Unbothered by a cold February rain, St. Jude rallied from just off the pace under jockey Jaime Rodriguez to win Saturday’s featured eighth race at Laurel Park, a $49,000 first-level allowance for 4-year-olds and upward at seven furlongs.

Sent away the prohibitive favorite in the wagering, St. Jude settled into third position on the outside as Swifty Devil and Beaver State battled for early supremacy through fractions of 23.32 and 46.73 seconds over the good main track.

St. Jude cruised up to the leaders while three wide inside the quarter pole, then had to work a bit to draw clear of Beaver State by three lengths in 1:25.66. Swifty Devil held third, two lengths behind the runner-up. Then came Cathedral Beach and Boys of Summer. Uniwinner scratched.

St. Jude returned $3 to win.

Owner-breeder Jeremiah Kane and trainer Ben Perkins, Jr. have both exercised the patience of Job with St. Jude, a 6-year-old who made only his fourth lifetime start on Saturday.

“We had some setbacks,” Kane said. “The first time, he had a little shin as a 2-year-old. We were ready to run him, and he popped a shin, and we had to stop. As a 3-year-old, we were one workout away from racing, and he got loose and suffered a fetlock injury. It set him back again, so we didn’t get started until he was four.”

St. Jude has been worth the wait. He won his debut by 2 ½ lengths with an 89 Beyer in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Laurel on March 20, 2023, then missed the remainder of the season.

St. Jude raced twice last year, finishing fifth in a first-level allowance on June 14 before running a strong second behind stakes-bound Worcester on Dec. 27.

Foaled in Kentucky, St. Jude is by Speightster out of the War Chant mare Aly Doll. Although St. Jude won his debut over good going, Kane was concerned about today’s wet track.

“We don’t do a lot of work on wet tracks because you don’t want to put him in jeopardy,” Kane admitted. “I was afraid of this today.”

Kane believes that St. Jude will stretch his ability to even longer distances.

“He’s a heck of a horse,” Kane added. “His best race is from the eighth pole home. Quite frankly, we want to get him to a mile, even longer. He just has that big heart and can run forever. He has a huge stride.”

Earlier in the day, Hard Ten Stables’ three-year-old All the Hardways bested fellow sophomores in a 1 1/16-mile allowance test, winning by 3 1/2 lengths under jockey Xavier Perez in 1:50.24.

“He settled good,” trainer John Robb said. “Xavier was telling me how relaxed he was behind the horses, and I think he was looking for horses late. It looked like he lost interest.”

All the Hardways won for the third time in 10 outings.