LRL: Quint’s Brew to make return in Bender Memorial
Press Release
December 19, 2025
Quint’s Brew returns from a 230-day layoff in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial for Maryland-bred or -sired and Virginia-bred or -sired performers at seven furlongs.
The Bender, one of four stakes on the Saturday card at Laurel Park, will go as the fifth race on a nine-race program. It has attracted a field of six.
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The 4-year-old Mosler gelding shrugged off a 203-day freshening to win his seasonal debut, the restricted Jennings at Laurel on Jan. 18, then bounced back to win the prestigious General George here the following month.
After finishing a close second in the Grade 2 Carter and Grade 3 Westchester, both at Aqueduct, trainer Ned Allard decided to give Quint’s Brew a break.
“After his last two races in New York, we had a minor issue, but we decided to go ahead and give him a little time off because he had run really hard,” Allard said. “He’s a really nice horse.”
Allard noted there is always a concern bringing horses back off long layoffs, but “every time [Quint’s Brew] has worked, he hasn’t gotten the least bit tired and gallops out real strong. He’s not the kind of horse that needs a real heavy program, anyway. I think I’m going to have him right.”
Owned by Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, and Heather Hunter, Quint’s Brew drew the inside post position under jockey Mychel Sanchez and will carry the top weight of 126 lbs. He was installed as the 6-5 morning line favorite by Ed DeRosa of Horse Racing Nation.
Eric Rizer’s Slam Notion has won his last three starts on dirt, including a breakout performance in the Fair Hill Training Center Maryland Million Sprint on Oct. 11. Slam Notion was scratched from the City of Laurel to await this spot.
“He acted like he was a little bit muscle sore,” said trainer Robbie Bailes. “That wasn’t a race we were really pointing for anyway. Our main goal was the Maryland Million and right to the Bender. He’s coming into this race really good.”
Trainer Jamie Ness, the nation’s winningest trainer in 2025, saddles Blue Kingdom for Darryl Abramowitz’s DEA Thoroughbred Racing. A winner in four of his last five starts, Blue Kingdom was a pacesetting winner of a first-level allowance at Aqueduct on Nov. 15. In that race, Blue Kingdom received a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He did it real nice up there,” Ness said. “We gave him plenty of time off that career best at Aqueduct, so we have been pointing to this race for a month now. All systems go.”
The only loss during Blue Kingdom’s current streak came when he finished third behind Barbadian Runner and Post Time in the Maryland Million Classic.
“We got good fractions, but I think 1 1/8 miles is a little bit out of his range, no matter how slow he goes,” Ness stated.
Restricted stakes-winner Showstopper Copper, stakes-placed Bold Diversion, and Cap Com also entered.
Longtime owner-breeders Howard and Sondra Bender were fixtures at Maryland racetracks for nearly four decades. Among their more than 500 winners were graded-stakes winners Secret River, Foufa’s Warrior, Promenade Girl, Green Darlin, London Lane, and La Reine’s Terms.
HOWARD AND SONDRA BENDER MEMORIAL STAKES ENTRIES
| Post | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
| 1 | Quint’s Brew | 6-5 | Sanchez M J | Allard Edward T | Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, & Heather B. |
| 2 | Bold Diversion | 8-1 | Lyapustina T | Shankle Joanne | Joanne Shankle |
| 3 | Showstopper Copper | 6-1 | Rodriguez A R | Lingenfelter Thomas H | William K. Dove II |
| 4 | Slam Notion | 4-1 | Toledo J | Bailes W Robert | Eric A. Rizer |
| 5 | Blue Kingdom | 5-2 | Rodriguez J | Ness Jamie | DEA Thoroughbred Racing LLC |
| 6 | Cap Com | 15-1 | Torrealba J | Singh Somraj | Euro Stable |
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