3-Year-Old Coffeewithchris Looks Tough in Private Terms

Coffeewithchris  will get his first two-turn test when the multiple stakes-winning sophomore races in the $100,000 Private Terms Stakes March 18 at Laurel Park.

The 34th running of the Private Terms at about 1 1/16 miles is the next step in Laurel's series of stakes for 3-year-olds following the one-mile Miracle Wood Stakes Feb. 18 and preceding the $125,000 Federico Tesio Stakes going 1 1/8 miles April 15, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the May 20 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course.

A total of five stakes worth $450,000 in purses will be offered on Saturday's 10-race program, including the $100,000 Beyond the Wire Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the road to the 99th Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) May 19 and the $100,000 Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Stakes for older males. The latter two races are at a mile out of the chute.

Campaigned by Fred Wasserloos, Anthony Geruso, and trainer John Salzman Jr., Coffeewithchris won't have to contend with his main rival in the Private Terms, Brittany Russell-trained Prince of Jericho , who is sitting this one out to await the Tesio. Coffeewithchris beat Prince of Jericho in the Miracle Wood and the Dec. 30 Heft Stakes and was second to him in the Jan. 21 Spectacular Bid Stakes.

The Miracle Wood was the longest race for Coffeewithchris, a gelded son of 2014 Preakness and Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Ride On Curlin .

"He was a bad horse as a 2-year-old, and we ended up (gelding) him, and it's made all the difference in the world. Blinkers have seemed to help and (jockey) Jaime Rodriguez hasn't hurt him, either. It's just all coming together at the right time for him. He's a nice a horse. I like him," Salzman said.

Video: Miracle Wood S. (BT)

While Russell is giving Prince of Jericho a breather until the Tesio, she will be represented in the Private Terms by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds' Circling the Drain , a Triple Crown-nominated Maryland homebred that is entered to make his stakes debut.

By West Coast   out of the Cozzene mare Who's Cozy , Circling the Drain has two wins from four starts, both coming at the Private Terms distance. He was a front-running graduate by seven lengths in a Dec. 9 maiden claimer second time out and exits a rallying two-length optional claiming allowance triumph Feb. 20.

Jevian Toledo gets the return call from post 3.

The other Triple Crown-nominated horse in the Private Terms is Dixiana Farms homebred Hayes Strike , trained by Preakness and Belmont Stakes (G1)-winning trainer Kenny McPeek. Hayes Strike has a one-mile maiden win last summer at Ellis Park to his credit and, also at 2, he ran second to Two Phil's  in the Street Sense Stakes (G3) and third behind Instant Coffee  in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2), horses respectively ranked 13th and ninth on the current Kentucky Derby (G1) points leaderboard.

Other top contenders include Howgreatisnate  and Register .

In other $100,000 stakes on the card, Thomas Coulter's Nimitz Class, winner of back-to-back stakes at Laurel in his last two starts, returns in the Harrison E. Johnson where he'll face 2022 Kelso Handicap (G2) winner Double Crown , and Lady Lowery  travels to Laurel for the one-mile Beyond the Wire Stakes after a pair of quality efforts over the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. 

Entries: Private Terms S.

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

• STK
• About 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 4:23 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Marty's Magic (KY)	Jeiron Barbosa	118	Horacio De Paz	30/1
2	2Feeling Woozy (MD)	Angel Cruz	118	Hamilton A. Smith	8/1
3	3Circling the Drain (MD)	Jevian Toledo	118	Brittany T. Russell	6/1
4	4Howgreatisnate (KY)	J. D. Acosta	118	Andrew L. Simoff	4/1
5	5Register (KY)	Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.	118	David G. Donk	3/1
6	6Hayes Strike (KY)	Horacio Karamanos	118	Kenneth G. McPeek	7/2
7	7Riccio (MD)	Charlie Marquez	118	Richard P. Sillaman	15/1
8	8Coffeewithchris (MD)	Jaime Rodriguez	124	John E. Salzman, Jr.	7/2