G3 Winner Cordmaker Tops Friday Workers for Upcoming Stakes
At 0h02, on November 22, 2022 • By LAUREL PARK
Multiple stakes winners Cordmaker, Fille d’Esprit and Tappin Cat each tuned up for potential starts in Thanksgiving weekend stakes with five-furlong works Friday at Laurel Park.
Hillwood Stable’s Cordmaker, a 10-time stakes winner including the Feb. 19 General George (G3), had the fastest of six works at the distance over the main track in 1:00. Less than $10,000 away from $1 million mark in lifetime earnings, the 7-year-old gelding has raced once since his first graded triumph, finishing sixth after pressing the early pace in a one-mile optional claiming allowance Nov. 4 at Laurel.
Cordmaker is nominated to both Laurel’s $75,000 Howard & Sondra Bender Memorial for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs Nov. 25 and $100,000 Richard W. Small for open 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles Nov. 26. The son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin won the Small in 2021 and was second in 2022.
Second to Cordmaker with a breeze of 1:00.80 was C J I Phoenix Group and No Guts No Glory Farm’s 6-year-old mare Fille d’Esprit, who exits a 1 ¼-length triumph in the seven-furlong Maryland Million Distaff Oct. 22. An 11-time career winner, including four stakes, she is nominated to the $75,000 Politely for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting six furlongs Nov. 25.
Non Stop Stable’s Tappin Cat, winner of the 2022 Sussex and 2021 DTHA Governors Day Handicap, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60. The 6-year-old gelding was sixth in last year’s Small and most recently ran ninth in the 1 1/8-mile Maryland Million Classic, a race where he was second in 2021. Like Cordmaker, Tappin Cat is nominated to both the Small and Bender.
A total of five stakes worth $450,000 in purses will be offered over Thanksgiving weekend, including the $100,000 City of Laurel for 3-year-olds and $100,000 Safely Kept for 3-year-old fillies, each sprinting seven furlongs Nov. 26.
