Race 5 at Laurel

Thursday’s race 5 at Laurel is a 6 furlong MSW for 2-year-old fillies, and only one of the three previous runners looks appealing—Safe Journey who should relish the shorter distance from her last start. Of the first-time starters, I love the name of Todd Pletcher’s filly—Daguerreotype—and she has a nice series of works leading to this start. Graham Motion has two well-bred fillies—Joyful (Distorted Humor) who is a half-sister to G2 Louisiana Derby winner Fifty Stars, and Rutledge Storm (Storm Cat), a $330K Keeneland yearling purchase who is not only inbred to Northern Dancer 3 x 3, but also to Secretariat 3 x 4. Both have been working sharply over the Tapeta surface at Fair Hill. Still, something is drawing me to first-time starter Desert Yield (High Yield-Desert Prowler, by Desert Wine), a half-sister of G3 winner Coy Coyote (a very tight second to Lemon Drop Mom in the Go for Wand Stakes at Delaware last out) and G2-placed Desert Mirage (Norfolk). Let's see how she can do...