BY STEVE KOCH
Three Florida-bred fillies and mares will represent the Sunshine State in Saturday’s $125,000 Alma North at Laurel Park, forming a significant portion of the eight-horse field in the six and one-half furlong race for fillies and mares three years old and upward.
Mystic Lake leads the Florida contingent as the most accomplished runner in the field as the 2024 Florida-bred Horse of the Year, 3-Year-Old Champion Filly and Champion Female Sprinter. The 4-year-old dark bay filly by Mo Town was bred by Peggy Costanzo and has earned $1,122,542 over 17 career starts with eight victories.
In 2025, she has won two of four starts, including the Grade 2 Inside Information at Gulfstream Park in January and the Memorial Day Sprint at Lone Star Park on May 26. Mystic Lake’s recent graded stakes efforts include a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Resolute Racing Madison at Keeneland and a ninth in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs.
She will be ridden by Jorge Ruiz for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.
Fiona’s Magic, a 4-year-old dark bay filly by St Patrick’s Day out of Mollie’s Magic, was bred and is owned by Marilyn Campbell’s Stonehedge LLC. She has earned $268,410 from seven career starts with three wins. Her most notable victory came in the Grade 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park in March 2024, though she unsuccessfully contended the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs later that spring.
Trainer Edward T. Allard will send her out with jockey Jaime Rodriguez.
Admiral Hopper, the veteran of the Florida-bred trio, is a 7-year-old chestnut mare by Field Commission bred by Krista Seltzer and Edward Seltzer. With career earnings of $208,625 from 16 starts, she has seven wins including a victory in October 2024 at Gulfstream Park. In 2025, she has started three times with a third-place finish in the Primonetta at Laurel Park in April as her best effort. She will be handled by trainer Justin Nixon with Weston Hamilton in the irons.
The Florida-bred horses face competition from St. Benedicts Prep, trained by Linda Rice and ridden by Jaime Rodriguez, who finished second in the Grade 3 Distaff Stakes at Aqueduct in April and fourth in the Grade 3 Vagrancy Stakes at Belmont At The Big A in May. Easy Red, conditioned by Eddie Kenneally with Mychel Sanchez aboard, has impressed with four wins from nine starts including recent allowance and optional-claiming scores at Keeneland and Fair Grounds.
The remaining entries are Alani, trained by Michael Moore and ridden by Frankie Pennington, who has won three of five starts in 2025 including optional-claiming victories at Laurel Park and Parx Racing; Jeanne Marie, conditioned by Robert E. Reid, Jr., who scored an optional-claiming tilt at Parx in April; and Happy Clouds, trained by Ryan Gillespie with Denis Araujo riding, who finished second in an allowance optional claiming race at Laurel Park in April.
The race carries a purse of $125,000. Post time for the Alma North Stakes is 3:58 p.m. EST.
Parts of this article were drafted by Claude.ai
Return to the June 25 issue of Wire to Wire
