Laurelin, a 3-year-old filly trained by Graham Motion, made a bold closing move to win the $150,000 Memories of Silver Stakes by a neck on Sunday and, with the stylish turf stakes victory, jockey Kendrick Carmouche clinched the riding title at the Aqueduct spring meet. “She seems like she’s an 8-year-old when she’s only a 3-year-old,” Carmouche said. “That’s really good in a racehorse, that’s what you want to feel. That’s what’s going to get you farther running against good horses. That always helps.” Undefeated in two starts in her juvenile season, Laurelin returned from a layoff of more than five months Sunday and didn’t seem to lose a step. Motion said last week that he had high hopes for her in her 3-year-old campaign, and she is already delivering. “That was very cool,” Motion said. “She’s just a stone-cold runner this filly. I really wasn’t sure if she was fit enough today, but I wanted to get her started in this race because she does so well at Aqueduct and Kendrick [Carmouche] gets along so well with her.” Settling into sixth through the opening quarter-mile, Laurelin quickly made up ground on the backstretch as front-running filly Opulent Restraint completed a half-mile in 48.60 seconds. Slipping through a gap inside, Carmouche and Laurelin made a serious bid on the turn and entered the stretch with a short lead. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Opulent Restraint, one of two fillies trained by Chad Brown in the field of seven, did not allow another horse to pass and stubbornly ran alongside Laurelin in the stretch. Though it briefly seemed like she might be able to re-rally, Carmouche angled Laurelin so that she could see her stubborn foe. She never yielded, hanging on to win by a neck at the wire. She completed the one-mile race in 1:38.68 and paid $6.90 to win. Virgin Colada, the 7-5 favorite and Brown’s other filly in the race, made a belated move from last but never seriously challenged the leaders in her first start since November. Though she participated in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last year, she is still looking for her first stakes victory. For Carmouche, a veteran rider who recently adapted his professional outlook to focus on quality mounts, the victory on Laurelin in the Memories of Silver was the perfect ending to a historic Aqueduct spring meet. Along with the riding title he earned Sunday, he also won his 4,000th race on Wood Memorial Day earlier this month. The veteran rider said he was still hungry. “It’s amazing. This is what we’re in it for, to be successful and be at the top,” Carmouche said. “I’m at the top of my game.” While Carmouche prepares for the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet next month, Motion said that he is considering several challenging spots for Laurelin next time out. The trainer said that he intends to nominate her for the Group 1 Coronation at Royal Ascot in June, though the Grade 2 Wonder Again at Saratoga that month also remains in play. Garamond wins allowance Garamond, a 3-year-old colt trained by Chad Brown, wasn’t the one who scared a $71,000 allowance field down to three runners at Aqueduct on Sunday. He was the one who benefitted from the short field, however, gunning for the early lead and withstanding a stiff challenge from 1-9 favorite Cornucopian to win by 3 1/2 lengths.  Brown’s colt didn’t go to the lead when he finished third in the Grade 3 Gotham last time out, but the dirt at Aqueduct seemed to favor front-runners all day Sunday. The unique dynamics of racing in a short field made early speed even more important. Jockey Irad Ortiz and Cornucopian, trained by Bob Baffert, was the beaten favorite and front-runner in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby last time out. In the allowance Sunday, the heavy favorite simply got beat out of the gate. Flavien Prat knew he had a winning chance with Garamond out in front, even as the speedy colt blew through a half-mile in 45.84 seconds. “It’s strange to run in a three-horse field because you never know who’s going to do what,” Prat said. “But he broke well and I just let him run out of there, and he naturally found himself on the lead.” Entering the far turn, Cornucopian drew even with Garamond and seemed to be overtaking his front-running foe. But when the two entered the stretch, Garamond dug in on the inside, finding more to put away his favored rival and pay $7.70 to win. He completed the one-mile race in 1:36.58 and finished well ahead of Cornucopian, who nearly lost second to My Mitole, a 12-1 outsider who never seriously challenged. Coming off his defeat in the Arkansas Derby, the allowance at Aqueduct on Sunday was likely intended as a fresh start for Cornucopian. Connections for five horses in the field saw it the same way and withdrew their runners. In the end, however, the race provided a fresh start for Garamond, who recovered well from his Gotham defeat to win his second race in three career starts. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.