As a $400,000 yearling purchase residing in Bob Baffert’s stable, there were always high hopes for 3-year-old Winterfell. After five losses in Southern California, Winterfell was on the verge of being a washout. Transferred to trainer Brittany Russell’s barn gave the Arrogate colt a boost, as he won his third consecutive start, rallying from last to take Saturday’s $100,000 City of Laurel for sophomores racing seven furlongs at Laurel Park. The pace was fast and contested in the City of Laurel as Had to Have Him, Celtic Contender, and Speedyness sparred through an opening quarter in 22.43 seconds. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Had to Have Him backed out quickly, but Celtic Contender and Speedyness continued their spirited pace dispute, clicking off a 44.97 half mile while tracked by Petingas Twin. Winterfell, sprinting for the first time after five consecutive two-turn races, was outsprinted early under Jevian Toledo, and trailed on the outside. He gradually picked up horses entering the turn, then swung extremely wide into the straight. Speedyness and Celtic Contender continued to ding-dong it at the furlong pole, but Winterfell benefited from their early battle and roared past them to prevail by two lengths in 1:22.61. Celtic Contender just got his nose down on the wire for second over Speedyness. Play Like a Raven, Petingas Twin, Circle P, Love Me Tender, Lucky Jeremy, and Had to Have Him completed the order of finish. Winterfell returned $14.20 to win as the fourth choice in the betting. Deposition scratched. “Obviously, it was a cutback [in distance], but he trains forwardly in the morning” said winning trainer Brittany Russell in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. “If you get the right setup, as he did today, we thought it was something in his wheelhouse.” Winterfell hinted at being on the cusp of reaching his full potential in his first start for Russell, an eight-length maiden victory at Parx on Sept. 11. The following month, he grabbed a first-level allowance at Laurel by 3 3/4 lengths with a career-high 89 Beyer Speed Figure. Bred in Kentucky by Adirondack Bloodstock, Winterfell is out of an unplaced half-sister to Grade 3-placed Luxembourg and stakes-placed Simply Divine. Both the third and fourth dams won stakes with the latter scoring the Grade 1 Frizette. Winterfell is owned by the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Stable, Madaket, Stonestreet, Dianne Bashor, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Tom Ryan. The City of Laurel was the latest in a series of recent successes for Russell. At the current Laurel Park meeting, Russell-trained runners took 43 races from 111 starts, good for 38 percentage. Russell has 24 more wins than Michael Trombetta, who sits second on the trainer list with 19 victories. Safely Kept Stakes It’s not the size of the horse in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the horse. Roanan Goddess weighed in at 927 pounds prior to the Safely Kept Stakes, by far the lightest horse in the field of 3-year-old fillies racing seven furlongs. The difference didn’t matter one bit, as the New York-bred daughter of Leofric rallied outside to best Discreet Ops by three-quarters of a length in 1:23.63. Sheilahs Warcloud rallied along the inside for third, 1 1/4 lengths behind the runner-up. Then came Goodnightngodbless, favored Dazzling Move, Kissedbyanangel, and Home Game. Roanan Goddess returned $13.80 as the public’s fourth betting choice. Ellen Jay, Don’t Tell Kelly, and Ringy Dingy scratched. Dazzling Move, recently second in Aqueduct’s Pumpkin Pie Stakes, blasted out to a clear early lead, and threw down the gauntlet with an opening quarter mile in 22.55 seconds as Roanan Goddess settled in between horses at the back of the pack. Discreet Ops drew closest to the pacesetter after a half-mile clocking of 45.52 while Roanan Goddess was maneuvered four wide. Roanan Goddess collared the two leaders from the three path at the three-sixteenths pole and grinded her way to victory under jockey J.G. Torrealba, who notched his eighth victory since the start of Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day program. Torrealba also piloted Copper Tax to win Friday’s Richard W. Small Stakes at Laurel. “She’s a tough little nut,” trainer Hamilton Smith told Daily Racing Form after the filly captured Laurel’s Xtra Heat on Jan. 27. “She always tries. She’s a very small filly, but she gives you all she’s got. If you see her on a daily business, she’s just full of herself all of the time. She’s aggressive.” Since the Xtra Heat, Roanan Goddess has collected plenty of black type, finishing third in the Wide Country on Feb. 24 and winning the off-turf Searching on Aug. 4. In her final start before the Safely Kept, Roanan Goddess placed third, beaten a length in the Weather Vane at Laurel on Sept. 22. “She needed a little time between races,” Smith said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. He added that seven furlongs might be the limit as to Roanan Goddess’s distance ability. Bred by Chad Carter, Roanan Goddess sold for $30,000 as a yearling before being purchased by Mens Grille Racing for $60,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile. Roanan Goddess has won 5 of 14 starts for earnings of $289,240. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.