Debut winner One Man Team. (Jim McCue/MJC)
— Caprice Chasing Fifth Stakes Victory in $100,000 Gin Talking
— Rodriguez, Russell to Finish as Meet, Overall Leading Jockey, Trainer
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables’ promising juvenile colt One Man Team, an eye-catching winner of his Halloween unveiling, will take the jump up to stakes company for his second start in Saturday’s $100,000 Heft at Laurel Park.
The Heft for 2-year-olds and $100,000 Gin Talking for 2-year-old fillies, both sprinting seven furlongs, are the final two stakes of the Maryland Jockey Club’s 2024 calendar coming on closing weekend at Laurel’s fall meet, which ends Sunday.
First race post time is 12:25 p.m.
One Man Team, a $285,000 yearling trained by Brittany Russell, led every step of the way to capture his debut at Laurel Park, a six-furlong maiden special weight, by six lengths as the favorite. A son of Nyquist and grandson of fellow Grade 1 winners Uncle Mo and Harlan’s Holiday, he has breezed four times since the win for his stakes debut.
John Hazard’s Sacred Thunder has been first or second in six of eight starts this year including a victory in Laurel’s open six-furlong James F. Lewis III Nov. 9. Most recently he ran fourth in the restricted Maryland Juvenile Dec. 7 behind runner-up Saxton and third-place finisher Barbadian Runner, both of whom return in the Heft.
Pennsylvania Nursery winner Crab Daddy; debut winners Yara’s Quest and Blanches Mule; Sept. 7 Smoke Glacken runner-up Shootersgottashoot; twice stakes-placed Baby Dukes; and Fire Pit complete the field.
Runnymoore Racing homebred Caprice, a winner of five of six starts this year including four stakes, will be an overwhelming favorite in the Gin Talking. The Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Golden Lad has won two straight, both at Laurel – the open Nov. 9 Smart Halo and restricted Maryland Juvenile Filly Dec. 2.
Caprice will face a pair of familiar foes in Beyond Belief and Not Too Late, respectively third and fourth in the Smart Halo. The Smart Halo was just the second start for Beyond Belief, while Not Too Late has won twice and run third in the White Clay Creek Oct. 9 at Delaware Park.
My Charm, second in Laurel’s Sept. 28 Selima; Atlantis Queen and A Shawtown Girl are also entered.
Entering the final weekend of Laurel’s fall meet, which began Sept. 1, Jaime Rodriguez led Jevian Toledo, 50-43, in the jockey standings while Brittany Russell had a commanding 50-28 advantage over Jamie Ness.
Rodriguez and Russell will finish as Maryland’s overall leaders for the second consecutive year. Rodriguez had 175 wins at Laurel Park and Pimlico with J.G. Torrealba second at 124, and Russell’s 109 wins were 13 more than Ness.
