Five Stakes Worth $500,000 in Purses Saturday, Dec. 28
Entries Taken, Post Positions Drawn Sunday, Dec. 22

LAUREL, MD – Laurel Park lowers the curtain on its 2019 stakes schedule Saturday, Dec. 28 with a Christmastide Day program of five stakes worth $500,000 in purses which attracted a total of 107 nominations.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Sunday, Dec. 22 for all five stakes.

Seven days remain in Laurel’s calendar year-ending fall meet, which runs through Sunday, Dec. 29. Laurel will be open for simulcasting Monday, Dec. 23, dark Dec. 24 and 25 and host a special live program Thursday, Dec. 26 to open a four-day closing weekend.

Laurel’s 48-day winter meet begins with a special New Year’s Day program Wednesday, Jan. 1.

Juveniles will share the spotlight in the $100,000 Heft for 2-year-olds and $100,000 Gin Talking for 2-year-old fillies, both at seven furlongs. Older sprinters are featured in the $100,000 Dave’s Friend for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Willa On the Move for females 3 and older, each at six furlongs.

Rounding out the Christmastide Day stakes program is the $100,000 Native Dancer for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles.

Won in recent years by multiple graded-stakes winner Irish War Cry and eventual Preakness (G1) starters Diamond King and Alwaysmining, the Heft drew 18 nominations led by Rockingham Ranch’s Nucky, winner of the Del Mar Futurity (G1) Sept. 2 and unraced since finishing off the board in the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah (G1) Sept. 29.

Other nominees include stakes winners Betchaiwill, Hockey Puck and Mischevious Alex; Lebda, third in the Sept. 14 Iroquois (G3); Claudio Gonzalez-trained stablemate Romanoff, unbeaten in two starts, both at Laurel; multiple stakes-placed Tommy Shelby; and Monday Morning Qb, scratched from the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 7 at Laurel.

Stoneway Farm’s Cofactor extended her win streak to three with a 1 ¾-length triumph in her stakes debut, Laurel’s Smart Halo Nov. 16, and heads 27 fillies nominated to the Gin Talking. Also prominent are turf stakes winner Miss J McKay, a distant second in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship Dec. 7 at Laurel; Precious, a winner of her only two starts for Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning trainer John Servis; recent Laurel maiden winner Princess Adira, less than a length from being undefeated through three starts; and Ilchester Cheetah, three-for-four lifetime at Laurel.

Jeff Drown’s Home Run Maker put together a three-race win streak last fall and winter at Laurel capped by a victory in the six-furlong Fire Plug Stakes Jan. 19 to open his 2019 campaign. The 4-year-old Into Mischief colt is one of 23 nominees to the Dave’s Friend, along with 2019 Gotham (G3) winner Haikal; Wonderful Light, second in the Fall Highweight (G3) Dec. 8 at Aqueduct; stakes winners Clubman, My Boy Tate and Smooth B; and multiple graded-stakes placed Vorticity.

Fall Highweight winner Happy Farm and multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Firenze Fire, both trained by Jason Servis, are also nominated and entered in the Gravesend Stakes Dec. 22 at Aqueduct.

A 10-time career stakes winner who captured her sixth consecutive race in the Dec. 7 Politely at Laurel, No Guts No Glory Stable’s Anna’s Bandit is prominent among 17 nominees to the Willa On the Move, along with fellow multiple stakes winner Las Setas, stakes winners Baby Boss, Last True Love and Wildcat Combat, and 2018 Alcibiades (G1) runner-up Reflect.

Four of the top five finishers from the Richard W. Small Stakes Nov. 30 at Laurel – the top trio of Sunny Ridge, Han Sense and Bobby G as well as 2017 Maryland Million Classic winner Bonus Points, who was fifth – top 22 nominees to the Native Dancer. Also nominated are multiple stakes winner Alwaysmining, fifth in his return in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Dec. 7 at Laurel; multiple graded-stakes placed Gray Magician, second in Laurel’s 2019 Miracle Wood; two-time graded turf stakes winner Isotherm; and 2018 Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Noble Indy.