A packed card of stakes at Laurel Park Nov. 14 will be highlighted by the $350,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, which will feature Antonino Miuccio's two-time grade I winner Palace .
Last year's Forego (gr. I) and Vanderbilt (gr. I) victor is a 12-time winner, but was beaten, by a half-length, by fellow De Francis Memorial Dash runner Stallwalkin' Dude two starts back in the Vosburgh (gr. I) Sept. 26 at Belmont Park.
The two went their separate ways in their last starts, as Palace got back on track last time out in the Hudson Handicap Oct. 24 at Belmont, while Stallwalkin' Dude went to the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), where he finished eighth.
"We've had kind of a difficult year with him. He just could never really get on track," trainer Linda Rice said of Palace. "He fell out of the gate at Saratoga and got a pretty nasty injury, and it took us quite a while to get him back to the races.
"He ran a nice race in the Vosburgh. He kind of got trapped down inside and still only got beat three-quarters of a length, so I was very happy with his performance there. Then he came back and won the Hudson and got back to his winning ways. We decided not to run in the Breeders' Cup and point to the De Francis instead."
Claimed for $20,000 in 2012, Palace is scheduled to be retired at the end of the year and enter stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky.
"He's been an absolute pleasure to have," Rice said. "It's going to be very hard to let him go, because he's been part of our stable for quite a while. He's certainly been very much one of our favorites."
Another intriguing contender in the De Francis is Galant Bob (gr. III) winner Trouble Kid, who is riding a four-race win streak. He's won the four races by a combined 29 lengths, including a 3 1/4-lengths score last time out in the Valley Forge Stakes Oct. 17 at Parx Racing.
Also on the six-stakes card is the Smart Halo, Richard W. Small, City of Laurel, James F. Lewis III, and Safely Kept, all with purses of $100,000 each.
Three-time graded winner and former Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) hopeful El Kabeir is entered in the City of Laurel; undefeated juveniles Corvus, In R Defence, and Never Gone South will face off in the Lewis III; and graded winners Paulassilverlining and Hot City Girl will go toe to toe in the Safely Kept.
Laurel Park, Saturday, November 14, 2015, Race 10Entries: Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Cutty Shark (FL) Xavier Perez 118 Donald H. Barr 15/1 2 2Stallwalkin' Dude (FL) Trevor McCarthy 118 David Jacobson 5/2 3 3Palace (NY) Cornelio H. Velasquez 118 Linda Rice 9/5 4 4Sonny Inspired (MD) Victor R. Carrasco 118 Phil Schoenthal 20/1 5 5Sir Rockport (VA) Alex Canchari 116 Tim A. Ice 30/1 6 6Spring to the Sky (KY) Michael J. Luzzi 118 Bruce R. Brown 8/1 7 7Jack's in the Deck (MD) Forest Boyce 118 Robin L. Graham 20/1 8 8Gentlemen's Bet (FL) Daniel Centeno 118 Ron Moquett 6/1 9 9Trouble Kid (KY) Joshua Navarro 120 Ramon Preciado 9/2
