Francis Dash

The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash earned Grade I status this year, meaning that for the first time it officially ranks among the country's top races.However, when the field enters the starting gate Saturday at Laurel Park, no more than six horses will dash for their share of the $300,000 purse and the prestige of winning a Grade I stakes.The half-dozen horses that were entered yesterday disappointed Laurel Park racing officials, who beamed last winter when the De Francis Dash became only the third race in Maryland rated Grade I (the others are the Preakness and Pimlico Special)

The first time he ran on the turf, Tyaskin surprised an allowance field by rallying furiously to win at 24-1 odds.Yesterday in the $60,000 Mister Diz Stakes, the gelding went off at a 7-1 bargain price and did it again, coming from off the pace for a 2 1/2 -length victory over nine rivals.Grass, obviously, is his game."We tried to put him in a couple of races that didn't fill and then the turf came up," trainer Donald Barr said. "We didn't have much to lose, so we decided to try him although Allen's Prospect [Tyaskin's sire]

The closers came flying at Absolutely Queenie yesterday, but none could catch her.As a result, the 35-1 long shot captured the $75,000 All Brandy Stakes with a front-running performance over 1 1/8 miles on the turf.It was an exhilarating maiden ride on the filly for jockey Robby Albarado."I had never ridden her before, so I let her break on her own," said Albarado. "She didn't break as well as I would have liked, but she went to the lead on her own. She relaxed comfortably down the backstretch and when I asked her to slow it down, she rated kindly."

With the talented Meadow Monster scratched, the $72,875 Housebuster Handicap became a wide-open affair yesterday at Laurel Park.It was Wise Dusty who closed the door.On a lightning-fast track, the chestnut gelding dominated five rivals and scored a three-length victory, perhaps gaining himself a shot at the big boys in the $300,000 De Francis Dash July 19.Wise Dusty finished the six furlongs in 1: 08 4/5, only three-fifths of a second off Fighting Notion's track record."We were looking at it [the De Francis]

Trainer Henry Carroll is returning to Laurel Park on Saturday to run probable favorite Smoke Glacken in the $300,000 Grade II Frank J. De Francis Dash, the second-richest sprint race next to the Breeders' Cup Sprint.Carroll, a resident of New Jersey, raced at Laurel Park for seven years during the 1970s and has made several successful forays since then. In 1989, Yankee Affair finished second in the Washington D.C. International, and a year later Carroll's Southern Tradition captured the Martha Washington.

The tiny person kept saying in that now-famous squeaky voice: "You think I'm gonna be OK when I lose my bug?"That was Julie Krone, 18-year-old jockey trying to break through in Maryland, referring to the weight break she would lose once she lost her "bug," or apprenticeship.Now Krone, five days shy of 33 and perhaps the best-known jockey on Earth, returns to Maryland tomorrow to ride at Laurel Park. Veterans who remember the scared but determined teen-ager will pepper her with: "You think I'm gonna be OK. . .?

David Hayden first made a name for himself in the horse business by breeding champion sprinter Safely Kept.Now, the Baltimore County owner is enjoying additional success after persevering with another fast horse, Goldminer's Dream.Yesterday, the 6-year-old runner, hampered over the years by numerous injuries, stamped himself as the local horse to beat in the coming Frank J. De Francis Dash when he raced six furlongs in 1 minute, 9 3/5 seconds in Laurel Park's $78,600 Housebuster Stakes.Ron Cartwright, trainer of the more lightly-regarded Crumpton, thought the only way to beat the Hayden runner was to get the jump on him out of the gate.

Put up the money and good horses will come.That's usually the case, and it worked to snare Lite The Fuse and jockey Julie Krone for the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Dash on July 15 at Laurel Park.For the horse's trainer, Dick Dutrow, the question was whether to return to his former home base at Laurel with a good chance of winning $180,000 or staying put in New York and nailing down $60,000 by winning the True North Handicap on the same day at Belmont Park."When you're in that situation, there's really no question what you do," Dutrow said.

Over the years, thousands of horses have passed through Dick Dutrow's barn door.But the one he regards as the most talented will run tomorrow at Laurel Park.It is Lite The Fuse, the double-graded New York stakes winner who drew the rail and is heavily favored at 6-5 odds to win Maryland's richest sprint, the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.A field of eight horses was entered yesterday to compete in the sixth running of the Grade II six-furlong stakes."Maybe he [Lite The Fuse] doesn't have the big fighting heart of King's Swan," Dutrow said, referring to the now-retired gelding whom he claimed and trained during the late 1980s, who won 10 major New York stakes.

A newly reformed Pat Valenzuela, out to shake his image as racing's bad boy, arrives from Los Angeles today for a one-day stand in Laurel Park's $200,000 General George Stakes."

The Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association have set their schedule for the rest of 2009, and it includes the return of the Grade I Frank J. De Francis Dash after a one-year hiatus. After a 10-week break, live racing will return to Maryland on Aug. 1 at Laurel Park. The 11-day summer stand will conclude Aug. 23, with live racing taking place Friday (3:35 p.m. twilight post time), Saturday and Sunday for three consecutive weeks after opening weekend. That's one more day of summer racing than the MTHA held last year, according to Mike Gathagan, vice president-communications of the Maryland Jockey Club.

Further diminishing an already struggling industry, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association plans to discontinue the financing of six stakes races this fall, virtually eliminating some of the state's most prestigious races, The Sun has learned. Additionally, the stricken industry is expected to hear today that the Maryland Jockey Club will close the Pimlico Race Course barn area until the spring meet, evicting all horses, horsemen and backstretch workers from the racetrack. The six affected stakes - the De Francis Dash, the Safely Kept, the Laurel Futurity, the John Schapiro, the Sonny Hine and the Selima - have combined purses of $850,000 and attract some of the largest crowds and best horses of the fall meet at Laurel Park.

Eight sprinters, including two of the top four finishers from the Breeders' Cup Sprint, are entered in today's Grade I, $250,000 De Francis Dash at Laurel Park. The 18th annual Dash, one of five Grade I sprints at six furlongs, tops the Fall Festival of Racing card, which features four added-money races. Gates open at 11 a.m., and first post is 12:10 p.m. Benny the Bull, who had a troubled trip in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27 but rallied to finish fourth 2 1/2 lengths behind Talent Search, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite.

A super day of racing at Laurel Park came to a conclusion yesterday when jockey Corey Nakatani slid from the top of his horse in the winner's circle after the 17th running of the Grade I, $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Dash. Wearing a "Superman" S on the front of his silks, Nakatani was asked if he felt like the caped hero. "Like Superman?" he said. "I don't know if I feel like Superman, but the horse certainly did." The horse, Thor's Echo, survived a blistering early pace, overtook eventual fourth-place finisher Crafty Schemer down the stretch and held off a strong drive by Diabolical to win by three-fourths of a length in the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up. Thor's Echo paid $4.20, $2.80 and $2.40 after completing the race in 1:08.

Out-of-towners get the nod in the morning-line odds for today's Frank De Francis Dash, one of just five Grade I races for sprinters in the country. But Maryland trainer Tim Keefe said his horse Celtic Innis, owned and bred by Marylanders, has a chance to hit the board and bring glory to the home team. "There's a lot of speed in this race," said Keefe, who trains the 4-year-old by Yarrow Brae for Allen and Audrey Murray. "My horse likes to sit behind some of that early speed, and if it's a real quick and fast race at the start, he has a chance to be there at the end. "It's certainly going to be a tough race, but Allen and Audrey are Maryland people who live and breed horses in Maryland.

A year ago, Barbaro came to Laurel Park for the Laurel Futurity on Frank De Francis Dash day and made such an impact that after the race his trainer, Michael Matz, said he would have to give the horse a try on dirt in Florida over the winter. From here, Barbaro, as most know, went on to win the Kentucky Derby. "He was a special horse," said Matz, who has five entries on Saturday's card, but none in either the Futurity or the De Francis Dash. "I wish I had a horse in every stakes. But that's the way it goes.

It would have been difficult to fit one more person in the winner's circle at Laurel Park yesterday after the 16-to-1 long shot Surf Light upset the field and brought pure joy to the family of Joe Pons, who passed away this week at age 83. "Surf Light is a nice filly," said Mike Pons, president of the Maryland Million and one of Joe's sons. "But she's been kind of unlucky. She hits tigers every time she goes on the racetrack. To see her win like that, it's like a 70-yard Hail Mary pass.

With attention focused on horses from the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the top three finishers in last year's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, Wildcat Heir sneaked into Pimlico Race Course for this year's Dash with no fanfare. He left a Grade I winner after scoring a startling upset at 16-1 odds yesterday in the prestigious stakes that attracted some of the fastest horses in the country. Wildcat Heir withstood a tenacious challenge from Midas Eyes, the 6-5 favorite and the beaten favorite in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, to register a neck win and collect $180,000 of the $300,000 purse.

Contested three weeks after the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash provides those who stubbed their toe in the big dance or missed it altogether a second chance. Four horses who ran in the $1 million Sprint at Lone Star Park, along with three who had hoped to, make up the majority of the field in the $300,000 De Francis Dash today at Pimlico Race Course. One of three Grade I stakes in Maryland, the De Francis Dash is one of the most prestigious six-furlong races in the country.

As Yogi Berra and the pop song by John Fogerty say, it's deja vu all over again - in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash tomorrow at Pimlico Race Course. Last year, A Huevo entered the Grade I sprint off two races in 2003. This year, he enters off two races in 2004. And like last year, trainer Michael Dickinson and owner Mark Hopkins don't know what to expect when the oft-injured, 8-year-old gelding takes on as many as nine speedy challengers in the six-furlong dash for $300,000. "You can never tell with this horse," said Dickinson, who trains at his Tapeta Farm in Cecil County.