Live Racing Returns to Laurel
Live Racing Returns to Laurel
415 Horses Entered for 10-Race Programs May 30-31 & June 1
Multiple Stakes Winner Hello Beautiful in Monday Turf Sprint
LAUREL, MD – A third-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs – one of five races scheduled for Laurel Park’s world-class turf course – highlights a 10-race program Saturday, May 30 that marks the return of live racing in Maryland.
Laurel will also serve up 10-race cards Sunday, May 31 and Monday, June 1 in its first action since live racing was paused March 15 following the third of three straight successful spectator-free programs out of health concerns related to the global coronavirus pandemic.
First-race post time for all three programs is 12:40 p.m.
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A total of 415 horses were entered for the three programs including 144 on Saturday’s card, kicked off by an overflow field of 14 in the opener, a six-furlong waiver maiden claiming sprint for 3-year-olds and up led by 126-pound topweights Sky Solo, Bayano and No Fooling Dude.
Saturday’s feature comes in Race 8, where 15 older females were entered in the second of two events over the All Along turf course. Among the entries are Buff’s in Love, third in the 2017 Maryland Million Lassie; Bye Bye Bertie, sixth last out in the Nellie Morse March 14; A Great Time, unraced since her runner-up finish in the Jameela last July; multiple stakes placed Not in Jeopardy and Ellyb; 11-time career winner Dance Or Stroll; and Miss Auramet, a winner of three straight in Florida for trainer Eddie Plesa Jr..
Entered for main track only are multiple stakes winner Limited View and stakes-placed She’s Achance Too, Phantom Shot and Deep Red.
In all, 78 horses were entered in five races over the All Along and Dahlia turf course layouts, an average of 15.6 per race.
The first grass race of the season comes in Race 2, a waiver claiming event scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over the All Along for fillies and mares 3 and up. Three-time defending Maryland training champion Claudio Gonzalez, who led Laurel’s truncated winter meet standings with 40 victories, has Robert D. Bone’s Trois Ponts among the field of 15 that includes five alternates.
Race 4 is a $40,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares 3 and older going 1 1/16 miles on the Dahlia turf course which attracted 15 entries including first-time starters Sailingintothewind, Peachy Between Us, Witty Banter and Tea In China; Winning Melody for main track only; and alternates I Hear You, Vi Haines and Tonal Verse, the latter a daughter of Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tonalist trained by Graham Motion.
Four-time Maryland year-end champion Trevor McCarthy, Laurel’s leading rider during the winter stand with 38 victories, is named in seven races Saturday.
There will be a jackpot carryover of $18,132.97 in Saturday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 5-10), the popular multi-race wager having gone unsolved on Laurel’s last live program March 15. The carryover jackpot is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
The Sunday, May 31 card saw 126 horses entered including 61 in four races over the All Along and Dahlia layouts, an average of 15.25 per race. Race 7 is a $40,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the Dahlia that attracted 16 entries including two for the main track and two alternates.
The Race 9 feature is an open $42,000 allowance for 3-year-olds going one mile that drew a field of 12 led by Cash is King, D J Stable and LC Racing’s Mine Not Mine, second in the Miracle Wood and third in the Private Terms this winter at Laurel, and O G Racing’s Skyscanner, a maiden winner at Laurel last summer making his first start since running second in the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park Sept. 1 second time out.
Another 145 horses were entered for Monday, June 1, 77 of them coming in five grass races (15.4 per race) topped by the featured Race 9, a $42,000 entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up where Hello Beautiful is entered to make her 3-year-old debut. The Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad, trained by Brittany Russell, won the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship in succession to cap her 2-year-old campaign, the latter Dec. 7. Also in the field is 2018 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship winner Money Fromheaven.
The June 1 program also includes a $40,000 maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles on the Dahlia turf course. Sixteen horses were entered including first-time starters Favor Maker and Kendama and Declaration of War filly Champagne Diet.
Starting Saturday, May 30, Laurel Park is scheduled to conduct a summer meet that will run Fridays and Saturdays through Saturday, Aug. 22 with exceptions on Sunday, May 31, Monday, June 1 and Monday, June 8. Post time for the summer meet is 12:40 p.m.
