Laurel Park

FIRST STARS: CHEZ PIERRE. Despite the presence of multiple graded stakes winner Field Pass in Saturday’s Henry S. Clark Stakes, lightly-raced Chez Pierre went off as the 9-10 favorite in his stakes debut. He lived up to the hype with a spellbinding 5 1/2-lenght win. After rating in the middle of the pack early, he made a bold four-wide move to the lead on the final turn and struck the front as they entered the stretch. From there, he drew away powerfully, leaving Field Pass and all the others in the dust. He covered a mile on the grass in 1:34.83. It wouldn’t be surprising if he won at least one graded stakes race by the end of the year. He’s owned by Lael Stables, trained by Arnaud Delacour, and ridden by Daniel Centeno.

SECOND STAR: ROUGH SEA. One race earlier, Rough Sea pulled off a shocking upset in the Native Dancer Stakes. The 9-year-old veteran wore down the leaders in the stretch to win by 2 1/4 lengths at 40.50-1 and earn his first career stakes win. Denis Araujo was in the saddle on the winner for owner Proud Stable Inc and trainer Bruno Tessore.

THIRD STAR: KAYLASAURUS. Towards the end of last year, Kaylasaurus chased down Princess Kokachin and won the Willa On the Move Stakes. On Saturday, she wore down not only Princess Kokachin, but her stablemate Street Lute, and won the Primonetta Stakes by three-quarters of a length. After sitting in last early on, she grinded in the center of the track in the stretch, and pulled clear in the final sixteenth for the victory. Street Lute held on to third, while Princess Kokachin faded to fourth. Horacio Karamanos had the winning mount for owners Bush Racing Stable, Liberty House Racing, BlackRidge Stable LLC, and George Saufley, and trainer Tim Kreiser.

Charles Town Races

FIRST STAR: NO CHANGE. A pair of West Virginia-bred stakes headlined the Saturday card at Charles Town, including the Confucius Say Stakes for top West Virginia-bred males at seven furlongs. Second choice No Change improved to 4-for-4 lifetime with a two-length victory. He raced wide early on, then dueled with favored Penguin Power in the stretch and pulled away late. Marshall Mendez, who has been having a great first season of riding at Charles Town, had the winning mount, for his first stakes win. John McKee is the winning owner and trainer.

SECOND STAR: BOUNDTOBEBAD. One race earlier, the Original Gold Stakes looked like a layup for Star of Night. She had won nine races in a row, including numerous West Virginia-bred stakes races, and was the 1-5 favorite to make it ten in a row. However, she could no better than second behind Boundtobebad, who pulled off a shocking 34-1 upset. Star of Night had an awkward break, and although she closed well late, could not recover and was beaten three-quarters of a length. The winner is owned and trained by John Casey, and was ridden by Gerald Almodovar.

THIRD STAR: ARNALDO BOCACHICA. Although Bocachica could not get Star of Night home, he still had a big day last week. He won four races on the Wednesday night program. He rode home two winners for Anthony Farrior, taking race 2 with Alpha Queue and race 4 with Keen Machine. He also teamed up with Jeff Runco twice, getting a win in the 3rd race with Awesome Lawson and race 7 aboard Noballstwostrikes. Bocachica’s 63 wins are tops among all Charles Town riders, with Marshall Mendez in second place with 57.

Parx Racing

FIRST STARS: ANDREW WOLFSONT. Last Wednesday, Wolfsont achieved a career milestone with his 1,000th victory. He won the eleventh race of the day, as Terri’s Charm came from behind to win by three-quarters of a length. Wolfsont recently started riding at Parx after spending most of his career at Parx. He won his first race in 2012, and has won six stakes races with earnings of more than $21 million.

SECOND STAR: ANDY HERNANDEZ. Hernandez also had a big riding day last week, with a four-win performance last Monday. He started his day with two winners, taking race 2 aboard Pearlbdancing, for trainer Mary Pattershall, and race 4 with Princess Kaira, trained by Susan Crowell. After a defeat in race 6, he completed the hat trick in race 7 with Josue Arce trainee Manolete, and got the grand slam in the 9th race on Map of America, trained by Michael Moore. Hernandez is in third place in the riding standings, with 35 wins from 232 mounts.

THIRD STAR: SEVIER. After an eleven-win campaign last year, Sevier was held winless in his first three starts of 2022. He got on the board for the year last Tuesday, taking a starter allowance race by 7 1/2 lengths. He opened up a big early lead after clearing to the front from post position nine, and the outcome was never in doubt from there. He’s owned by Morris Kernan Jr, Yo Berbs, and Jagger Inc, trained by Jamie Ness, and ridden by Frankie Pennington.

Region’s Best

1. Chez Pierre- Looks like a future star.
2. Andrew Wolfsont
3. No Change