Day for the aged as Gift of Gab, Alogon win at Laurel
7-year-olds sweep turf stakes
Frank Vespe
September 12, 2026
It was a day for the aged Saturday at Laurel Park, as a pair of seven-year-olds swept the track’s two $100,000 stakes.
Gift of Gab, perhaps better now than ever, rallied late outside to win the Sensible Lady Turf Dash by three quarters of a length in 1:09.29 for six furlongs on good turf. Two races later, fellow oldster Alogon slipped through inside to prevail by the same margin in 1:09.09 in the Laurel Dash.
“I was hoping for a top three finish, and when she came out wide and just started flying past them, I mean, I can’t even explain that feeling,” said Suzanne Stettinius, who trains Gift of Gab for owner-breeders Richie Blue and Ann Merryman. Jorge Ruiz was in the irons.
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It was the first career stakes win for Stettinius.
Gift of Gab very nearly won the Jameela at the same distance and surface in June but after leading late, she had to settle for second behind Mopo. Since, she’d finished third in a second-level allowance and then won a starter contest.
“There was the two-other-than [allowance] next week, so we were like, “Well, maybe we should go for that instead,’” Stettinius said of the thought process. “And you know, we’re here. We had some good scratches, and we’re like, let’s go for it.”
Gift of Gab, a Maryland-bred mare by Fast Anna, might be better now than ever. She has 10 wins from 34 career starts, and the winner’s share will push her bankroll to more than $370,000.
But whatever the reason for the late-career improvement, Stettinius said it wasn’t anything special they had done in the offseason.
“Nothing different. Pulled her shoes and ignored her all winter,” she said. “You know, she just came back a little stronger. She’s sound. She’s feeling great, and she ran her heart out.”
Two races later, Alogon, a Grade 3 winner last year, earned his first win in three starts this season when, under an astute ride by jockey Forest Boyce, he bided his time in behind a sluggish early pace set by 8-5 favorite Victory Achieved before slipping through inside of that rival and outsprinting him to the wire.
Trained by Ned Allard for the Estate of Charles Matses, Alogon had finished fourth and seventh in his first two starts of the season, both in stakes company. He’d had excuses in both, though, leading Allard to say, “I really did think he was going to step forward today.”
The win marked Alogon ready to return to Belmont Park this fall to try to defend his title in the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint, which he won last year.
It also continued a remarkable run for Allard with Alogon’s family. The veteran trainer’s connection began with the Florida-bred Shananie, a son of In Reality Allard trained for owner-breeder Peter Fuller. Shananie made his final start in 1985 and then became a sire.
Allard subsequently trained Shananies Song, whose damsire was Shananie, and then her daughter Scamper, by Scat Daddy. Scamper, not much of a racehorse herself, is the dam of Alogon, who is by the near-Triple Crown hero California Chrome.
“I trained the dam, and I trained her dam, and I trained the grandsire Shananie, and Shananie’s been a hell of a broodmare sire,” Allard said. “I just feel like I’ve been with this family for about 30 years, and I have.”
Asked if there common traits in the family, he had a simple answer.
“They all can run,” Allard said.
STAKES RECAPS
SENSIBLE LADY
Gift of Gab produced a powerful late run to spring an 11-1 upset in Saturday’s $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash at Laurel Park. Last of eight shortly after the start, the Maryland-bred mare saved ground under Jorge Ruiz before angling five wide in midstretch. She swept past a crowded group in the final sixteenth and edged away to defeat Somnium by three-quarters of a length, completing six furlongs over good turf in 1:09.29. Come to Mama finished another half-length back in third.
The victory was the second straight for Gift of Gab, who entered off an allowance score Aug. 16 at Colonial Downs. Trained by Suzanne Stettinius for owners Ann Merryman and Richard Blue Jr., the 7-year-old daughter of Fast Anna returned $24.40 to win. Favored Gerrards Cross, sent off at 2-1, encountered traffic in upper stretch and finished seventh, while early leader Le Amazonia weakened late to fifth.
LAUREL DASH
Alogon slipped through along the rail in the stretch and wore down favored Victory Achieved to win Saturday’s $100,000 Laurel Dash at Laurel Park. Forest Boyce kept the Edward Allard trainee tucked behind the leaders through fractions of 24.24 and 47.21 in the six-furlong turf sprint, then found an opening inside approaching the three-sixteenths pole. Alogon collared Victory Achieved in the final sixteenth and edged clear to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:09.09 over good turf.
Victory Achieved, the 8-5 favorite, broke sharply under Sonny Leon and controlled the pace before grudgingly giving way late. Senbei overcame a troubled start to finish third, a nose ahead of Witty, who also had early trouble before rallying wide. The victory was the first of the year for Alogon, a 7-year-old California Chrome gelding owned by the Estate of Charles T. Matses, and he returned $14.60 to win.
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