LAUREL, Md. – Sunny Breeze was a tough cookie in the paddock, and even a tougher nut to crack on the racetrack as he remained unbeaten from three starts after winning Sunday’s $100,000 Concern Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Laurel Park. Trained by Ned Allard for Marilyn Campbell’s Stonehedge LLC, Florida-bred Sunny Breeze refused to be weighed-in during paddock proceedings and had to be saddled on the walk. “Coming over here, the water trucks went by and stirred him up,” Allard said. “When we went into the paddock, the fans made a tremendous noise and he got wound up, and then when I brought him in the stall, the horse in the next stall kicked the wall. Oh man! But he didn’t do anything real wrong. He was looking to go.” On the track, Sunny Breeze was a perfect gentleman. El Capi stumbled at the start from his rail draw, then showed crazy early speed to clear off and set an opening fraction of 23.29 seconds. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Sunny Breeze, a gate-to-wire winner in his first two starts at Delaware Park, broke nicely under Jaime Rodriguez, then came right to hand and settled willingly behind the pacesetter. He confronted El Capi from the outside after a half-mile in 46.58 with Celtic Contender ranging up three deep at the quarter pole.   Celtic Contender appeared to be traveling best, but Sunny Breeze refused to yield. He surged back along the inside to reclaim the lead, and just had enough in the tank to fend off hard-charging Willy D’s by a head in 1:24.30. Celtic Contender finished another half-length back in third. Then came favored Play Harder. El Capi reportedly bled from both nostrils, was eased before the finish, and walked off the track under his own power. Barksdale scratched. Sunny Breeze returned $12.60 as the fourth choice in the Concern wagering. The team of Allard, Rodriguez and Stonehedge also scored the $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash on Sunday with Dean Delivers. “When you win allowance races and you have to step up into stakes company, more often than not you find you don’t have enough horse,” Allard said. “I didn’t think that was going to be the case with [Sunny Breeze]. Jaime really liked this horse, and he thought he was just learning how to run. Jaime doesn’t flower his races up. He’s a straight shooter when he gives his opinion.” Allard has no specific plan for Sunny Breeze, a homebred son of Stonehedge stallion Cajun Breeze out of an unplaced half-sister to Grade 3-winning dirt sprinter Always Sunshine. “I don’t like to put the cart before the horse,” Allard said. “He needed to prove himself today, and I thought he did. How far he wants to go, I’m not really sure. Who knows?  He might go farther. He might have an easier time doing that.” *Alma North Stakes Some horses run out of their skin. Apple Picker ran out of her shoe. Literally. “No shoe, no problem,” said trainer Brittany Russell after Apple Picker rallied stoutly to win Laurel’s $100,000 Alma North for fillies and mares traveling 6 1/2 furlongs despite blowing her right front shoe during the race. “If they’re good and they want to do it, it doesn’t matter.” The even-money favorite in a seven-horse field, Apple Picker settled in midpack under Sheldon Russell as Ms. Bucchero blazed the way through fractions of 22.68 and 46.04 seconds. Ms. Bucchero, who unseated jockey Jose Batista during the loading process, opened a five-length advantage into the stretch, but Apple Picker made up ground rapidly once given clear sailing. Ms. Bucchero tried desperately to hold on in the final sixteenth, but Apple Picker ran right by her to score by three lengths in 1:17.56. Ms. Bucchero held second, 1 1/2 lengths batter than Joke Sisi. Then came Charriere, Happy Clouds, Bella Bettina and Sweet Alyssa. Deco Strong, Late Frost and Talk to the Judge withdrew. Apple Picker paid $4 to win. A 4-year-old daughter of Connect, Apple Picker won her third consecutive stakes race in Maryland after kicking them down in both the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie here on Feb. 17 and Pimlico’s Skipat on May 18. Interspersed among those races were forays to New York, where Apple Picker finished fourth in the Grade 3 Distaff on April 6 and eighth in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses on June 15. “We took her to New York twice,” Brittany Russell said. “Maybe she didn’t like [Aqueduct], maybe it was too tough, maybe she didn’t get the setup. It didn’t go well, so we won’t try that again. She loves it here.” Owner Michael Dubb bought Apple Picker in utero when he purchased her dam for $21,000 at the Keeneland November breeding sale in 2019. A debut winner at two at Belmont for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, Apple Picker was transferred to Russell’s barn prior to her 3-year-old debut, a 6 3/4-length win in a “two-life” allowance at Delaware. The Alma North was Apple Picker’s fourth stakes win. She boasts earnings of $462,483. *Deputed Testamony Frosted Departure “doesn’t play well with others,” according to Ray Bryner, assistant to trainer Kenny McPeek. “He doesn’t really like to get hooked,” Bryner said after Frosted Departure dominated the $100,000 Deputed Testamony for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/8 miles. “If he’s out in front, he’s very economical and cruises along. You see him work his ears, he looks around and has a good time doing that. When you think they’re going to come to you, you steal away, and he kicks on.” Frosted Departure had everything his way in the four-horse Deputed Testamony. Breaking from the rail under Horacio Karamanos, he bounced away to a clear lead through moderate fractions of 24.75, 49.85 and 1:14.04, then ran up the score on his overmatched opposition. Under the line, Frosted Depature was 8 3/4 lengths in front of favored Time for Trouble with Auto Glide another 3 1/2 behind in third. Ain’t Da Beer Cold finished fourth. Shaft’s Bullet and Be Better scratched. Frosted Departure completed the distance in 1:51.34 and returned $5.20 to win as the second choice. Frosted Departure has notched 7 wins from 25 starts for earnings of $804,481. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.