Late Night Pow Wow looks to extend win streak in What a Summer
Late Night Pow Wow cruised home to win the Willa on the Move. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
From a Maryland Jockey Club release
Breeze Easy LLC’s Grade 3 winner Late Night Pow Wow will face five rivals in her bid for a fifth straight stakes victory and eighth consecutive win overall in Saturday’s $100,000 What a Summer at Laurel Park.
The 33rd running of the six-furlong What a Summer for fillies and mares 4 and up leads off the 2019 stakes schedule in Maryland as the first of four $100,000 stakes on a nine-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m.
It is joined by the Fire Plug for 4-year-olds and up, also at six furlongs, and the Native Dancer for 4-year-olds and up and Nellie Morse for females 4 and older, both at about 1 1/16 miles. A total of 65 stakes, 13 graded, worth $9.2 million in purses have been scheduled in Maryland into mid-October.
Late Night Pow Wow ventured outside her home state for the first time in her career last out, routing a field that included fellow West Virginia-bred multiple stakes winner Moonlit Song and Grade 2 heroine Ms Locust Point by five lengths in the six-furlong Willa On the Move Nov. 24 at Laurel.
It was also the first race since trainer Javier Contreras sold his ownership share in Late Night Pow Wow to Mike Hall and Sam Ross of Breeze Easy, who Contreras said have committed to running the Fiber Sonde daughter through her 4-year-old season.
“That was exciting. People told me that she looked solid in there and I liked her. I didn’t think she was going to draw off like that and win with that kind of authority, but she sure showed us she’s got some grit,” Contreras said. “She’s been doing pretty good. We were thinking about giving her a little time off but we decided to keep her going. She’s rested a little bit, but she’s ready to roll.”
As he did prior to the Willa On the Move, Contreras brought Late Night Pow Wow to Laurel early and worked her over the track, where she had a bullet five-furlong breeze in 58.60 seconds Jan. 3. Regular rider Fredy Peltroche will be back aboard from Post 2 at topweight of 124 pounds.
“I’m sure we’ll look to go somewhere else later on in the year, as long we keep her sound and everything,” Contreras said. “I talked to the new connections and they’ve decided to keep her in training for this whole year, so we definitely we’re going to be looking at some big place somewhere, give her a shot and see what we’ve got. She looks to me like she’s right on top of her game.”
Contreras and Breeze Easy will also be represented by another 4-year-old filly in Devine Mischief, winner of the Ruling Angel Stakes over Woodbine’s synthetic surface in her sophomore finale Oct. 14. She, too, worked at Laurel Jan. 3, going five furlongs in 59.60 seconds, bested only by her stablemate.
“She’s had a little bit of a longer time off, but she didn’t lose a lot of fitness. She looks pretty good and she showed me in her work the other day at Laurel that she’s right on top of things, too,” Contreras said. “She’s an honest little filly, very honest.”
Horacio Karamanos has the call from Post 4 at 122 pounds.
Bred, owned and trained by Tim Grams, Moonlit Song returns for another try at Late Night Pow Wow after finishing third, a neck behind Ms Locust Point, in the Willa On the Move. The 6-year-old daughter of champion Uncle Mo is a 13-time winner from 23 career starts, including five stakes wins. Regular rider Oscar Flores gets the mount from Post 5 at 120 pounds.
Moonlit Song has run behind Late Night Pow Wow in each of her last two starts, including a half-length loss when second in the West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic Stakes Oct. 13 at Charles Town.
“She’s been a real honest mare for us and, pretty much until last year when Javier’s filly came along, she was pretty dominant here for probably a year and a half,” Grams said. “She beat us up there and we only lost by a half a length the time before that. It was a good race. I give a lot of respect to Javier’s filly. I don’t know if I can get her or not, but we’ll be right there.”
Multiple stakes winner Limited View, She’s Stunning and Behrnik’s Bank complete the field.
