(Point Dume wins the Fire Plug Overnight & Quint’s Brew defends title in Jennings Stakes / Photos Courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club:

From the Maryland Jockey Club Media Team / Dan Illman:

Quint’s Brew Successfully Defends Jennings Title

Point Dume very game in Fire Plug Overnight Handicap


LAUREL, MD—At Laurel Park on Saturday, Quint’s Brew leaned his neck out in the shadow of the wire and edged Blue Kingdom by the slimmest of margins in the $100,000 Jennings Stakes for 4-year-olds and older, bred or sired in Maryland or Virginia.

It was the second straight Jennings win for Quint’s Brew, who parlayed a six-length triumph in the 2025 edition into a 101-Beyer win in the $200,000 General George Stakes at Laurel.

Trainer Ned Allard said after Saturday’s victory that Quint’s Brew might attempt to defend his General George title here on February 14.

“That was a good effort,” Allard said. “He bobbled a little bit today, but it probably worked to his advantage.”

There was plenty of action in the early stages of the Jennings. Blue Kingdom led from the rail through an opening quarter of 24.29 seconds, but was hounded by a hard-pulling Maclean’s Rook. That foe assumed the lead and the inside position after a half-mile clocking of 47.10 seconds.

Blue Kingdom re-engaged Maclean’s Rook from the outside after six furlongs in 1:11.72. Their private pace battle, however, gave hope to favored Quint’s Brew, who chased them into the stretch.

Teenage riding phenom Yedsit Hazlewood, a finalist for the 2025 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, remained patient on Quint’s Brew until the eighth pole, then angled outside for a clear run. For a brief moment, it looked as if Quint’s Brew would run right to the lead, but he hopped to his left lead and drifted out at an inopportune moment.

“He does that all the time,” Allard said. “None of them are perfect.”

Blue Kingdom dug in resolutely, but Hazlewood urged Quint’s Brew to the second-wire finish, and they got there a nose in front after 1:37.37 on the fast track. Maclean’s Rook also ran very well, finishing only three-quarters of a length behind Blue Kingdom. Bold Diversion, Roll On Jesse, Hittheroadjak, and Cap Com completed the order of finish. Formal Affair scratched.

Quint’s Brew returned $3 to win.

After taking last year’s General George, Quint’s Brew lost two heartbreakers in graded company at Aqueduct. On April 5, he finished second, a neck behind, in the Grade 2 Carter Stakes. Twenty-nine days later, he again finished second, a half-length behind Bishops Bay, in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes.

“He just got nailed on the money,” Allard mentioned.

After the Westchester, Quint’s Brew went to the sidelines.

“We had a minor issue, but we decided to give him a little time off because he had run very hard,” Allard said before Quint’s Brew’s return race, the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Stakes at Laurel on December 20.

In the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial, Quint’s Brew finished second, three lengths behind Slam Notion.

“That was the worst racing luck I’ve had in a long time,” Allard said earlier this week. “He was sitting behind the three top horses, and when we looked to swing around them at the half-mile pole, [Bold Diversion] came up outside of him, and we had nowhere to go for nearly a quarter to three-eighths of a mile. The rider had to worry about clipping heels. He had a ton of horse. I think I ran the best horse, but the best horse doesn’t always win.”

Bred in Maryland by Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, and Spinnaker Hill Farm, Quint’s Brew is a 5-year-old Mosler full brother to stakes-placed turf router Touisset.

Campaigned by Berube, Linnell, and Heather Hunter, Quint’s Brew has won five of nine starts, earning $421,240.

The Jennings honors William Jennings Sr., one of Maryland’s greatest horsemen, whose Glengar Farm was six miles from historic Pimlico Race Course. Jennings bred, owned, and trained Dunboyne, the 1887 Preakness winner. His grandson, Henry S. Clark, followed in his footsteps and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1982.

*Point Dume very game in Fire Plug Overnight Handicap

Owner Bryan Bushey was understandably emotional after Point Dume refused to yield in the $100,000 Fire Plug Overnight Handicap for 4-year-olds and older at 6 ½ furlongs.

“He doesn’t give up,” Bushey said. “That’s one thing that’s important to this horse. That’s like me. I’m not giving up.”

Bushey was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2024 and was given less than six months to live.

Yet there he was in the winner’s circle on Saturday, a human warrior greeting an equine one after an epic battle in the Fire Plug.

Point Dume is trained by Tim Kreiser, who claimed the 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief on behalf of Bushey’s Bush Racing Stable for $40,000 following a runner-up effort at Penn National on Independence Day.

Three races later, Point Dume captured a restricted allowance race at Delaware. A month later, he won the $75,000 M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile at Parx.

After finishing fifth in a Claiming Crown race at Churchill Downs on November 15, Point Dume closed out his 2025 campaign with a runner-up effort in Parx’s Kris Kringle Stakes on New Year’s Eve.

“This horse has been unbelievable,” Bushey continued. “He’s been one of those horses you just love to have. He puts everything forth.”

The complexion of Saturday’s race changed drastically after Twisted Ride, expected to be a strong pace presence, leaped into the air at the start.

That allowed jockey Angel Cruz to move Point Dume into a forward position, and they battled head-to-head with Full Moon Madness for the lead through fractions of 22.39 and 45.47 seconds.

At the quarter-pole, Chipotle parked himself off the leaders while racing three- to four-wide, as On the Mark tried to slip through along the rail.

Point Dume eventually got the better of Full Moon Madness inside the eighth pole and then held off Chipotle’s late kick to win by a half-length in 1:17.09.

Petingas Twin finished third, 1 ¼ lengths behind the runner-up. Next came Full Moon Madness, On the Mark, Twisted Ride, One More Scoop, and S S Sinatra. Latta was pulled up and vanned off.

“He always shows speed at the mile,” Cruz said. “Today, he broke well, so I kept him the way I always ride him in the mile race. I took the lead, and he was game. I had a lot of horse. He got the job done.”

Point Dume returned $8.80 to win. Dean Delivers scratched out.

Tais Lyapustina, the rider of On the Mark, claimed foul on Point Dume for alleged interference while turning into the stretch, and there was also a stewards’ inquiry.

“She was good,” Cruz said about Lyapustina while waiting for the stewards to make a final decision. “She had space. I’m not going to make it easy, but I’m not going to drop her.”

Bred in Kentucky by Sea Horse Breeders, Point Dume is out of Maya Malibu, a multiple Grade 1-placed mare by Malibu Moon. His second dam, Island Sand, won the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont in 2004.

A $450,000 yearling purchase, Point Dume changed trainers among Bob Baffert, Brittany Russell, Kieron Magee, Horacio De Paz, and Jamie Ness before finding a home with Kreiser.

It doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere else anytime soon, as Bushey mentioned the General George Stakes and a potential showdown with Quint’s Brew as a possible next option.

Fire Plug was a stakes winner every year from age 3 to 7. The popular gelding won or placed in 49 of 54 career starts, with half of his 28 victories in stakes. He was twice graded-stakes placed, including the 1991 Grade 2 General George, and retired later that year at age 8 with $705,175 in purse earnings.

*Around the track:

Between Races 3 and 4, awards were presented to Hazlewood, the leading jockey in Maryland by races won in 2025; Gustavo Hernandez, who led all grooms with 54 “Best Turned Out” winners during the year; and Jamie Ness, who saddled 100 “Best Turned Out” winners and led the nation in overall winners last season.

Cruz won two races on the program, piloting The Goddess Factor ($10.20) to victory in the fifth race.

Live racing resumes Friday with a 10-race card. The first post time is 12 pm ET, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout.

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