Veteran press box denizens have forever touted that bettors should never fall into the trap of wagering on runners with the names of friends or family, or addresses, phone numbers, passcodes, etc. However, Vladimir Putin might have been able to solve some of his recent financial woes by not heeding that advice yesterday and betting on Putin Online in the second race at Laurel. The 5-year-old First Dude gelding paid $13, $6.80 and $4. 

    Jorge Ruiz was aboard Putin Online, who was off in mid-pack in the race at 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass. Down the backstretch, Ruiz slipped the gelding through on the inside, moved four wide on the turn, then ran over the leaders in the stretch to win by 2 1/4 lengths. He was clocked in 1:02.38, less than two seconds off the course record, and received his best Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 92 through 10 races, in which he has posted a record of 3-1-0.

    Putin Online is his sire’s 29th winner of 2022 and the check for $15,600 boosted First Dude’s progeny earnings for the year to $1,015,132.