Horses closing on the outside dominated most of Laurel Park’s card April 12, which featured four stakes. In fact, the first four winners all were in last place early over the muddy, sealed surface.

But jockey Mychel Sanchez brushed off the apparent bias, put his two stakes runners into the action early – and won twice.

Sanchez, a veteran with nearly 1,600 wins to his credit, guided Royal Spa to a front-running score in the $100,000 Heavenly Cause for fillies and mares going a mile and one race later piloted Disco Ebo to a one-length win in the $100,000 Primonetta, also for fillies and mares.

“You as a jockey use the connection between horse and rider,” Sanchez said. “But if you still got the speed, you have to go for the lead.”

Royal Spa, off as the 7-5 favorite in the Heavenly Cause, led through a glacial opening quarter-mile of 25.47 seconds and shrugged off the modest pressure of Opus Forty Two to go clear after three quarters in 1:14.24. In the lane she fended off a try from Catherine Wheel and had enough to withstand the late-rallying Regaled by a neck.

Running time for the one-turn mile was 1:39.64.

“When they open, you just have to have that big connection where the horse is breathing nicely, comfortable, and somehow he tells you how he feels, that it’s gonna keep going,” Sanchez explained. “I guess it’s all about the connection in my hands. And I never really worry about how the track is, just what kind of trip I can get.”

Royal Spa, a five-year-old mare by Violence, is trained by Rodolphe Brisset for owner-breeder Breffni Farm. The win was her first in three 2025 starts and came after a strong outing when second behind Irish Maxima in the Barbara Fritchie Stakes.

Royal Spa now has five wins from 17 starts and earnings of more than $564,000.

One race later in the six-furlong Primonetta, Sanchez was at it again, this time aboard 3-2 second choice Disco Ebo. A six-year-old, Pennsylvania-bred mare by Weigelia, Disco Ebo entered with a distinguished resume: a dozen wins and more than $735,000 banked from 31 starts.

But she also had somewhat off-color form: three thirds in her last three outings and no stakes wins since her victory in last year’s edition of the Primonetta.

But again, Sanchez put his mount in the early action, pressing the pace of longshot Mudslide, who led by a length after a quarter-mile in 22.43 seconds. Disco Ebo led by 1 ½ lengths after a half-mile in 46.21 seconds and held late-running chalk Tipple safe by a length. Running time for the six furlongs was 1:13.24.

“I felt like I had a really good jump out of the gate,” Sanchez said. “I saw that Angel [Cruz, who was aboard Mudslide] went, so I just sat next to him, a couple lanes away from him. She was nice and settled, and she was just ready for me to let her go.”

Disco Ebo is trained at Parx Racing by Butch Reid for LC Racing LLC.