De Francis Memorial Dash highlights stakes-filled Laurel card

De Francis Memorial Dash highlights stakes-filled Laurel

card

A $1.1 million, six-stakes bonanza awaits fans and bettors at Laurel's Fall

Festival of Racing on Saturday, highlighted by the $350,000

Frank J. De

Francis Memorial Dash for older horses over six furlongs.

With the exception of the long dormant Washington D.C. International,

virtually every race that made the Maryland track famous will be revived in some

form or another Saturday. The remaining stakes, all of which carry purses of

$150,000 and are contested on turf, carry such venerable names as the

Laurel

Futurity,

Selima and

Laurel

Turf Cup.

The De Francis Dash has attracted a competitive field of 11, with favoritism

likely to fall on either multiple Grade 3 winner Pacific Ocean or Grade 1

veteran Sean Avery. An impressive winner of the Grade 3 Vernon O. Underwood a

year ago, Pacific Ocean has enjoyed mixed success since joining the Rick Dutrow

barn this year. Sandwiched between two unplaced finishes in the Grade 1 Forego

and Grade 2 True North Handicap was a wire-to-wire victory going seven furlongs

in the Grade 3 James Marvin on Saratoga's opening day.

Sidelined 13 months following an upset in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt

Handicap in August 2011, Sean Avery got back to the races in the September 8

Affiliate at Belmont Park. The six-year-old gelding tracked in third before

rallying for a 2 1/4-length score in the six-furlong overnight stakes, but

disappointed in his follow-up in the Grade 1 Vosburgh where he retreated to

fifth behind his less heralded entrymate The Lumber Guy.

Royal Currier, a multiple stakes winner throughout the mid-Atlantic, was

third to Sean Avery in the Affiliate in his most recent start and should be

prominently placed near the front. The Red Bullet gelding had won four of his

previous five starts prior to the Affiliate, and enters off a bullet gate work

at Monmouth Park on Monday.   

Others who figure to attract support are multiple stakes winner Immortal

Eyes, the 2011 De Francis Dash runner-up; Action Andy, a multiple stakes winner

at Tampa Bay Downs last winter and most recently victorious in the Maryland

Million Sprint; the three-year-old Alsvid, who exits two stakes wins against his

elders at Remington Park; and multiple stakes winners Sloane Ranger and Il

Villano.

Noted turf sprinter Ben's Cat is back to defend his title in the six-furlong

Laurel Dash,

a race that had to be moved to the main track due to inclement weather last

year. The King Leatherbury trainee is undefeated in five starts on the Laurel

turf, and has garnered trophies this season in the Grade 3 Turf Monster

Handicap, Parx Dash and Maryland Million Turf Sprint.

Others of note in the Laurel Dash are Grade 3 Jaipur hero Upgrade,

three-year-old filly Jazzy Idea, course specialists Super Chunky and Night

Officer, and the 10-year-old warrior Heros Reward.

The Lady

Baltimore, for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles, features Grade 1 veteran

Hooh Why, Grade 3 Matchmaker winner Laughing, Grade 3 Noble Damsel heroine

Naples Bay, Grade 3 Eatontown winner Silver Screamer, and the Grade 3-placed

Shimmering Moment, Embarr and Federation.

The Laurel Turf Cup, at 1 1/2 miles, has attracted the likes of Grade 1

Shadwell Turf Mile third Slip and Drive, Italian Group 3 winner Lake Drop,

Maryland Million Turf conqueror Roadhog, and local stakes scorer See Tobe, most

recently second in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker at Belmont.

No longer championship quality events for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on the

dirt, the Laurel Futurity and Selima, for fillies, are now run at 5 1/2 furlongs

on the grass. As expected given the conditions, both races attracted overflow

fields with multiple also-eligibles.

The most accomplished starters in the Laurel Futurity are Tyro hero Rip

Roarin Ritchie and Maryland Million Nursery victor Keep Momma Happy. Sorority

winner Doubled, Tippett vixen Zip Cash Back, and New York invaders Discreet Marq

and Heating to Toga should be among the favorites in the Selima.

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