On Saturday, Laurel Park hosts Maryland’s final two stakes races of 2025, the $100,000 Heft for 2-year-olds and the $100,000 Gin Talking for juvenile fillies. Both races are contested at seven furlongs.
The first post time for the nine-race program is 12:00 pm ET, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers featuring a low 12% takeout rate.
Trainer Gary Capuano has enjoyed a fantastic season with his juvenile performers, sending out 16 individual winners. He entered four of them in the Heft, including Probably Dreaming, listed as the 2-1 favorite by Horse Racing Nation’s Ed DeRosa.
Owned by Larry Fowler, Probably Dreaming won his first three starts, including two stakes races at Delaware Park, before finishing second, beaten 3 ½ lengths by the Brad Cox-trained My World in Aqueduct’s Nashua Stakes at one mile on Nov. 1.
“I got no complaints on that race,” Capuano said. “He had a pretty good chance turning for home, but that horse was a little too tough for him. It was a really good performance. I was happy with it.”
Carlos Lopez rides Probably Dreaming, the sole three-time winner in the field.
Oak Tree Stable’s Very Volatile was the beaten favorite in his career debut at Delaware Park on Sept. 25.
“I was a little bit disappointed the first time he ran because he had trained really good going up to that race,” Capuano said. “At the top of the stretch, I thought he was sitting nice, he’s on the outside, he’s getting a great trip, he’ll just go on. And then he just chucked it in. [Jockey Yedsit Hazlewood] came back and said [Very Volatile] lost his footing turning for home. His back leg kind of slipped from under him.”
Very Volatile rebounded with a speedy maiden special weight score racing seven furlongs at Laurel Park on Nov. 29.
“We gave him a little time, we gelded him, and he trained really, really well going into his maiden [win],” Capuano said. “He came out of it really well. I thought we’d take a shot here. He drew a decent post outside. He’s still got to step up. It’s not maidens anymore.”
Hazlewood, 17, who has sewn up the jockey’s title at the current Laurel Park meeting and looms a strong candidate for the 2025 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, retains the mount.
While Very Volatile displays good early foot, Pocket 3’s Racing’s Hollywood Import boasts a strong late kick.
A last-to-first debut winner racing six furlongs at Delaware on Oct. 9, Hollywood Import then rallied for second in Laurel’s James F. Lewis III Stakes on Nov. 8. The favored winner of the James F. Lewis, Balboa, flattered the form by subsequently finishing third in Aqueduct’s Grade 2 Remsen Stakes.
Capuano then wheeled Hollywood Import back in 15 days, and the Honor A. P. colt finished fourth as the favorite in a first-level allowance at one mile.
“That one-turn mile was just an even race,” Capuano admitted. “I might have run him back a little bit quick doing that with him. He didn’t run bad. I thought he’d run a little bit better. We got a good draw on the outside, and we’ll see if he can step it back up because he’s run with some tough ones.”
Mychel Sanchez will ride Hollywood Import.
Capuano’s fourth entrant, Worker Bee, is only a possible Heft starter as of Tuesday morning.
Mens Grille Racing’s Power Grid enters the Heft in sharp form following two victories for trainer John Robb. The City of Light colt was stakes-placed as a second-start maiden in the restricted Hickory Tree at Colonial on Aug. 2, graduated from the maiden ranks racing seven furlongs at Laurel on Oct. 17, then gave a sustained rally to beat Hollywood Import in that first-level allowance last month.
Robb’s go-to rider, Xavier Perez, has the mount on Power Grid.
Thomas Coulter’s Red Zone Runner hasn’t finished off the board from three starts, and adds blinkers after placing third in Parx’s restricted Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes on Nov. 26. Trained by Erin McClellan, Red Zone Runner is partnered with Inoel Beato.
David Raim’s Gurney Halleck overcame a slow start to finish third, 2 ¼ lengths behind Hollywood Import in the James F. Lewis. The winner of the restricted Henry Mercer Memorial Stakes at Charles Town on Sept. 20, Gurney Halleck drew the rail post position with jockey Jevian Toledo aboard.
Wildncrazyguy and stakes-placed Ihaveanappforthat complete the field.
The Heft Stakes at Laurel Park is named in honor of the late Arnold Heft, a Maryland native and longtime horse owner. Arnold Heft was a prominent figure in Maryland horse racing, known for campaigning several successful horses, including the millionaire Eighttofasttocatch, a three-time Maryland Million Classic winner.
About The Author
