LRL: Hollywood Import, Peach Tie surprise in stakes
Frank Vespe
December 27, 2025
Pocket 3s Racing LLC’s Hollywood Import had made three starts prior to Saturday’s edition of the $100,000 Heft Stakes for two-year-olds at Laurel Park.
In each, he had been last at the first call.
For those keeping score at home, that’s 21 rivals in three races, and 21 rivals in front of him after a quarter-mile.
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So there he was Saturday, breaking sharply from the outside stall under Mychel Sanchez, leading by two lengths after the opening quarter-mile, and controlling things throughout en route to a 1 ¾-length victory.
And the last shall be first.
“Just goes to show you: what do I know?” joked winning trainer Gary Capuano.
One thing he knows: how to win with two-year-olds. Hollywood Import’s win was Capuano’s twenty-third of the year with a juvenile, and he’s won at a 39% clip with babies this year.
“It’s crazy,” Capuano said of his success with two-year-olds. “It just, you know, it caps off a big year. It’s one of those things where it’s just hard to do. It’s been fun, and it’s been a great year.”
Hollywood Import had rallied nicely to win his debut by a head at six furlongs. Then he finished a credible, if well-beaten, second in the James F. Lewis, III Stakes behind Balboa, who returned to be a good third in the Grade 2 Remsen.
But last time out, in a one-mile allowance, he made little impact and finished fourth. That changed in a big way today.
“From the outside, he just broke sharp,” Capuano said. “Mychel [Sanchez] said he was comfortable. And he said, ‘I wasn’t going to take him back at that point.’”
That proved the right move. The opener was a moderate 23.48 seconds, and Hollywood Import increased his lead to 2 ½ lengths after a half-mile in 47.28 seconds. Hollywood Import led by four lengths with a furlong to go, and it was all over but the shouting.
Running time for seven furlongs on a fast main track was 1:27.06. Another Capuano trainee, 6-5 favorite Probably Dreaming, rallied for second under Carlos Lopez. Red Zone Runner finished third.
Hollywood Import paid $21.20 as the longest of the three Capuano trainees and the second-longest price overall. The exacta paid $25.80 for a one-dollar wager.
One race prior, the $100,000 Gin Talking for two-year-old fillies scratched down to just three runners. Two of them – Just Philtored and Slewperstitus – had run one-two, in that order, three prior times, including in the Maryland Juvenile Filly earlier this month.
The third, Peach Tie, had made four prior starts at four different tracks with four different riders. But the Preservationist filly, trained by Brittany Russell for the Estate of Brereton Jones, was 3-for-3 on dirt and had earned a stakes-placing, which came on the synthetic at Presque Isle.
Under jockey Sheldon Russell, Peach Tie pressed the early pace of Just Philtored, took command nearing the quarter-pole, and drew away to win by eight lengths in 1:27.30, with Just Philtored holding off Slewperstitus by a half-length for second.
Peach Tie paid $6.60 as the longest shot on the board.
“We’ve always liked her,” Brittany Russell said of Peach Tie, who improved to 4-for-5 in her career. “Our filly was fresh; she hadn’t run since the second week of November, so I think the timing was really good. Maybe all the stars aligned, but I’ve always liked her.”
Russell will conclude the season as Maryland’s leading trainer, and the Gin Talking was her 15th stakes in Maryland this year. No other trainer won more than six.
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