Laurelin, an undefeated 3-year-old filly trained by Graham Motion, will make her third straight stakes start as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the rescheduled $150,000 Penn Oaks at Penn National on Friday. She is one of several runners in desperate need of a turf start after several straight weekends of rain in the region. After breaking her maiden and winning the $135,000 Tepin at Aqueduct late last year, Laurelin returned to New York in April and took a step forward by winning the $150,000 Memories of Silver. Motion entered her in the Grade 2 Wonder Again at Saratoga earlier this month but it was taken off the turf. This one-mile race was the backup plan, but it was postponed for a second time last week due to wet conditions. “It’s not an intentional layoff now,” Motion said. “I hoped to run her at Saratoga two weeks ago. It’s just the way it’s worked out. I was happy with how she came back at Aqueduct. She’s done nothing wrong, this filly.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Trainer Mark Casse has two runners entered against Motion’s favorite. Candy Quest finished fifth behind Laurelin in the Memories of Silver last time out, while Irish-bred filly Bessie Abott stayed in the Wonder Again after it was taken off the turf earlier this month and finished second, 17 lengths behind stablemate Nitrogen. “We were able to get some Saratoga black type and pick up $60,000, so it was a positive,” Casse said. “No doubt that she’s a better turf horse.” Trainer Chad Brown entered Accent and Midway Memories in the Penn Oaks, a pair of last-out maiden winners making their first starts since April 23. Jockey Flavien Prat was scheduled to ride Accent and Zulu Kingdom, the morning-line favorite in the Grade 3 Penn Mile, for Brown at Penn National on Friday, but the jockey will not make the trip. Love You Anyway, a last-out maiden winner at Keeneland for trainer Rusty Arnold, will be scratched from the Penn Oaks. The trainer intends to run her in the $250,000 Tepin at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Lyphard Stakes Trainer Michael Matz has a straightforward plan to win the statebred $75,000 Lyphard Stakes. Instead of trying to overwhelm the field of 12 with a standout runner, he has entered three 6-year-old mares with a puncher’s chance. “With all three of these horses, we’ve given them some time off,” Matz said. “It would’ve been nice to find a race before this, but we weren’t able to do that. Here we are.” Stern Chaser will try to defend her turf after winning the 2024 running of the Lyphard. She should be forwardly placed, though she doesn’t need the lead to win. Her stablemate, Lady Outofthe Blue, finished just behind her in this race last year. Later in the 2024 season, she returned to Penn National and won the $50,000 Fort Indiantown Gap. The mare will be the closer of Matz’s group. Matz’s third runner, Corinna, will make her stakes debut after a short four-race campaign in 2024. Though she has front-running tendencies, her trainer noted that he will try to give instructions to prevent her and Stern Chaser from running one another out of the race. Matz is taking an expansive approach to the Lyphard, but it might not be enough against a familiar rival. Princess Javoncia, an 8-year-old mare and the tepid 4-1 morning-line favorite trained by Elizabeth Merryman, finished third behind Stern Chaser and Lady Outofthe Blue in the Lyphard last year but wrapped up her season in better form. Alphabet Soup Handicap Fierce and Strong, a versatile 5-year-old gelding trained by Michael Salvaggio Jr., will return to the $75,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap after coming up just short in the race last year. Salvaggio is expecting a strong showing from the gelding as he stretches back out to 1 1/16 miles against other Pennsylvania-breds. In his 2025 debut, the gelding won a $58,000 allowance at Pimlico in a five-furlong turf sprint, further cementing his rare ability to compete at the same level at a wide range of distances. “He shows up just about every time,” Salvaggio said. “I expect as good a performance [in the Alphabet Soup], if not better.” The Alphabet Soup has traditionally been held at Parx in September, and in its 2024 running Fierce and Strong had to settle for second by a half-length. A shot at redemption in a new locale seems to be falling into the gelding’s lap, as he is just one of two horses in the field of 12 who train at Penn National. At his home track, he has five victories in seven starts and has never finished worse than second. Eff Thirty Five, the 5-2 morning-line favorite trained by Brittany Russell, could be Fierce and Strong’s stiffest competition. The 4-year-old gelding has made his last five starts in open company at Laurel Park and Fair Grounds. Bartlett will not return to the turf for the Alphabet Soup, as trainer John Servis has decided to run him in a dirt allowance later on the Friday card instead. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.