Owner-breeder John “Jay” Williamson, III sold Ournationonparade out of his debut outing, a second-place finish back in 2019.

As a result, he had a good – but not front row – seat as the son of Cal Nation, out of the winning Leading the Parade mare Parade of Colors, went on to earn over $569,000 while winning two stakes and placing in several others.

That runner’s four-year-old half-sister by Divining Rod, Stickwiththecolors, won her debut in February 2024, but Williamson hung on to her. His patience was rewarded Saturday when Stickwiththecolors zipped to the early lead and held off a late bid from Malibu Moonshine to win the $75,000, Maryland-restricted Conniver Stakes.

“What a mare,” Williamson exulted after. “I’ve still got her. She didn’t have a baby this year, but that’s all right. The mare’s going to get bred to Blofeld next year.”

Though Stickwiththecolors won nicely at first asking, that didn’t presage immediate success. She got a little time off after two starts following her maiden score – a second and a third, both in allowance company – and then again after an October 3 fourth-place finish versus allowance foes.

Since, she returned running, and today’s victory was her third straight. Williamson thought the time away did her a lot of good, though trainer John Salzman, Jr. said he thought it had more to do with natural progression.

“He wanted to give her some time off,” Salzman said. “That’s the way he is: old-school. But I think she was just coming into herself.”

One way or the other, the results are hard to argue with. Dropped in for a $45,000 tag in her first start off the bench, Stickwiththecolors sped to the lead and was resolute in the lane to win by three parts of a length.

The story was similar in a first-level allowance next out, when she won by a nose, and again today, when the margin was a neck.

“The wind was blowing pretty good, so once he slowed her down, and I seen [46.79 seconds for the half-mile], and she was doing it so easy,” Salzman said. “The last couple races she’s run, something has pressed her, then something picked her up, and then something got by her, and she dug in.”

Today, with Jevian Toledo aboard, there were none of those issues. Though the race projected to have some speed in it, Stickwiththecolors was able to control the pace, doling out a quarter in 23.49 and a half in 46.79. She led by 2 ½ lengths at that point, and was going to be tough to reel in.

Malibu Moonshine, in her first off a freshening, made a willing run up the rail under Angel Cruz but could not quite get to the winner, while Gold Digging Broad rallied from last to the be third, 2 ¾ lengths out of second. Post time favorite Spencerian ran evenly to be fourth.

Running time for the seven furlongs on a fast main track was 1:25.16.

Stickwiththecolors, off at 10-1, returned $22 to win and topped an exacta, with 31-1 Malibu Moonshine underneath, that returned $201.20 for a one-dollar ticket.

Stickwiththecolors now has five wins from 10 career starts. She now has earnings of $196,135.

As for the future, Williamson thinks another rest may be in Stickwiththecolors’ future.

“She likes Laurel. When this meet’s over with, she’s gonna go home,” Williamson said. “Maybe next week, I might send her home and freshen her up and bring her back for June here.”

One race later, DeSales 85 LLC’s Circle P surged in the final jumps to win a thriller in the Not for Love, edging S S Sinatra by a nose, with favored Speedyness just a half-length farther back. It was Circle P’s second stakes win and first since the 2023 Maryland Juvenile Stakes.

Most of Circle P’s races have come at longer distances, but it was his third win in four starts at the six-furlong distance. Running time was 1:10.69. Regular pilot Ricardo Chiappe was up.

“I thought that cutting him back, we’d get more speed to run at,” said winning trainer Flint Stites. “It seems like when he goes seven-eighths or a mile, he’s there and he’s coming, but he just doesn’t have that quick turn of foot, he just doesn’t quite get there.”

Today he did.

Circle P, a Maryland-bred by Speightser, won for the fourth time from 18 starts and now has over $245,000 banked.