Factor It In Chases Graded Score in General George

Michael Scheffres' claimer-turned-multiple stakes winner Factor It In , narrowly beaten in a pair of out-of-town graded stakes last year, will have home track advantage when he makes his return to graded company in the $250,000 General George Stakes (G3) Feb. 18 at Laurel Park.

The 7-year-old Factor It In owns 11 career victories, eight coming in 13 tries at Laurel. Eight of those wins have come since being claimed by trainer Carlos Mancilla for $25,000 out of a November 2019 triumph.

"Me and my owner, we always talk when we claim a horse. I went to the races that day and we got lucky to get him because two people wanted the horse, me and somebody else. Thank God we got him," Mancilla said. "What a claim.

"He has had little issues, but we fix them. (Last year) I said to my owner, 'Let's give him a few months off,' and he said, 'Yes, why not.' We ended up giving him like 10 months, and that helped him. It helped a lot," he added. "He's a changed horse. He's a totally different horse."

Factor It In went unraced from September 2021 to July 2022 and returned in top form, banking close to half of his $490,120 in purse earnings with four wins, a second, and two thirds from seven starts. 

Factor It In was third in back-to-back grade 3 attempts sprinting six furlongs at Aqueduct, beaten a half-length in the Oct. 29 Bold Ruler (G3) and a neck in the Nov. 26 Fall Highweight (G3), before returning home to win the six-furlong Dave's Friend Dec. 30 and the 6 1/2-furlong Fire Plug Jan. 21.

"I think that as the horse has gotten older, he's gotten better," Mancilla said. "I'm very confident. I think he's going to be tough. I know the other horses in there are also tough. It's a stakes race and they get the tough horses, but my horse is tough, too. We're home, and he loves Laurel. We can't wait. It's going to be exciting."

Another horse with an affinity for Laurel seeking a breakthrough graded triumph is Eastern Bay , one of three General George entries for owner/trainer Norman 'Lynn' Cash of Built Wright Stables. The 9-year-old Eastern Bay has 18 wins, 14 at Laurel.

In his two most recent starts, Eastern Bay was runner-up to 2022 champion sprinter Elite Power  in the seven-furlong Vosburgh (G2) Oct. 8 at Aqueduct and beaten a nose when second in the six-furlong Bold Ruler three weeks later. .

"He could be in the best form he's been. He might have been one of the top sprinters I think last year when we had to stop on him. He ran down in that last New York race, so it took some time to get things healed," Cash said. "He's basically been ready probably for over a month so we think he's really ready now. We're looking for a big race from Eastern Bay."

Cash will also be represented by Pirate Rick  and Sir Alfred James .

St. Omer's Farm and Christopher Feifarek's Beren , Euro Stable's John the Bear  who is coming off back-to-back victories, Fire Plug runner-up Yodel E. A. Who , and Momos  complete the field.

Entries: General George S. (G3)

Laurel Park, Saturday, February 18, 2023, Race 9

• Grade III
• 7f
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:32 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Sir Alfred James (KY)	J. D. Acosta	124	Norman L. Cash	8/1
2	2Momos (KY)	Horacio Karamanos	122	Michael J. Trombetta	20/1
3	3Beren (PA)	Frankie Pennington	122	Robert E. Reid, Jr.	3/1
4	4Yodel E. A. Who (KY)	Jaime Rodriguez	122	Jamie Ness	10/1
5	5John the Bear (KY)	Jevian Toledo	122	Claudio A. Gonzalez	15/1
6	6Pirate Rick (KY)	Jose Antonio Gomez	122	Norman L. Cash	7/2
7	7Eastern Bay (MD)	William Humphrey	122	Norman L. Cash	4/1
8	8Factor It In (KY)	Angel Cruz	122	Carlos A. Mancilla	5/2

Barbara Fritchie Draws Grade 1-Placed Pass the Champagne

Graded stakes-placed shippers Pass the Champagne  and Union Lake  will meet Fille d'Esprit  and Swayin to and Fro , multiple stakes winners over their home track, in a competitive edition of the $250,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes (G3) Saturday.

R. A. Hill Stable, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Rock Ridge Racing, BlackRidge Stables, and James Brown's Pass the Champagne, a 5-year-old Flatter  mare, will be making her seventh career start after lengthy pauses due to minor setbacks the past two years.

"These racehorses force you to be patient. When they ask you to be patient, and you're not, you end up going the wrong way. This filly asked us to be patient, so we were, and we're hoping it pays off," trainer George Weaver said. "If you don't have the talent, everything else is a moot point. The talent she has. Now it's up to getting lucky enough for her to let her show it in the afternoon against some good fillies."

Pass the Champagne was purchased privately following her January 2021 debut at Gulfstream Park and graduated the following month in the first start for her new connections. From there, they stepped her up to the Ashland Stakes (G1), where she was beaten a head by subsequent two-time champion Malathaat .

After finishing off the board in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Pass the Champagne went to the sidelines and returned with a 2 3/4-length allowance optional claiming victory last February at Gulfstream. She went unraced again until Jan. 14, when she was second by a head in the 1 1/16-mile Wayward Lass at Tampa Bay Downs.

"It just seemed like an appropriate race to get her back on track," Weaver said. "We've kind of been of the mind that she's a better one-turn filly and that was a two-turn race. We're looking forward to getting back to a one-turn race. Seven-eighths or a flat mile, the one-turn situation is probably best for her."

Steven Schoenfeld's Union Lake proved third best in the six-furlong Prioress Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course behind multiple graded stakes winner Wicked Halo  in September last year. Fille d'Esprit owns 14 career wins, 12 of them coming in 19 starts at Laurel, where she is based with trainer Jerry Robb. Baxter Racing Stable's Swayin to and Fro won last year's seven-furlong Safely Kept, the 6 1/2-furlong Willa On the Move, and was second in the What a Summer Stakes Jan. 21.

Rounding out the field are Liscolvin , Moody Woman , Prodigy Doll , and Quiet Imagination .

Entries: Barbara Fritchie S. (G3)

Laurel Park, Saturday, February 18, 2023, Race 8

• Grade III
• 7f
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:02 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Prodigy Doll (KY)	Horacio Karamanos	122	Phil Schoenthal	8/1
2	2Liscolvin (KY)	Frankie Pennington	122	Cathal A. Lynch	10/1
3	3Pass the Champagne (KY)	Angel Cruz	122	George Weaver	3/1
4	4Quiet Imagination (MD)	Charlie Marquez	122	Tim Woolley	30/1
5	5Swayin to and Fro (SC)	Richard Monterrey	122	Mario Serey, Jr.	5/1
6	6Union Lake (KY)	Eric Cancel	122	John P. Terranova, II	3/1
7	7Moody Woman (KY)	Carlos Eduardo Lopez	122	Marilyn G. McMullen	15/1
8	8Fille d'Esprit (MD)	Xavier Perez	122	John J. Robb	5/2