A competitive field of sprinters entered Saturday’s $175,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs at Laurel Park.
The De Francis Dash is the featured race on the 11-race program, along with three $125,000 stakes. The Deputed Testamony is for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles; the Japan Racing Association Turf Cup is at nine furlongs on the Dahlia Turf Course; and the Alma North is for fillies and mares at 6 ½ furlongs.
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The first post time is 12 pm ET, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout. Laurel Park also offers a special “All-Stakes” Pick 4 on races seven through ten.
Trainer Ron Moquett won the De Francis Dash in 2015 with Gentlemen’s Bet, and the race holds a special place in his heart.
“The De Francis is historical,” Moquett said. “It’s still my favorite trophy from winning a particular race. It was a classy trophy. If you grew up and saw the horses [that have won], they were historical, bad-ass horses.”
Moquett hopes to add Hymn’s name to the list of winners, which includes Hall of Famers Cherokee Run, Housebuster, Safely Kept, and Smoke Glacken.
Owned by Fleur de Lis Stables, William Sparks, and Bret Jones, Hymn showed ability from the start, winning his debut by four lengths at Oaklawn last year.
There was just one problem.
“From the time he walked into our barn, you could tell he had something on his mind,” Moquett said. “He was calling out to every female horse and pony he ever saw from the time he was 2 years old.”
After being gelded, Hymn crooned at a higher pitch, but he refused to sing the blues. Instead, he ran his two fastest races, winning a first-level allowance at Oaklawn on April 10 and a second-level race at Churchill on May 16.
“I think he’s a better horse since we gelded him because his focus is a little more consistent,” Moquett said.
Moquett briefly considered starting Hymn in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Stakes at Laurel on May 16 but opted for the Churchill allowance.
“The reason I stayed there instead of going to the Maryland Sprint was that I didn’t have to worry about how he would travel or how he would handle another surface,” said Moquett, who still understands that Hymn is a work in progress.
While Moquett believes Hymn is more effective at seven-eighths, he is very pleased with the gelding’s training heading into the De Francis. Rafael Bejarano rides from the far outside post position.
McGaughey and Asmussen Have Starters in De Francis Dash
Hall of Fame trainers Shug McGaughey and Steve Asmussen are set to compete in the De Francis Dash.
McGaughey conditions Pentathlon, a late-blooming 5-year-old by Speightstown. Owned by Phipps Stable, St. Elias Stable, and Woodford Racing, Pentathlon captured the Army Mule Stakes at Gulfstream on March 28 and finished a solid third in Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Westchester Stakes last month.
A direct descendant of Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, Pentathlon has yet to win in two previous attempts at six furlongs. Sheldon Russell rides Pentathlon.
Asmussen, a two-time De Francis Dash winner, runs William and Corinne Heiligbrodt’s Faust, who finished second in the Maryland Sprint and last of six against Eclipse Award winner Book’em Danno in Saratoga’s Grade 3 True North Stakes three weeks ago. Six furlongs is the colt’s preferred distance. Mychel Sanchez rides.
Lewis Family Racing Stable’s Celtic Contender finished second, a length behind, in last year’s De Francis Dash, but raced only once more in 2025 before going to the sidelines.
He returned with a flourish, taking a high-level allowance at Laurel on March 28, posting a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.
Trainer Hamilton Smith explained the layoff, saying that Celtic Contender “had a little foot problem. He hit something down there with his foot. We had to give him time for that. Naturally, a foot takes a lot longer to heal than a chip in the knee or something like that, but he came back 100%.”
Celtic Contender finished fourth as the favorite in the Maryland Sprint. Forest Boyce retains the mount.
Bonuccelli Racing’s Wickeddivine steps up in class after winning three consecutive races.
“He’s coming in great,” trainer Kenny Cox said on the “Maryland Racing Today” podcast, hosted by Frank Vespe. “It’s a tough ask, but I think he deserves a chance at this point. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him so far.” Hot-riding Jeiron Barbosa will ride Wickeddivine.
Grade 3 winner Full Moon Madness, multiple stakes-winner Slam Notion, Grade 2-placed Fire Pit, and stakes-winner Petingas Twin round out the quality field.
Trainer Gary Capuano reported that Haileysfirstnotion will scratch.
Race Was Named After Late CEO of Laurel Park
The race was named after the late Frank J. DeFrancis, who became Chief Executive Officer of Laurel Park in 1984. Before his death in August 1989, DeFrancis had put Laurel and Pimlico at the forefront of American racing.
Extensive facility renovations, including the innovative Sports Palaces at Laurel and Pimlico, were part of the De Francis operating mode, as were significant increases in advertising and promotional spending.
He also sought to market Maryland racing to horsemen across the country and internationally through events such as the revived Pimlico Special, an instant hit and one of the nation’s leading older horse races; the International Turf Festival, a five-race grass extravaganza in October; and the winter sprint weekend at Laurel, featuring the lucrative General George and Barbara Fritchie Handicaps.
