Takethemoneyhoney favored in Heavenly Cause
Ness hopes Wild Vine blooms in Native Dancer
Twirling Beauty steps up in Primonetta

LAUREL, MD—Owned by Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, and Heather Hunter, Quint’s Brew was named the morning line favorite at 8/5 by Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa for Saturday’s Frank Y. Whiteley Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at seven furlongs.

The Frank Y. Whiteley is one of four $100,000 stakes on Laurel’s 11-race card. The first post is at noon, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout rate.

After Quint’s Brew finished third as the odds-on favorite in the $200,000 General George Stakes at Laurel Park on Valentine’s Day, trainer Ned Allard had an epiphany.

“He’s a horse that you need to be a little patient with,” Allard explained before Quint’s Brew’s start in last month’s restricted Not For Love Stakes. “He doesn’t like being spanked on his rear end with the whip. You can tap him on his neck, encourage him a little, but he’s one of the horses that is giving you everything he’s got. When you reach back and get him behind, he always ducks out a little bit, and he changes his lead. It throws him off.”

Allard assigned Forest Boyce to ride Quint’s Brew in the Not For Love, and the veteran jockey followed instructions perfectly. Quint’s Brew took the lead on a muddy track, faced strong pressure from Blue Kingdom, and fought back gamely.

“Knowing that you can’t hit him once, that was a little nerve-wracking,” Boyce admitted about the stretch drive. “You hate to get beat, and the public is probably watching and going ‘hit the horse’. It’s a hard thing to resist.”

Boyce keeps the mount on Quint’s Brew. They’ll break from post seven.

“[Blue Kingdom] ran at us like he was going to go by,” Allard said earlier this week. “He got right to us, and [Quint’s Brew] just dug in. He’s a game racehorse.”

Quint’s Brew was also entered in Saturday’s Grade 2 Carter at Aqueduct, but the connections opted to run at Laurel.

“I only [entered the Carter] because you never know who might show up, and you never know about post positions, and I thought I should play it out. But, I’m coming to [Laurel].”

DEA Thoroughbred Racing’s Blue Kingdom will face Quint’s Brew again in the Frank Y. Whiteley. The 5-year-old finished behind Quint’s Brew in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial on December 20 and was nosed out by that rival in the Jennings Stakes on January 17.

He outfinished Quint’s Brew for second in the General George before narrowly losing in the Not For Love.

“I thought we had him,” trainer Jamie Ness said. “Hats off to Quint’s Brew. I think we got to him, and maybe put a head in front. He came back and beat us at the wire. Hopefully, it’s our time to turn the tables, but it’s turned into a nice rivalry.”

Yedsit Hazlewood, Maryland’s top rider last year, takes the mount from post three.

Worcester won this race last year when trained by Brittany Russell. He was claimed by trainer Kieron Magee on behalf of owner D. David Moose for $40,000 from a winning effort on December 21.

“He is the coolest horse,” Magee said after Worcester posted a last-to-first victory in a high-level allowance at six furlongs on February 12. “He goes out in the morning and does everything right.”

Magee believes that seven furlongs might be even better for the 6-year-old son of Empire Maker. Martin Chuan rides from post four.

Multiple stakes-placed Bold Diversion, Grade 3-placed Counterspy, and stakes-winner Crab Daddy also entered the Frank Y. Whiteley.

Point Dume, the winner of the General George, will scratch and run in the Carter, according to David Bushey of Bush Racing Stable.

The Whiteley honors the Centreville, Maryland native best known as the trainer of Ruffian, one of the greatest fillies of all time, as well as fellow legends Damascus, Forego, and the 1965 Preakness winner Tom Rolfe. Whiteley joined Ruffian and Damascus in racing’s Hall of Fame in 1978, followed by Forego in 1979. He retired in 1984 after a career spanning six decades and passed away in Camden, South Carolina, in 2008 at age 93.

*Takethemoneyhoney favored in Heavenly Cause

If not for two noses here and a head there, Takethemoneyhoney would be unbeaten after ten starts.

Owned by Kasey K Racing Stable, Michael Day, and Final Turn Racing Stable, Takethemoneyhoney is the 4/5 morning line favorite in the Heavenly Cause Stakes for fillies and mares at one mile.

A 5-year-old mare by Golden Lad, Takethemoneyhoney, rebounded from a nose defeat in the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes on February 14 to dominate the restricted Conniver Stakes on March 7.

“She got the job done,” trainer Michael Moore said after the Conniver. “She’s just a nice mare. She tries every time.”

Takethemoneyhoney also entered Saturday’s Grade 3 Distaff at Aqueduct but will run here, per Moore. Eliseo Ruiz keeps the mount from post six.

Although a heavy favorite on the morning line, Takethemoneyhoney faces strong competition in the Heavenly Cause.

Atlantis Queen has captured two of her last three starts for Jon Madden’s Pocket 3’s Racing, including a 4 ¼-length triumph in the Nellie Morse Stakes on February 14. Hazlewood rides from post five for trainer Gary Capuano.

Golden Lion Racing’s Complexity Jane, a three-time stakes winner, aims to rebound after finishing fourth in the Nellie Morse. Brittany Russell, Maryland’s leading trainer for the past three years, saddles the 4-year-old filly, who will break from the rail with Sheldon Russell aboard.

Ms Notion’s story has been one of patience and perseverance. Owned by Maury Povich’s Mopo Racing and trained by Phil Capuano, Ms Notion was one of the most talented juvenile fillies to race at Laurel in 2024.

“Since the beginning, as a 2-year-old, she really separated herself early on,” Phil Capuano said on Thursday morning. “Even around May or June of 2024, she was outworking stake horses and showing everything that you wanted to see out of a nice 2-year-old.”

Capuano said that Ms Notion had some splint issues that delayed her debut, but it was worth the wait because she won an open maiden special weight by four lengths on November 15.

Ms Notion entered the restricted Maryland Juvenile Filly Stakes 22 days later but stumbled at the start and lost her rider shortly after breaking from the rail post.

“I gave her a little bit of time after that,” Capuano added. “She was ready to run last June when she came up with some pretty bad bone bruising. It’s been a long journey, frustrating, but when they have that kind of talent, you try to give them every opportunity to make it to the races. I give Maury all the credit in the world. He’s been incredibly patient.”

Ms Notion finished third in her long-awaited return to the races on February 15 of this year, then surged to a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure by winning an open first-level allowance on March 15. It was an emotional moment for Capuano.

“Everybody has put a lot of work in,” Capuano explained. “Between the exercise riders, the grooms, the hotwalkers, even the guys on the gate [crew]. They’re the unsung heroes, everyone who puts in the day-to-day work with these horses.”

Ms Notion will attempt the mile distance for the first time on Saturday.

“I’ve always thought she could handle the distance,” said Capuano. “She always gallops out strong. The further she goes, the more she seems to want to cover ground, especially in her morning workouts. Breeding-wise, being out of a Not For Love mare, I always thought distance shouldn’t be a problem for her. She’s kind of a big, heavy filly, so that’s the only thing that sits in my mind.”

Boyce rides Ms Notion from post two.

Boutwell Time, cross-entered in the Distaff, and stakes-winner Kissedbyanangel complete the field.

The Heavenly Cause is named for the champion 2-year-old filly in 1980. Heavenly Cause won the Grade 1 Selima Stakes that year and took the Kentucky Oaks as a 3-year-old. A Maryland-bred daughter of Grey Dawn II, Heavenly Cause was trained by Hall of Famer Woody Stephens.

*Ness hopes Wild Vine blooms in Native Dancer

Ness was impressed with Wild Vine’s five-furlong bullet workout on March 28 and hopes the 7-year-old gelding will keep improving in the Native Dancer Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles.

“He and Blue Kingdom worked together,” Ness stated. “Blue Kingdom had to really work, and Wild Vine was in hand.”

Ness claimed Wild Vine on behalf of his Jagger Inc. operation, in partnership with Super C Racing, for $55,000 last year.

The Pennsylvania-bred has run nine times for Ness, and has never finished off the board, placing in three stakes, and winning his most recent race, a high-level allowance at Parx on March 13.

“He’s just been a top-notch, consistent horse,” Ness said admiringly. “He never throws a bad one. The horse is doing really good. I expect a big effort from him, for sure.”

Hazlewood rides Wild Vine, the 5/2 morning line favorite, from post six.

Wild Vine is a true rags-to-riches story.

“I got this horse for nothing,” former trainer Flint Stites said in the Laurel Park winner’s circle after Wild Vine won a high-level allowance race on January 26, 2025, two starts before being claimed by Ness. “I had a friend of mine set me up with this horse when he was a yearling. He was turned out in a field in Kentucky and was still on his mother with another mare. He had never been touched by human hands.”

Several horses with Triple Crown experience entered the Native Dancer.

Multiple stakes-winning Pay Billy finished seventh in last year’s Preakness Stakes. Owned by RKTN Racing and trained by Michael Gorham, Pay Billy returned to the winner’s circle after a strong allowance win on February 27.

“He's mellowed out a lot,” Gorham said after that race. “He's a big colt, and he doesn't really act like one. He does whatever you want him to do. Like, in the paddock, he's all laid back.”

Regular rider Raul Mena will be aboard from post nine.

Andrew and Rania Warren’s Raise Cain won the Grade 3 Gotham, two races before finishing eighth in the 2023 Kentucky Derby. Transferred to trainer Brittany Russell’s care last year, Raise Cain won a high-level allowance race on December 28, then finished third in his 2026 debut, the Royal New Kent Stakes at Colonial Downs on March 14.

Sheldon Russell rides from post eight.

After winning the Grade 3 Withers Stakes, Michael Milam and LC Racing’s Uncle Heavy eventually finished sixth in the 2024 Preakness for trainer Butch Reid.

Uncle Heavy missed over a year of racing before returning to action last Christmas Eve. He finished third in his most recent start, a high-level allowance at Parx on February 11.

Late Nite Call, a multiple stakes-placed filly, entered against the boys in the Native Dancer alongside stakes-placed Warp Nine and multiple stakes-placed Xcellent Start. Over and Ollie was also cross-entered in Aqueduct’s Excelsior Stakes.

Otello will scratch and instead race in the Excelsior, per trainer Rob Atras.

The Native Dancer Stakes will honor the legendary career of Alfred Vanderbilt’s Hall of Famer. Native Dancer had an outstanding racing career from 1952 to 1954. He won 21 of his 22 starts, including the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1953. The magnificent son of Polynesian lost only once, finishing a neck behind Dark Star in the Kentucky Derby. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1963. After retiring, Native Dancer stood at Sagamore Farm in Baltimore County, where he sired 45 stakes winners. He passed away in 1967 and is buried at Sagamore Farm.

*Twirling Beauty steps up in Primonetta

Following a 5 ½-length victory in a high-level allowance at Aqueduct on February 21, Twirling Beauty will ship to Laurel Park for the Primonetta Stakes, a six-furlong race for fillies and mares.

Twirling Beauty is owned by Adelphi Racing Club, Anthony Amarosa, Russell and Shelly Hume, and Anthony Peters Jr., and is trained by David Duggan.

“You revert back to the wet track, and [wonder] if that moved her forward,” Duggan said Wednesday morning, referencing the fact that both of Twirling Beauty’s fastest dirt Beyer Speed Figures came on wet footing. “I think she just likes a tight track.”

Although eligible to participate with Lasix under the permitted conditions, Duggan chose to compete without the administration of the medication.

“I think it was a prime factor,” Duggan said. “She was having little electrolyte issues from the race prior to that. By taking her off Lasix, it helped to rectify that.”

Twirling Beauty is listed at 7/2 on the morning line and will start from post two with jockey Jevian Toledo.

“This is the next logical step,” Duggan said. “A little deeper water without getting too crazy. Hopefully, she can pass the test. She seems like she’s trending in the right direction.”

Dwelling Legacy appears to be a strong contender for Gary Capuano and owner Frank Perri’s Pinochle Partners.

The 5-year-old Blofeld mare enters the Primonetta after finishing second behind the heavily favored Takethemoneyhoney in the Conniver.

Life hasn’t always been smooth for Dwelling Legacy.

“Her mom colicked the day she was born, and I had to get a nurse mare,” Perri explained following Dwelling Legacy’s allowance victory at Laurel on February 20. “It was a tough road, but she’s toughened it out and proved her mettle. Gary has done a fantastic job developing this horse. She’s grown up a little, and we were lucky.”

Wondrous, a Godophin homebred and an Uncle Mo half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Maxfield, looks promising for trainer Brendan Walsh after a pace-pressing victory in a first-level allowance at Fair Grounds on February 28.

Wisconsin Gal also entered. Alani will scratch, according to trainer Moore.

The Primonetta is named after the champion handicap mare of 1962, who won or placed in 21 of 25 career starts, including the Alabama, Spinster, and Delaware Oaks. Her victory in the 1960 Marguerite at Pimlico made her the first stakes-winning daughter of Hall of Famer Swaps.