Yesterday and today: April 16 racing highlights

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: WYFOLD IMPRESSES ON DEBUT

Bettors didn’t think much of Wyfold yesterday at Laurel Park.  They sent off the three-year-old Donald Barr trainee at 46-1 in the day’s first race, a $25,000 maiden claimer.

But somebody forgot to tell Wyfold that.

The Maryland-bred, under Alcibiades Cortez, came out running and never stopped.  He zipped in between horses to grab the early lead and took the field through an opening quarter 23.17 seconds.  When rivals — including favored Sultry Encounter — came to him nearing the turn, he eased into another gear and quickly disposed of them.

And in the lane, under what the chart termed “energetic urging” from Cortez, Wyfold continued to widen his advantage, to nine lengths on the line.  Running time for 5 1/2 furlongs was 1:05.22.

Charlie’s Darlin was second, and it was two more lengths back to Outfielder in third.  Wyfold paid $94 to win and topped an exacta worth $339 and a triple that returned $1,372.  The early double, with 6.80-1 Parseghian, was good for $744.40.

The race was visually impressive — and the time was solid.  The 1:05.22 final mark was .42 seconds faster than $15,000 claiming three-year-olds managed it five races later, and this race’s time to five furlongs — 58.96 seconds — was faster than the 59.56 than three-year-old allowance fillies took in race eight.

Wyfold was bred in Maryland by his owner, Country Roads, Ltd.  He is by Deputy Storm out of the Stephen Got Even mare Darlin Rose.

ALSO…

• Daylight Ahead took the featured eighth at Laurel, an allowance for three-year-old fillies.  The Hugh McMahon-trained Maryland-bred stalked the early pace before taking over leaving the three-sixteenths and going on to win by a couple; she paid $31.40 to win and has now won two of three in her short career to date.  The win was one of two on the day for jockey Feargal Lynch, who took both halves of the late double, which returned $47 after 3-5 Manando cruised in the last.
• 2015 Coin Collector winner Hear the Chatter made his season debut, finishing second by a neck as the even-money favorite.  The John Casey trainee found himself in last, 4 1/2 lengths behind, after the opening quarter in the 4 1/2 furlong sprint, before making a solid rally that fell just short.  Karfagen, trained by Kevin Patterson, led throughout to get the money in the $24,5000 allowance contest.
• Jockey Angel Rodriguez enjoyed a huge evening at Penn National, taking four of the night’s eight races and for four different trainers.  Among his wins were an allowance score on Pivoting in the sixth for trainer Richard Hendriks and a flashy, 12-length, maiden-breaking win on Queen Francis for Brandon Kulp in the nightcap in a sharp 1:05.59 for 5 1/2 furlongs.