Midlantic racing roundup: Week ending April 15

Raging Smoke grabbed the lead early en route to 2016 Sugar Maple win at Charles Town. Photo by The Racing Biz.

At Charles Town…

• For the second time in a row, and the third time in seven starts overall, Fairweather Friend returned to the winner’s circle after a Charles Town race. On April 12, the West Virginia-bred, four-year-old Fiber Sonde gelding took a $24,500 allowance. With Grant Whitacre up, he grabbed the lead before a half-mile was gone and extended his advantage to open lengths before hanging on to win by a half-length in 1:28.59 for seven furlongs. A homebred for owner-trainer Elizabeth Meehan, Fairweather Friend now has three wins and $53,110 from seven starts.
• Trainer Javier Contreras looks to have a good one in his barn. Three-year-old Late Night Pow Wow, a Fiber Sonde filly, blitzed a West Virginia-bred, never-won-two allowance filed April 13 to win for the second time in two starts. Under jockey Fredy Peltroche, Late Night Pow Wow went off as the even-money favorite, grabbed the early lead, and ran away to win by seven lengths in 52.09 seconds for 4 1/2 furlongs. Bred by John McKee, Late Night Pow Wow has won two races by a combined 13 1/2 lengths.
• When she sold as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall sale in 2016, Talk About Magic, a Street Magician filly, brought a top bid of just $1,000 from Raimondo Schiano Di Cola. But the Maryland-bred is proving to be handier than that, and on April 13 she won for the second time in five career starts to push her career earnings to more than $34,000. With Luis Batista up, she won by a length in 1:23.25 for 6 1/2 furlongs as the 1.70-1 favorite in the $24,000 allowance test. Trained by her owner, she was bred by R. Larry Johnson.

Elsewhere…

• It was bombs away in a $45,000 maiden special weight test April 14 at Parx Racing. First-time starter Perfect Ice rallied from sixth to win the six-furlong test by a length in 1:13.68. paying $30 to win as, at 14-1, the third-longest shot in the field of 10. Perfect Ice, a three-year-old Florida-bred, is by Majesticperfection, showed four moderate works in preparation for his debut for trainer Patricia Farro. He was ridden to victory by Emmanuel Esquivel for owner Jay Young.
• Four-year-old You Tell Me scored in a first-level allowance April 13 at Penn National for his second consecutive victory, triggering major payouts. The Reflect Times gelding, trained by Flint Stites, rallied from seventh to win by over three lengths under jockey Maicol Inirio and now has two wins and $40,310 from five starts. He went off at 23-1, paying $49.40 to win, topping 14-1 Fire Sparx, 34-1 Andy’s Love, and 12-1 Against the Odds. The exacta returned $580.60 for $2, while the one-dollar triple paid $8,501.70. The dime superfecta returned $3,985.22.

Jockeys and trainers

• Trainer Jeff Runco continued to excel at Charles Town, winning four races from 15 starters to lead all trainers there. He now has 34 wins at the track for the year, 10 more than second-place Ronney Brown. Meanwhile, the track’s jockey standings are crowded at the top; Christian Hiraldo won four times during the week and now has 36 wins, tying him with Gerald Almodovar. The two of them have two more wins than Arnaldo Bocachica.
• At Laurel Park, the two leading jocks by wins, Jorge Vargas, Jr. and Weston Hamilton, won four times each during the week. Vargas, with 42 wins to date, maintains a five-win lead over Hamilton after a week in which he won with four of 14 starters. Hamilton won four times from 20 mounts.
• Jockey Julio Hernandez won five times from 14 starters at Penn National to grab that track’s wins lead. He now has 42 wins on the season, two more than Angel Rodriguez. Hernandez has had 212 mounts to date, 34 more than Rodriguez.
• At Parx Racing, five-pound apprentice Dexter Haddock was the only four-time winner during the week, scoring with four of 14 mounts. He has 23 wins in Bensalem this year, tied for third-most in the colony.