Lady Sabelia, Elnaawi Among Laurel Winners

The 3-10 favorite under Horacio Karamanos, Lady Sabelia ran to expectations in winning by a comfortable 1 1/4 lengths from 35-1 She's Ordained on a sealed muddy track . The 5-year-old daughter of Majestic Warrior   won her third consecutive start at Laurel while covering the six furlongs in 1:12.01. Sounds of the City was 3 1/2 lengths back in third.

 

"My horse broke good and showed speed but I didn't want to run heel to heel with the filly (early pacesetter Winning Image) in front," Karamanos said. "We sat behind waiting. My filly really wanted to go at the three-eighths pole. We swung outside. She had a nice kick and ran very even down the stretch to the wire."

 

Trainer Robin Graham indicated Lady Sabelia ($2.60) would make her graded stakes debut next time out in the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap (gr. II) Feb. 14 at Laurel.

 

Defending What a Summer winner Winning Image finished sixth in her final career start.

 

Shadwell Stable's Elnaawi shipped to Laurel from Belmont Park in competitive form and won the Native Dancer Stakes impressively under Sheldon Russell , who also guided in Pearl Bloodstock's Star Pearl in the Nellie Morse Stakes one race earlier .

 

Elnaawi, a 5-year-old son of Street Sense   trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, romped to a 7-1/4 length victory and finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.40. Turco Bravo was second and Cosmic Gold finished third. Betting favorite Stormin Monarcho finished fifth.

 

"The race worked out perfect," Russell said. "He warmed up good and he took a liking to the track. He broke well and put me in a great spot. I thought Stormin Monarcho was the horse to beat. When he started backing up, my horse made a huge run and we never looked back."

 

The Native Dancer marked the first stakes win for Elnaawi ($5.10), whose best previous stakes appearances were third-place finishes in the Yankee Affair Stakes at Belmont Park last September, and the 2013 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

 

Star Pearl pursued longtime front-runner Before You Know It to the top of the lane before wresting command and drawing away to victory in Nellie Morse Stakes.

 

Before You Know It had blasted to the front down the backstretch, but Star Pearl stayed on her heels. The two separated from the rest and the race came down to which would have the most in the tank. A Graham Motion trainee, Star Pearl proved to be best, winning by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:46.33 for six furlongs. 

 

Another Motion trainee, Zucchini Flower, finished third.

 

"She broke nicely and put me in great spot going into the first turn," Russell said of Star Pearl, a 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Tapit  . "The race set up perfect. I was able to sit off the speed and when I asked her to go she dug in and finished up well."

 

Star Pearl, who won three of six starts last year, including a restricted stakes at Presque Isle Downs, paid $10.40.

 

Going winless for nearly a year, Somraj Singh's Never Stop Looking angled wide into the stretch and ran down his foes to capture the Fire Plug Stakes by a neck from Smash and Grab . Fast-closing Cutty Shark was another neck back in third. 

 

Bakken, the overwhelming 2-5 favorite, sped to the lead but steadily faded to sixth.

 

A 6-year-old Langfuhr   gelding, Never Stop Looking ($24.50) was timed in 1:11.81 for six furlongs.  

 

The win was the second on the card for trainer Claudio Gonzalez, who took the Laurel Park fall training title. He won the day's first race, a waiver claiming event, with Joann's Girly