Strong performances in multiple graded stakes and a victory in last year's Jennings Stakes makes Paul Berube and Karen Linnell's homebred Quint's Brew the heavy favorite in this year's renewal of the $100,000 Jennings for 4-year-olds and up going a mile at Laurel Park.
The Jennings is one of two $100,000 stakes on Laurel's Jan. 17 card that are restricted to runners bred in either Maryland or Virginia or sired by stallions in these states. The other restricted stakes is the Geisha Stakes going a mile for fillies and mares 4 years old and up. Alongside these races are two open $100,000 handicaps, the What a Summer Overnight Handicap for fillies and mares 4 years old and up going 6 furlongs, and the Fire Plug Overnight Handicap going 6 1/2 furlongs for 4-year-olds and up.
Quint's Brew is a 5-year-old Maryland-bred son of Mosler who Berube and Linnell race with Heather Hunter. He has already notched four wins out of six starts at Laurel and two wins out of three starts at a mile. He won last year's Jennings Stakes by 6 lengths and followed with a 5 1/2-length win in the General George Stakes. The rest of 2025 was filled with near misses in the Carter Stakes (G2) and Westchester Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack and in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Stakes back at Laurel in December.
"That was the worst racing luck I've had in a long time," trainer Edward Allard said about the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Stakes. "He was sitting behind the three top horses, and when we looked to swing around them at the half-mile pole, (Bold Diversion) came up outside of him, and we had nowhere to go for nearly a quarter to three-eighths of a mile. The rider had to worry about clipping heels. He had a ton of horse. I think I ran the best horse, but the best horse doesn't always win."
Quint's Brew was runner-up by a neck in the Carter and by half a length in the Westchester.
Allard said Quint's Brew is "training dynamite" coming into the Jennings.
"He doesn't need fast works because if you let him out a notch, he'll go from maybe a little slow to too fast. He's not an easy horse to rate because he has a lot of talent and wants to show off. Fast works don't pay you. You just got to keep them happy."
Quint's Brew will be ridden by Yedsit Hazlewood, Maryland's leading rider for 2025 and a finalist for an Eclipse award as outstanding apprentice jockey.
Laurel Park, Saturday, January 17, 2026, Race 7Entries: Jennings S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Formal Affair (MD) UNKNOWN 120 Jose Corrales 30/1 2 2Blue Kingdom (MD) Mychel J. Sanchez 122 Jamie Ness 3/1 3 3Bold Diversion (MD) Tais Lyapustina 120 Joanne Shankle 12/1 4 4Quint's Brew (MD) Yedsit Hazlewood 124 Edward T. Allard 4/5 5 5Cap Com (MD) J.G. Torrealba 122 Somraj Singh 30/1 6 6Hittheroadjak (MD) UNKNOWN 122 Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon 10/1 7 7Maclean's Rook (MD) Ismerio Villalobos 122 Michael J. Trombetta 4/1 8 8Roll On Jesse (MD) Angel Cruz 122 Kenneth M. Cox 30/1
Geisha Stakes
Takethemoneyhoney is another heavy favorite in the Geisha Stakes with two runner-up finishes by less than a quarter-length combined spoiling an otherwise undefeated record in seven starts.
The 5-year-old mare by Golden Lad is a homebred for Kasey K Racing Stable, Michael Day, and Final Turn Racing Stable. She is trained by Michael Moore and will be ridden by Eliseo Ruiz, who has been aboard for all but one of the mare's starts.
Though Takethemoneyhoney comes into the Geisha off a 1-length win in the 6-furlong Politely Stakes at Laurel, the mare is comfortable at a mile. She won a 1-mile allowance optional claimer at Laurel by 5 1/4 lengths back in April and won the Serena's Song Stakes going 1 mile and 70 yards at Monmouth Park in May.
"You'd think that coming off the sprint should place her pretty well in the race, somewhere near the front, obviously," Moore said adding that she is coming into the Geisha in good form.
"You don't have to do too much with her," he noted. "She stays fit. She's got so much talent. That usually takes care of most of it."
Laurel Park, Saturday, January 17, 2026, Race 6Entries: Geisha S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Navani (MD) Martin Chuan 120 A. Ferris Allen III 10/1 2 2Northern Glow (MD) Jevian Toledo 122 Brittany T. Russell 12/1 3 3Oncourtcommentator (MD) Sheldon Russell 120 Brittany T. Russell 5/2 4 4Spencerian (MD) Yedsit Hazlewood 120 Hugh I. McMahon 10/1 5 5Late Nite Call (VA) Xavier Perez 120 Niall Saville 15/1 6 6Ecliptical Gina (MD) Ricardo Chiappe 120 Flint W. Stites 30/1 7 7Takethemoneyhoney (MD) Eliseo Ruiz 126 Michael M. Moore 1/1 8 8Concrete Faze (MD) Mychel J. Sanchez 122 John T. Kirby 8/1 9 9Kissedbyanangel (MD) Tais Lyapustina 120 Joanne Shankle 30/1
Intriguing Edition of Fire Plug
Carded as race 9, the Fire Plug is one of the day's most competitive races with six of the 10 starters having won their most recent start.
James Wolf's Petingas Twin is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. He comes into the Fire Plug off two consecutive wins that include a close victory in the 6-furlong Dave's Friend Stakes at Laurel in November. Wolf had trainer Anthony Farrior claim Petingas Twin in his first start because he is a fan of Take Charge Indy , the gelding's sire. He won the horse, then an intact colt, in a 10-way shake.
Petingas Twin was gelded last July after his form seemed to plateau.
"He handles turns much better now. We believed gelding him would improve his smoothness behind," Farrior said. "Interestingly, he's been more aggressive in the mornings since the procedure. When he was a stud, he would tie up, but he's doing much better with that now."
Among the top challengers in the Fire Plug are owner/trainer's Joanne Shankle's On the Mark and On Your Left Racing's Chipotle.
On the Mark is a 6-year-old son of Anchor Down who comes into the Fire Plug off a 3 3/4-length win in a 6-furlong allowance-level race at Laurel. The gelding has a 6-5-4 record from 20 starts at Laurel and will be ridden by his regular rider Tais Lyapustina.
Chipotle is a 4-year-old gelding by Mitole who last out won a 5 1/2-furlong allowance optional claimer by a neck at Laurel over Prince of Jericho, who ran second to Petingas Twin in the Dave's Friend Stakes. Chipotle is trained by Michael Gorham and will be ridden by Raul Mena, who has been aboard for all seven of the gelding's career wins.
Another interesting competitor is Bush Racing Stable's 5-year-old gelding Point Dume, a front-running son of Into Mischief . The gelding won the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile Stakes at Parx Racing in October and comes into the Fire Plug off a close second in 1 1/16-mile Kris Kringle Stakes Dec. 31 at Parx. He cuts back to sprinting for the first time since last March when he won by 3 lengths in near gate-to-wire fashion going 7 furlongs at Parx.
