Big Cuddle wins Sir Barton Stakes in tight Laurel Park finish

Big Cuddle turned Laurel Park’s Sir Barton Stakes into a Maryland-bred statement, collaring favored Final Story in mid-stretch and fighting on to win the $100,000 race by a half-length. He covered 8 1/2 furlongs in 1:44.47 over a fast track and returned $12.80 to win in the 28th running of the race for 3-year-olds carrying 118 pounds.

The finish mattered beyond the margin. Big Cuddle, fitted with blinkers after his first career loss, looked like a colt who understood exactly what the race demanded: sit close, move when the pacesetter softened, and finish with enough punch to turn a tight matchup into a stakes win. Final Story, making his stakes debut for Brad Cox, had the early edge, but he could not shake loose when the pressure came. Minorinconvenience was third, 6 3/4 lengths back, a gap that underscored how the race quickly became a two-horse test.

That shape gives the Sir Barton more weight in the middle of the 3-year-old season. Big Cuddle did not merely spring an isolated upset. He showed he can stretch his speed, already having won the Maryland Million Nursery Stakes last October at Laurel and then rebounding from a second-place finish in a 5 1/2-furlong optional claiming allowance on April 18. In just his fourth career start, the Maryland-bred son of Great Notion out of Frechette, bred by Two Legends Farm and raced by Pocket 3’s Racing LLC, looked like a sophomore who belongs on the short list for the next tier of stakes through the summer.

The race also gave Yedsit Hazlewood another stage. The 18-year-old apprentice earned his third victory of the day on the Preakness card, and his ride with Big Cuddle fit the mood of a Laurel program that paired nine stakes with 14 races and $3.15 million in stakes purses. Hazlewood and trainer Gary Capuano have now teamed for 49 wins from 117 starts, along with seven stakes, and the Sir Barton added another resume line to a rapidly rising apprenticeship.

With the Sir Barton tied to Sir Barton, the 1919 Triple Crown winner, and sponsored by the Connolly Family Foundation to benefit the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the race carried more than local bragging rights. It offered a clear read on the sophomore division’s second tier: Big Cuddle looks like a colt to follow, while Final Story still has to prove he can turn a promising debut in stakes company into a finish that holds up when the pressure arrives.