Laurel Park Notes: First win back for Katie Davis

File photo of Katie Davis. Photo by Dottie Miller.

News and notes from Friday’s Laurel Park card:

• First winner back for jockey Katie Davis.
  • Jockey Katie Davis enjoyed a career-best season in 2017, riding 73 winners and earning her first three stakes wins. But she ended her season a bit prematurely to have shoulder surgery — her last mount was November 6 — and hadn’t ridden at all in 2018. Until today. Today, aboard His Royal Majesty, the 7-5 favorite in race six, a starter/optional claiming event, Davis had to wait inside nearing the quarter pole before barging out for room and surging late to get up by a nose. His Royal Majesty, trained by Hugh McMahon for Winners Circle Partners XII, paid $4.80 to win.
  • “It was ecstatic,” Davis said. “Having all that time off and watching races and sitting back with my dad and having Trevor [McCarthy] next to me, too, showing me different things and then coming back on top of that, I’m so much more cool and collected now. It’s nice.”

• Congrats Gal back on winning track.
  • Off at 1-20 odds and backed by major bridge-jumping in the show pool, Congrats Gal lived up to advance billing. The two-year-old Congrats filly, trained by Cal Lynch at Laurel Park, won a first-level allowance by 14 lengths in a very sharp time of 1:10.06 for six furlongs — a fifth of a second faster than older boys had done so one race previously. Under jockey J. D. Acosta, Congrats Gal was second early before taking command at will. Congrats Gal, owned by Charlie Biggs, won at first asking before finishing third in the Grade 3 Schuylerville and second in the White Clay Creek at Delaware. She now has two wins from four starts.

• First training victory for ex-jockey Cortez
  • Telling Warrior took the lead midway through a maiden claimer in the third race, repelled a bid at the quarter pole, and went on to win by five lengths to give former jockey Amy Cortez her first win as a trainer. With Xavier Perez in the irons, Tellling Warrior graduated in her fifth career start as the 8-5 second choice in the field of six. Cortez, who also gallops horses for trainer Rodney Jenkins, now has one win from eight career starts.
  • “It feels good. It’s kind of been a long time coming. I’ve had this horse year and had some setbacks so I’m very happy and very grateful to get that win,” Cortez said. “It’s extra special because we do all the work ourselves. I train him and I get on him, my boyfriend rubs him and ran him for me and I have some good friends that help with little things that we do. It’s kind of a whole team effort.”

• This ‘n’ that
  • Trainer John Salzman, Jr. registered his first two wins of the meet. He took the first with Waterhaven and the last with Sip of Sunshine… Jevian Toledo won once today — with You’re Killing Me in the seventh — and now has five wins at the meet, one win more than J. D. Acosta… Maryland-breds have won 16 of the 42 races contested thus far, more than any other state. Kentucky is second with 14 winners…