2024 Barbara Fritchie Stakes Entries at Laurel Park

Intrepid Daydream, Miller Racing's three-time stakes winner last year in Maryland, returns after a winter sojourn to South Florida chasing graded-stakes success in the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) Saturday, February 17 at Laurel Park.

The 70th running of the Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 49th renewal of the $200,000 General George Stakes (G3) for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs, co-headline a Winter Carnival program featuring four stakes worth $600,000 in purses.

Post time for the first of 10 races is 12:25 p.m.

Bred in Maryland by previous owner Paul L. Fowler Jr., 5-year-old Intrepid Daydream was purchased privately after running her win streak to four in the six-furlong Politely over Thanksgiving weekend. Other wins in that stretch came in the Maryland Million Distaff at the Fritchie distance at Laurel and six-furlong Shine Again at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Intrepid Daydream was sent to Gulfstream Park-based trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. following the sale and ran second by a half-length as the favorite behind Spirit Wind in debut for her new connections, the six-furlong Sugar Swirl (G3) Dec. 23. Another recent private purchase, Spirit Wind is now also with Joseph.

"We didn't have her very long before her first race for us. She shipped in and ran very well that day," Joseph said. "The last race I thought she was in a good spot and she just flattened. Going into that race, it was a hot week and I don't know if she didn't have enough time to climatize. She hasn't been in Florida long, but the heat's just been giving her a hard time. We wanted to get her back up where it'll be cooler."

Last time out, Intrepid Daydream was within a length and a half of the lead in the seven-furlong Inside Information (G2) on the undercard of Gulfstream's Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series program Jan. 28 before dropping back to be fourth. She returns to a Laurel track where she has two wins, a second and a third in four tries.

"Obviously she's been successful there," Joseph said. "She's definitely a classy filly. She works well and this morning she worked great again. She had to work well to enter. If everything goes good, she'll have a good chance."

Jevian Toledo, aboard for all four races during her win streak, reunites to ride from Post 6.

Joseph also entered stakes-winning stablemate Bluefield, owned and co-bred by Ed Seltzer. The Field Commission mare was second in the Inside Information to open her 8-year-old season after finishing fifth, beaten less than two lengths, in the Sugar Swirl, which came two weeks after her victory in the City of Ocala at Tampa Bay Downs.

"She ran a big race last time. She's 8 now and she's gotten a lot better with age. We'd like to add a Grade 3 to her resume, hopefully," Joseph said. "Seven-eighths is probably the maximum she wants to go, but she's fine at the distance."

Bluefield also tried graded company when fourth to her stablemate and subsequent Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) show finisher Three Witches in last summer's Princess Rooney (G3). Jaime Rodriguez gets the riding assignment from Post 7.

"We didn't get her until she was 5 turning 6, so we didn't get her until late," Joseph said. "But she's a very solid, honest mare and she gives a lot of try, and she keeps getting better and better."

Monarch Stables, Inc.'s Last Leaf is a five-time stakes winner, notching victories on turf and dirt. She has run in four previous graded-stakes, finishing third in the 2022 Forward Gal (G3) sprinting seven furlongs at Gulfstream and the six-furlong Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) last fall at Keeneland.

After making her first 14 career starts at Gulfstream with previous trainer Ron Spatz, six of them wins, Last Leaf has raced at six different racetracks on turf, dirt and synthetics since capturing the Audubon Oaks in August 2022 Ellis Park, her most recent win. She has been second or third in eight consecutive races and nine of her last 11.

"She's just very consistent. She can handle the dirt real well. There's a lot of different dirt tracks she's raced on so id imagine she'd handle the track at Laurel good. The distance is not an issue for her, and she's doing great," trainer Eddie Kenneally said. "She shows up every time. She's a hard-trying filly. I think this might be a good spot for her. It's good timing on the calendar for her and it's another graded race. Hopefully it can add to her resume."

Angel Cruz has the call from Post 1 on Last Leaf, who does her best running from mid-pack.

"That's her running style. She likes to be close but not necessarily on the lead and stalking," Kenneally said. "That's kind of how the bulk of her races have unfolded. She might have found herself a little bit too far back the last time and just didn't get there. I don't think we're going to change much."

Michael Dubb's Apple Picker, second in back-to-back stakes to cap her 3-year-old campaign, is set to make her season debut in the Fritchie. Winner of the six-furlong Weather Vane last fall at Pimlico, she was beaten a total of 2 ½ lengths in the seven-furlong Safely Kept and 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move at Laurel in her most recent outings. The Brittany Russell trainee is graded-stakes tested, trying twice as a 2-year-old and finishing fourth in the Raven Run (G2) last October at Keeneland.

Cash is King and LC Racing's Disco Ebo faced Last Leaf in the 2022 Forward Gal, finishing seventh in her only prior graded attempt. The 5-year-old mare is a stakes winner at Penn National, Mahoning Valley and Parx for trainer Robert E. `Butch' Reid Jr., and most recently emerged from a lengthy duel to win a 6 ½-furlong allowance by a head Jan. 24 at her home track of Parx.

"She's doing really well," Reid said. "She came out of the race bouncing and looks happy so that's why we decided to go ahead and give it a shot in this one."

HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing's stakes winner Prodigy Doll will be trying the Fritchie for the third straight year, having run fifth in 2022 and 2023. A 6-year-old daughter of champion Shanghai Bobby, Prodigy Doll exits a 4 ½-length optional claiming allowance triumph sprinting six furlongs Jan. 28 at Laurel under Jeiron Barbosa, who returns to ride from Post 2.

"We were obviously happy to see her run well, and she ran kind of how I expected," trainer Phil Schoenthal said. "I was a little bit nervous going into the race. The way the racetrack was playing, it looked like speed and the rail were really good. I was worried she might get caught behind the pace and not be able to make up ground wide, but Barbosa worked out a good trip. He wound up close to the lead and it worked out really well."

Beneath the Stars, a seven-time winner trained and co-owned by Lacey Gaudet that was stakes-placed in 2021 and 2022; R. Larry Johnson homebred Continentalcongres, also twice stakes-placed; and Lugamo Racing Stable and JR Sanchez Racing Stable's Freccia d'Argento, third or better in 20 of 35 career starts, round out the field.

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Disco Ebo Chasing Graded-Stakes Success in Barbara Fritchie

When it comes to on-track success, no one in Saturday's $200,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park has done it better than Cash is King and LC Racing's Disco Ebo.

The 5-year-old mare owns 10 wins from 20 starts and is the richest of nine horses in the seven-furlong Fritchie with purse earnings of $586,544. Three of her victories have come in stakes, at three different tracks - the 2021 Shamrock Rose at Penn National, Mahoning Valley's 2022 Youngstown Oaks, and 2023 Penn's Landing at her home track of Parx.

About the only thing missing from Disco Ebo's resume is black type in a graded-stakes race, a blank trainer Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr. hopes to fill this weekend.

"It's not her first attempt, but that's the idea," Reid said. "We're trying to get a graded win for her and enhance her value as a broodmare."

By Weigelia out of the Disco Rico mare Katarica Disco, Disco Ebo is a full sister to stakes winners Fore Harp, Smooth B and Fat Kat - all trained by Reid - as well as Pink Princess, who won 16 races and $572,135 in purses racing primarily in the claiming ranks.

"We've had about five or six racehorses out of that mare and every one of them has been a runner and made over a half-million dollars," Reid said. "It's been a really good family for us."

Disco Ebo strung together three straight wins by 26 ¾ combined lengths late in her juvenile campaign. Her lone try in graded company came as a 3-year-old in the winter of 2022 at Gulfstream Park, when she encountered trouble early and was eased late finishing seventh in the seven-furlong Forward Gal (G3).

Last year Disco Ebo began with three consecutive wins and went 4-for-6 overall, and she opened 2024 with a determined head victory in an open 6 ½-furlong allowance Jan. 24 at Parx. All of her wins have seen her race on or close to the lead.

"She's got good gas and we don't hold her back from showing it. It's worked well for her," Reid said. "She's won half the starts of her career and she's done it either near or on the front end. We're not going to change anything with that strategy soon."

Parx-based regular rider Frankie Pennington gets the return call from Post 4 on Disco Ebo, who has raced at six different racetracks but will be making her Laurel debut. She is rated at 10-1 on the morning line.

"As long as the track's good and tight, she's good. If we get a little rain on Saturday, even better," Reid said. "She likes a track she can get a hold of where it's not breaking away and Laurel's traditionally been that way in the wintertime so that's another reason to come in and take a chance."

Barbara Fritchie (G3) Gets Season Started for Apple Picker

Michael Dubb's stakes winner Apple Picker, purposefully given time from her last start, returns rested and ready to snap a three-race losing streak when she makes her 4-year-old debut in Saturday's $200,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.

Apple Picker has breezed four times for her season opener, once at historic Pimlico Race Course and three times at Laurel, where she fired a bullet half-mile move in 47.20 seconds Feb. 2, the fastest of 17 horses.

By Grade 1-winning millionaire Connect, Apple Picker capped her 2023 campaign with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Laurel in the seven-furlong Safely Kept and 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move, the latter as the favorite Dec. 23, beaten a total of 2 ½ lengths.

The connections decided to point for the Fritchie rather than run in the six-furlong What a Summer at Laurel, which was delayed from Jan. 20 to 26 and ultimately canceled due to lingering effects from a winter storm that passed through the Mid-Atlantic region.

"She got shook around pretty hard in the last run so we opted to skip the last race and just give her more time into the Fritchie with that kind of being the goal," trainer Brittany Russell said. "It would do a lot for her if she could hit the board or win the race, so we tried to give her the best chance by giving her time and breezing her into it.

"She's breezed really well and she trains really well," she added. "She's an aggressive- type filly and she seems to be acting like she's ready to run again."

Apple Picker made her first four starts for New York-based trainer Rudy Rodriguez before being moved to Russell for her sophomore campaign, winning first time out last May at Delaware Park. After two unsuccessful tries on the Laurel turf, Apple Picker responded to her return to the dirt with a 4 ½-length upset of the six-furlong Weather Vane at Pimlico.

Russell shipped Apple Picker to Keeneland for her graded debut in the seven-furlong Raven Run (G2), where she closed to be fourth, just a half-length behind third-place finisher and multiple graded-stakes placed Dazzling Blue, trained by Brad Cox. Running 1-2, respectively, were Vahava, a Grade 2 and Grade 3 winner of more than $873,000 in purses, and 2023 Prioress (G2) winner Alva Starr.

"She was probably a little unlucky in that race. Her and Brad's filly were boom, boom down to the wire together," Russell said. "I think she was running. The top two fillies are really good fillies. She's run against some good horses, but I think she's tough, as well, and the seven-eighths is good."

Russell's husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, is named to ride Apple Picker (6-1 morning line) from Post 6 in a field of nine led by favored South Florida-based stablemates Bluefield and Intrepid Daydream.

32 nominees for 2024 Barbara Fritchie (G3)

Feb 4- Jethorse, Wachtel Stable and Gary Barber's Grade 1 winner Daddysruby, winner of the seven-furlong La Brea (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita in her most recent start; graded-stakes winners Ice Dancing and Olivia Darling; and Hot Fudge, a winner of four straight including back-to-back stakes, top 32 nominees to the Barbara Fritchie.

Daddysruby, who held on by a nose in the La Brea, and Perry and Ramona Bass' Ice Dancing, winner of the 2023 Santa Ynez (G3) that was sixth in the La Brea, are both based in Southern California. AMO Racing USA's Olivia Darling, winless in two prior starts at Laurel in 2021 and 2022, captured the seven-furlong Inside Information (G2) Jan. 27 at Gulfstream.

KEM Stables' Hot Fudge has strung together four consecutive wins for New York-based trainer Linda Rice, who shipped in to win the 2017 Fritchie with High Ridge Road. Hot Fudge won the six-furlong Garland of Roses off an eight-day turnaround Dec. 9 and last out scored by a half-length in the Jan. 27 Interborough, both at Aqueduct.

Graded-stakes placed Bluefield, Headland, Intrepid Daydream, Opus Forty Two and Princess Adaleigh; Moody Woman and Prodigy Doll, respectively third and fifth in last year's Fritchie; and fellow stakes winners Apple Picker, Disco Ebo, Hybrid Eclipse, Kant Hurry Love, Last Leaf, Saddle Up Jessie and Tappin Josie are also nominated.

Prodigy Doll Pointed Towards Third Barbara Fritchie (G3)

Feb 1 - Prodigy Doll, HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing's 6-year-old stakes-winning mare, is being pointed to a third straight run in the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) following her dominant 4 ½-length victory Sunday at Laurel Park.

"That's our target," trainer Phil Schoenthal said of the seven-furlong Fritchie for older female sprinters Feb. 17, which co-headlines a Winter Carnival program with the $200,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up, also at seven-eighths.

Sharing the program are the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles and $100,000 Nellie Morse for fillies and mares 4 and older at 1 1/16 miles. Nominations for all four races are due Saturday.

Prodigy Doll has run fifth in the past two editions of the Fritchie, entering its 72nd year. She was beaten 4 ½ lengths at odds of 42-1 in 2022 by Glass Ceiling, who won Aqueduct's Distaff Handicap (G3) in her subsequent start.

Last year, Prodigy Doll went off at 11-1 and wound up 4 ¼ lengths behind multiple stakes winner Swayin to and Fro. Stakes winners Fillie d'Esprit and Moody Woman, respectively second and third, won their next starts.

"She always tries hard and runs well, it's just a matter of finding the right group, I guess," Schoenthal said. "I guess we'll see."

Prodigy Doll followed last year's Fritchie running second in the six-furlong Correction at Aqueduct. Schoenthal, based the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., gave the daughter of champion Shanghai Bobby time off after she was third in an open allowance in June at historic Pimlico Race Course.

"She's a filly that does not get along well in the warm weather. She just doesn't seem to perform well and just kind of melts a little bit when it starts getting warm," he said. "We've kind of learned that and turned her out over the summertime and brought her back for fall, winter [and] spring campaigns. Our plan was to bring her back last fall and try and gear her up for another run at the Fritchie and then, depending on how things went, retire her and get her started on a broodmare career or keep her going if she's in good form."

In her comeback race Dec. 1 at Laurel, Prodigy Doll ran an even fourth in a six-furlong optional claimer. She was entered to run in the $100,000 What a Summer, postponed six days from its original Jan. 20 date by winter weather and ultimately canceled due to lingering effects from the storm.

"We've just been taking it step by step. Her comeback race was disappointing. I made a trainer error in misjudging her fitness level. I thought she was plenty fit off four or five workouts, and she ran about half a mile and packed it in. She just got tired," Schoenthal said. "She came out of that race and breezed four, five, six more times. We tried to enter her a few times and got unlucky with the weather.

"I thought that by running her in the allowance race, we would get a much better handle on if she was still the same horse we thought she was, or if she wasn't. She could run fourth in the stake, beaten four lengths, and you wouldn't really know," he added. "We kind of thought with the allowance race, either she would win nicely and give us confidence again or if she didn't, then we knew that her broodmare career was sooner rather than later."

Prodigy Doll found herself three wide behind horses in the early stages of her most recent effort, was forced to steady near the five-eighths pole, but rallied three wide to collar pacesetter Fuhgeddaboudit and draw off with authority under jockey Jeiron Barbosa.

"We were obviously happy to see her run well, and she ran kind of how I expected," Schoenthal said. "I was a little bit nervous going into the race. The way the racetrack was playing, it looked like speed and the rail were really good. I was worried she might get caught behind the pace and not be able to make up ground wide, but Barbosa worked out a good trip. He wound up close to the lead and it worked out really well."

Prodigy Doll has been third or better in 11 of 23 career starts with $281,920 in purse earnings. Winner of the 2021 Cheryl S. White Memorial at Mahoning Valley for her previous trainer, Midwest-based Ben Colebrook, and came to Schoenthal at the start of 2022.

"The owner had his racehorses spread out with a couple different trainers. He had sent me a group of horses that had been originally based in Pennsylvania when I moved to Fair Hill. This particular horse, they had shipped her from Kentucky for several races in the Mid-Atlantic, and it looked like there were a lot of races in the Mid-Atlantic for her. He just kind of felt, in talking with his trainer in Kentucky, that maybe shipping her up here and having her be located more where she's going to run was going to be a better plan for her," Schoenthal said. "She's kind of a neat horse in that she's always been a high-class animal."