Street Lute romps in Xtra Heat Stakes

One race after Hello Beautiful outran them in the What a Summer Stakes at Laurel Park, her younger doppelganger scored a convincing victory in the $100,000 Xtra Heat Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Street Lute ($2.80), ridden by an extremely confident Xavier Perez, made it six wins from seven lifetime starts after a pace-pressing romp. Her final time of 1:10.31 compared favorably to Hello Beautiful's 1:11.67 clocking. The main track at Laurel was upgraded to fast right after Hello Beautiful's What a Summer score.

"I was confident coming into the race," said winning trainer Jerry Robb in an interview broadcast by Laurel. "But after I saw the races today and all the closers were winning every race, I was a little nervous from that."

Robb had no reason to worry. Street Lute broke like a rocket, then conceded the lead to speedy Trip to Freedom. Perched outside that foe through fractions of 22.51 seconds and 45.64, Perez kept peeking back for the real competition.

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He did not have to be concerned either as Street Lute forged to the front turning into the stretch and poured it on to win by five lengths. Miss Leslie, winner of last month's $100,000 Anne Arundel County Stakes, was second, 3 3/4 lengths ahead of Breeze Off the Bay. Trip to Freedom faltered to seventh in the field of eight.

Street Lute's only loss to date came by a scant neck in the Maryland Million Lassie on Oct. 24. She is a daughter of Street Magician out of the Midnight Lute mare Alottalute.

Kenny Had a Notion outduels Maythehorsebwithu

Kenny Had a Notion ($8) and Maythehorsebwithu put on a heck of a show in the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters.

The pair hooked up at the start, pushed each other through moderate fractions of 23.14 and 46.47 and battled it out all the way to the wire with rail-skimming Kenny Had a Notion getting his neck down in front after seven furlongs in 1:23.98.

Ridden by Jorge Ruiz, Kenny Had a Notion has now won 4 of 7 starts, including three stakes. Last year, the Great Notion gelding seized the Jamestown Stakes on turf and the Maryland Million Nursery on the main track. In his final start at 2, he was a game runner-up in the Heft Stakes after setting the pace.

"He's been showing a lot more speed the last few races," winning trainer Dale Capuano said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel.

Maythehorsebwithu, stakes-placed last year at 2, attempted to give the husband-wife tandem of Sheldon and Brittany Russell two stakes wins on the day as well as Sheldon's fourth winner. He tried hard all the way down to the wire to just miss.

Shackqueenking, recent winner of the Howard County Stakes, had dead aim on the top two turning for home, but finished in a one-paced fashion, two lengths behind Maythehorsebwithu in third.