The highlights from the weekend of Laurel Park racing that concluded Nov. 17 include:

Maryland-bred Speedyness seems to have enjoyed his vacation.

The 3-year-old got a 6-month break following a poor outing on the turf in the James Murphy Stakes in May but returned to action Friday with a sharp victory in an allowance optional claimer. Sent to the front under jockey Jamie Rodriguez, Speedyness rebuffed a challenge with three eighths to go and went on to win by a length and a half in a fast time of 1:42.54 for 1 1/16 miles.

Trained by Jamie Ness for himself and Morris Kernan, Jr., Speedyness has won six of 13 career starts, with his top victory having come in February in Laurel’s Miracle Wood Stakes. He is just shy of $300,000 in earnings.

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Two-year-olds took center stage during Saturday’s Laurel card.

In an allowance optional claimer for fillies, Malibu Hooch, a near-miss second in last month’s Maryland Million Lassie, made amends for that defeat with a hard-fought victory.

With Julio Hernandez in the irons, Malibu Hooch rated a couple of lengths off the early pace before going on the attack nearing the quarter pole. She went clear in mid-stretch but then had to hold off the late bid of Onyx Ten, who had been fifth in the Lassie, as runners from that event took the top three spots here.

The Maryland-bred Malibu Hooch is trained by Todd Beattie for himself and breeder Ronald Harris Parker and has never been worse than third in four career starts.

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In a maiden event for two-year-olds one race later, first-time starters grabbed the top three spots, with Yara’s Quest inching away to a one-length victory over On the Level, who encountered plenty of traffic in the lane.

Yara’s Quest, with Horacio Karamanos in the irons, dueled with a rival along the inside, appeared to be in trouble in mid-stretch, but found more in the latter stages to win.

Yara’s Quest, by Liam’s Map, is trained by Jorge Duarte for Colts Neck Stables, which had purchased the colt for $300,000 at Keeneland’s September yearling sale a year ago.

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