Fillies and mares will be in the spotlight when Laurel Park’s Fall Meet begins this Friday. A pair of high-end allowance optional claiming races surround a one-mile Maiden Special Weight turf test to start the 50-cent Late Pick 4. Here’s a closer look:

LRL 7th race (3:42 P.M. EST) -- HAINT BLUE beat a suspect allowance field on a sloppy track at Delaware Park but looked good doing it. She was far back on the backstretch, accelerated on the turn and got to the leaders quickly in the stretch, foiling Biogenic Babe’s three-peat bid with ease. Her sire, Done Talking, won the 1-1/8-mile, Grade III Illinois Derby as a 3-year-old. PEYTON ELIZABETH has tactical speed, the rail and a 3-for-3 record at Parx since the claim by Ness. COVER THE SPREAD blew past a weak field off similar rest two starts back but was a non-factor in the Grade III Delaware Oaks won by Foggy Night, who followed with a second in the Grade III Monmouth Oaks and a minor stakes victory. She gets back on Lasix today and that could make the difference.

LRL 8th race (4:13 P.M. EST) -- HIDDEN PRESENCE saved ground tracking a slow pace and willingly chased the two favorites in the stretch to finish third. Her trainer, Graham Motion, strikes with 24 percent winners in their second start. PARISH LANE debuts for Matz, who is 20-percent plus with 2-year-olds and debut turf runners. Her dam, Silk and Scarlet, was a Group 2 winner in Ireland. With some room to spare on the Pick 4 ticket, LISA’S PALACE is worth using at 20-1 off the Gonzalez claim. Her dam broke her maiden at one mile on the turf and won an allowance at 7-1/2F.

LRL 9th race (4:44 P.M. EST) -- FILLE D’ESPRIT tries to pick up where she left off seven months ago, winning stakes at three tracks in the second half of 2022, making a ‘gritty run’ at Grade III winner Swayin to and Fro (9-16, $476k) in the Barbara Fritchie Stakes in February and increasing her 7F earnings to more than $300,000. QUICK MUNNY was in a good spot to use her speed and did so with an easy victory despite drifting out in at the top of the stretch. She has to carry her speed farther for a barn that boasts a 26 percent ‘repeat’ rate.

LRL 10th race (5:15 P.M. EST) -- WHISKEYINTHEJARO arrives from Penn National with a :48.1 bullet workout from the gate last month for a 22-percent barn with maiden claimers. His dam, Bread and Butter, was a first-out MSW winner at Churchill Downs and repeated in an allowance at Oaklawn Park. GALLANT RULER kept a busy work tab in August that included a :48.2 move over the track. His stakes-placed dam, Gallant Dreamer, had good speed and finished first or second in 8 of 12 starts. KINGS RIVER returns to the main track, where he broke slowly and didn’t threaten in a debut race that produced two MSW winners. VOLPE was reluctant loading for the second start in a row and didn’t fire for a high-percentage claim barn, but he showed speed first out and can’t be discounted.

Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
LRL 7th Race: 1, 7, 8
LRL 8th Race: 1, 6, 7
LRL 9th Race: 4, 6
LRL 10th Race: 2, 4, 6, 7
Cost: $36