Whiteley win gets Laki off to fast start in MATCH Series

Laki won the dirt-sprint division of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships last year and he moved to the front of the division on Saturday at Laurel Park by winning the $100,000 Frank Whiteley Jr., the first MATCH series race of 2019.

The Whiteley was the first of seven stakes on the Laurel card.

Laki took the lead outside Lewisfield in midstretch of the six-furlong Whiteley and pulled away to win by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:08.47. It was 3 3/4 lengths farther back to Rockinn On Bye in third.

Tradfest set the early pace through fractions of 22.05 and 44.54 seconds before tiring to finish sixth. Lewisfield took first run at Tradfest, came away with the lead entering the stretch, but had no answer when Laki challenged under jockey Horacio Karamanos.

Laki and Lewisfield have quite a rivalry going. The Whiteley was their sixth race against each other. Laki has now finished ahead of Lewisfield in two of those meetings.

Laki paid $8.20 to win as the second choice behind Lewisfield, who was sent off at even-money. Laki is owned byHillside Equestrian Meadows and is trained by Damon Dilodovico.

In his prior start, Laki didn’t run his “A” race and finished third in the Not For Love Stakes, beaten five lengths by Lewisfield.

“We were a little concerned last time that he was a little flat,” Dilodovico said.

Laki has now won eight of 19 career starts. The Whiteley pushed his career earnings to $448,042.

Primonetta: Ms Locust Point holds on

Ms Locust Point ran hard from gate to wire in the $100,000 Primonetta Stakes and in the end held on by a nose over a steadily closing Cairenn to earn the decision

Ms Locust Point set the early pace on a short lead inside Angel At War. She drew clear in the six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares on the far turn while setting fractions of 21.95 and 45.09 seconds.

With a furlong to go, Ms Locust Point and jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. held a three-length lead, but her early efforts began to catch up with her and she started to weaken. It took Ms Locust Point 12.81 seconds to navigate the final furlong but in the end she had just enough gas in the tank, completing the distance in 1:10.11. The win was the second in a stakes on Saturday for Vargas.

Startwithsilver, the 9-2 second choice, closed from far back to finish third, two lengths behind Cairenn.

Ms Locust Point, a 5-year-old mare, is owned by Cash Is King Stable and Jim Reichenberg. Trained by John Servis, she paid $4 in the nine-horse field.

She is now 5 for 7 at Laurel, where she scored her biggest career victory in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie in 2018. She has now won nine of 16 career starts.

The Primonetta was the first leg of the filly and mare dirt-sprint division of the MATCH series.

King Leatherbury: Dirty up in time

Last year at age 3, Dirty finished second and third behind the top turf sprinter World of Trouble in stakes. But when the year came to an end he was still looking for an open first-level allowance victory.

On Saturday in the inaugural running of the $100,000 King Leatherbury, Dirty got his 4-year-old season off to a promising start by winning his first stakes.

American Sailor and Completed Pass cut out unbelievably fast fractions of 21.01 and 42.96 seconds in the 5 1/2-furlong turf race. Completed Pass moved to a clear lead midway through the stretch but Dirty, who was far back early, finished fast to win by a neck under jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. Proforma, the 2-1 favorite, finished third.

Turf sprints of 5 1/2 furlongs at Laurel end at the second finish line and Dirty needed all of the long stretch to get up.

“I was pretty far behind, but when I took him outside he just took off,” Vargas said. With the second wire, you have a long way to go when you turn for home.”

Dirty paid $13 to win in the 13-horse field. He was timed in 1:00.65

Dirty is owned by Tom O’Grady and trained by Jeremiah Englehart. He has now won four of 12 starts.

The Leatherbury was the first leg o the MATCH series turf-sprint division.