Plenty of stakes action around the region this weekend. Let’s see what’s on tap:
Midlantic-breds in Graded Stakes
- Holiday Star, a Pennsylvania-bred, will race in Saturday’s Grade 3 Red Smith Handicap for three-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the turf. He’s 8-1 on the morning line and will be toting the race’s second highest weight, 121 pounds, including rider Edgar Prado, for trainer Graham Motion. The field also includes St. Albans Boy, recent winner of the Laurel Turf Cup.
Midlantic Stakes Action
- The Saturday night feature at Charles Town Races is the $50,000 A Huevo Stakes for three-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track. The race brings together four of the top five finishers from last month’s West Virginia Breeders Classics, including the winner, three-year-old Charitable Annuity, who’s 8-5 on the morning line. The second favorite, Lucy’s Bob Boy (2-1), a millionaire, ran fourth in the WVBC but may be controllling speed here. The A Huevo is race 7 with a post time of 9:55 p.m.
- Saturday’s Laurel Park card features six stakes, starting in race 3 with the Smart Halo for two-year-old fillies and ending, in race 10, with the $350,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. Our coverage:
- Sunday’s card at Parx Racing features two races restricted to horses that spent at least 90 days in South Carolina. The first, race 5 (post time 2:13 p.m.), for two-year-old colts and geldings, is the Christopher Elser Memorial Stakes. Pennsylvania-bred Morning Fire is the 2-1 morning line favorite for trainer Keith Nations. Three races (race 8; post time 3:34 p.m.) later comes the Donna Freyer Stakes, for two-year-old fillies. Eighth Wonder, for trainer Dee Curry, is the 5-2 favorite on the morning line.
Top Midlantic-breds in action
[su_list icon=”icon: check”]- Pennsylvania-bred Page McKenney is the 9-5 morning line favorite for Saturday’s $100,000 Richard W. Small Stakes at Laurel Park. For more: