Apple Picker wins the Weather Vane at Pimlico last September (Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club)
Laurel Park News & Notes
LAUREL Md.— Michael Dubb’s stakes winner Apple Picker, purposefully given time from her last start, returns rested and ready to snap a three-race losing streak when she makes her 4-year-old debut in Saturday’s $200,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.
Apple Picker has breezed four times for her season opener, once at historic Pimlico Race Course and three times at Laurel, where she fired a bullet half-mile move in 47.20 seconds Feb. 2, the fastest of 17 horses.
By Grade 1-winning millionaire Connect, Apple Picker capped her 2023 campaign with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Laurel in the seven-furlong Safely Kept and 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move, the latter as the favorite Dec. 23, beaten a total of 2 ½ lengths.
The connections decided to point for the Fritchie rather than run in the six-furlong What a Summer at Laurel, which was delayed from Jan. 20 to 26 and ultimately canceled due to lingering effects from a winter storm that passed through the Mid-Atlantic region.
“She got shook around pretty hard in the last run, so we opted to skip the last race and just give her more time into the Fritchie with that kind of being the goal,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “It would do a lot for her if she could hit the board or win the race, so we tried to give her the best chance by giving her time and breezing her into it.
“She’s breezed really well, and she trains really well,” she added. “She’s an aggressive-type filly and she seems to be acting like she’s ready to run again.”
Apple Picker made her first four starts for New York-based trainer Rudy Rodriguez before being moved to Russell for her sophomore campaign, winning first time out last May at Delaware Park. After two unsuccessful tries on the Laurel turf, Apple Picker responded to her return to the dirt with a 4 ½-length upset of the six-furlong Weather Vane at Pimlico.
Russell shipped Apple Picker to Keeneland for her graded debut in the seven-furlong Raven Run (G2), where she closed to be fourth, just a half-length behind third-place finisher and multiple graded-stakes placed Dazzling Blue, trained by Brad Cox. Running 1-2, respectively, were Vahava, a Grade 2 and Grade 3 winner of more than $873,000 in purses, and 2023 Prioress (G2) winner Alva Starr.
“She was probably a little unlucky in that race. Her and Brad’s filly were boom, boom down to the wire together,” Russell said. “I think she was running. The top two fillies are really good fillies. She’s run against some good horses, but I think she’s tough, as well, and the seven-eighths is good.”
Russell’s husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, is named to ride Apple Picker (6-1 morning line) from Post 6 in a field of nine led by favored South Florida-based stablemates Bluefield and Intrepid Daydream.
