Class and Cash on Grass in Laurel Dash

Class and Cash on Grass in Laurel Dash

Fire Key Upsets Sensible Lady
 
LAUREL, MD – Edward Short’s Class and Cash, usually a pacesetter, closed from well back on the Fort Marcy Turf Cup to win the $100,000 Laurel Turf Dash presented by Fidelity First.
 
Trained by Jane Cibelli and ridden Feargal Lynch, Class and Cash got up along the rail inside the final 70 yards to win the six furlong event in 1:14.04. Dubini was second and Fielder checked in third.
 
“He always gives 100 percent,” said Cibelli’s assistant trainer Matt Hartman. “He got shuffled back a little further than I thought, but he always tries. It wasn’t really a concern at the start but turning for home he was a little further back than I should he should have been, but he found his way through. He’s a wonderful horse.”
 
While longshot Celebration was pressed past a :23.22 opening quarter by Dubini, Class and Cash raced 10th. Entering the stretch Dubini took the lead but Class and Cash drove up along the inside under Lynch to take the win.
 
A 6-year-old gelded son of Exchange Rate bred in Florida by Live Oak Stud, Class and Cash has won 13 of 30 starts – 13 of 26 on the turf – for more than $400,000. The gelding finished second in last year’s Laurel Dash.
 
Fire Key Upsets Sensible Lady
 
Backwards Stable’s 5-year-old homebred mare Fire Key, second in last year’s Sensible Lady, held off a late rally by Glen Hill Farm’s Compelled to win Saturday’s $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash over a good Fort Marcy Turf Course.
 
Trained by Patrick Kelly and ridden by Julian Pimental, Fire Key, winner of the Autumn Days Stakes at Aqueduct in November, has now won six of 16 starts on the turf and finished second on the turf another five times. Fire Key came into the Sensible Lady off a troubled 11th place finish in the Smart N Fancy at Saratoga Aug. 26.
 
“She’s been very sharp the last couple years,” said Kelly, a native of Maryland. “We came down here last year and just missed in this race. The plan was to try and get back this year and it worked out. She doesn’t win by much, but she’s gutsy.”
 
After Daylight Again and Smiling Causeway battled past a :23.87 opening quarter, Rocky Policy took the lead entering the stretch. But Fire Key moved six-wide entering the stretch, overtaking Rocky Policy and holding off Compelled at the finish line.