Never Stop Looking hadn't won a race since last January, but past performances were of little matter as he steered wide into the stretch and ran down his foes to win the Fire Plug Stakes, the second of four $100,000 stakes Saturday at Laurel Park. The winner finished a neck in front of Smash and Grab, with fast closer Cutty Shark another neck back in third. Bakken, the 2-5 favorite, sped to the lead but faded to sixth. Never Stop Looking covered 6 furlongs in 1 minute, 11.81 seconds over the sloppy track, with Roimes Chirinos riding the son of Langfuhr for trainer Claudio Gonzalez. "I told Claudio I wanted to ride this horse back because he tried hard and was real close to winning," Chirinos said. "I knew this race was going to be tough with lots of speed but I have a lot of confidence in my horse. He picked it up nicely off the turn and ran hard to the finish." The win was the second on the card for Gonzalez, who won the recently completed Laurel Park fall training title. "I told the jockey to wait and make one big run," Gonzalez said. "This horse really needed his last race. I knew he'd like the wet track and today was his day. Coming into the race we were very worried about the three horse [Bakken] because he had run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint." The winner paid $51 and topped a $288.20 exacta and $622.50 trifecta. In other races:
•Lady Sabelia, the 1-5 favorite, won the What A Summer Stakes by a comfortable margin. Horacio Karamanos has ridden Lady Sabelia in every start since her maiden victory, six wins in 10 starts, including four stakes, for trainer Robin Graham. The daughter of Majestic Warrior, who won for the third straight start, covered the 6 furlongs in 1:12.01 and finished 11/4 lengths in front of runner-up She's Ordained. Sounds of the City was third. "My horse broke good and showed speed but I didn't want to run heel to heel with the filly [Winning Image] in front," Karamanos said. "We sat behind waiting. My filly really wanted to go at the 3/8ths pole. We swung outside. She had a nice kick and ran very even down the stretch to the wire." The 5-year-old mare, who paid $2.60 to win, won four of five races in 2014 for Graham, including the Willa On The Move Stakes on Dec. 6 at Laurel. "She is a very nice mare but we had to give her quite a bit of time off when she was younger about six to eight months for her shins and recently she has missed a few starts because of an eye problem. That is why she only raced four times last year," Graham said. "She always runs well and I never have to give the jockey any instructions. If there is speed she can wait and if there's not she can go." Graham indicated her star would run next in the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap (G2) at Laurel on Feb. 14. Defending champion Winning Image finished sixth in her final career start. The 8-year-old daughter of Southern Image retires with 14 victories, including 10 stakes scores, in 34 career starts with earnings of $750,237.
•Star Pearl hounded the pacesetter to the top of the lane before taking control and drawing away to victory in the 11/16-mile Nellie Morse Stakes. Before You Know It had blasted to the front down the backstretch, but Star Pearl, with jockey Sheldon Russell, stayed on her heels in what developed into a two-horse race. The Graham Motion trainee, a daughter of Tapit, won by 31/4 lengths, while another Motion trainee, Zucchini Flower, finished third. "Graham had mentioned that she hadn't really run well on an off track before. Recently they have liked her morning workouts," said Russell, who rode Star Pearl once previously. "She has really matured over the last year. She is very easy to ride. She broke nicely and put me in great spot going into the first turn. The race set up perfect. I was able to sit off the speed and when I asked her to go she dug in and finished up well." Star Pearl, who won three of six a year ago, including a stakes race at Presque Isle Downs, paid $10.40. The winning time for the Nellie Morse was 1:46.33.
•Elnaawi, who shipped from Belmont Park, cruised in the 11/16-mile, $100,000 Native Dancer Stakes. Russell guided the son of Street Sense for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to a 71/4-length victory. Turco Bravo was second, and Cosmic Gold finished third. Betting favorite Stormin Monarcho finished fifth. "The race worked out perfect," Russell said. "He warmed up good and he took a liking to the track. He broke well and put me in a great spot. I thought Stormin Monarcho was the horse to beat. When he started backing up, my horse made a huge run and we never looked back." This was the first stakes win for Elnaawi, whose best previous stakes appearances were third-place finishes in the Yankee Affair Stakes at Belmont Park last September and the 2013 Gotham Stakes (G3). "I told Sheldon to try to keep this horse close. He gave him an excellent ride today," said assistant trainer Austin Luttrell. "He has been training very well and doing everything that we've expected. He ran exceptionally well at Keeneland [an allowance win two races back]. He enjoys the wet track and we got lucky." Elnaawi covered the distance in 1:45.40. He paid $12.20.
Indoor soccer
2 hat tricks, Saunders' play in goal lift Blast over Heat
A hat trick by both Adriano Dos Santos and Vini Dantas helped the visiting Blast improve their Major Arena Soccer League record to 9-0 with a 29-8 win over the Harrisburg Heat. Phil Saunders (UMBC, Perry Hall) made eight saves in his Blast debut. Pat Healey (Towson University, Calvert Hall) had three blocks, and Onua Obasi had two. The Blast outscored the Heat 11-2 in the second quarter to go up 17-6, then extended its advantage to 23-8 after three quarters. The team's next game is Saturday at 7:35 p.m. against the visiting Syracuse Silver Knights.
NFL: Longtime NFL coach Wade Phillips will interview for the Washington Redskins' vacant defensive coordinator position early this week, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed. Phillips last coached from 2011 to 2013 as defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans, closing out the final three games of the 2013 season as interim head coach. Washington also is expected to interview San Francisco defensive backs coach Ed Donatell and San Diego linebackers coach Joe Barry this week. Current Redskins defensive backs coach Raheem Morris also is expected to receive consideration for the position. ... Washington added a pair of players to their offseason roster, signing former Virginia Tech defensive end-linebacker James Gayle and defensive lineman Kenneth Horsley from the Canadian Football League.
—Mike Jones, The Washington Post
Et cetera
Fla. State commit Locksley will visit Texas this month
Gilman quarterback Kai Locksley's recruitment might not be over after all. The senior Florida State commit announced Saturday that he plans to make an official visit to Texas the weekend of Jan. 23. "Officially taking an official to check out Texas the weekend of the 23rd," Locksley wrote on Twitter. The son of Maryland offensive coordinator Mike Locksley committed orally to play for the Seminoles in July. He said at the time his choice came down to Florida State and Texas. Locksley is rated the No. 17 senior dual-threat quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com. He ran for 1,050 yards and 17 touchdowns and passed for 915 yards and five touchdowns in 2014.
—Alexander Pyles
Orioles: A report out of Nicaragua said the Orioles are interested in Nicaraguan center fielder Arnol Rizo, but no deal is imminent with the 23-year-old, according to a club source. The Orioles do plan on scouting Nicaragua this week and are likely to get a closer look at Rizo.
—Eduardo A. Encina
NHL: The game Thursday between the Chicago Blackhawks and Capitals at Nationals Park in Washington had a 2.3 overnight rating of major markets on NBC, the lowest ever for a Winter Classic. One national ratings point is worth more than 1 million homes. The previous low was a 2.4 for the 2012 Winter Classic featuring the New York Rangers at the Philadelphia Flyers in Citizens Bank Park. Last year's Detroit Red Wings-Toronto Maple Leafs game at Michigan Stadium had a 2.9 rating.
NBA: The Washington Wizards' game Jan. 14 at the Chicago Bulls will be televised nationally on ESPN at 8 p.m. The Wizards' game March 6 against the Miami Heat no longer will be on ESPN and will tip off at 7p.m. Both games will be shown locally on Comcast SportsNet.