Stakes Winner Courvoisier Makes Return in Monday Feature
Food & Drink Specials, Rainbow 6 Jackpot Carryover at $22,092
LAUREL, Md. – Nine live races, food and drink specials and a 20-cent Rainbow 6 carryover in five figures will be on the menu when Laurel Park serves up a special Independence Day holiday program Monday.
First race post time is 12:40 p.m.
Monday’s feature comes in Race 7, a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile that marks the return of Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings Inc. and James Spry’s Courvoisier. Trained by Kelly Breen, the sophomore Tapit colt drew the rail in a field of nine under Charlie Marquez.
Out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Take Charge Brandi, Courvoisier is in the family of champion Will Take Charge and Grade 1 winners Take Charge Indy and As Time Goes By. His mare earned champion 2-year-old filly honors in 2014 after her 61-1 upset in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Bred in Kentucky by Elevage II and Hill ‘n’ Dale, Courvoisier sold for $600,000 as a weanling as part of Elevage’s dispersal in November 2019. Hill ‘n’ Dale purchased the colt and re-offered him as a September 2020 yearling at Keeneland, but kept him when he the bidding stopped at $275,000.
Courvoisier took four tries before graduating by a neck in a 1 1/8-mile maiden special weight last December at Aqueduct, where he opened his sophomore campaign with a 1 ¼-length victory in the Jan. 1 Jerome that earned him 10 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points. He ran next in the Feb. 5 Withers (G3), pressing the pace before fading to seventh behind subsequent Preakness (G1) winner Early Voting.
In his most recent start, Courvoisier ran a distant third in the 1 1/16-mile City of Brotherly Love March 8 at Parx. He has been training regularly since mid-May at Belmont Park for his return, where he is listed at 12-1 on the morning line.
Sola Dei Gloria Stable’s Bustoff is narrowly favored at 5-2 over Mopo Racing’s Dixie Drawl (3-1), both horses entered for the $40,000 tag. Bustoff has 12 career wins, 10 of them coming at Laurel, but is 0-for-2 this year. Dixie Drawl is a nine-time winner exiting a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming triumph June 5 at Laurel.
Race 8 is a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for one mile on the Kelso turf course that drew a wide-open field of seven led by 7-2 program favorite U S Constitution, a half-length allowance winner last fall in his only previous try over the Laurel grass. Sigiloso, stakes-placed on the dirt and all-weather at Gulfstream Park, and King’s Honor, 2-for-2 on the Laurel turf, are both rated 4-1 on the morning line.
Both races are part of a Rainbow 6 sequence that starts in Race 4 with a carryover of $22,092.33 from Sunday’s program, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $1,328.38.
In addition to live racing and wagering, fans will be able to enjoy $2 beer specials, $2 hot dogs and $5 burgers Monday.
Notes: Trainer Dale Capuano sent out back-to-back winners Sunday, No Angel ($6.80) in Race 5 and Justwaveandsmile ($4.60) in Race 6 … Laura McKinney’s homebred Whispurring Kitten ($10.20) pulled clear in the stretch to a 1 ½-length victory in Race 4, a third-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares sprinting six furlongs, her second straight win. The winning time was 1:08.92 over a firm Fort Marcy turf course.
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
Man Photo: Courvoisier breaking his maiden in his fourth start at Belmont Park December 2, 2021. (NYRA/Coglianese)
