Speedyness holds off Offaly Cool to wire the John B. Campbell. (Jim McCue/MJC)
Four $100,000 Stakes Highlight Saturday Laurel Program
Dan Illman/The Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Laurel Park celebrates the second week of the 2025 Spring Meet on Saturday with four $100,000 stakes for 3-year-olds and upward. The first post time for the nine-race program is 12:10 pm ET.
Carded as the fifth race with an approximate post time of 2:02 pm ET, the Native Dancer at 1 1/8 miles features a rematch between Film Star and Speedyness, who finished heads apart in Laurel’s Robert T. Manfuso Stakes on December 21.
Trained by Linda Rice for Ronald Stewart, Robert T. Manfuso winner Film Star has started once this year, finishing third in a high-level allowance at Aqueduct on January 25. He scratched last Saturday from Aqueduct’s Excelsior Stakes at 1 ¼ miles to compete at Laurel.
“I thought [the Excelsior] was a little too far, and it was pretty strong,” Rice said. “I thought our chances would be better in Maryland.”
In the Robert T. Manfuso, Film Star spied Speedyness from the start before getting the better of that rival after a thrilling stretch drive. Rice expects a similarly run race on Saturday with Jose Lezcano retaining the mount.
While Film Star enters the Native Dancer fresh, Morris Kernan Jr. and Jagger Inc.’s Speedyness has been busy at Laurel Park in 2025, finishing fourth in the restricted Jennings Stakes at one mile on January 18, winning the John B. Campbell Stakes over a muddy 1 1/8 miles on February 15, and placing third, beaten a half-length in the restricted Not For Love Stakes at six furlongs on March 8.
“Sprinting is not his thing,” trainer Jamie Ness said about the Not For Love. “We took a shot, and he ran really well. He recovered good and worked good the other day, so we’re coming back.”
Expect Speedyness to grab the early lead on Saturday.
“He likes to go as fast as he can, as far as he can,” Ness said. “He fires every time.”
J R Sanchez Racing Stable’s Cataleya Strike finished fifth in the Robert T. Manfuso and fourth in the John B. Campbell. He rebounded with a re-rallying victory in a high-level allowance on February 28.
Cataleya Strike’s trainer, Rudy Sanchez-Salomon, was impressed with the gelding’s recent five-furlong bullet workout on March 26.
“He worked really nice and galloped out strong,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “Actually, that’s the reason that I put him in the stake.”
Multiple stakes-winner Armando R and stakes-placed performers Curlin’s Malibu and Feeling Woozy complete the field.
