Saguaro Row Seeks Graded Stakes Win in Barbara Fritchie

Winter racing in New York or the Mid-Atlantic region may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it surely has done wonders for Saguaro Row's catalog page.

Since November, the 5-year-old Union Rags  mare has two stakes wins and a second in a grade 3 stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack for owners Newtown Anner Stud and Mark Breen. Now she will look to add her first graded stakes win while facing five rivals in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie Stakes (G3) for fillies and mares Feb. 15 at Laurel Park.

"This is the race we've targeted for a while," trainer Michael Stidham said. "I take all my horses to the Fair Grounds, and we purposely left one of my assistants, Jose Vargas, with her at Fair Hill with this race in mind. We're looking for a graded win, and this would be a beautiful place to get it done."

Saguaro Row is coming into the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie off a 2 3/4-length score in the Interborough Stakes at the same distance. That race followed a second-place finish behind multiple grade 1 winner Spiced Perfection in the one-mile Go for Wand Handicap (G3) and a convincing 4 1/4-length victory in the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie Stakes.

"She ran well at Aqueduct last time, and this was the obvious next step," Stidham said. "She's trained well since the Interborough, and we're looking for a big effort here. She likes the extended sprint distances. She's handling these winter tracks well, and we hope it continues."

Saguaro Row was bred in Kentucky by Breen out of the Indian Charlie mare Charlie Girl. In her past nine starts, her only unplaced finishes were a seventh in the Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes (G2) on a synthetic surface and a sixth in the Princess Rooney Stakes (G2).

Saguaro Row, who will break from post 2 with Jose Lezcano, has won five of 13 starts and $319,104.

The Barbara Fritchie will also give Anna's Bandit a chance for her first graded stakes win for Gina Rosenthal's No Guts No Glory Farm. The 6-year-old West Virginia-bred daughter of Great Notion  started the year with a second in the one-mile Geisha Stakes at Laurel Park that snapped a six-race winning streak, five of them in restricted stakes.

A winner of 16 of 33 starts and $718,715, Anna's Bandit has dominated her state-bred and -sired sprint division of late, going off at odds of 1-2 or less in her past six starts. 

"I've just kind of been picking my spots," breeder and trainer John Robb said. "You never know who's coming until entry time. My plan is to enter, and if it looks like she has a shot in it, I'll run her. If it looks like it's way too tough for her, I won't run her because I don't want to make her do any more than she has to. She's been very, very good to us."

Regular rider Xavier Perez will be aboard Anna's Bandit, who has the rail.

Hillwood Stable and Richard Golden's Majestic Reason captured the Willa On the Move Stakes in her most recent start for trainer Graham Motion, but the 5-year-old Majestic Warrior mare was second to Anna's Bandit in the Dec. 7 Politely Stakes and an Aug. 16 allowance race at Laurel Park and also fifth behind Saguaro Row in the Pumpkin Pie.

The top two finishers in the Jan. 18 What A Summer Stakes at Laurel will return Saturday, led by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds' Victim of Love, who prevailed by 3 3/4 lengths over Howling Pigeon Farms, Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, and Madaket Stables' Needs Supervision.

Before the 6 1/2-furlong What A Summer, Needs Supervision was fourth in the Go for Wand. The 4-year-old Paynter  filly took the seven-furlong Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel Park for trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer before that. 

Victim of Love, a 4-year-old Speightstown  filly trained by Todd Beattie, was third in the Safely Kept.

Morris Kernan Jr. and M-Z Racing Partnership's Blue Eyed Girl will be tested for class in the Barbara Fritchie. The former $20,000 claimer makes her stakes debut off a trio of wins by a combined 14 3/4 lengths at Laurel Park and Parx Racing.

A 4-year-old daughter of Super Saver  trained by Marcos Zulueta, she has won six of 13 starts with three seconds.

Entries: Runhappy Barbara Fritchie S. (G3)

Laurel Park, Saturday, February 15, 2020, Race 7

• Grade III
• 7f
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 3:20 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Anna's Bandit (WV)	Xavier Perez	120	John J. Robb	3/1
2	2Saguaro Row (KY)	Jose Lezcano	120	Michael Stidham	9/5
3	3Blue Eyed Girl (KY)	Alex Cintron	120	Marcos Zulueta	8/1
4	4Majestic Reason (MD)	Trevor McCarthy	120	H. Graham Motion	4/1
5	5Victim of Love (KY)	Weston Hamilton	120	Todd M. Beattie	8/1
6	6Needs Supervision (KY)	Feargal Lynch	120	Jeremiah O'Dwyer	9/2