Mid-Atlantic Three Stars: March 24 * The Racing Biz

MID-ATLANTIC THREE STARS: MARCH 24

John Piassek
March 24, 2025

Plenty of racing action took place throughout the Mid-Atlantic this past week.

Here’s a look at the “three stars” of each track:

Region’s Best

FIRST STAR: PAY BILLY. A field of five 3-year-old males took to the track in Saturday’s Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park, the final local prep for the April 19 Federico Tesio Stakes. Pay Billy, who was defeated by a nose in the Miracle Wood Stakes in his prior start, rebounded with an impressive 3 1/2-length win. He stalked the pace in the clear on the outside, then moved to the front on the final turn and kicked away to win easily. He’s now won twice in three starts on the 2025 Laurel season, following a win in a first-level contest on January 25. He ran 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:44.93, for owner RKTN Racing LLC, trainer Mike Gorham, and jockey Raul Mena.

SECOND STAR: SAFE TRUST. Country Life Farm stallion Mosler was well-represented in the Beyond the Wire Stakes earlier on the Saturday program. Two of his progeny, Moon Cache and Safe Trust, crossed the wire first and second in that order. 17-1 Moon Cache rated off the early pace, then struck the front in the stretch and opened up to lead by a length and a half. However, Safe Trust, looking for her first stakes win after finishing stakes-placed three times, gobbled up ground on the outside under Denis Araujo. Even though Moon Cache drifted out in the final strides, Safe Trust kept on coming, and the two hit the wire together at almost the same time. The photo finish camera revealed that Moon Cache won by a nose, but the judges soon lit in the inquiry sign. Moon Cache was disqualified from first and placed second, and Safe Trust was elevated to victory. The winner is a homebred for Barak Farm trained by Jose Corrales.

THIRD STAR: ROMINSKI. He continued his tear on Sunday, taking an open allowance sprint by a half-length for his sixth win in a row. Spikezone, who went off as the 7-5 favorite in the seven-horse field, broke on top and reminder clear in the stretch. However, Rominski wore him down on the outside and got up to win. He ended his 2024 season on a four-race win streak, and is now 2-for-2 this year. He was bred by David Wade and is owned by the Elkstone Group LLC, trained by Brittany Russell, and ridden by Sheldon Russell.

Laurel Park

Charles Town: Latest jockey and trainer stats
Which Charles Town jockeys and trainers are having a good meet? Who’s doing better than you’d think? Or heating up now? Answers within.

FIRST STAR: PAY BILLY. Won the Private Terms impressively and looks as if he’ll be the Tesio favorite.

SECOND STAR: SAFE TRUST. She was elevated to victory in the Beyond the Wire and earned her long-awaited first stakes win in the process.

THIRD STAR: ROMINSKI. Keeps on cruising and held on to win Sunday’s battle of the titans.

Charles Town Races

FIRST STAR: MUDSLIDE. Sat the trip and kicked away to win a non-winners of three dash on Saturday, improving to 3-for-3 on the year in the process.

SECOND STAR: MOONLIT NOTION. Made it 4-for-4 lifetime with a gate-to-wire win over West Virginia-bred allowance rivals on Thursday.

THIRD STAR: GATOR JOE. Took an open first-level dash on Saturday in a 17-1 upset.