Jakarta Looking to Make the Grade in Barbara Fritchie G3

Jakarta, a bargain purchase for Three Diamonds Farm that has gone on to become a stakes winner on turf and dirt as well as twice graded-stakes placed, goes after the biggest win of her career in the $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) Saturday, February 19 at Laurel Park.

The 70th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 46th edition of the $250,000 General George Stakes for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs, co-headline a 10-race program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.

Also on tap are the $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds going one mile and $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs, and the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up and $100,000 Nellie Morse for females 4 and older, each going about 1 1/16 miles.

First race post time is 12:25 p.m. The Fritchie will go off as Race 8 (3:55 p.m.)

Jakarta is a 7-year-old daughter of Bustin Stones, winner of the 2008 General George that went on to win that year's Carter Handicap (G1) before being retired due to injury undefeated in six starts. Three Diamonds won the Jan. 29 What a Summer at Laurel with another Bustin Stones mare, Time Limit.

Kirk Wycoff of Three Diamonds purchased Jakarta for $35,000 from a dispersal of owner Joseph Besecker's horses during Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic mixed sale in December 2019 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. She had raced exclusively on dirt, with four wins from seven starts.

"We're bargain shoppers and we look for horses to repurpose dirt to turf, short to long. I love Bustin Stones. You saw what Time Limit did the other day," Wycoff said. "She's a racehorse. So she had a little of this and a little of that a couple of years ago; that doesn't bother us. She's a very sound horse and has never had a problem."

Jakarta was immediately put on the turf in the first start for her new connections, winning an optional claiming allowance, then was back on the dirt to earn her first stakes win in the Powder Break, both at Gulfstream Park. From there she ran 14 of 15 races over grass or all-weather surfaces, finishing third in the Franklin County (G3) and winning the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash in 2020 and running fourth by a half-length in the 2021 Honey Fox (G3).

Three Diamonds moved Jakarta to trainer Mike Trombetta after she finished fourth in the Holiday Inaugural Dec. 4 at Turfway Park. Put back on the dirt, she responded with a front-running three-length triumph at odds of 18-1 in the Mrs. Claus Dec. 28 at Parx.

"Jakarta had a few issues last summer and Mike Trombetta decided to put her back on the dirt, and she seems like a new horse. We're very excited," Wykoff said. "We expected a big race from her off the layoff at Turfway in the Inaugural. She kind of drew inside, and inside there is heavy and you just can't come up the rail ... so it was kind of bad luck. We thought she'd run very well at Parx; we didn't think she'd be 18-1, that's for sure."

Wykoff and Trombetta decided to ship Jakarta back down to Gulfstream after the race for the seven-furlong Inside Information (G2) Jan. 29. She was in front after a half-mile and six furlongs but wound up third behind Just One Time, a fellow Pennsylvania-bred racing first time for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox following a private purchase.

"It was a ship for her after the race at Parx. I thought she ran incredible at Parx in that stake. We knew that it was a Grade 2 and it was going to come up tough and the filly from Penn National ran a big race. We would have liked to have been second," Wykoff said.

"She's a nice mare. She's going to be bred this year to Essential Quality. We've got another race or two picked out for her," he added. "It's time. We'd like to retire her sound and on a win."

Victor Carrasco will ride Jakarta from Post 7 in a field of eight, all carrying 122 pounds.

Fellow stakes winners Belle of the North, Glass Ceiling, Kaylasaurus and Prodigy Doll are also entered in the Fritchie. HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing's Prodigy Doll, fourth in the What a Summer, captured the Cheryl S. White Memorial in April 2021 at Mahoning Valley, her most recent win.

Stronach Stables homebred Belle of the North won the Nov. 27 Safely Kept over the course and distance for trainer Jose Corrales, who stretched her out to 1 1/8 miles in her most recent start, the Dec. 26 Carousel, where she ran fourth.

"She runs her best probably at a straight mile. I tried her in the mile and an eighth and it did not work for her. Looking back I don't think she was ready for that," Corrales said. "The way she runs if there's a lot of speed in the race, they can go and she can come running at the end and beat them. She doesn't have that much speed. That's why I like the seven furlongs. It depends on how the race sets up. She can be tough in there. She's a nice filly."

Belle of the North's Safely Kept win came over four-time stakes runner-up Fraudulent Charge, who came back with a 5 ¾-length romp in her subsequent start, eight-time stakes winner Street Lute and Prodigy Doll. Horacio Karamanos will be up for the sixth straight race from outside Post 8.

"She did not surprise me in that race. I was very confident before thet race. I thought if it set up right, she's going to catch them at the end," Corrales said. "She ran the way I expected. It was a pretty tough filly at the end, but she got her."

Co-owned by New York-based trainer Charlton Baker and Michael Foster, Glass Ceiling takes a two-race win streak into the Fritchie, a race the connections targeted following her 5 ¼-length optional claiming allowance triumph sprinting seven furlongs Jan. 23 at Aqueduct.

In her prior start, the 6-year-old Constitution mare rallied for a 2 ¼-length victory in Aqueduct's six-furlong Garland of Roses Dec. 11. The race was contested over a sealed, sloppy track, as was her previous outing, the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie, where she ran second by a head behind subsequent Grade 3 winner Lady Rocket.

"This was a spot I always thought of once she got good last fall. That was the main goal, to try and get her there. I thought seven furlongs would be a better distance for her. It seems like it's her best distance," Baker said. "I think she's hitting her best stride right now and she showed it in her last two races. They were tough to start with, but she won them in a good way."

Baker claimed Glass Ceiling for $40,000 out of a 6 ½-furlong sprint last May at Belmont Park and she has been worse than third only once in seven starts since with three wins, two seconds and a third. Dylan Davis will come in from New York to ride from Post 2.

"She was just running OK. She was putting up numbers that, once she got over that hump, she'd be good," Baker said. "She was a 4-year-old and I thought she might not have gotten to her peak yet. I was hoping that she got better and if she could win the a-other-than we'd go from there. She had every right to improve, and she did."

Bush Racing Stable, Liberty House Racing, BlackRidge Stable and George Sauflet's Kaylasaurus encountered some early trouble in the What a Summer that had her farther back than usual, but she made a late run to be second by 1 ¼ lengths. He came from off the pace for a 2 ¼-length victory in the six-furlong Willa On the Move Dec. 26 at Laurel, her first start off a $25,000 claim by Penn National-based trainer Tim Kreiser.

Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1)-winning trainer John Servis will be represented in the Fritchie by Ben Rollins' Bold Confection, making her stakes debut. The 4-year-old Candy Ride filly has won three of her last four starts by 11 ½ combined lengths, most recently taking a second-level optional claiming allowance going six furlongs Jan. 5 at Parx.

"She's a nice filly. They sent her over to me in the fall and she was probably about a month away from being ready to run," Servis said. "From day one when I started training her, I loved her. I like everything about her, and she's been very forward for me.

"Honestly I think her best race would probably be a one-turn mile, but I think she'll fit the seven furlongs just fine," he added. "She has enough speed to put herself in the race early and she relaxes really nice. That's why I think she could just cruise fairly close to the pace and then pounce on them if she's good enough."

Parx champion Frankie Pennington gets the riding assignment from Post 6.

Also entered are C J I Phoenix Group and No Guts No Glory Farm's Fille d'Esprit, seven-for-11 lifetime at Laurel for trainer Jerry Robb; and David Charlton, MarchFore Thoroughbreds and Bradley Thoroughbreds' Regal Retort, fifth in the Pumpkin Pie and What a Summer for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Stakes Winner Glass Ceiling Breezes Saturday for Barbara Fritchie G3

FEB 12 - Claimer-turned-stakes winner Glass Ceiling, co-owned by trainer Charlton Baker with Michael Foster, fired a bullet five-furlong work Saturday ahead of her next scheduled start in the $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) Feb. 19 at Laurel Park.

With regular rider Dylan Davis up, Glass Ceiling covered the distance in 1:01, the fastest of 17 horses over Belmont Park's training track. It was the first work for the 5-year-old daughter of Constitution since extending her win streak to two races in an optional claiming allowance Jan. 23 at Aqueduct.

"She's training good. She breezed this morning and she did it pretty good. She came out of it good, so we're all set to run there," Baker said. "It was just a routine five-eighths, just to get a little air into her. It was nothing spectacular, just a business-like work pretty much like I wanted. Dylan did a good job."

Davis has been aboard for each of Glass Ceiling's last five races, three of them wins including a 2 ¼-length triumph in the six-furlong Garland of Roses Dec. 11 at Aqueduct. During that stretch they also finished second by a head in the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie and third by less than two lengths in a Saratoga allowance.

Baker said Davis will be at Laurel to ride Glass Ceiling in the seven-furlong Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and up, co-headliner with the $250,000 General George (G3) for older sprinters on a program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.

"He fits her pretty good, and he knows her. He's been on her now a few times and he figured her out so that's a good thing," Baker said. "Hopefully she can go over there and get the job done."

Fritchie nominees working Saturday at Laurel were 2021 Safely Kept winner Belle of the North, five furlongs in 1:01.80, and Fille d'Esprit, four furlongs in 48 seconds.

Defending Champ Hibiscus Punch Among Barbara Fritchie G3 Nominees

FEB 6 - Defending champion Hibiscus Punch and fellow graded-stakes winners Leader of the Band, Sharp Starr and undefeated R Adios Jersey are among 27 accomplished older female sprinters nominated to the $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3) Saturday, Feb. 19 at Laurel Park.

The 70th running of the Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older, and the 46th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs, headline a program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses including the $100,000 Miracle Wood, the next stop in Maryland's series for 3-year-olds.

Hibiscus Punch sprung a 41-1 upset in the 2021 Fritchie over a field that included multiple stakes winners Hello Beautiful, Dontletsweetfoolya and Needs Supervision; graded winners Sharp Starr and Estilo Talentoso; and stakes winner and multiple graded-stakes placed Club Car. Hibiscus Punch has run twice since, finishing fifth in the Derby City Distaff (G1) last May before returning to be ninth following a troubled trip in the Jan. 29 What a Summer at Laurel.

Club Car (third), Sharp Starr (sixth) and Dontletsweetfoolya (seventh) are all returning nominees to the Fritchie, which debuted at 1 1/16 miles in 1952 at old Bowie Race Track and has been run exclusively at seven furlongs since 1964.

Leader of the Band won the 1 1/16-mile Monmouth Oaks (G3) last summer and was second in the Cathryn Sophia, contested at a mile and 70 yards, but has not raced since finishing sixth in the Sept. 25 Cotillion (G1). Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning trainer John Servis also nominated Bold Confection, a last-out optional claiming allowance winner Jan. 5 at Parx.

Sharp Starr won the 2020 Go For Wand (G3) at Aqueduct and the 2021 Empire Distaff at Belmont Park and most recently finished third in the Dec. 30 Bay Ridge. R Adios Jersey is 6-0 in her career including victories in the Sophomore Fillies, Charles Town Oaks (G3) and City of Ocala in succession spread out over nine months, the latter Dec. 11 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Also nominated are multiple stakes winners Jakarta, most recently third in the Inside Information (G2) Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park, and Bank Sting; Belle of the North and Kaylasaurus, both stakes winners at Laurel; Euphoric, beaten a nose when second in the 2021 Miss Preakness (G3) at historic Pimlico Race Course; stakes winners Glass Ceiling and Prodigy Doll; and Fraudulent Charge, never worse than third in eight starts including four seconds in Laurel stakes.

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