Two-time Eclipse champion Songbird will attempt to give owner Rick Porter his first win in his state’s biggest race, the G1 Delaware Handicap.
Virginia’s new certified program will reward horsemen who board horses at Virginia farms or training centers for six consecutive months before they turn three.
Several prior stakes winners are among the 25 runners nominated to the July 15 Stormy Blues Stakes at Laurel Park.
Among the highlights for the fall stakes schedule at Laurel Park are the October 21 Maryland Million and the G3 De Francis Dash, shifted to mid-September.
Jockey Julian Pimentel was injured in a training accident and might miss up to 12 weeks, his agent said.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will saddle morning line favorite It TIz Well in Saturday’s Delaware Oaks, where she’ll face Black-Eyed Susan winner Actress.
Saturday’s Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park will be headlined by Zipessa, already a graded winner, in a nine-horse field.
Firsters Nauti Buoy and Madame X, both making their debuts, impressed in taking maiden special weight races at Laurel Sunday.
Bigger Picture, a 10-1 outsider, set a Monmouth Park record while narrowly upsetting yesterday’s Grade 1 United Nations Stakes.
Twenty-five-year-old trainer Noah Abramson’s first two starters, both at Laurel Park, have been winners, which isn’t a bad way to start a career.