#9 Turbin: Last week we stopped at the Fair Grounds for some graded stakes races. This week we’re headed back to my favorite playground for a $5,000 claiming race at Laurel. The good news is that I’ve been pretty hot at Laurel, especially in these types of lower-level claiming races. The seventh on Saturday shapes up as a pretty speedy affair — I count about five of them who are usually sent from the gate. Typically at this level I wouldn’t look for a deep closer but if there’s one in Maryland that has been reliable for years it’s Turbin. He runs best after a light freshening and he should get a perfect setup here. Best of all, we might get a decent price.
#10 Candymankando: We started with a lower-level claiming race and we’ll close out with one. New York-based trainer Jeremiah Englehart has been on fire with his horses shipping down to Maryland over the past few months. As of this writing, he’s clicking at about a 35 percent clip with 25 starters at Laurel (that’s a fairly substantial sample size). His first-call rider is Jorge Vargas (40 percent win rate over the past two years) — he’ll be aboard Candymankando in the finale on Saturday after cruising to an easy score with him last out at this level. Additionally, the track has been sloppy at Laurel for most of the past few weeks. Canymankando’s pedigree indicates he’s one who’d move up over a wet track, and there is rain in the forecast for Saturday.