Suffolk: Victor Lazlow meets statebreds

Three weeks after helping his jockey reach a milestone, Victor Lazlow gets his own chance to make headlines as the favorite in Saturday's $50,000 Last Dance Stakes at Suffolk Downs.

Victor Lazlow was the horse jockey Tammi Piermarini rode to move into third on the all-time career win list for female jockeys on July 23. With the horse owned by fellow female pioneer Patricia Moseley -- the former chairwoman of Suffolk -- and with the horse being bred in Massachusetts (Piermarini is a Bay State native), he seemed particularly appropriate to help her move past Cooksey in the record books.

Somewhat lost on that day was how impressive the gelding has looked in two Suffolk starts. His third-place local debut and maiden-breaking win have produced Beyer Speed Figures that make him prohibitively tough in his first statebred stakes attempt.

Miscoe Gray surprised in the first stakes of the season when he sneaked away for a wire-to-wire sprint win in the Rise Jim Stakes on July 21. It matched a career-best performance from last year on turf, but was a reversal of dull form after spending the first part of the year in Pennsylvania.

Troubling for Miscoe Gray's supporters will be the presence of Same Day Pleasure, who ran out of time with his closing move in the Rise Jim and settled for second, beaten just a half-length. The Last Dance is a mile and 70 yards, and Same Day Pleasure holds a victory at the distance in the 2009 John Kirby Stakes. Neither Miscoe Gray nor Victor Lazlow has won around two turns.