Tesio, Weber City Highlight Laurel Spring Meet Stakes
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Photo: Jerry Dzierwinski / Maryland Jockey Club
Happy Saver wins the 2020 Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park
Laurel Park will offer seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses, including automatic qualifiers for the Preakness (G1) and Black-Eyed Susan (G2) April 17, as part of its upcoming spring meet.
The 19-day spring meet runs April 1-May 2, serving as a bridge between Laurel's ongoing winter meet, which began Jan. 1, and the Preakness meet at Pimlico Race Course.
Co-headlining the stakes program are the $125,000 Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles and the $125,000 Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies at about 1 1/16 miles. The Tesio serves as a "Win and In" qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the May 15 Preakness, and the Weber City Miss is a "Win and In" event for the May 14 Black-Eyed Susan.
Last year's Tesio winner, Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Happy Saver, went on to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) against older horses at Belmont Park in his subsequent start to complete a 4-0 sophomore campaign.
The Tesio's purse is back up to $125,000 after the race was run for $100,000 in 2020. The local Preakness prep was postponed from April 18 to Sept. 7 last year, about a month out from the Oct. 3 Preakness, another postponed event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2019, the Maryland Jockey Club had announced that the 2020 Tesio would carry an increased purse of $200,000, up an additional $75,000, before the coronavirus shifted various racing schedules.
Also during the spring meet, sprinters 3-year-olds and up will go six furlongs in the $100,000 Primonetta for females and seven furlongs in the $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley. On the turf, Laurel will conduct the $100,000 Dahlia for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up, both going one mile, and the $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up sprinting five furlongs.
Racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday during the spring meet, with the exception of Easter Sunday, April 4. Post time will be 12:40 p.m. ET with a special 12:15 p.m. post on the day of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs May 1.