Region’s Best

FIRST STAR: ONE MAN TEAM. A competitive field of 2-year-old colts and geldings met in the Saturday co-feature at Laurel Park, the Heft Stakes over seven furlongs. Brittany Russell trainee One Man Team, sent off as the 5-2 second choice, set the pace and shook free of all competition, drawing off to win by 4 1/4 lengths while under a drive from Sheldon Russell. 7-5 favorite Sacred Thunder made ground late and ran second, while Barbadian Runner was third. The victory improved One Man Team’s career record to 2-for-2 lifetime, following a maiden-breaking score at Laurel at the end of October. He ran seven furlongs over a very sloppy track in 1:25.22 for owners Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables LLC.

SECOND STAR: CAPRICE. This Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Northview stallion Golden Lad capped off an impressive 2-year-old season with a victory in Saturday’s Gin Talking Stakes at Laurel Park. She went off as the 1-5 favorite, a generous price considering her credentials, which included a pair of stakes wins at Delaware Park and victories in stakes company in her last two starts at Laurel. She battled in the two-path with Atlantis Queen, then shook off that rival and took command at the top of the stretch. 4-1 second choice My Charm, for the Russell duo, closed well late, but Caprice proved too classy and won by 1 3/4 lengths, covering seven furlongs in 1:27.88. She’s now 6-7 on the year with earnings of $331,250. Jaime Rodriguez was aboard this Runnymore Racing homebred, trained by Cal Lynch.

THIRD STAR: FACTOR IT IN. A trio of open allowance sprinters went postward in the Sunday feature at Laurel. Local veteran Factor It In chased down early leader On the Mark and pulled clear to win by two lengths, covering six furlongs over a muddy track in 1:12.20. It was his first win of the year in six starts and 14th lifetime win, boosting his career earnings to $664,240. He’s owned by Mike Scheffres, trained by Carlos Mancilla, and ridden by J.G. Torrealba, who piloted home three winners on Sunday.

NOTE: There was no live racing scheduled at Charles Town this week. Racing at Parx was cancelled this week due to track conditions.