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Hibiscus Punch and jockey Horacio Karamanos posted a 41-1 upset of the Barbara Fritchie
Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson s homebred Hibiscus Punch rolled up to dueling favorites Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya on the far turn and cruised past once straightened for home, sprinting clear for a 41-1 upset in Saturday s $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park in Maryland.
The 69th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs, co-headlined a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.
Needs Supervision Could Play Upset Card In Barbara Fritchie Sponsored by:
Needs Supervision
Encouraged by her most recent effort, trainer Jerry O Dwyer is giving Howling Pigeon Farms, Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Madaket Stables multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision another shot at graded success in Saturday s $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.
The 69th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up co-headline a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.
In addition to Needs Supervision, a 12-1 long shot on the morning line, Madaket s Sol Kumin also has an ownership stake in the Fritchie s 8-5 program favorite, five-time stakes winner Hello Beautiful. The two horses will break side-by-side respectively from Posts 7 and 8.
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Feargal Lynch
More than six months since he last rode, journeyman Feargal Lynch returned to action with a single mount Sunday at Laurel Park in Maryland.
Lynch finished eighth on Stone Farm s Saintly Samurai for trainer Graham Motion in the featured seventh race, a second-level optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up won by Oxide ($12) in 1:24.28 for seven furlongs over a muddy track.
It was the first race in 200 days for the 42-year-old Lynch, sidelined with a condylar fracture in his neck and wedge compression fracture in his back from a fall in the third race July 23, 2020, at Laurel. Saintly Samurai, a 6-year-old gelding sent off at odds of 10-1, was making his first start since last July 17.
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The filly Dontletsweetfoolya and her goat, Doris
There s a scene in the 2003 motion picture Seabiscuit where trainer Tom Smith cradles a goat in his arms as he walks along the road on owner Charles Howard s California ranch leading to the stable where the movie s cantankerous main character has been keeping his connections on their toes.
“Goat racing?” Howard, played by actor Jeff Bridges, asks.
“Oh, no. Just trying to calm him down a little,” fellow Academy Award winner Chris Cooper, playing Smith, answers. “The smart ones, they hate being alone all the time. Sometimes, another animal just soothes them a bit.”
Eres Tu Helps Toledo Complete Christmastide Stakes Day Hat Trick In Allaire Du Pont At Laurel Sponsored by:
Eres Tu winning the Allaire du Pont
Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson s homebred Eres Tu kept her perfect comeback season intact and became a graded-stakes winner in the process with a popular one-length triumph in Saturday s $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.
The 27th running of the 1 1/8-mile du Pont for fillies and mares 3 and up, traditionally contested over Preakness (G1) weekend, was moved following racing s return from the coronavirus pause to serve as the headliner on a Christmastide Day program that featured eight stakes worth $850,000 in purses.