Live Racing Thursday Through Sunday in October and November
Boyce Riding Hot Streak to Early Lead in Fall Jockey Standings

LAUREL, MD – Live four-day racing at Laurel Park’s fall meet during October and November begins Thursday with a 10-race program that includes a pair of maiden special weight events and an open allowance for 3-year-olds and up.

First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

Thursday’s opener is a 5 ½-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds that attracted a field of eight with three first-time starters including $120,000 yearling Naptown, an Ontario-bred by Munnings trained by Graham Motion; Remember the Name, adding blinkers in his first start for trainer Rudy Rodriguez; and Our Legal Tender, third by less than a length in his Sept. 16 debut on the turf at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Juveniles are scheduled to sprint 5 ½ furlongs over the Kelso turf course in a Race 6 maiden special weight oversubscribed with a dozen entries. Notable among them are Beltane, second in back-to-back turf sprints by less than a length combined; Elizabeth Merryman-bred, owned and trained Enzo, a half-brother to two-time Grade 1-winning millionaire mare Caravel; and fellow first-time starters Mission North, Navy Admiral, Pops Harper, Takethefifth, Shadow Man and Eastern Extension.

The feature comes in Race 9, an entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs. Among the entries are Paradise Valley, a $125,000 yearling that beat older horses last out Sept. 2 at Monmouth Park; Sheriff Ronnie, a four-length maiden claiming winner Sept. 9 at Pimlico; Godolphin’s Penzance, a homebred son of champion Uncle Mo that has raced exclusively against elders and returns for the first time as a gelding following his Aug. 19 graduation at Colonial Downs; and Bernardini colt Childers, a five-length winner over older horses Sept. 9 at Delaware Park.

There will be carryovers of $7,170 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 5-10) and $1,013 in the $1 Jackpot Super High Five (Race 6).

Jockey Forest Boyce registered a hat trick on opening Saturday, Sept. 30, and leads all riders with five wins from just nine mounts (56 percent). Boyce has won with nine of her last 20 mounts (45 percent) dating back to Sept. 10 at Pimlico, and is 23 shy of 1,000 career victories. She is named in three races Thursday and 10 over the weekend.

Brittany Russell, whose 84 wins at Laurel and Pimlico lead all Maryland trainers in 2023, won three times over opening weekend to take an early lead in the fall standings. She has two horses entered Thursday, including Prime Bloodstock, Springland Farm, Titletown Racing Stables, Jason McConnell and Laney McConnell’s Childers, and 11 on the weekend at Laurel.