Jump Winner Prayer Hope Ends Layoff in Friday Maiden on Flats
Threes Over Deuces Likely Stakes-Bound Off Gutsy Allowance Win
Triple Carryovers, Stronach 5 When Live Racing Resumes Friday, July 10

LAUREL, MD – Having exited the first loss of his 3-year-old season in good shape, Euro Stable’s multiple stakes winner Lebda is under consideration for the $1 million Haskell (G1) July 18 at Monmouth Park.

Based at Laurel Park with summer meet-leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez, Lebda is among 34 horses nominated to the 1 1/8-mile Haskell, which this year will serve as a points qualifier to the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Gonzalez said he expects to make a decision this week after speaking with Euro’s Valter Ramos, who paid $3,000 by the June 4 deadline to make Lebda a late nominee to the Triple Crown.

“I have to talk to the owner, and we want to see who’s going to come for the Haskell. We might take a look at that race,” Gonzalez said. “You never know. We’re going to see how he continues to do, and then we’ll decide.”

Lebda won the one-mile Miracle Wood and the two-turn Private Terms, contested at about 1 1/16 miles, on his home track over the winter. The latter came March 14, one day before Maryland racing was put on pause for 2 ½ months amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Live racing resumed in Maryland May 30 but with stakes races on hold, Gonzalez targeted the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby (G3) June 27 for Lebda’s return. Sent off as the fourth choice in a field of 13 at odds of 6-1, Lebda pressed an opening quarter in 22.80 seconds and then led after a half in 47.22 before tiring to sixth.

“He came back good,” Gonzalez said. “He went really fast the first quarter; 22 [seconds] for a mile and an eighth is a little too fast.”

Monmouth would be the sixth different track for Lebda, a winner of four of nine career starts with one second and two thirds, both in the stakes – the 1/16-mile Iroquois (G3) last fall in Kentucky and the seven-furlong Heft at Laurel in his juvenile finale.

“I think it would be good because the track over there is always [good] for the speed horses,” Gonzalez said of Monmouth. “You have to be right there. That’s why maybe it fits good for him. We’ll see.”

Gonzalez may have another horse to bring to New Jersey in MCA Racing Stable’s Harpers First Ride, an impressive one-mile allowance winner July 3 at Laurel over a graded-stakes quality field that included Alwaysmining, Cordmaker, Name Changer and Honor the Fleet.

Harpers First Ride is nominated to the 1 1/8-mile Monmouth Cup (G3) on the Haskell undercard. The 4-year-old gelding has won five of seven starts since being haltered by Gonzalez out of a maiden claiming triumph last fall in Kentucky.

“We nominated for the Monmouth Cup and I’m 50-50 to run there,” Gonzalez said. “For now, he’s doing really good and he came back really good from the race. I’m going to take a couple more days to decide. I think this horse will run better going a little longer.”

Harpers First Ride, yet to make his stakes debut, led nearly all the way in his recent 1 ¾-length victory over a quartet that had a combined 15 stakes wins including Name Changer’s 2018 Monmouth Cup score. Last year, Alwaysmining swept Laurel’s series for 3-year-olds and competed in the Preakness (G1) while Cordmaker was beaten two necks when third in the historic Pimlico Special (G3).

“That field was really tough. They are really good horses,” Gonzalez said. “You know what happened with this horse? Every race, he came back better and better. He’s a really cool horse. He’s not crazy. He’s all business. I don’t have any trouble with him at all. He’s doing really good.”

Gonzalez said he was also proud of Magic Stable’s Princess Cadey’s effort in a troubled third-place finish in the July 4 Delaware Oaks (G3), her first race since taking Laurel’s Beyond the Wire March 14.

“I’m very happy with her. She didn’t break that great, and I wanted to see her right there in the clear because always she doesn’t like dirt in the face,” Gonzalez said. “She didn’t break good and she came [from] last and she still finished third. She came back good, and I’m very happy for her and how she ran. She ran big. It wasn’t how I wanted the trip, that’s why I’m so happy for her.”

Jump Winner Prayer Hope Ends Layoff in Friday Maiden on Flats

Jack Fisher, steeplechase racing’s 13-time leading trainer including each of the past eight years, is hoping DASH Stable’s 5-year-old Prayer Hope can transform his successful jump form to the flat – for at least one day, anyway.

Prayer Hope, owned by Fisher’s wife Sheila, drew the rail in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for the All Along layout on Laurel’s world-class turf course Friday, the third of an 11-race program that begins at 12:40 p.m.

It will be just the third career start and the first in 14 months for Prayer Hope since the recently gelded son of prominent sire Tapit – who fetched $700,000 as a yearling in 2016 – broke his maiden over hurdles in May 2018 at Malvern (Pa.).

“He had a little bit of an ankle after his hurdle win. My wife owns him, so she just said to put him away,” Fisher said. “If it was a different owner, I may not have done that.”

Unraced at 2, Prayer Hope debuted on the flat for previous trainer Jonathan Thomas, a former jump rider who worked for Fisher, running third in an August 2018 maiden special weight going 1 1/16 miles on the grass at Monmouth Park. He exited the race with an injury and was later purchased by the Fishers with a jump career in mind.

The coronavirus pandemic altered the steeplechase landscape and forced Fisher to opt for the flats with an eye on the lucrative jump season at Saratoga, which begins July 22.

“The next step will be Saratoga back over jumps,” Fisher said. “So, I’ve always kind of held this in my pocket, a maiden special for him because I think he could maybe go on to another level after that, but use it as a prep for a jump race.”

Listed as the narrow 3-1 second choice on the morning line behind 5-2 Call Me Plucky, Prayer Hope will carry co-topweight of 126 pounds including jockey Forest Boyce in Friday’s race. It is 20 pounds off of his maiden jump win, which came at 2 1/8 miles.

“My jumpers have run well on the flat, and I train them just like the flat horses. It’s the same, really. He worked a half the other day, a little bit slower than I might crank them for a flat horse, but they’re plenty fit enough,” Fisher said. “I hope he wins … which I think he should do.”

Threes Over Deuces Likely Stakes-Bound Off Gutsy Allowance Win

Pocket 3s Racing’s Grade 3-placed Threes Over Deuces may find himself back in stakes company following his gutsy head triumph over Onemoregreattime in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance July 4 at Laurel Park.

Trainer Gary Capuano said 5-year-old Threes Over Deuces, who had run second in his previous three races including the Feb. 15 General George (G3) behind Grade 1-winning millionaire Firenze Fire, was doing well out of his most recent effort.

“He came out great so far,” Capuano said. “He runs hard every time. He got a good trip the other day and it was a nice, salty field and he ran great. He ran phenomenal. We were tickled to death. I was glad to see him win after all those seconds.”

The third-richest progeny by three-time Grade 1-winning multi-millionaire Flat Out with $106,660 in purse earnings, Threes Over Deuces has been in the money in 22 of 28 career starts including five wins and 12 seconds. He has finished third or better in 15 consecutive races dating back to last February.

“He brings it every time. He’s pretty good about that, against anybody. He’s run against some pretty nice horses and he gives it his all. He’s just gotten beat by better horses, but other than that he’s right there,” Capuano said. “I think he’s as good as he’s ever been. He seems like it.”

His most recent win came over a field that included Lewisfield, a four-time Laurel stakes winner making his season debut, 2019 Maryland Million Sprint winner Taco Supream and 2019 Jim McKay Turf Sprint winner Completed Pass.

In addition to the General George, Threes Over Deuces has placed in four other stakes including the Fire Plug Jan. 18 at Laurel, where he was beaten a neck by Grade 3-placed Honor the Fleet.

“I haven’t gotten past this race yet. Obviously now that he’s got that condition out of the way you’ve pretty much got to run in a stake somewhere it looks like unless they write an open allowance race, which they’ve been trying to do here and there,” Capuano said. “Possibly Delaware, possibly Monmouth. There’s options out there, I just haven’t really looked at them all.”

Five-pound apprentice Victor Rosales has been aboard for each of Threes Over Deuce’s last four starts. He has five wins from 43 mounts at Laurel’s current summer stand after winning 54 races in 2019, his first full year of riding.

“He tries hard. He helps me out in the mornings and he knows the horse. When he ran in the General George, I really didn’t have a rider and the New York riders didn’t want to ride him so I said, ‘You know what? This kid’s ridden him perfect twice so why not give him a shot?’” Capuano said. “The owner was great with that so we put Rosales on him and he ran a great race that day, just a better horse beat us. He’s a good little rider and he tries hard and helps me out a lot. I try to give him a chance when I can.”

Triple Carryovers, Stronach 5 When Live Racing Resumes Friday, July 10

Carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $1 Super Hi-5, along with a $100,000 guaranteed pool in the weekly national Stronach 5 wager, highlight the return of live racing to Laurel Park Friday, July 10.

Post time for the first of 11 races is 12:40 p.m.

Friday’s opener, a claiming event at about 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds and up, will have a carryover of $8,991.44 in the Super Hi-5.

The Rainbow 6 begins in Race 6 with a carryover jackpot of $3,987.22 while Late Pick 5 opens in Race 7 with a carryover of $11,077.32. All three wagers went unsolved during Laurel’s last live program July 4.

A total of 59 horses were entered in five races scheduled for Laurel’s world-class turf course Friday, an average of 11.8 per race. Race 3 is a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up over the All Along layout while the feature is an entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the Dahlia course in Race 8.

Once again, Laurel will alternate with Gulfstream Park in the Stronach 5, kicking off the sequence with Race 6 followed by Race 8 from Gulfstream, Race 7 from Laurel, Race 9 from Gulfstream and Race 8 from Laurel.

The multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is a $1 minimum wager. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday. The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

Laurel will host another 11-race program Saturday, July 11 that includes six turf races that attracted a total of 77 entries, an average of 12.8 horses per race.

Among the highlights from Saturday’s card are a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs in Race 6 that includes stakes-placed Hall Pass, Bobby G, Romanoff and Absentee; a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up going 5 ½ furlongs on the All Along turf course in Race 8 featuring $150,000 Cairo Prince yearling The Cairo Kid and 3-year-old First Law, a first-time starter by Constitution; and a second-level optional claiming allowance going one mile for fillies and mares 3 and up in Race 9 with stakes winners Artful Splatter and Money Fromheaven, and graded-stakes placed Indy Union, Ujjayi and Afleet Destiny.