Takethemoneyhoney favored in Geisha
Hold Your Breath ships sharp for What a Summer Overnight Handicap
Competitive group lines up for Fire Plug Overnight Handicap

LAUREL, MD—Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, and Heather Hunter’s Quint’s Brew, an eight-length winner of last year’s Jennings Stakes, defends his title in Saturday’s renewal, one of four $100,000 races on the ten-race program at Laurel Park.

The first post time is 12 pm ET, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout.

The Jennings is run over a one-turn mile and is open to 4-year-olds and older, bred or sired in Maryland or Virginia.

Quint’s Brew parlayed his Jennings victory into a 5 1/2-length romp in the General George Stakes, one of the signature races of the winter season. He then finished a close second in two graded stakes in New York before heading to the sidelines for the summer and fall.

“After his last two races in New York, we had a minor issue, but we decided to give him a little time off because he had run really hard,” Allard said before Quint’s Brew’s return race, the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Stakes at Laurel on December 20. “He’s a really nice horse.”

Quint’s Brew finished second in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial, three lengths behind Slam Notion.

“That was the worst racing luck I’ve had in a long time,” Allard said earlier this week. “He was sitting behind the three top horses, and when we looked to swing around them at the half-mile pole, [Bold Diversion] came up outside of him, and we had nowhere to go for nearly a quarter to three-eighths of a mile. The rider had to worry about clipping heels. He had a ton of horse. I think I ran the best horse, but the best horse doesn’t always win.”

Allard is pleased with Quint’s Brew’s preparation for the Jennings.

“He’s training dynamite,” Allard gushed. “He doesn’t need fast works because if you let him out a notch, he’ll go from maybe a little slow to too fast. He’s not an easy horse to rate because he has a lot of talent and wants to show off. Fast works don’t pay you. You just got to keep them happy.”

Quint’s Brew is listed as the 4/5 favorite on the morning line set by Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa. Jockey Yedsit Hazlewood, Maryland’s leading rider in 2025 and a finalist for the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, rides Quint’s Brew for the first time.

PrepsToThePros Racing Stables’ Maclean’s Rook began his career with three starts on turf, but he’s won his first two dirt races by a combined 13 ½ lengths, including a 7 ¼-length romp in a first-level allowance on December 6. The 4-year-old gelding by Maclean’s Music earned a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure that day.

“I don’t think we’ll see him back on the turf,” joked Tana Aubrey, assistant to trainer Michael Trombetta.

Bold Diversion bounced back from his third-place finish in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial, winning a second-level allowance race over six furlongs on January 9. With experience winning around two turns, he could benefit from racing at the longer mile distance for owner-trainer Joanne Shankle.

DEA Thoroughbred Racing’s Blue Kingdom rebounded from a third-place finish in the Milton P. Higgins III Maryland Million Classic, winning a first-level allowance on November 15 with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. He showed his usual early speed in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial before fading to fourth. Jamie Ness trains the 5-year-old gelding.

J R Sanchez Racing Stable’s Hittheroadjak placed second behind Quint’s Brew in last year’s Jennings. The hardy gelding started 12 times in 2025, finishing third in the Richard W. Small Stakes on November 27. He then faced two top local Maryland-breds, Post Time and Barbadian Runner, and finished fifth in the Robert T. Manfuso Stakes on December 20.

Formal Affair, Cap Com, and Roll On Jesse complete the field.

The Jennings honors William Jennings Sr., one of Maryland’s greatest horsemen, whose Glengar Farm was six miles from historic Pimlico Race Course. Jennings bred, owned, and trained Dunboyne, the 1887 Preakness winner. His grandson, Henry S. Clark, followed in his footsteps and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1982.

*Takethemoneyhoney favored in Geisha

If not for a nose loss in a first-level allowance at Aqueduct and a head defeat in Laurel’s Willa On the Move Stakes, Kasey K Racing Stable, Michael R. Day, and Final Turn Racing Stables’ Takethemoneyhoney would be unbeaten in seven starts.

Partly because of that gaudy winning percentage, Takethemoneyhoney was installed as DeRosa’s even-money morning-line favorite in the one-mile Geisha for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and older, bred or sired in Maryland or Virginia.

After that tough beat in the Willa On the Move, Takethemoneyhoney returned to Laurel Park on December 20 and won the restricted Politely Stakes at six furlongs, posting a co-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She got in behind,” trainer Mike Moore said, watching the Politely replay on the infield toteboard. “It looked like she was getting a good trip, but then all of a sudden she wasn't. [jockey] Eliseo [Ruiz] did a good job. By the quarter pole, he had to go and find a way out of there. He angled her out and got her into the clear. She’s just a racehorse. She’s game for sure.”

Moore doesn’t mind stretching Takethemoneyhoney out in distance for the Geisha.

“It's a good spot,” he remarked. “She certainly fits well with the Maryland-breds. She's been able to stretch out in the past. You'd think that coming off the sprint should place her pretty well in the race, somewhere near the front, obviously."

Although Takethemoneyhoney hasn’t posted a timed workout since the Politely, Moore is happy with her fitness level.

"You don't have to do too much with her,” he noted. “She stays fit. She's got so much talent. That usually takes care of most of it.”

Trainer Brittany Russell entered two mares off lengthy layoffs. Oncourtcommentator hasn’t started since finishing second in last year’s Geisha. A 5-year-old homebred owned by The Elkstone Group, Oncourtcommentator made three of her first four starts on turf before finding her niche on the main track.

Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds’ Northern Glow raced only three times last year because foot issues forced Russell to give her time off. The 2024 Geisha runner-up returns to the races for the first time since her second-level allowance victory at Pimlico on May 11.

Spencerian has come a long way since being claimed by trainer Hugh McMahon for owner Larry Rabold for $16,000 on September 1, 2023. The Irish War Cry mare won the restricted Politely Stakes the following year and has placed in two other stakes races.

"We didn't know [when we claimed her], but she was compromised behind," McMahon said in the winner's circle after the Politely. "We sent her away to rest, and she got better. We didn't do any real diagnostics, but we thought it was a fractured hip."

Spencerian makes her third start of the form cycle on Saturday. She finished fifth of six in a second-level allowance race on November 28.

Richard Harris’s Late Nite Call, the recent runner-up in the Carousel Stakes on December 20, is a “possible” starter, according to trainer Niall Saville, who prefers to run the filly over two turns but would also like to keep her on a monthly racing schedule.

Shankle’s stakes-winning Kissedbyanangel looks to return to form after finishing sixth of eight in a second-level allowance race on December 19.

Navani, Ecliptical Gina, and Concrete Faze are also expected.

The race is named for one of the most important broodmares in racing history, Alfred G. Vanderbilt’s Geisha. A Maryland-bred daughter of Discovery out of Miyako, by John P. Grier, Geisha was foaled in 1943 at her breeder’s Sagamore Farm in Glyndon. Bred to Preakness winner Polynesian, she produced Native Dancer in 1950, one of the greatest racehorses and sires of the 20th century.

*Hold Your Breath ships sharp for What a Summer Overnight Handicap

"All systems go," said trainer John Servis of Hold Your Breath, the 3/2 morning-line favorite in the $100,000 What a Summer Overnight Handicap for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and older, at six furlongs.

Hold Your Breath, a hulking daughter of McKinzie owned by Main Line Racing Stable and Avalon Racing Stables, has won her last two starts in front-running fashion, including Aqueduct’s Garland of Roses Stakes on December 7.

"She has a lot of speed, and she knows how to use it," Servis said. "She doesn't have to be in front."

Hold Your Breath only recently returned to dirt after five attempts on turf and synthetic tracks.

“She broke her maiden pretty impressively [on dirt],” said Servis. “I took her to [Florida], and she got off badly and was hustled pretty hard, and she just kind of caved in. We gave her some time off, and she worked really, really well on the grass. So I took her to Saratoga and tried her on the grass, and she won, and I kinda got locked in thinking that’s what she wanted. She’s got that really good speed, just not that five-furlong turf speed.”

Servis noted that Hold Your Breath is “carrying some extra weight” since the Garland of Roses and “looking good” in her morning preparations.

LC Racing’s Disco Ebo, a two-time winner of Laurel’s Primonetta Stakes, makes her 7-year-old debut. She is by Weigelia out of the wonderfully productive mare Katarica Disco, who has also produced stakes winners Fore Harp, Smooth B, and Fat Kat, along with stakes-placed performers Pink Princess and Disco Rose.

Disco Ebo makes her first start since finishing fourth in the restricted Unique Bella Stakes at Parx on June 15. On that day, the speedy mare broke more than seven lengths behind the field but still made up ground late.

“She had a little bit of a rundown issue last year,” said trainer Butch Reid. “That’s what prompted the time off. Nothing too severe. She’s really happy and coming into this race just like we want.”

Like Hold Your Breath, Disco Ebo is fast from the gate but doesn’t necessarily need to lead.

McMahon entered Rabold’s uncoupled entry, Think Fast and Passage East. The former, a 4-year-old filly by Candy Ride, was privately purchased after winning two in a row in Illinois by a combined 30 lengths. She finished a strong second in the Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel on November 29.

Passage East, a 4-year-old filly by Audible, enters stakes company for the first time after winning three of her last four starts, including a high-level allowance on November 30.

Dwelling Legacy, Bolt Enoree (stakes-placed), and Vieux Carre complete the field.

The What A Summer is named in honor of What A Summer, a celebrated Maryland-bred gray mare and champion sprinter who won the Eclipse Award for American Champion Sprint Horse in 1977.

*Competitive group lines up for Fire Plug Overnight Handicap

The Fire Plug Overnight Handicap for 4-year-olds and up at 6 ½ furlongs is arguably the best betting race on the competitive card.

Petingas Twin, the 5/2 morning-line favorite, has won his last two races, including the Dave’s Friend Stakes on Nov. 22. He races for owner James Wolf and trainer Anthony Farrior, who claimed the now 5-year-old gelding for $20,000 from his career debut in 2023.

“I have to give the owner all the credit on this one,” Farrior said in the winner’s circle after the Dave’s Friend. “He likes the Take Charge Indys. First-time starter. I think it was a ten-way shake. We were lucky to get him.”

Petingas Twin seemingly found his stride last year, winning three consecutive starts, including a 10-length romp in an allowance race at Delaware on June 7. However, his form soon plateaued, and Farrior decided to geld him earlier this summer.

Farrior explained, "He handles turns much better now. We believed gelding him would improve his smoothness behind. Interestingly, he’s been more aggressive in the mornings since the procedure. When he was a stud, he would tie up, but he’s doing much better with that now."

Moore entered two sprinters. Grade 1-placed Twisted Ride, a multiple stakes winner with $786,488 in career earnings, bested a high-level allowance field at Parx on December 8. He is owned by Kasey K Racing Stable, Michael Day, and Final Turn Racing Stables.

“If you put him in the right spots and manage him well, he just tries, basically every time he goes over there,” Moore said admiringly.

Moore claimed One More Scoop on May 17 on behalf of Hardesty Stables, Kasey K Racing Stable, and Michael Day for a whopping $100,000.

“He’d run some really big numbers,” Moore said. “He’s a Pennsylvania-bred. At Parx, they make quite a bit of money.”

The 7-year-old gelding finished fourth for the $100,000 tag on June 17, then last of six in a high-level allowance at Parx on July 15.

“In the [first] race, he had a heat problem, and after that he had another problem, so that’s why he had the time off,” Moore explained. “In this race on Saturday, we were looking for a place to run and get him started again. He’s in kind of light, and we also use Lasix.”

New York-based trainer Michelle Nevin ships Full Moon Madness for the Fire Plug. The winner of Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Tom Fool Stakes last year, Full Moon Madness drops in class after two Grade 3 starts in New York. Most recently, he finished last of five in the Elite Power Stakes on December 6.

Allard sends out Stonehedge’s Dean Delivers, the winner of the 2024 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel. The 7-year-old has been on an eight-race losing streak since September 2024.

“He had such a big year,” Allard said of the 2024 campaign. “He started back on a good, sound, happy note, but he seemed to lose a bit of his racing edge. His last race was a big improvement, and he’s feeling dynamite. I think he’s got a shot.”

On Your Left Racing’s Chipotle, a Minnesota-bred gelding by Mitole, earned a career-high 90 Beyer Speed Figure by wiring a high-level allowance group on December 21.

"He's just a little guy, but he's tough,” trainer Michael Gorham said after that victory. "That was a great race. [Runner-up Prince of Jericho] collared him, and then he dug in and gutted it out."

Stakes-winning Point Dume, stakes-placed performers S S Sinatra and On the Mark, and second-level allowance winner Latta also entered the Fire Plug.

Fire Plug was a stakes winner every year from age 3 to 7. The popular gelding won or placed in 49 of 54 career starts, with half of his 28 victories in stakes. He was twice graded-stakes placed, including the 1991 Grade 2 General George, and retired later that year at age 8 with $705,175 in purse earnings.