Greeley and Ben continues to defy Father Time as the 9-year-old gelding rallied widest and fastest to take down the $100,000 Dave’s Friend for 3-year-olds and upward traveling six furlongs at Laurel Park on Saturday. The Dave’s Friend was one of four $100,000 stakes on Saturday’s program with the Robert T. Manfuso for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles, the Carousel for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, and the Willa On the Move for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 panels. Trained by Horacio De Paz, Greeley and Ben settled four wide near the back under jockey Jevian Toledo while He’smyhoneybadger and No Cents sparred through fractions of 22.43 and 45.73 seconds. No Cents emerged with a slight lead but was soon swarmed from all sides. Favored Factor It In, Stage Left and Cowan took their shots from his outside while Dollarization kicked on nearer to the rail. But it was Greeley and Ben who closed the best. Toledo urged him along from the outside midway on the turn, and they stormed down the center of the track to prevail by a half-length in 1:10.93 over the fast track. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Dollarization ran second in a blanket finish, a head better than the game No Cents. Cowan, Factor It In, Stage Left, Mystic O’Shaunesie, Nico, Sir Alfred James and He'smyhoneybadger were next. Threes Over Deuces and Manny Wah scratched. Greeley and Ben returned $13.60 as the fifth choice in the wagering. Bred in Kentucky by the Millard R Seldin Revocable Trust, Greeley and Ben made his first 15 starts for his breeder before being claimed for $10,000 by trainer Karl Broberg out of a runner-up effort at Oaklawn in 2021. Greeley and Ben blossomed for Broberg, winning 14 of 17 races including stakes at Remington, Delta, and Sam Houston. Claimed for $62,500 during the spring of 2022, Greeley and Ben sold for $80,000 at public auction that summer and was taken by Abramowitz for $40,000 out of a winning effort at Saratoga on Sept. 4, 2022. Greeley and Ben won the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap in his final start of 2022 and was freshened for almost a year before finishing sixth in his 2023 debut, an allowance at Laurel on Nov. 10. The veteran made his final prep for the Dave’s Friend with an allowance victory here 22 days later. The son of Greeley’s Conquest and stakes-placed turf miler Traci’s Wild has won 25 of 42 starts for lifetime earnings of $981,138. Robert T. Manfuso Earlier this week, owner Lynn Cash hinted that Double Crown ($22.20) was cycling back to a good race despite being beaten 25 1/2 lengths in last Saturday’s Tinsel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. “I think I have to keep my guys out of the fast lane,” Cash admitted when talking about venues like Oaklawn “His [best races] have come back on six and seven days’ rest.” Maryland-bred Double Crown returned to his home state a winner in the Robert T. Manfuso, nipping odds-on pacesetter Offaly Cool by a nose. Jockey Jeiron Barbosa kept Double Crown close to the pace while saving valuable ground as Offaly Cool set fractions of 24.45 and 49.12 while prompted by Ain’t Da Beer Cold and Luigi’s Spirit. Offaly Cool tried to kick for the wire after six furlongs in 1:13.99, but Barbosa angled Double Crown off the rail, and those two battled the length of the stretch with Double Crown getting his picture taken after 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.65 seconds. Magic Michael was 2 1/2 lengths back in third. Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, and Rebecca Davis, Double Crown is a 6-year-old gelding by Bourbon Courage. A multiple stakes-winner at three for trainer Tom Amoss, Bourbon Crown was claimed by Cash’s Built Wright Stables out of a runner-up effort in a $40,000 claimer at Churchill on June 5, 2022. Double Crown’s biggest moment for Cash came when he upset the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap last fall during the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting. Transferred to trainer Ray Ginter, Jr. earlier this summer, Double Crown has won three of nine starts for Ginter including Pimlico’s Polynesian Stakes on Sept. 10. Double Crown has won 9 of 44 starts for earnings of $830,185. The Manfuso was his fifth stakes victory. Carousel Taking advantage of glacial fractions, the progressive Saddle Up Jessie ($4.20) got the jump on uncoupled stablemate Hybrid Eclipse to win her stakes debut by 4 3/4 lengths in the Carousel. There didn’t appear to be much pace on paper and it played out that way on the track with Peyton Elizabeth doling out splits of 25.99 and 50.98 while shadowed from the outside by Saddle Up Jessie. Toledo pushed the button after six furlongs in 1:16.08 and favored Saddle Up Jessie made the lead for good. She popped back to her left lead at the sixteenth pole, but was never in danger of losing.   Hybrid Eclipse, best as a one-run closer, was forced to stay nearer to the pace racing in the pocket, and that might have sapped her kick just a bit. She was easily second-best, 4 1/4 lengths better than Lady Brew. A More Than Ready filly, Saddle Up Jessie was purchased for $270,000 as a yearling, and made her first six starts in Southern California. Claimed for $20,000 out of a fourth-place finish in a maiden event at Santa Anita on Jan. 21, Saddle Up Jessie was shipped to the Mid-Atlantic region, and has flourished for trainer Brittany Russell and owner Michael J. Ryan. The 4-year-old filly found her niche racing around two turns on dirt, has won four of six starts for Russell and prepped for the Carousel with a good-looking second-level allowance win at Laurel on Nov. 4. She has won 4 of 12 starts for earnings of $151,980. Willa On the Move Headland ($4.80) survived a speed duel to notch her first stakes victory in the Willa On the Move. Trained by George Weaver for Thomas Brockley, Headland battled for the lead outside Dream Chaser through fractions of 22.73 and 46.20 seconds before taking over a clear advantage turning into the stretch. From there, favored Headland was simply too strong as she streaked across the wire 1 1/2 lengths better than Apple Picker in 1:18.46 under jockey Angel Cruz. Dream Chaser finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Apple Picker but was disqualified and placed fourth after the stewards judged that she bumped Moody Woman into Apple Picker during the upper stretch. A 7-year-old mare by Paynter, Headland was claimed by Weaver for $62,500 out of a runner-up effort over sloppy going at Saratoga on Aug. 25. She placed third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom in her first start for the barn, finished off the board when trying turf for the first time in Aqueduct’s Autumn Days Stakes, then finished third in the Garland of Roses there on Dec. 9. Bred in Kentucky by Sheltowee Farm and WinStar Farm, Headland is a 7-year-old mare by Headland. A $17,000 weanling, she sold for $25,000 as a short yearling, was purchased for $50,000 as a 2-year-old in training and has been claimed three times in her career. A half-sister to stakes-winning sprinter Hijo de Sheltowee, Headland has won 11 times from 44 starts for lifetime earnings of $754,486. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.