Nominations for June 19 Stakes Close Sunday, Father’s Day Buffet on Tap
Apprentice Barbosa, Trainer Gonzalez Register Saturday Hat Tricks

BALTIMORE – Five Hellions Farm’s Dontletsweetfoolya, a multiple stakes winner on dirt, will get a second chance on the turf when she returns to her preferred sprint distance in Sunday’s featured sixth race at Laurel Park.

Dontletsweetfoolya, 5, drew the far outside post in the third-level optional claiming allowance scheduled for 5 ½ furlongs over the All Along turf course that drew a field of 12 including main-track-only entrants Margie’s Heaven and We Miss Susie.

In addition to Dontletsweetfoolya, trainer Lacey Gaudet also entered Fraudulent Charge but said she would scratch the four-time stakes runner-up to avoid running the stablemates against each other.

Dontletsweetfoolya has won six of 18 career starts including the 2020 Primonetta and Willa On the Move to end her sophomore season on a five-race win streak. Third in a 5 ½-furlong allowance March 13 at Laurel, she got a taste of the turf in the $100,000 Dahlia April 23. In the one-mile race she pressed pacesetter Traffic Song for a half-mile, forged a short lead after six furlongs and tired late.

“Basically the last race was just a chance to see if she liked the grass. We really wanted to know if it would make her a bit of a better horse,” Gaudet said. “She ran so good last time going the mile and she looked like she relished the grass; we just knew that a mile was going to be too far. To us, she seemed to run good for five, 5 ½ [furlongs]. She’s back sprinting again, so I think it should be a good spot for her.”

Dontletsweetfoolya will be reunited with jockey Jevian Toledo, her regular rider during the win streak also aboard for her last victory in November at Laurel.

“The only thing that might count against her is that they go to the second wire here, but she was out there so comfortably last time,” Gaudet said. “I’m excited to see her short on the grass.”

R. Larry Johnson’s Can’t Buy Love, a stakes winner on the all-weather surface at Woodbine last summer who exits a six-furlong optional claiming victory over the Aqueduct turf April 16, is the 3-1 program favorite. The connections also have Spun Glass, seventh last out in the five-furlong The Very One May 20 at Pimlico. Coconut Cake, third by two lengths in the Dahlia in her turf debut, is also entered.

Nominations for June 19 Stakes Close Sunday; Father’s Day Buffet on Tap

Nominations close Sunday, June 5 for the first three stakes scheduled for Laurel Park’s 37-day summer meet.

Each of the three stakes on the June 19 Father’s Day program are scheduled for the grass – the $100,000 Stormy Blues for 3-year-old fillies sprinting 5 ½ furlongs, $75,000 Find for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up and $75,000 All Brandy for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and older, both going 1 1/16 miles.

Nominations are free to all three stakes and can be made by calling the racing office at 800-638-1859 or emailing stakes coordinator Marie Kizenko at marie.kizenko@marylandracing.com

Also on June 19, Laurel will serve up a Father’s Day buffet along with whiskey flights and bourbon tastings, a welcome drink upon arrival and free live race program. The cost is $65 per person, which includes tax and service charge, and $25 for children 5-12.

For reservations or information, call 301-725-0770 or email fbevents@marylandracing.com

To purchase tickets, click here.

Notes: Apprentice jockey Jeiron Barbosa and trainer Claudio Gonzalez each registered hat tricks Saturday. Barbosa was first with Patriarch Artie ($7.40) in Race 2, Deshackled ($4.20) in Race 5 and Buff Hello ($5.40) in Race 9. Deshackled and Buff Hello are both trained by Gonzalez, who also won Race 7 with Plot the Dots ($7.40) … The featured third-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up was the second win from four starts for Plot the Dots since being claimed for $35,000 in February. The winning time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.77 … Whispurring Kitten ($6.80) held off a late run from stakes-winning stablemate Epic Idea to capture Race 8, a second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up, in 1:03.01 for 5 ½ furlongs on the All Along turf course.