Broken Bridle no longer runner-up at Laurel
Ending a string of runner-up finishes dating back to late April, Paul L. Fowler Jr.’s Broken Bridle wore down pacesetter Emelina through the stretch and surged near the wire to win Laurel Park’s co-featured eighth race Saturday.
Favored at 6-5 in the $42,000 entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older, Broken Bridle ($4.40) had finished second in three consecutive races and four of six this year after ending her juvenile campaign with a maiden victory last fall at Laurel.
The 3-year-old daughter of Broken Vow ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.72 over a firm Bowl Game Turf Course. Emelina was second with Conscription third.
“I thought at the top of the stretch we had [Emelina] and that horse just dug in real hard and ran a heck of a race. I wasn’t sure we were going to get there and she just kind of nudged there. She’s just run huge every time,” winning trainer Gary Capuano said. “She tries hard. She’s had a couple unlucky trips and got beat by a couple of nice horses but she was due. She got a good trip today and we got the job done.”
Emelina was left alone on the lead and opened up by six lengths after sailing through a quarter-mile in 23.92 seconds and a half in 47.75. Conscription rated along the rail in second with Oh What a Delite third and Broken Bridle three wide in fourth.
Broken Bridle and jockey Victor Carrasco began to edge closer to Emelina leaving the backstretch and launched a bid turning for home, steadily gaining on the stubborn leader down the middle of the track to win by a neck.
“She’s a nice filly and she’s going to get better as she gets older. She’s just a big filly that’s starting to fill out now,” Capuano said. “We’d like to look for a 3-year-old filly stake on the turf somewhere if we can before the 3-year-olds are done. We’ll see how she comes out of it and play it by ear.”
In Saturday’s co-featured ninth race, a $42,000 entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on the Exceller Turf Course, Patricia Moseley’s Dream Breake held off late-running Datt Melody to capture the finale in a photo finish. It was just the fourth career start and second this year for the 4-year-old New York-bred, who hit the wire in 1:41.62.
Rainbow 6, Late Pick 5, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for Sunday
There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $1 Super Hi-5 wagers for Sunday’s eight-race program.
First race post time is 1:25 p.m.
The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the 13th consecutive live program Saturday when the only horse live to take down the jackpot, No. 2 Datt Melody, was unable to catch 30-1 long shot Dream Breaker in the ninth-race finale and finished second.
A total of $6,566 was wagered into the Rainbow 6, which will have a carryover jackpot of $13,296.20 for Sunday. Tickets with five of six winners Saturday were each worth $3,151.70.
The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Sunday’s Rainbow 6 covers Races 3-8 and includes a pair of $40,000 maiden special weight events for 2-year-olds. Union Blues, a son of multiple Grade 1 winner Union Rags trained by Arnaud Delacour, is the 2-1 program favorite in a field of eight for Race 4 at 5 ½ furlongs on the main track.
Race 5, set for 5 ½ furlongs on the Bowl Game Turf Course, features 3-1 morning-line favorite Undulated, a son of Hall of Famer Curlin purchased for $625,000 in March in Ocala, Fla. as a 2-year-old in training, and Augustin Stable’s homebred Sleepless, by Quality Road, the lone filly in the field of 10.
The Late Pick 5, offering an industry-low 12 percent takeout, will have a carryover of $3,332.81 beginning in Race 4. Tickets with four of five winners Saturday paid $370.30.
A carryover of $1,719.58 will be available in the Super Hi-5 for Sunday’s opener.
Every Sunday during its 24-day summer meet Laurel serves up brunch as well as a Kids Zone with pony rides, crafts, a petting zoo and guest speaker. Brunch is $22 for adults, $11 for kids under 12 and free for children under 6, with bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Marys available for another $12.
Notes: Jockeys Victor Carrasco and Angel Cruz each posted a riding double Saturday. Carrasco won with Street Bullet ($7.20) in the third race and Broken Bridle ($4.40) in the eighth, while Cruz was first with Invisible Crown ($4) in the fourth and Dream Breaker ($65.40) in the ninth. … The maiden victory by 2-year-old filly Fly in Friday’s second race at Laurel marked the first win for late sire Brilliant Speed, killed by a lightning strike July 14 at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky. Trained by Phil Schoenthal, Fly ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:02.87 under jockey Jevian Toledo.
Source: Maryland Jockey Club