A field of 1o will line up on Saturday at Laurel Park in the General George (G3). (Photo credit: Laurel Park).
New York based trainer John Terranova ships in Funny Guy to Laurel Park for Saturday’s $250,000 General George (G3), the 9-5 morning line favorite.
A field of 10 will assemble for the 45th running of the General George, one of six stakes races on the Winter Sprintfest card which was postponed from last Saturday due to the weather.
The co-feature on the card is the $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) for fillies and mares at seven furlongs which drew a field of eight.
The Terranova trained Funny Guy is coming off a runner up finish in the Say Florida Sandy at Aqueduct where he was sent off as the 4-5 chalk. Our Last Buck got the best of him that day.
Share the Ride is the second choice on the morning line at 3-1. The gelding was third in the Toboggan (G3) at Aqueduct in his last outing. He was beaten a neck over the Laurel Park main track two back in the Fire Plug.
Laki (9-2) draws the rail for trainer Damon Dilodovico. The gelding was the beaten favorite in the Fire Plug where he checked in fourth after clipping heels early.
“Any kind of stumble or clipping heels or checking at that level is definitely going to compromise them, but he kind of fooled me going into that race. I just thought he was super sharp and he didn’t kick,” Dilodovico said. “They’re not machines. They all have bad days, but he hasn’t had many.”
Fire Plug Replay
Lebda (8-1) may be worth a look as well. The gelding was third in the Fire Plug and looks headed in the right direction for the meet’s leading trainer Claudio Gonzales.
“The last race he was going easy and the outside horse pushed him and that’s why he had to move soon. If he was able to keep going and nobody come from the outside I think we could have win the race,” Gonzalez said. “I believe six, seven furlongs are going to be good for him. I like it.”
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Let’s head out to Laurel Park for Saturday’s featured race of the day:
Laurel Park Race 8 The General George G3 4:19 ET
2 Funny Guy 9-5
1 Laki 9-2
3 Lebda 8-1
6 Share the Ride 3-1
Funny Guy
I am never thrilled going with the favorite in a 10-horse field, but this guy is going to be tough in this spot. The Terranova trainee is coming off a runner up finish in the New York bred Say Florida Sandy where he tracked the early pace, came with a four wide bid and could not go with the runner late in a runner up finish. The racing strip was kind to speed that day. The fourth-place finisher My Boy Tate came back to win the state bred Hollie Hughes in his next outing at Aqueduct on Monday. Two back our top pick won a New York Stallion Series race at seven furlongs after cutting back from a fourth in the nine furlong Empire Classic. One turn is his specialty, and he has landed in the exacta in all four of his trips at seven furlongs. He owns a solid pace profile throughout and looks capable of moving forward off his last effort.
Laki
This gelding caught a wet track last out here in the Fire Plug. He drifted inward coming out of the gate and clipped heels. He was next to last and finished evenly in a fourth-place finish as the beaten favorite. He was the beaten favorite two and three back as well here in the Dave’s Friend and Frank Whitley, the latter which he lost by a tough nose. He won the DeFrancis Dash (G3) four back at Pimlico. He sure looks like he wants the extra furlong here and has run well at this distance, landing in the exacta in four of five trips. The Dilodovico trainee has done his best running over the main track here, eight wins and seven seconds in 21 outings. He put in a bullet work for this and the 9-2 morning line looks fair enough.
Lebda
He also exits the Fire Plug where he dueled for the early lead and weakened late to finish third, beaten 2 ½ lengths at 11-1. He improved off his fifth in the Dave’s Friends two back which was off a 2 ½ month break. He is in good hands with the Gonzales barn and looks headed in the right direction as he makes his third start of his current form cycle. He won the Miracle Wood and Private Terms here last year going long and then found graded stakes company a bit too tough. Another move forward here puts him in the mix at a decent price.
