For the second straight day, cancellations at Penn National and Charles Town left Laurel Park the only mid-Atlantic track to run yesterday…

Rider Victor Carrasco won four yesterday, though not without some controversy after his fourth winner, Stolen Love (20.60-1) was put up via disqualification.  His other wins included That’s Epic (1.10-1), Street Surprise (1.70-1), and Irish Irene (3-5).  That’s Epic and Irish Irene both won for the first time in their careers.  Carrasco now has 19 wins at Laurel during the meet, two behind Trevor McCarthy for the lead…

Stolen Love was put up in the eighth, a starter allowance, after original winner Avarice was disqualified from first and placed last.  That decision by the stewards led to unanimous disagreement among the denizens of the press box.  JD Acosta, aboard Midnight Music, appeared to put his horse in a tight spot behind Kristina McManigell and Avarice and then had to check sharply.  McManigell seemed to maintain a straight course with Avarice, but the stewards believed otherwise and disqualified her horse, placing Avarice behind Midnight Music, who’d gone on to finish last.  The chart of the race suggests that the incident was the fault of Acosta and his mount, who “came in slightly initiating contact with STOLEN LOVE… checked sharply soon after, dropped back… and failed to recover.”  It would have been the first win of 2014 for McManigell…

It took Xavier Perez more than a month to get his first win of the year at Laurel, and he liked it so much he did it again.  For the second straight day, Perez and Ollie Figgins, III teamed up to win, this time with Caution Sign in a claiming event…

It took Der Boss seven cracks to break his maiden.  Yesterday, the son of Street Boss made it two straight, taking a first-level allowance for trainer Tim Tullock.  He made the lead in mid-stretch and had just enough to hold off the late charge of Charlie’s Punch…

It was an eventful birthday for Chelsey Keiser.  The rider took the fifth race, a $7500 lifetime claimer, with 17.80-1 shot Bomb Dust for trainer Donald Barr, rallying outside and drawing off to win by three.  The horse was so pleased with himself that he promptly tossed his rider.  No injuries, though, and she climbed back aboard for the win photo…

The track once again was very slow.  The allowance won by Der Boss, at a distance of 1 1/16 miles, took nearly 1:50 to complete.  Couple winners on the rail yesterday, though the outside part of the track seemed the place to be…