S S Sinatra Does It His Way 

S S Sinatra. (Jim McCue/TMC)

In Laurel Feature

• Omaha Omaha breezes for potential Wood Memorial start
• Millionaire Post Time back to work

Dan Illman/The Maryland Jockey Club

LAUREL, Md. –  Three weeks ago, trainer Kerry Hohlbein was on the verge of her first career stakes victory. 

Her charge, S S Sinatra, battled every step of the way inside favored Speedyness in the $75,000 Not For Love, put that foe away, then was pipped right on the wire by late-closing Circle P.

It was a hard-luck loss for S S Sinatra, arguably the best horse. 

For several moments in Saturday’s featured eighth race, a second-level allowance with a $40,000 claiming option at 5 ½ furlongs, it appeared history would repeat itself.

Once again, S S Sinatra and jockey Angel Cruz broke sharply and grabbed the lead and the rail. And once more, they hooked up in a speed battle, this time with 54-1 outsider Heaven’s Got Fire through fractions of 22.87 and 45.58 seconds. 

Heaven’s Got Fire poked a neck in front in the upper stretch, but S S Sinatra was resolute. Just as he re-rallied to place a nose in front, here came Bouncer with his late challenge. Would it be déjà vu all over again?

Thankfully for Hohlbein and Cruz, the wire came in time, and S S Sinatra prevailed by a neck in 1:04.26. Heaven’s Got Fire finished third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Bouncer. Then came Classic Joke, Don’t Wait Up, Radical Right, and Tenebris. 

S S Sinatra paid $4.80 as the favorite.

A 5-year-old gelding by Desert Party, S S Sinatra was bred in Maryland by Stephen Sinatra. Hohlbein claimed S S Sinatra for $24,000 out of a winning effort in his fourth start, a maiden claimer racing 5 ½ furlongs at Laurel. 

S S Sinatra missed over a year of racing but has been a model of consistency since returning last spring. In 11 starts since the layoff, he has won four races with four seconds and two third-place efforts.

Overall, S S Sinatra has banked $210,290.

Around the track ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Omaha Omaha, who finished third in the Virginia Derby two weeks ago after placing in a pair of stakes races in New York, breezed a half in 50 seconds flat at Laurel on Saturday morning. 

“I thought he worked good,” said trainer Michael Gorham. “He’s not a huge work horse. He works more in maintenance [fashion]. He doesn’t have anything to run at. He always gallops out as strong as he’s working. He just wants to go all day.”

Omaha Omaha boasts 26 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and will likely try for more in next Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles on April 5. 

Millionaire Post Time breezed for the first time in 2025, working three-eighths in a bullet 37 flat at Fair Hills for trainer Brittany Russell.

“He’s been a little bit difficult to gallop, so we figured it’s time,” Russell said. 

The winner of the Grade 2 Carter Stakes last year at Aqueduct, Post Time ran second in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, third in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes, and second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for Mrs. Ellen Charles’s Hillwood Stable. He finished third in his most recent start, the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct on Dec. 7.

Post Time was named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, Sprinter of the Year, and Older Male in 2024. His connections will receive their awards at the Renaissance Awards Dinner at Laurel Park on Friday, April 11. 

Jockey Angel Cruz celebrated his 30th birthday by sweeping the last three races on the program. Along with S S Sinatra, Cruz rode Tres Aries ($7.20) in the seventh and Cluck Cluck ($4.40) in the finale. 

Band Camp, unraced since finishing second in the Maryland Million Sprint on Oct.12, breezed for the first time this year, working three furlongs at Laurel in 37 seconds flat for trainer Annette Eubanks. The 5-year-old gelding won seven times last year, including a five-race streak from April to August. 

Eubanks also breezed Play Harder, who placed first via disqualification in the Star De Naskra Stakes at Laurel on June 29. A winner in five of seven starts for trainer Claudio Gonzalez, Play Harder transferred to Eubanks after finishing fourth in the July 28 Concern Stakes, his final start of 2024. Play Harder breezed a bullet three-eighths in 36.60 seconds. 

Apple Picker, the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Stakes winner in 2024, worked four furlongs in 50.60 seconds for Russell. A 5-year-old mare by Connect, Apple Picker last raced at Charles Town on Aug. 23, finishing fifth in the $500,000 Pink Ribbon Stakes.

Three-time stakes-winner Miss Harriett, unraced since a 3 ¾-length victory in a high-level allowance at Laurel on Sept. 27, breezed three furlongs in 39.20 seconds for trainer Brandon 

Jockey Jaime Rodriguez holds a commanding 17-win lead in the jockey standings. Rodriguez has 36 wins, with Sheldon Russell and J. G. Torrealba tied for second with 19 victories. 

The race for leading trainer is much closer. Jamie Ness (25) holds a two-win lead over Brittany Russell. Kieron Magee is in third place with 15 tallies.

Racing resumes on Sunday with a seven-race program. The first post time is 12:10 ET. Sunday’s card marks the end of the Laurel Park Winter Meet, and there will be mandatory payouts in the Jackpot Super High 5, Late Pick 5, and the Chesapeake Pick 6. 

 There is currently a carryover of $4,233.95 in the Chesapeake Pick 6 and a $4,150.55 carryover into the Jackpot Super High 5.