Saturday, July 15 Program Includes Pair of $100,000 Grass Stakes

LAUREL, MD – Grade 3 winner Dr B and multiple stakes winners Award Wanted, Falconet, defending champion Hybrid Eclipse and Malibu Beauty are among 22 horses nominated to the $100,000 Caesar’s Wish Saturday, July 15 at Laurel Park.

The one-mile Caesar’s Wish for fillies and mares 3 and up will be joined by a pair of $100,000 stakes scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on the grass – the Prince George’s County for 3-year-olds and up and Big Dreyfus for fillies and mares 3 and older.

In her only prior try at one mile, Cash is King and LC Racing’s Dr B was a front-running 4 ¼-length winner over nine rivals in the Go for Wand (G3) at Aqueduct to cap a 2022 campaign where she placed in two other stakes. This year the 5-year-old mare was second as the favorite in the 6 ½-furlong Vagrancy (G3) May 14 and fourth to Goodnight Olive in the seven-furlong Bed o’Roses (G2) June 17, both at Belmont Park.

WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.’s Falconet has been first or second in eight of 10 career starts, exiting a fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Allaire du Pont May 19 at historic Pimlico Race Course for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. The Grade 3-placed daughter of champion Uncle Mo won the Top Flight Invitational and Ladies last year at Aqueduct, both going nine furlongs.

The Elkstone Group’s Hybrid Eclipse, from the barn of Maryland’s leading trainer, Brittany Russell, captured last year’s Caesar’s Wish by 3 ¾ lengths. She would go on to win the Thirty Eight Go Go in November and the Nellie Morse to open her 5-year-old season Feb. 18, both at Laurel. Most recently she ran third in the May 27 Obeah at Delaware Park, a race she used as a prep for the 2022 Caesar’s Wish.

ZWP Stable, Inc. and Non Stop Stable’s Malibu Beauty is a four-time stakes winner including a 7 ¾-length score in the 1 1/8-mile Carousel last December at Laurel. Unraced since running third in the one-mile Geisha for Maryland-bred/sired horses Jan. 21 at Laurel, she is entered in Friday’s six-furlong Dashing Beauty at Delaware.

No Guts No Glory Farm and Erica Upton’s Award Wanted was a 5 ¾-length winner of the Geisha for trainer Jerry Robb. The 6-year-old mare ran second in the Nellie Morse and third in the Conniver and Heavenly Cause, all at Laurel, before her determined nose victory in the Obeah.

Also among the nominees are Grade 3-placed Beguine and stakes winners Deco Strong and Misty Mauve.

Mark Grier’s defending champion Eons tops 24 nominations to the Prince George’s County. Eons finished second in last year’s edition but was elevated to the win following the disqualification of first-place finisher English Tavern. Eons’ five stakes wins include Delaware’s 2019 Kent (G3). He most recently ran third behind Arnaud Delacour-trained stablemate and fellow nominee Doctor Davis in a stakes-level optional claiming allowance going 1 1/16 miles June 17 on the Laurel turf.

Trainer Graham Motion nominated four horses – Grade 3 winner English Bee; two-time group-stakes winner Pao Alto; English Group 2 winner Royal Patronage; and Sy Dog, back-to-back winner of Aqueduct’s 2021 Central Park and Keeneland’s 2022 Transylvania (G3) that is unraced since last August.

Other prominent nominees include multiple dirt stakes winner Armando R; stakes winners Camp Hope and Sky’s Not Falling; and Doppelganger, upset winner of the seven-furlong Carter (G1) over Aqueduct’s main track two starts back that has yet to race on grass.

Most popular among horsemen with 40 nominations is the Big Dreyfus, eight of them coming from Motion, including Amani’s Image, a last out winner on the Pimlico turf May 20; multiple stakes winner Bipartisanship; 2022 Tropical Park Oaks winner Candy Light; 2022 Valley View (G3) winner Sparkle Blue; Sister Otoole, a stakes winner that has placed in three Grade 3 stakes and has yet to race in 2023; Thegirlfromireland, a popular June 23 turf allowance winner at Laurel; and multiple stakes winner Vergara, most recently third in the June 17 Eatontown (G3) at Monmouth Park.

Christophe Clement-trained Atomic Blonde is a Group 3 winner in Italy that has made three U.S. starts this year, running third in Gulfstream Park’s Orchid (G3) and Belmont’s Sheepshead Bay (G2). Clement also nominated Canisy and 2022 Wonder Again (G2) runner-up Myriskyaffair, who respectively ran 1-2 in a Belmont allowance May 19.

NRS Stable, James Chambers and Avalon Farm’s Coconut Cake became a stakes winner in the 1 1/8-mile Maryland Million Ladies on the Laurel turf last fall after placing twice in both dirt and grass stakes. The 6-year-old mare came from well back to post a three-quarter-length victory in the six-furlong Jameela July 1 at Laurel.

Also among the nominees are Deciding Vote, the 2022 Dahlia winner at Laurel that ran second in last year’s Big Dreyfus; and Kate’s Kingdom, winner of the 2022 Ontario Matron (G3) on Woodbine’s all-weather surface.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Sunday, July 9 for all three stakes.