Loading ...Apr 19 2019
Laurel Saturday April 19: Federico Tesio and 6 other Stakes; Triple Crown Contender
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Saturday, April 20. Laurel Park in Maryland will have an unusual big stakes day this weekend, picking up the slack for the major tracks which are still recovering from their huge weekends and Kentucky Derby preps. Yes some other tracks are having stakes races, but Laurel is hosting 7 of them.
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The race of the day is the Federico Tesio $125k, typically a prep for the Preakness and/or Belmont Stakes. This year it has an atypically short field of 6 because most customers are afraid to race against the favorite, Alwaysmining, one of the best 3yo’s in training this year, and perhaps the best 3yo miles in the country.
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Alwaysmining increased his winning streak to 5 with the Private Terms $100k at Laurel, March 16 2019.
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Alwaysmining doesn’t appear in our Derby Dozen because he’s not going to the Kentucky Derby, but if we had a Preakness Dozen, which maybe we will this year, he would certainly be on it and ranked highly. All he’s done recently is win 5 in a row, including 4 $100k stakes, all at Laurel.
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Among those who fear the Laurel champion, Win Win Win couldn’t beat him and escaped to Florida where he set a track record in the Pasco Stakes, then finished 3rd in the G2 Tampa Bay Derby, and wrapped up his Kentucky Derby slot with a runner up finish in the Blue Grass G2.
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Gray Magician, who shipped from SoCal to not get walloped by Baffert in every race, also tried his hoof against the champ in the Miracle Wood and got 2nd, then shipped to Dubai where he finally found his Derby points with 2nd in the UAE Derby.
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The only horse in this field that looks capable of beating the champ on paper is Tybalt, who’s finished 3rd to him 3 times here at Laurel. The others would need a serious jump in class from their prior races. But it’s their longest race yet, and as the only closer in the field, this is Tybalt’s big chance.
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Fortunately, all of the other fields are larger than the Tesio, and over 100 horses are scheduled to race.
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Read along in the Laurel Grid here to find your own upsets and long shots here.
