Thunderello, the longshot who led throughout before finishing second in the NAPA Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), is the 9-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's grade I Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.
Sent off at 48-1 odds in the Sprint, the 3-year-old son of Montbrook was caught in deep stretch by favored Orientate.
"It was bittersweet," said trainer Scott Lake, the nation's winningest trainer for the third consecutive year with 345 wins. "You feel so good that the horse ran well but you're sick to your stomach at the same time to get beat in the last two jumps."
Another veteran of this year's Breeders' Cup entered in the Dash is Boston Common, who set the early pace before finishing 13th in the NetJets Breeders' Cup Mile.
The six-furlong DeFrancis Dash is the highlight of Saturday's "Fall Festival Of Racing" that consists of six stakes races and $724,000 in purses.
The field for the $300,000 De Francis Dash:
1--Outstander, 114. Jozbin Santana, 15-1
2--Boston Common, 116, no rider named, 9-2
3--D'Wildcat, 122, Jorge Chavez, 9-2
4--Rusty Spur, 118, Mark Johnston, 15-1
5--Deer Run, 118, Mario Pino, 20-1
6--Avanzado, 122, Tyler Baze, 5-2
7--Thunderello, 114, Edgar Prado, 9-5
8--Sassy Hound, 118, Horatio Karamanos, 12-1
