Bold Affair aims for her third consecutive stakes victory at Laurel Park when she heads the field for the $125,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Dec. 22.
The race carries $25,000 from the Maryland Bred Fund, for which Bold Affair is eligible. The 4-year-old daughter of Two Punch is trained by Howard Wolfendale for owners Charles Reed and Mike Zanella.
Bold Affair is the 124-pound co-high weight in the field of nine fillies and mares for the Thirty Eight Go Go, a one-mile main track event. The race, the eighth on the program, is set for a 3:55 p.m. EST post.
Abel Castellano Jr. will be aboard the chestnut filly, who comes off a four-length victory in Laurel's one-mile Geisha Stakes Nov. 22. In the start before that, Bold Affair rolled to a 13 1/4-length romp in the Maryland Million Distaff Handicap. Both victories were accomplished in front-running style as the odds-on favorite.
"She has improved a great deal since I first rode her in late January," Castellano said of the 4-5 morning line favorite. "She is really smart and I love her long stride. I have a lot of confidence in her."
Bold Affair has won five of nine starts this year with a pair of seconds. She owns a lifetime mark of 9-2-2 in 15 tries while banking $512,040. She will start from post 2.
Also assigned 124 is David Blethen's Withgreatpleasure, who looks to snap a five-race losing streak for trainer David Nunn. The 4-year-old Hold That Tiger filly ran second in her most recent start, the Cornucopia Stakes at Parx Racing Nov. 20. This is her first start at Laurel.
Mary Jo Kuehn's Whatabootie carries a three-race winning streak into the race, which will be the 4-year-old Storm Boot filly's first stakes start since August 2011. The Hamilton Smith trainee defeated an allowance optional claiming field going 1 1/16 miles at Laurel by six lengths in her most recent outing Nov. 2.
Onepointhreekarats, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro trained by Graham Motion for Live Oak Plantation, steps into stakes company for the first time following back-to-back optional claiming victories. The most recent, by 4 1/4 lengths at a distance of one mile, came at Laurel Nov. 3.
Also in the lineup are Plum and and Access to Charlie, who ran third and fourth, respectively, in the Geisha.
$125,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes (Race 8, 3:55 p.m.), Fillies & Mares 3 & Up, 1 Mile
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Plum (MD), S Russell, 116, R Jenkins
2. Bold Affair (MD), A Castellano Jr., 124, H E Wolfendale
3. Access to Charlie (MD), J Pimentel, 118, L E Murray
4. Narita (KY), C H Marquez Jr., 116, J Corrales
5. All About Hope (KY), no rider, 118, M A Mannis
6. Whatabootie (KY), H Karamanos, 118, H A Smith
7. Withgreatpleasure (KY), J D Acosta, 124, D Nunn
8. Ms. Tiptaptoe (PA), S Russell, 118, M J Trombetta
9. Onepointhreekarats (FL), J Rose, 118, H G Motion