Yedsit Hazlewood wins Winter Meet riding title
Jamie Ness tops Winter Meet trainer standings

LAUREL, MD—Although top rider Yedsit Hazlewood is the apprentice jockey who gets the most attention at Laurel Park, Jose Vargas is quietly building his reputation.

Since the start of the month, Vargas has won 13 races from 49 mounts at Laurel, including Kuaga, the upsetter in today’s co-featured seventh race, a $50,000 optional claiming event for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.

Vargas’s strong March vaulted him into third in the jockey standings behind Hazlewood and veteran Angel Cruz.

A native of Venezuela, Vargas started riding in the United States in 2024, winning with two of his three mounts. In his first full season last year, Vargas rode 18 winners for earnings of $615,262, and drew some attention here in Maryland.

“He went to Tampa last year, rode some at Delaware, and came here in the fall,” his agent Kevin Witte said after Vargas rode three winners at Laurel on March 14. “He’s young, and he’s learning every day, and he’s improving all the time. I think he has a bright future.”

Despite being one of only two multiple-race winners in the field, Kuaga was largely overlooked by bettors. She was 20-1 at post time and the only horse in the race with odds in the double digits.

On paper, the race was loaded with early speed, but Honor Roll was the swiftest of them all. She outsprinted Kuaga to the early lead while racing well off the rail, and set an opening fraction of 22.84 seconds while pressured from the inside by Sweet Shenanigans and Jupiter’s Jubilee.

Meanwhile, Vargas, who has impressed spectators with his patient handling of horses, eased Kuaga back and to the outside for a clear run. Honor Roll sparred with a rail-skimming Sweet Shenanigans through a half mile in 46.46 seconds, but Vargas had Kuaga on the move with a three-wide bid.

Kuaga moved past Honor Roll and kept going, winning by 3 ¼ lengths in 1:12.29 on a fast track. Favorite Our Golden Gator rallied for second, two lengths ahead of Sweet Shenanigans. Tacit Value, Honor Roll, and Juniper’s Jubilee were next. Rerun Table and Slewperstitus scratched.

“I told [Vargas] in the paddock to sit off [Honor Roll],” said trainer Kieron Magee. “At the three-eighths pole, I thought [we were in good shape].”

Magee claimed Kuaga for $25,000 on behalf of Mike Coombs’s Super C Racing from a winning effort at Laurel on February 22.

“I’m down to 18-20 horses,” Magee continued. “I asked [Coombs] if he wanted some action. He told me to take her.”

Kuaga was bred in Maryland by Flying H Stables. She is by Golden Lad out of Imagine a Star, by Can the Man. A $7,500 buyback as a yearling, she raced ten times for trainer Bobby Leaf’s Leaf Stable before being acquired by Super C. Magee believes Kuaga will race at this level again next time, possibly for the $62,500 claiming option.

Vargas, a well-known gym enthusiast who trains for hours every day, is expected to spend much of his summer at Delaware Park.

“He is getting so much better,” Magee said about Vargas. “I told him once [Hazlewood loses the bug], that [he’s] in.”

*Yedsit Hazlewood wins Winter Meet riding title

Yedsit Hazlewood, the runner-up in last year’s Eclipse Award balloting for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, easily secured the Laurel Park winter meet riding title.

Hazlewood won 51 races at the meet, 29 more than Angel Cruz.

Originally from Panama, Hazlewood, 18, missed a couple of months due to injuries from an automobile accident, yet still achieved 137 victories in 2025, earning $4,451,869.

He earned his first riding title last summer at the Maryland State Fair Meet in Timonium and finished the racing season as the leader in the standings at Laurel Park’s Fall Meeting.

Hazlewood started 2026 just as strongly as he finished last year, currently ranking second in the nation in wins.

Agent John DiNitale represents Hazlewood.

*Jamie Ness tops winter meet trainer standings

For the fourth consecutive year, Jamie Ness captured the Winter Meet training title.

Ness, the winningest trainer in the country last year, notched 18 victories, three more than both Hugh McMahon and Jose Corrales.

Ness, 51, from Heron, South Carolina, has now earned eight training titles in Maryland. He started Sunday’s card with 4,952 lifetime victories and became the 16th trainer in history to reach 4,000 wins in North America.

*Around the track:

Live racing resumes on Friday for the opening day of the Laurel Park Spring Meeting. It features a seven-race card with two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each offering a low 12% takeout rate.

The free “Laurel Park Handicapping Guide” is available on every race day. It provides picks, analysis, trainer stats, trip notes, horses to watch, track bias info, and more from The Maryland Jockey Club’s team of handicappers. Friday’s guide is available on Thursday evening. Click here to view it.

Laurel Park has live racing on Friday and Saturday, but will be closed on Easter Sunday.

Reserve your spot for our weekly “Bubbly Brunch Sundays.” Relax with friends over delicious brunch favorites and bottomless mimosas at our vibrant Stone Bar Restaurant and Bar. Sunday Brunch starts at 11:00 am ET. Learn more here.

Never miss a second of the action on the Laurel Park YouTube channel. Click here to watch full pan and head-on replays.

Watch “Today at the Races,” the Maryland Jockey Club’s morning handicapping show every racing day at 11 am ET on the Maryland Jockey Club X account. Click here to watch.