Slam Notion has spent his entire 3-year-old campaign exceeding trainer Robert Bailes’s expectations, so it was only so surprising when he took yet another step forward on Saturday at Laurel Park. Squaring off against Mid-Atlantic star Quint’s Brew, Bailes’s plucky sprinter got the jump on the heavy favorite and kicked clear to win the $100,000 Bender Memorial Stakes by three lengths. “It was a short field, but a lot of quality in there with Quint’s Brew coming off of that seven-month layoff,” Bailes said. “We were hoping to get a little bit of the jump on him and today was our day. We’re going to enjoy this victory.” Barring a no-show in the $150,000 Chick Lang in May and a turf start in July, Slam Notion has simply gotten better and better throughout the 2025 season. Now a six-time winner in 10 starts this year, the Maryland-bred has won three state-restricted stakes against progressively tougher company. Quint’s Brew, a runner-up in two graded stakes in the spring at Aqueduct, was easily the strongest rival he had ever faced, but he remained undeterred. The Bender largely came down to trips, and while Quint’s Brew was still finding his way out from behind a wall of horses, jockey Jevian Toledo had already tipped Slam Notion to the outside with a commanding lead entering the stretch. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. After stalking just behind Blue Kingdom through an opening quarter-mile in 23.59 and half-mile in 47.24, there was little standing in the 3-year-old’s way in a determined run to the wire. He completed the seven-furlong distance in 1:24.51 and paid $9.20 to win. “He just keeps maturing through the year,” Bailes said. “Just kept stepping up every time I put him in there. He's amazing.” Quint’s Brew, slightly sluggish off the bench and delayed by traffic, surged late to finish 6 1/4 lengths clear as the runner-up for trainer Ned Allard. In eight career starts, he has never finished worse than second and should have more to offer in future starts. Bold Diversion, a 14-1 longshot trained by Joanne Shankle, closed from last to finish third in the field of five. Blue Kingdom, the 8-5 pacesetter trained by Jamie Ness, was pressed on the front end by Slam Notion and others in the early going. He faded to finish last by 18 1/2 lengths. Complexity Jane gets up to take Carousel Brittany Russell might have had a far more emotional stakes victory coming on Saturday at Laurel, but Complexity Jane started  the trainer’s day right in the $100,000 Carousel Stakes. Despite some drama in the starting gate, the 3-year-old filly found just enough to run down 47-1 longshot Late Nite Call in a photo. “She tried to get herself in a little bit of trouble today,” Russell said. “She's always a little funny to learn. She likes to ride without the rider, and she got in the gate and then she wasn't standing up quite well. [Late Nite Call] ran huge, and for Jane to run her down was quite a task. I was really proud of the effort.” Poor performances at Delaware Park and Colonial Downs muddied her 3-year-old campaign, but at Laurel, Complexity Jane has been nothing short of brilliant. She remains unbeaten in five career starts at her home track, including three stakes victories. Though he has grown accustomed to front-running trips aboard Complexity Jane, jockey Sheldon Russell quickly had to change plans when the filly began acting up near the starting gate. She had to be loaded in without her rider, and when the gates opened, she was bumped and squeezed back to sixth. While the 6-5 favorite was toiling for a midpack position, jockey Xavier Perez didn’t waste any time shooting his shot aboard Late Nite Call. The Niall Saville-trained filly broke sharply in the field of nine and immediately jumped out to a one-length lead through an opening quarter-mile in 25.18 seconds. By the time she completed a half-mile in 49.65, she was already 2 1/2 lengths clear. Stalking contenders Sultry Lass and Lute Warm withered after chasing the loping early leader, and by the time Late Nite Call turned for home, there was only one runner with a chance of catching her. With some early urging from Russell, Complexity Jane advanced from sixth into third on the backstretch and drew alongside the early leader on the far turn. At first, it seemed like the heavy favorite was going to blow right by, but after securing such soft early fractions, Perez asked Late Nite Call for more and found that he had plenty. The longshot dug in on the front end, and it took every inch of the stretch for Complexity Jane to wrangle a short lead and prevail by a neck. She completed the 1 1/8-mile distance, the longest of her career, in 1:55.44. The Sky Is Falling, a West Virginia-bred filly trained by Jeff Runco, led a group of deep closers from the rear to finish 2 1/2 lengths back in third. She finished 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Doctor Abbie and Audibly, who closed from eighth and ninth. Brittany Russell said that Complexity Jane’s versatility could be a handy tool in future starts, as she could feasibly cut back to sprint distances or settle into routes around 1 1/16 miles. As a 3-year-old, all of her victories outside maiden company have come at a mile or longer. Takethemoneyhoney easily takes Politely Takethemoneyhoney ran like a sure thing in the $100,000 Politely Stakes on Saturday at Laurel, boldly moving between runners in the stretch in a confident one-length victory under jockey Eliseo Ruiz. The uber-consistent 4-year-old filly has never finished worse than second in seven career starts and now has two stakes victories. From the moment post positions were drawn to the moment she crossed the line, everyone connected to Takethemoneyhoney seemed to ooze confidence. Trainer Mike Moore remarked that the Maryland-bred filly simply had a habit of showing up with her best. Bettors made Takethemoneyhoney the 4-5 favorite. Ruiz was highly content to chase while longshots Miss Harriett and Conquerthosewecan dueled through an opening quarter-mile in 22.77 seconds and half-mile in 46.31. He showed no concern about traffic on the far turn either, even if it likely cost her a couple lengths at the end. Faced with two tight openings on the far turn and early in the stretch, Ruiz challenged Takethemoneyhoney to split horses with full energy and clear paths. The determined favorite cleared them as if they were also-rans and prevailed by a length at the end, deceptively close for the ease with which she finished the job. She completed the six-furlong sprint in 1:11.52 and paid $3.60 to win. Trainer John Robb had the second- and third-place finishers in the field of eight, both of whom were split during Takethemoneyhoney’s brilliant run between horses to the lead. Itsamonstamash, a 54-1 closer, was solely responsible for keeping the race close, as jockey Jeiron Barbosa kept her going and applied pressure on the favorite all the way to the wire. Her stablemate, Green Eyed Monster, stalked the early pace and finished 2 3/4 lengths behind in third. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.