Ten fillies and mares entered one-mile event

LAUREL, MD — A competitive field of ten entered Saturday’s $100,000 Twixt Stakes for fillies and mares racing a one-turn mile at Laurel Park.

Among the headliners are Grade 1-placed Central Avenue, millionaire Morning Matcha, Grade 3 winner Wild Bout Hilary, reigning Maryland Million Distaff heroine Foxy Junior, and stakes-winners St. Benedicts Prep and Corningstone.

To highlight the depth of this year’s renewal, Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa proclaimed stakes-placed Ragtime Belle the tepid 7-2 morning line favorite.

Ragtime Belle, a 6-year-old Union Rags homebred owned by Aithon Stable, was transferred to leading trainer Brittany Russell’s barn earlier this spring. She finished third in her first start for Russell, the Obeah Stakes at Delaware on June 14, then won a conditioned allowance at Colonial on July 31. Ragtime Belle sports the best-last Beyer Speed Figure of the Twixt entrants.

Central Avenue, a 4-year-old Godolphin homebred trained by Michael Stidham, enjoyed a prolific juvenile campaign in 2023, winning her debut before finishing second in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes and third in Churchill’s Golden Rod Stakes.

“She’s had a couple of setbacks,” Stidham said. “She's a massively big filly. It was shocking that she ran as well as she did as a 2-year-old. Body-wise, she always looked like she'd be better as an [older horse].”

Central Avenue only ran twice as a sophomore. This year, she’s started three times, including a runner-up effort in a second-level allowance at Colonial on Aug. 1.

"She's one of those ones that's real steady and even throughout the race," Stidham added. "She's always running on to the wire. She's more of a steady grinder than one with an explosive finish. That’s what she did last time and was just short of getting there.”

Stidham is mildly concerned about breaking from the rail post position.

“[Jockey Julio Hernandez] was here at Delaware [Wednesday] morning, and we went over that,” Stidham stated. “We know there’s some speed outside of us. We’re hoping we break well and be somewhere stalking to midpack, and be able to get off the rail at some point, and give us a clear closing kick.”

Stidham is pleased by Central Avenue’s training leading up to the Twixt.

“To me, she is finally rounding back into form. I think if we move forward a step, then we fit well with these horses."

Morning Matcha, a multiple stakes-winning millionaire trained by Butch Reid, makes her first appearance at Laurel Park on Saturday. A 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Central Banker, Morning Matcha finished fourth, beaten a length in a high-level allowance at Parx on July 15.

“She’s been a little disappointing thus far [this year], but she’s had a couple of really rough trips,” Reid said. “Her last one, she had no chance at all with a terrible trip. She came out of it great, has had a little freshening with our summer break at Parx, and I’m expecting a good effort. She’ll certainly come running, as she always does.”

New York-based trainer Linda Rice nominated two runners. St. Benedicts Prep, a 6-year-old Flatter mare owned by Ronald Stewart, is very familiar with the Laurel Park oval, finishing second in January’s What a Summer Stakes, third in February’s Barbara Fritchie Stakes, and prevailing in June’s Alma North Stakes.

In her most recent start, St. Benedicts Prep placed third in Monmouth’s Regret Stakes on July 20.

“I was a little concerned that she really wouldn’t relish the Monmouth course,” Rice admitted. “Tight turns, speed bias type of course. She did have a difficult trip, so I’m basically going to draw a line through that one.”

Tipple, a 4-year-old Constitution homebred owned by Summer Wind Equine, defeated Central Avenue by a length in that second-level allowance around two turns at Colonial last month. She is an uncertain starter on Saturday.

“I’m happy with her performance at two turns,” Rice said. “She’s just graduated through her conditions. I’m not positive we’ll bring her yet. I’d like to keep her going around two turns.”

Wild About Hilary invades from the Midwest for trainer Tanner Tracy. A 16-1 upset winner of Oaklawn’s Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes on Feb. 8, Wild Bout Hilary signaled a return to form in her recent start, a pacesetting runner-up effort in the Iowa Distaff racing 1 1/16 miles at Prairie Meadows on July 4.

“We had taken her out to Kentucky [eighth-place finish in the Grade 3 Shawnee at Churchill Downs on May 31], and she wasn’t able to hold on like that,” Tracy said. “When we brought her back to pretty much our home track here in Iowa, she showed up and ran a big race. Unfortunately, somebody else had a little more kick to come and grab her at the end. That’s why I’d like to take her down to the flat mile.”

The versatile Foxy Junior reeled off three consecutive stakes victories to close out her 2024 campaign, including victories in the restricted Maryland Million Distaff at seven furlongs and the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.

A 5-year-old homebred mare by Cuba owned by Dianne Stern, Foxy Junior has won one of four starts this year. She finished fifth of seven when making her turf debut last month at Penn National.

“She’s come back good [this year],” said trainer Bernie Houghton. “I have not had the opportunity to really run her the way I wanted to. A couple of stakes that I was pointing to got canceled in Pennsylvania. It threw me off my schedule a little bit. She’s really coming into this race good. I love the run of the mile out of the chute.”

Corningstone ran third, 1 ¼-lengths behind runner-up Wild About Hilary, in the Iowa Distaff. Trainer Kenny McPeek believes the time between starts helps the 5-year-old Kantharos mare.

“She just does really well when you space her races,” McPeek said. “I think this race could be one of her good ones. She has an Indiana-bred race on the calendar in October. We’ll probably go here, then come back in four weeks. She's been rock-solid her entire career. We've chipped away at a lot of black type, and we want to add a bit more.

Low Country Magic and Runaway Diva also entered.

Twixt, a foal of 1969 by Restless Native, was named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year in 1973 and 1974. Her major victories include the Grade 1 Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct, the Grade 2 Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park, the Grade 2 Susquehanna Handicap at Liberty Bell, and back-to-back wins in the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel Park.

She retired with 26 wins from 70 starts and earned $619,141. At the time of her retirement, Twixt was Maryland’s all-time money-winning mare and had won more stakes, 18, than any other Maryland-bred in history.

The Twixt is the eighth race on a nine-race program. The first post time is 12:10 ET. Laurel Park offers a low 12% takeout on two “Value Pick 5” wagers throughout the afternoon and will host a special Labor Day BBQ event for on-track customers.