Shortening Lifelovenlaughter up to a sprint distance proved a timely gamble Saturday at Laurel Park, scoring her first stakes victory in the $100,000 Jameela Stakes with a determined stretch run under jockey Jorge Ruiz. The 5-year-old Maryland-bred mare surged between rivals in the lane and edged away late to win by a half-length, stopping the clock in 1:10.01 for six furlongs on a firm turf course.

The victory marked Lifelovenlaughter’s second straight and her first at a sprint distance in her second sprint start, but the first since her career debut. That, and the black type, made the win a particularly satisfying outcome for trainer Mike Trombetta and owner-breeder Stuart Grant of The Elkstone Group LLC.

“Stuart and I talked about her at the end of the season, because, you know, she’s getting to that point: do we breed her? Do we kick on?” Trombetta said. “I said to Stuart, ‘I mean, she’s pretty solid. And, you know, hopefully we can get her stakes-placed and we’ll be okay.’ And there’s only a couple Maryland-bred things on the radar for these kinds of horses, and this was one of them. And I knew the cutback [in distance] might be risky, but she ran really good.”

Sent off at 6.30-1, Lifelovenlaughter tracked the early pace set by Bosserati, who carved out fractions of 23.54 and 46.27 before fading. Lifelovenlaughter took over between horses near the eighth pole and held firm late over the fast-finishing Alla Breve, who overcame a slow start to finish second. Longshot Cut From Class rallied from the back to grab third.

With the win, Lifelovenlaughter now owns five wins from 19 starts and boosts her career earnings beyond the $300,000 mark. She may head to Colonial for her next start, and her future, whether on the track or in the breeding shed, is brighter now than ever before.