Three carryovers on Sunday card; Rainbow 6 is up to $77,769
A three-race sequence of allowance and optional-claiming races anchors the Rainbow 6 and pick five on Sunday at Laurel Park. In addition to quality, the card has quantity. There are 59 betting interests in the Rainbow 6 and 47 in the 12-percent-takeout pick five.
There are three carryovers coming into the day. The Rainbow 6, which starts on race 4, is now up to $77,769. The pick five, which starts on race 5, has a carryover of $11,982. There is a $10,375 carryover on the race 1 super high five. There are rolling super high fives all day long.
Races 6 to 8 are a first-level allowance sprint, a first-level optional sprint for 2-year-olds, and a second-level optional sprint for fillies and mares. The Rainbow 6 begins with a $16,000 starter race and a $25,000 maiden claimer. The final race on the card is a $16,000 maiden-claiming race. The pick five begins with the $25,000 maiden race.
The allowance could come down to trainers Tim Ritchey and Jonathan Sheppard. Cloudy River has improved markedly since being claimed by Ritchey for $10,000 in October. He was moving well at the conclusion of his last race, a first-level allowance at Penn National.
Sheppard is the owner and trainer of the entertainingly named Strawbridge, who will be making his first start since finishing a closing second over the Tapeta track at Presque Isle Downs in September.
Sheppard and the Augustin Stable of George Strawbridge Jr. have won a slew of major races together with such good runners as 2009 champion female sprinter Informed Decision and 2008 champion turf female Forever Together. Sheppard purchased Strawbridge for a $2,500 pittance as a yearling at the 2013 Keeneland January sale of horses of all ages.
Race 7 has a field of 10 2-year-olds, including two coupled entries. Trainer Eddie Kenneally has the likely favorite in Metal Magic, a Keeneland maiden winner in October. Rudy Rodriguez has entered No Entiendo, a New York-bred who has chased the 4-for-5 Sudden Surprise in stakes in his last two starts.
Two other contenders are Fifth Avenue Flash, trained by Scott Lake, and Henry the King, a debut winner for trainer Gregory Sacco, who will add Lasix for his second start.
Race 8 is competitive, but Sweet On Smokey and Rocky Policy are two to consider.
Sweet On Smokey won a restricted $25,000 claiming race three back for trainer Claudio Gonzalez and has since finished third to the talented E Dubai’s Humor and second to Four Inch Heels, who has won four in a row and was scheduled to race at Parx on Saturday.
Rocky Policy, a late-running 3-year-old trained by Robert Leaf Jr., finished well recently while making her first start in nine months. She has every right to move forward off that race at a big price.
Big Saturday coming up
Things have been a little quiet in the Northeast lately, but Laurel Park has five stakes scheduled for next Saturday.
The $100,000 co-features are the Dave’s Friend at six furlongs and the Thirty Eight Go Go for fillies and mares at a one-turn mile. Three $50,000 races for Maryland-breds also will be run: the one-mile Jennings Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Futurity, and the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship.