SATURDAY
- Conniver S. (LRL) — 3yo and up fillies and mares, Maryland-bred, seven furlongs
- Harrison Johnson Memorial S. (LRL) — 3yo and up, 1 1/8 miles[/boxify]
Saturday will mark the 46th running of the Conniver at Laurel Park, a seven-furlong affair for Maryland-bred fillies and mares. Maryland-bred Conniver earned laurels as the nation’s top handicap mare in 1948, a year in which she won the Brooklyn, Beldame, Vagrancy and Comely Handicaps. She won 15 of 56 career starts.
This year’s edition will see a new winner, since two-time defending champ Bold Affair has retired, and there are some intriguing options. The field:
- Tell a Great Story (7-5) — Sagamore Racing runner returns for first start since running third in July’s Delaware Oaks… not clear how strong that field was, but this is a horse with talent whose best would likely be plenty good here… thinking 7 furlong distance not an easy task in her return…
- More than a Cruise (8-5) — The runner-up in this event a year ago owns a win and two seconds from three tries at the distance… Pimentel rides for Larry Murray on a runner not as talented as Tell a Great Story but possibly better able to deliver a top effort right now…
- Celtic Katie (5-1) — Place horse in January’s Nellie Morse has not won at less than one mile and has not been in the money in three tries at the distance… Enters after finishing fifth — and last — in the Maryland Racing Media, but prior try, in the Morse, was solid…
- Brenda’s Way (4-1) — Moderately priced claim in November — $15,000 — won an allowance in her second race for trainer Damon Dilodovico, most recently a credible third against second allowance foes, in which winner La Grey Zuliana has now won that race three straight times… Just ran two weeks ago, but she’s an improving sort with plenty of speed, the only one in here with two wins at the trip…
- Gypsy Heart (15-1) — Whether she’ll post or not is a key question, as four year-old Domestic Dispute daughter has no rider named; normal pilot Trevor McCarthy heads over to Brenda’s Way… barn reportedly thinks highly of her… ran credibly last out, in first against winners, but that was just a week ago…
The eighth race on the card is the Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes. Maryland native Harrison Johnson trained Gusty O’Shay to victory in the 1973 Hopeful. Johnson died in 1985, at just 45 years old, when a plane he was piloting crashed.
There’ll be no repeat winner this year, as Norman Asbjornson has been retired. The field:
- Concealed Identity (20-1) — 2011 Preakness entrant is more than a year removed from last victory…. he showed surprising early lick in the Campbell last out before tiring. Could that presage a move forward?
- Ground Transport (3-1) — Ran a good fourth in Grade 3 Mineshaft last out, and place horse returned victorious in stakes company… Plenty of early zip and could find himself lonely on the lead… Does not own a stake win or a win at the distance and has lost ground to winner at 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles…
- Indian Jones (4-1) — Smarty Jones gelding doesn’t win much but often finds his way into the triple… Deep closer wants help from a pace that may not materialize… Recently second in the Native Dancer, to Bold Curlin, and was beaten just two in Breeders’ Cup Marathon… Has a second and a third in two tries at the distance…
- Bandbox (7-2) — Stellar effort last out in smashing rally to win Grade 2 General George going away with a 102 Beyer… That was Tapit horse’s second start after a 17-month vacation… Has never won beyond a mile but breeding suggests he could, and if you believe that, rates a legit shot here…
- Behemoth (15-1) — Ran down 3-10 Managed Account on the money to score 11-1 Campbell upset last out… Those two were well clear of the rest, including Concealed Identity, here today… Will need to bring that game, perhaps more, to be around at the end of this one… In the money 11 of 14 starts at Laurel…
- Mr Palmer (5-2) — Talented son of Pulpit owns a win at Laurel at this distance in 2013 Private Terms… Ran fourth next out in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial and hadn’t won since, until N2X win at Aqueduct in February… Cross-entered in the G3 Excelsior at Aqueduct, where he’s 5-1 morning line…
- Van Persie (30-1) — Enters off an N2X win at Penn National at 1 1/16 miles but has never gone this far… Has odd career record: 18-4-0-0… Another closer, and we wonder if he’s good enough…
- Swift Warrior (6-1) — Son of First Samurai has earned more than $600,000 — but 80 percent of that on the turf, where he’s a Grade 3 winner… Hasn’t raced on the dirt in two years and has one win in eight dirt starts… Wouldn’t be surprised if this one were just a tuneup for turf season ’round the corner, but if not, he’s a classy old warhorse who knows how to win races…
AND ELSEWHERE…
- Rider David Cora is knocking on the door of 2000 wins. He has 1,997 in his career, and, with eight mounts, all at Penn National, has a shot of reaching the big number this weekend. His mounts earned a career-high $3.3 million last year, and thus far in 2014, he has 22 wins from 127 mounts.
- Over at Charles Town, rider Carlos Castro and trainer John McKee are nearing milestones of their own. Castro has 992 wins in North America, leaving him eight short of a grand, and McKee has 994 training victories. Neither will get there this weekend.
- Handsup Moneydown, the Parx Racing leader in wins in 2014 with three (from four starts), is favored to get his fourth on Saturday in a $16,000 starter allowance going six furlongs. He didn’t register his first win until his eighth career start but now has five from 19 starts to go with 11 other in-the-money finishes and earnings approaching $150,000. A fourth win this year would put him in a six-way tie for second among all horses nationally; Florida-based He’s So Proud is the national leader in wins, with five, from five starts.
