he plans to next target the $125,000 Federico Tesio Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at Laurel on April 16.

"We're going to start dreaming a little higher with this horse."