Ultimate Love. (Jim McCue/TMJC)
Sarah White Trains First Winner
Dan Illman/Laurel Park
LAUREL, Md.—“She might be a good one,” trainer Michael Trombetta said as Ultimate Love walked back to the barn area after winning Saturday’s $125,000 Selima Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
She might be at that.
Ultimate Love remained unbeaten from three starts after successfully stepping up into stakes company for the first time. The 3-2 favorite under jockey Jorge Ruiz, who completed a back-to-back double after riding Proton to victory a half-hour earlier in the $125,000 Laurel Futurity, Ultimate Love found good position tracking outside in the second flight as Celebrity Warrior set rated fractions of 24.36, 49.74, and 1:14.75.
A fresh Celebrity Warrior sprinted for home, but Ruiz remained confident on Ultimate Love, wheeling his mount three wide at the quarter pole. Slowly, but surely, Ultimate Love cut into the lead, and she ran by Celebrity Warrior to score by four lengths in 1:43.58 over the firm ground.
Celebrity Warrior was second, 1 ½ lengths ahead of Parkes. She’s Country, Autonome, Lovely Grey, Amberia, and Spitfire completed the order of finish. Oscar’s Encore, My Lady Jbella, and Beach Ballad scratched.
Ultimate Love returned $5 to win as the favorite.
“Very laid back,” Trombetta described Ultimate Love. “I told [Ruiz] in the paddock today that you have a good post. Hopefully, you can find a good spot that you like, and he did a good job of it. I was a little concerned when [Celebrity Warrior] got loose by itself. She had a very good number in her first start.”
A chestnut homebred daughter of Curlin owned by Live Oak Plantation, Ultimate Love is from a phenomenal female family. Her second dam is millionaire My Typhoon, herself a half-sister to Group 1 winners Galileo, Sea the Stars, and Black Sam Bellamy.
Ultimate Love made her debut in a one-mile maiden special weight at Colonial on July 24. She settled off the pace that day before rallying to win by 2 ¾ lengths.
Ultimate Love stepped up against winners for her second start, and dominated them, winning off by 6 ¾ lengths in a first-level allowance at Laurel on September 5.
Ultimate Love ($5), unbeaten winner of the Selima Stakes @LaurelPark for @trombetta_mike and @jorgeruizjockey. pic.twitter.com/5ZM9r3cLSN
— Dan Illman (@DanIllman_MJC) September 27, 2025
“I didn’t know how she would do on the turf,” Trombetta admitted after the allowance win. “From when we ran her on it the first time at Colonial, all the feedback was good, so here we are again. Curlin will get you dirt. The dam-side is more turf. What I like about this filly is that I think she’s going to be a mile-and-an-eighth, mile-and-a-quarter type of filly.”
Sharing won the Selima Stakes in 2019 in her third start before shipping to Southern California for a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“Those thoughts crossed my mind as she crossed the finish line,” Trombetta said in reference to this year’s Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Halloween.
Sarah White trains first winner
Sarah White notched the first training victory of her career after Kohoutek ($16.60) rallied up the inside under Jorge Ruiz to capture the fourth race, a $16,000 maiden claimer for 3-year-olds and upward at 5 ½ furlongs on turf.
Kohoutek, a 3-year-old gelding by Cairo Prince, was claimed for $50,000 by Momentum Stable out of a sixth-place finish in a maiden race on dirt at Ellis Park on July 5. He made his first start for White the following month, finishing last of seven in a maiden special weight at Parx.
“He shows a lot of speed in the mornings,” White said in the winner’s circle. “We ran him at Parx, and he doesn’t like the dirt. He’s definitely not a dirt horse.”
White switched Kohoutek to turf for a $25,000 maiden claimer at 1 1/16 miles on September 14. Embroiled in a wicked speed duel through blazing fractions, Kohoutek faltered to finish eighth.
White expected Kohoutek to sit off the pace today.
“The horse needed to be [taken] back, and that’s exactly what he wanted,” White said. “I’m so proud of him. I’m really excited. This makes me so happy.”
White, who has five horses in her barn, worked on the backstretch for nearly 20 years as an exercise rider.
“I’ve had my trainer’s license since 2011,” White added. “I didn’t really do anything with it. I was an assistant for Gerry Brooks for a minute, and then I galloped for Lacey Gaudet, Ann Merryman, lots of people. I was out of the game for about four years, and then I met Scott Lake, my fiancé now. He made me fall back in love with racing. I took out my trainer’s license again, and here I am. I’ve been training now since February.”
Around the track … … …. ……
Jockey Jevian Toledo booted home two winners on the Saturday card. Toledo wired the field with Night Time Nap ($10.80) in the second race, then utilized stalk-and-pounce tactics with Ithinkiloveyou ($6.40) in the sixth…
Trainer Jose Corrales also won two races. Mister Roscoe ($5.80), a 2-year-old by Cloud Computing, graduated in the eighth race while Speedy Alex ($34.60) upset the fifth…
Maryland-bred Mindframe, one of the top older males in the country, breezed a half-mile in 49.65 over Saratoga’s Oklahoma Training Track. Earlier this year, Mindframe won the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs and the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes at 1 1/8 miles…Live racing resumes on Sunday with a ten-race program. The first post time is 12:10 pm ET…
Reserve your spot for our weekly “Bubbly Brunch Sundays”. Kick back with friends over delicious brunch favorites and bottomless mimosas in our vibrant Stone Bar Restaurant and Bar. Sunday Brunch begins at 11:00 am ET and runs through the final live race at Laurel Park.
