Friday (November 3rd) may be the Breeders’ Cup kickoff day, but there is a great $30,000 Virginia-bred allowance race at Laurel just before the “Cup” races kick off at Del Mar. This is part of the new “sprinkled” program introduced recently by the HBPA & VTA that offer Virginia-bred or sired horses a chance to compete in restricted races throughout the year at tracks in in Maryland or West Virginia.
The Phil Schoenthal trained River Deep is 2-1 early favorite among ten horses entered in the one mile turf race, which goes off at 4:30 PM. The 3 year old Arch colt collected a maiden special weight triumph October 23rd at Laurel and has now bankrolled over $50,000 from six starts. River Deep was bred by Morgan’s Ford Farm & F and F Stable.
The Scott Lake trained Galaxy Express is the next choice at 3-1. The 3 year old Cosa Vera colt has a pair of seconds & thirds from ten starts this year, good for $23,805 in earnings. He was bred by Lady Olivia at North Cliff.
The entry of Mr. Magician and On the Wings Of, both bred by Larry Johnson, is the third pick at 7-2. The former is a 5 year old Street Magician gelding and the latter is a 3 year old Bodemeister colt. The Mike Trombetta trainees offer a varied of experience. Mr. Magician has 26 starts and $83,430 in earnings while On the Wings Of has only four career starts.
Jump Ship, a 5 year old Jump Start gelding, is 6-1 early. Bred by Althea Richards, the six digit earner ($106,218) has competed in a trio of recent Virginia-bred stakes races. Jump Ship finished 4th in this year’s Hansel, 4th in this year’s Edward Evans and 2nd in last year’s Bert Allen Stakes. He has made 30 career starts.
Bourbon and Beer is 10-1 and ships into Laurel on a nice roll. The 4 year old Pioneerof the Nile gelding has been either first or second in each of his last five starts at Penn National. He was bred by Sam English II and is trained by Hugh McMahon.
Fly E Dubai, who finished third in this year’s Punch Line Stakes, is 12-1. Bred by Carlos Moore & Gillian Gordon Moore, the 3 year old E Dubai gelding will be making his 12th start of 2017.
Trustifarian, 15-1 early, is a 3 year old Albert the Great gelding. He won his first start June 24th in a Virginia-bred maiden special weight race at Laurel. He was bred by the Run Aweigh Stable and is trained by Patrick Neusch.
Dream of Peace and Virginia Royal round out the field of ten. The former is a 3 year old Cosa Vera gelding who was bred by Lady Olivia at North Cliff and the latter is a 7 year old Inner Harbour gelding who was bred by John Sellers. Both breeders also own their horses. They are 20-1 and 30-1 on the morning line respectively.
