Rags to riches story Time for Trouble receives class relief on Sunday at Laurel Park when he drops out of three graded stakes to compete in the $100,000 Deputed Testamony for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles. Time for Trouble was claimed for $8,000 by trainer Jeff Hiles during the spring of 2021. “We weren’t risking a lot and he looked like he had a lot of upside,” Hiles said. “We ran him three times, turned him out and gelded him, stretched him out [in distance], and he’s done good ever since.” Hiles first thought he had a turf horse on his hand as Time for Trouble is by English Channel out of a Galileo mare. “They came off the grass at Belterra [during the summer of 2022] and he won,” Hiles said. “Otherwise, we weren’t looking to put him on the dirt.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Time for Trouble, now 7, has faced good ones in his last three races. He ran third to millionaire First Mission in the Grade 3 Essex at Oalawn Park on March 23, and then finished fourth in the Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland behind subsequent Grade 1 winner Kingsbarns. Most recently, Time for Trouble ran fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths, in the Grade 2 Suburban on Belmont Stakes Day. Hiles wishes the Deputed Testamony distance was “longer.” He debated on whether to run here or in Saratoga’s $150,000 Birdstone at 1 3/4 miles on Aug. 4. This spot seemed more appealing considering that Next, widely considered the best dirt marathoner in the country, is aimed for the Birdstone. Auto Glide, another reformed claimer, has turned the corner since being haltered by trainer Greg Compton for $30,000 at Oaklawn earlier in the year. The Tiznow colt has won his last four starts, including the Battery Park in Delaware on July 7. “When I claimed him, I didn’t think we’d be winning a stakes race with him in his fifth start [with us],” Compton told Daily Racing Form after the Battery Park. “He stumbled leaving the gate, but he’s proven he can overcome a lot of different things.” Like Time for Trouble, both Frosted Departure and Be Better drop out of graded races. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Frosted Departure finished fifth in the Grade 3 Blame at Churchill Downs last month. He should show speed from the rail. Conversely, Be Better is a one-run closer. He won the Deputed Testamony last year and enters this year’s renewal after finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special. Shaft’s Bullet missed by a nose to Auto Glide in the Battery Park, but he might have the home-field advantage on Sunday, having won 6 of 11 prior races at Laurel. Ain’t Da Beer Cold should be part of the pace picture. Alma North Apple Picker earned her career-defining victory in the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel on Feb. 17. She’ll return to the Maryland circuit after an eighth-place effort in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses in New York on June 15 to compete in the $100,000 Alma North for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs. Trainer Brittany Russell immediately named the Alma North as a main goal for Apple Picker after the 4-year-old rallied from off the pace to take the Skipat at Pimlico over muddy going on May 18. “It seems like she ran her race last time but we also kind of think maybe she just doesn’t like New York,” Russell told Laurel track publicity. “She’s tried that twice, and we’re just drawing a line through those.” Joke Sisi, a Group 1 winner in her native Chile, rallied from off the pace to win a second-level allowance at Churchill on June 9 for trainer Ignacio Correas, who has won a stakes race in Maryland each of the past two years. Late Frost finished third behind Apple Picker in the Skipat, then ran second in the Dashing Beauty at Delaware Park three weeks ago. She has good early speed, along with Ms. Bucchero, who scratched out of Friday’s Regret at Monmouth Park. Deco Strong, Sweet Alyssa, Bella Bettina, Happy Clouds, and Charriere also are entered. Talk to the Judge ran Friday in the Regret. Concern Pace might make the race in the $100,000 Concern for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs. El Capi, Sunny Breeze, and Barksdale all boast early speed, and that could set things up for a rallying type. Celtic Contender finished a nose better than Play Harder in the state-sired Star de Naskra on June 29 but was disqualified after drifting inward in the opening furlong and causing a chain reaction of bumping. Both Maryland-breds can work out stalking trips behind the pacesetters, along with Willy D’s, who cuts back precipitously in distance after racing 1 3/8 miles on turf in Delaware’s Kent Stakes. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.