LAUREL, MD. 11-13-13---Saturday’s nine-race card will feature four $100,000 stakes races and a special retirement ceremony for Bowie-based Dance to Bristol, who completed her career with a sixth place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) earlier this month.

Owned by Taneytown resident Susan Wantz and trained by Ollie Figgins III, Dance to Bristol enjoyed a stellar 4-year-old campaign with victories in seven of her 10 starts this year, including three graded stakes.

The daughter of Speightstown and jockey Xavier Perez reeled off seven straight victories from February through August, including a win in the Skipat Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Preakness weekend and three graded races in New York: Bed Of Roses (G3), Honorable Miss (G2) and Ballerina (G1).

“She took me on the journey of a lifetime,” Figgins said this afternoon. “She took me to places where I never ran before and was very successful. She got me to where I could be seen on the big stage and I think that would be a big boost for my career.” 

Wantz, Figgins and Perez will be on-hand to say goodbye to Dance to Bristol, who will leave two days later for Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, KY to start a new career as a broodmare.

“It is going to be sad,” Perez told Maryland Jockey Club racing analyst Gabby Gaudet yesterday in her weekly video blog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv3pQCRCGRw. “She gave me so much. I fell in love with her but I know she is going to be fine. Every year I want to pick a day or two to go see her and her babies. I am never going to forget her.”

“It is going to be a bittersweet day,” added Figgins. “You hate to see a horse like that walk out of your barn but at the same time it is good to see one walk out of your barn to retire for a good reason.”

Dance To Bristol finished her career with 10 wins and eight second place finishes in 20 career starts for earnings of $980,880. She raced nine times in Maryland with five victories and four runner-up finishes. She broke her maiden on Oct. 29, 2011 at Laurel Park and also captured the 2012 Marshua Stakes at the central Maryland track.

Saturday’s stakes races will be the Jennings Handicap (race 4), the Smart Halo Stakes (race 6), the Dave’s Friend Stakes (race 7) and the James Lewis Stakes (race 8).

The festivities also include the second annual Brew & Bourbon Classic from noon to 5 p.m. Fans can enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of beer tasting and bourbon sipping for just $35. Over 60 different beers and bourbons will be poured trackside as the races unfold. For tickets visit www.brewandbourbonclassic.com and choose the November 16 date.

NESS MOVES CLOSER TO 2,000-WIN MILESTONE

Trainer Jamie Ness moved closer to 2,000 career victories after saddling Drunken Love to victory in Wednesday’s third race. The 39-year-old, who ranks fourth nationally with 209 winners, is three wins shy of the milestone.

Ness is scheduled to run two horses at Laurel Park Thursday, has runners in five races Friday afternoon and entered threefor Saturday’s card, including Guam Typhoon in the Dave’s Friend Stakes.

He currently ranks second in the Laurel fall standings with 17 victories, one fewer than Hugh McMahon.

Last year, he led all North American conditioners with 395 victories, including 83 at Laurel and Pimlico, after finishing as the runner-up in 2010 and 2011.

About Laurel Park

Laurel Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida and is one of North America's top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world's largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a major producer of televised horse racing programming through its HRTV cable and satellite network and is North America's premier supplier of virtual online horse racing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.