Slow break? Heat from rivals? No problem.

Haileysfirstnotion shrugged off a bad break early and challenges late, and the result was a dominant victory in Laurel Park’s second-level allowance feature Saturday afternoon.

The win, his second straight, gave the four-year-old Great Notion gelding four wins from six career starts and pushed his bankroll past $133,000.

“He’s an amazing dude,” said trainer Gary Capuano. Capuano knows from amazing: his resume includes 1,380 winners and two millionaires in Cherokee’s Boy and Captain Bodgit, the latter the narrowly beaten favorite in the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

In today’s six-furlong contest, Haileysfirstnotion broke a beat slowly, which seemed likely to be a problem in a race with others who, like him, have natural early foot. Under Jean Briceno, he quickly rushed up between rivals to poke a head in front after a quarter-mile in 22.79 seconds on a sloppy, sealed main track.

“He usually breaks better,” Capuano admitted. “I was kind of worried that he rushed him up, but once he got to running, he just takes a hold of him. He’s just a big, strong horse. He’s fast, you know?”

Haileysfirstnotion soon shrugged off longshot Squire Creek, but nearing the quarter pole, a more formidable foe emerged in the form of Play Harder, the comebacking Annette Eubanks trainee who was elevated to first in last June’s Star de Naskra Stakes via disqualification. That rival circled the turn to take aim on the leader after a half-mile in 46.56 seconds.

Those rivals turned for home on nearly even terms. But the fight was soon over.

“Once he turned for home, he switched leads, and he just took off,” Capuano said. “Like I said, he’s got a lot of talent. He’s a big, strong horse.”

Haileysfirstnotion drew away to win by 5 ¼ lengths in a sharp 1:11.09 for six furlongs. Play Harder held second, 1 ½ lengths better than the veteran Factor It In.

Off as the odds-on favorite, Haileysfirstnotion paid $3.20 to win.

Haileysfirstnotion, out of the stakes-winning Archarcharch mare Hailey’s Flip, is a homebred for Daniel Crowley and Non Stop Stable and is Maryland-bred, Maryland-sired, and Delaware certified.

That gives his connections plenty of options going forward. Capuano said, though, that the immediate plan would be to knock down the third allowance condition before considering deeper waters.

“There’s no sense in pushing,” the trainer said. “Those races have been filling, so you might as well go through those, and then we’ll see from there.”

However that develops, Capuano likes the spot he’s in with this four-year-old.

“He’s always shown a lot of talent. It’s just getting him there and making sure he stays healthy,” Capuano said. “But he’s pretty special.”

NOTES Jockey Forest Boyce, out after being injured in a pre-race accident April 13, earned her first win since when she piloted Tuck Check to a rail-skimming win on the turf in a first allowance in the tenth race. Tuck Check is trained by Lindsay Schultz for the Estate of Brereton Jones… Jockey Mychel Sanchez had a natural hat trick, sweeping races five through seven. His wins came with Coringa ($10.00) for trainer Mike Trombetta, Enduring Gold ($4.40) for Trombetta again, and Sister Supream ($8.20) for Jamie Ness…