Summerintahoe hangs on to win Dahlia
Aurello wins Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge

By Vinnie Perrone

LAUREL, MD--Ivy Girl finally arrived in the Weber City Stakes Saturday at Laurel Park. Her stable found it worth the wait.

Squeezed at the start and lagging through much of the Weber City Miss Stakes, Ivy Girl sprang to life in the open Laurel Park stretch and, at big odds, surged to a half-length victory over A. P.'s Girl.

With her marquee score at 26-1, Ivy Girl earned an automatic berth in next month's $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Preakness Eve.

As the $150,000 Weber City unfolded, Ivy Girl again seemed to caution those who might misjudge her. The 3-year-old filly began her career in two $40,000 maiden claimers at a mile, winning the second from off the pace at Aqueduct, which brought trainer Amelia Green an epiphany: Ivy Girl seeks longer distances. At 1 1/16 miles, the Weber City Miss marked her subsequent fourth straight two-turn race.

Green let out a post-victory laugh and said, "You can blame the trainer for [Ivy Girl] being in for a tag twice…We were very lucky nobody took her."

Former Maryland jockey Victor Carrasco returned from Kentucky for his debut ride on Ivy Girl, with this advisory from owner Joe Veasey of Lucky Hat Stable: "Just keep pedaling, buddy."

The task steepened when Ivy Girl got sandwiched at the launch, leaving Carrasco a clear view of the seven fillies and mares ahead.

Wiretapped, a costly but winless 3-year-old from Todd Pletcher's loaded stable, set the pace under Mychel Sanchez and held it to the far turn. Jumping the Gun (6-5) and A. P.'s Girl (8-5) overtook her then and threatened to deliver horse-racing logic to the Weber City conclusion as Ivy Girl dawdled close to a dozen lengths behind them.

While Jumping the Gun and A. P.'s Girl vied for the lead through the far turn, Ivy Girl began passing horses well behind the front-runners. Green tabbed the rally and said, "I was hoping for third."

As James Graham worked on A. P.'s Girl and Julio Hernandez Jumping the Gun, Carrasco angled out Ivy Girl for the stretch run. Ivy Girl moved past local favorite Miss Fulton Gal in midstretch and suddenly burst forth, past the weakening Jumping the Gun. She overpowered A. P.'s Girl six strides from the wire for her second stakes victory, worth $55.40 for the win players who believed.

Jumping the Gun held third by a head over Miss Fulton Gal, the popular runner selected at auction by former riding standout Vince Bracciale Jr. and owned in partnership by Bracciale's wife, Terri, and son-in-law Rick Trott. After Bracciale died in December at 72, Miss Fulton Gal rose as a Maryland 3-year-old filly of prominence.

Ivy Girl, a leggy bay by Maxfield from the Aptitude mare Critikal Reason, commanded $100,000 as a yearling on the urging of bloodstock agent Amanda Gilman. "That was all her," Green said of Gilman.

Ivy Girl recaptured $90,000 of it in 1:48.22, boosting her six-race take to $181,020. Owner Veasey, a retired schoolteacher who lives outside Philadelphia, said Ivy Girl continues to educate her handlers in the ways of patience. To that end, he added, the May 15th Black-Eyed Susan doesn't seem too far off.

*Summerintahoe hangs on to win Dahlia

Jaime Torres stepped into the Laurel Park paddock and met a 5-year-old today. They got along beautifully.

Torres got a leg up on the dappled gray mare Summerintahoe for the $100,000 Dahlia Stakes and set off into the unknown, armed only with the understanding that his new acquaintance was fast and more than seven months unraced.

Torres crafted a plan that proved fruitful and rewarding -- barely. Summerintahoe took the early lead with urging and held firm through the stretch as the closers took aim. Mahra's Love rallied fastest outside, and the two grays reached the finish abreast with Summerintahoe a nose ahead.

Ribaltagaia, the 8-5 favorite, finished a half-length back in third with an efficient trip, followed by Storm Miami, Amie's Symphony, Calamity and Curlin's Angel.

Summerintahoe, a $200,000 Tapit yearling, became a stakes winner in her 15th start, earned $60,000 for Kentucky-based Tier Racing LLC and substantiated the methods of trainer Michael Ann Ewing. Ewing readied the mare off workouts at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky., and Summerintahoe proved sufficiently fit and resilient to endure the mile. On a firm, lush course, she stopped the clock in 1:34.60.

Torres too had a sizable role in the outcome. Rather than tussle with the mare, he prompted her from post 5 to put her out front and give her space.

"The filly is very hungry," he said. "She wants only to go, go, go, and I used her the first turn try to kind of know her. I felt like if I just kept fighting and fighting on her, she was gonna get tired on me. I just let her be her."

Summerintahoe traveled alone through rapid fractions but held safe into the lane. Torres's thought then: "I know they are coming."

Ribaltagaia appeared especially menacing off an inside trip under Jorge Ruiz, but her closing salvo fizzled. Instead, Mahra's Love summoned some late fury after Vincent Chaminaud swung her wide, only to come up tantalizingly short as the 18-1 longshot.

Torres, based in Kentucky, wasn't immediately sure of the outcome. "I tried to hold on for the end," he said.

At 3-1, Summerintahoe won for the fifth time in 14 tries and pushed her earnings to $299,968.

Trainer Ewing has shown confidence in Summerintahoe's ability to travel. The mare made her Laurel Park debut yesterday after stints at Turfway Park, Churchill Downs, Indiana Downs, Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs.

The race's namesake, Dahlia, also traveled extensively before retiring in 1976 with about $1.5 million in purses, then a world record for a female racehorse. She made 48 starts in France, Ireland, England, Canada, Italy and the U.S. and counted among her 15 victories the 1973 Washington, D.C. International at Laurel Park. Dahlia twice earned title as England’s Horse of the Year and once as champion grass horse in North America, besting males. Her foals included Grade 1-winning millionaires Dahar and Rivlia.

*Aurello Takes Handicapping Challenge

Joe Aurello mastered the “Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge,” a hybrid on-site and online horseplaying contest that attracted 267 entrants and offered a $66,700 prize pool (including future handicap entry fees, travel and lodging).

Aurello, participating through Xpressbet, finished the Laurel Park program with a bankroll of $9,167.50 to claim the top prize of $12,264. He and his two closest challengers, John Zielinski and Joe Costello, earned prize packages that feature either a seat in the 2026 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge or one of two seats in the 2027 National Horseplayers Championship.

Zielinski received $6,424 for placing second, Costello $4,380 for third. The top-10 finishers won prize money from $584 to $2,044.

Playing on track or online through Xpressbet, TwinSpires and TVG/4NJBETS, entrants bought in for $500 and received $250 in vouchers with requirements to make $50 in win/place/show, exacta and daily double wagers in five or more races.