LRL: Promising Lonesome Road romps in allowance
Frank Vespe
January 23, 2026
Mindframe’s little brother might be one to keep an eye on.
Lonesome Road, a 4-year-old Maclean’s Music gelding, made dazzlingly short work of a pretty salty group of allowance foes in Laurel Park’s $49,000 allowance feature Friday and now is 2-for-2 since being gelded and switched to the dirt.
This article contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may earn a commission at no extra charge to you.
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
Next stop? Well, there are certainly stakes options in February at Laurel, and elsewhere, if trainer Mike Trombetta opts to head in that direction.
Lonesome Road’s two wins on the main track have come by 8 ½ and, today, 6 ¼ lengths. Overall, he’s 2-for-4 and has earned over $76,000.
“Kind of like a replay of last race,” said Trombetta’s assistant Tana Aubrey. “Going down the backside, he was doing it pretty easy. His ears, when they’re going out there playing, they’re running easy when they’re going out with their ears [pricked].”
Regular pilot Mychel Sanchez put Lonesome Road on the move early, heading quickly to the front of the pack. The comebacking Tony Eclipse, winner of the 2024 Maryland Juvenile but off since last March, was quick to put the heat on Lonesome Road, who nonetheless did not find it all that hot.
Lonesome Road led that rival by 1 ½ lengths after a half-mile in 47.28 seconds and was doing so readily. Longshot Crab Daddy made a bold middle move into second after three quarters in 1:12.54.
Lonesome Road drifted into the three path turning for home and ran his rivals off their feet in the lane, widening to the final margin in 1:37.72 for a one-turn mile. Crab Daddy finished second and was 6 ½ lengths clear of Davyjonz in third. Tony Eclipse faded to fourth.
Lonesome Road paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 betting choice. The exacta returned $14.90 for a one-dollar wager.
Lonesome Road, bred by the late R. Larry Johnson and owned by his Estate, had a pair of fairly nondescript starts on the turf at Colonial Downs over the summer before getting three months off – and getting gelded.
“You know, he just wasn’t really paying attention,” Aubrey said. “We knew it was there. We knew he had the ability, but he really wasn’t focusing.”
The gelding seems to have taken care of that problem. Now, given his bloodlines and performance in his last couple, everyone’s eager to see what comes next.
Mom Walk of Stars, by Street Sense, was a stakes winner who broke her maiden by a Secretariatesque 30 ¼ lengths at Timonium back in 2014. Half-sis Hollywood Walk, by Animal Kingdom, was a stakes winner of more than $540,000. And of course, Mindframe has earned over $2 million while winning a pair of Grade 1 races.
So, whether it’s on to stakes company or a second-level allowance, Lonesome Road has the look of a potentially serious racehorse.
“He’s doing good. He’s going in the right direction,” Aubrey said. “It’s nice to win one.”
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
LATEST NEWS
