LAUREL, MD— On paper, Top Gun Girl looked like the controlling speed in Friday’s featured eighth race, a third-level allowance with a $55,000 claiming option for fillies and mares at six furlongs.

On the track, Top Gun Girl didn’t disappoint the pace analysts. She broke quickly under jockey Mychel Sanchez, and soon assumed a 2 ½-length advantage through a reasonable opening quarter in 22.67 seconds.

Cluck Cluck took her shot at the leader with a bold mid-race bid under jockey Yedsit Hazlewood, and they drew alongside Top Gun Girl following a half-mile split in 46.11.

For an instant, it appeared that Top Gun Girl was in trouble, but she shrugged off Cluck Cluck’s challenge at the three-sixteenths pole and finished up 3 ¼ lengths better than that foe in 1:10.53 over the fast track.

Favored Cap Classique finished 1 ¼ lengths back in third after a ground-saving trip. Then came Goodnightngodbless, Safe Trust, Kissedbyanangel, and Kokopelli Girl.

Top Gun Girl, trained by Jamie Ness for Darryl Abramowitz’s DEA Thoroughbred Racing LLC, returned $7 as the second choice in the wagering.

“I got the opportunity to work her right before this race, and I loved her,” said Sanchez. “She worked super, super good. Jamie loved her, too. Jamie told me to give her a nice warmup and not to take anything away [from her]. She broke great out of the gate. I helped her out a little bit, and once she took the lead, it was game over. She was really game the whole time.”

Sanchez was a bit surprised by Hazlewood’s early move.

“When he moved a little early, I got a little worried,” Sanchez admitted. “He got really close to me. I asked my filly, and I didn’t really move away from him for another three or four jumps. But once I opened up a half a length, she just started opening up slowly more and more. She was strong from gate to wire.”

A 6-year-old Air Force Blue half-sister to stakes-placed sprinter Mrs. Mendelssohn, Top Gun Girl was bred in Kentucky by Cobra Bloodstock and Lynch Bages LTD. Her second dam, Seltitude, by Fairy King, was a Group 3 winner in France.

A $57,000 buyback as a yearling, Top Gun Girl began her career for trainer Wesley Ward before being claimed out of her first start this year for $80,000 by trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

Top Gun Girl raced once for trainer Brittany Russell, and she finished fourth as the favorite in a turf sprint at Colonial on September 4. That day, Ness dipped in and took the mare for $50,000.

"Sometimes they play the way they practice, and she practiced very well," Ness said in a telephone interview. "We were pointing for this [condition], turf or dirt. She can go either way, which is a big reason why we claimed her. She's flourished since we've had her."

Top Gun Girl has prevailed four times from 19 starts, earning $410,243.

Ness gave Abramowitz plenty of credit.

“Darryl has been a good addition to the stable,” Ness stated. “He’s very passionate, loves his horses. He always wants me to do the right thing by the horse.”

Around the track:

Jockey Jorge Ruiz accomplished a riding double on turf with Big Earn ($12; race three) and Wow Whata Summer ($40.60; race nine)…Lovely Charm ($4.40) ran hard every step of the way to capture the fourth race, a second-level allowance for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. Ridden by teenage apprentice Yedsit Hazlewood for trainer Claudio Gonzalez, the Maryland-bred filly dueled favored Estocada into defeat, then held strong to score by 2 ¼ lengths in 1:44.65…Hazlewood also won the finale aboard Tipmanee ($4.20)..Live racing resumes on Saturday with an 11-race program featuring the $125,000 Laurel Futurity for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf, and the $125,000 Selima Stakes for juvenile fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf…First post time is 12:10 pm ET, and there will be two “Value Pick 5” wagers (first five races; last five races) with a low 12% takeout rate…Laurel Park also hosts the “Autumn Handicapping Challenge,” a live-money contest with a $500 buy-in. For more information, click here.