News & Notes

Frank Milby began his attempt at another driving title at Rosecroft with four wins the first two days of the winter/spring meet. Tyler Davis, Jonathan Roberts and Jason Thompson each collected three victories, while Russell Foster and Richard Still each had two. Note that Davis was a perfect three-for-three with a return on investment of 298%.

Six trainers each had two wins over the first two programs: John Cabot, Robin Callahan, Eric Foster, Clyde Oglesby Jr., Megan Roberts and Basil Sapienza. Callahan was two-for-two with a 445% ROI.

Multiple horses raced both Feb. 6 and Feb. 10, but only B Fast Eddie, owned and trained by Eric Foster and driven both times by Thompson, won twice.

The $12,000 Open pace went to William “Bib” Roberts’ Capital Builder, a 12-time winner in 2018 who proved sharp off a local qualifier and received a perfect pocket trip behind heavy favorite Rock N’ Roll Jet. Both left from outside posts and made bids for the lead, and it was Capital Builder who used the passing lane to get up by a nose over the 2018 Rosecroft Horse of the Year.

Note that Lil Johnny, who defeated Capital Builder in the Jan, 30 qualifier, was a very close fourth against some very tough pacers even though he went off stride briefly near the three-quarter-mile mark. He had the fastest final quarter-mile clocking and was entered in a qualifier Feb. 13 in advance of his next start.

Here’s a look at several races on the Wednesday, Feb. 13, program:

Race 7

Kiss My Sass returned to Rosecroft from Dover Downs opening night and responded with a decent mile after blasting away from the gate and sitting behind the leader, who checked in second behind a first-up winner. She figures to be in the mix early again and paces consistent final quarter-miles. Girl Almighty is in from Meadowlands and has done well here in the past; don’t expect double-digit odds in this spot.

Race 9

Allie’s Finale and Yankee Artillery both turned in quality efforts in the same race in this class last week; the former didn’t see the pylons while battling for the lead and just missed by a half-length, while the latter was hard-used early as well and paced evenly in the lane in a race he probably needed off of an almost two-month layoff. Andwin Hanover had a useful race at Freehold in early February and his previous mile-track efforts suggest he should fit very well here.

Race 12

Spinout has been away since late October when he was scratched sick but his Feb. 6 qualifier at Rosecroft in which he went first up approaching the three-quarter-mile mark and held well for second behind Pop Writer with a decent final half-mile was encouraging. He has the ability to fire away in a race with no invaders but can also come from off the pace; owner/driver Weckstein won Feb. 10 with one of his other horses that had returned off of a nice qualifier.