Full Field of 12 Entered in Laurel's Barbara Fritchie

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A field of 12 has been entered in the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap (gr. II), a Feb. 14 feature that kicks off Laurel Park's Winter SprintFest weekend.

Xtra Heat, an Eclipse Award winner, took the last two runnings of the seven furlong Fritchie. This year's field includes seven multiple stakes winners.

The 7-5 morning-line choice is Bear Fan, who made the trip to Maryland from Southern California the afternoon of Feb. 11. Trained by Wesley Ward, Bear Fan won a pair of California-bred races in 2002 and competed in graded stakes company last summer. Ryan Fogelsonger has the mount on his first day back in Maryland.

Laurel Park-based Gazillion leads the local contingent. The Hamilton Smith trainee has eight wins and 15 in-the-money finishes in 16 starts. The 5-year-old has three career stakes wins, all at Laurel. Ramon Dominguez is named to ride.

Here's the field for the Fritchie, with jockeys and weights, from the rail out:

1 River Cruise, (TBA), 113 pounds
2 Wallop, (TBA), 109
3 Balmy, Stewart Elliott, 115
4 Gazillion, Ramon Dominguez, 116
5 Bronze Abe, Eric Rodriguez, 117
6 Worldly Pleasure, Jose Caraballo, 113
7 Pleasant Note, Dyn Panell, 110
8 Bear Fan, Ryan Fogelsonger, 116
9 Shiny Sheet, Jeremy Rose, 118
10 Jester Rahab, Mike Luzzi, 112
11 Bamba, Shaun Bridgmohan, 111
12 City Fire, Rick Wilson, 114

The Winter SprintFest also features the $200,000 General George Handicap (gr. II) at seven furlongs Feb. 16.

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