Naomi Tukker Joins On-Air Team at Laurel Park
Five Stakes, Family Activities for Feb. 15 Winter Carnival

LAUREL, MD – Laurel Park-based trainer Jerry Robb moved closer to the 2,000-win milestone with a pair of victories as live racing returned to Laurel Park Thursday.

No Guts No Glory Farm and Gene Gould Jr.’s Sexyama ($9.80), racing second time off the claim, captured Thursday’s fifth race under Xavier Perez to give Robb his 1,996th career victory. No Guts No Glory and Erica Upton’s Seany P ($7.40) captured the eighth-race finale, also with Perez up, for win No. 1,997.

Robb, 67, is a Washington, D.C. native best known for training Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Famer Little Bold John, who raced 105 times with 38 wins and almost $2 million in earnings before being retired in 1993. His 25 stakes wins were a Maryland-bred record until surpassed by Ben’s Cat in 2016.

Currently, Robb’s stable star is 10-time stakes winner Anna’s Bandit, a 6-year-old mare he also bred who finished 2019 in a seven-way tie for most wins of any horse in North America with nine from 11 starts, including a six in a row to cap the year. Anna’s Bandit opened 2020 with a runner-up finish in the Jan. 18 Geisha Stakes.

Robb registered a career-high 114 wins in 1988 and has reached the $1 million mark in seasonal earnings 14 times, with a high of $2.3 million in 2002. A four-time meet-leading trainer in Maryland, Robb overall has had more than 12,000 starters and $36.5 million in purses earned.

Naomi Tukker Joins On-Air Team at Laurel Park

Naomi Tukker, a well-traveled horse racing professional from Utrecht, The Netherlands, made her on-air debut with Thursday’s return of live racing to Laurel Park, providing on-set race analysis as well as insights from the track’s historic paddock.

Tukker joins afternoon hosts Stanton Salter and Tim Tullock and morning show analyst and oddsmaker Keith Feustle on the broadcast team. Prior to coming to Maryland, Tukker was part of the New York Racing Association’s live show production team.

Starting her career as an exercise rider, where she helped develop Group/Grade 1 horses in the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong, Tukker graduated summa cum laude from the University of Buckingham in 2016 with a BSc in psychology and media communication.

In 2019, Tukker became the first-ever Dutch native to complete Goldolphin’s Flying Start, the Thoroughbred industry’s international management and leadership program based in Ireland that provides trainees with practical experience in Australia, Europe and the United States.

A published photographer, Tukker has worked in marketing, journalism and as an international correspondent for some of the world’s biggest race meetings including Royal Ascot, the Hong Kong International races and Dubai World Cup Carnival.

Five Stakes, Family Activities for Feb. 15 Winter Carnival

Led by the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) and $250,000 General George (G3) for older sprinters, Laurel Park will serve up five stakes worth $800,000 in purses as part of its annual Winter Carnival program Saturday, Feb. 15.

Joining the Fritchie for females and General George are the $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds and $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies – all at seven furlongs – as well as the $100,000 John B. Campbell for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles.

Nominations for all five stakes close Thursday, Feb. 6.

In addition to live racing, there will be winter crafts and face painting for kids, a live ice sculpting demo, hot chocolate and coffee bar, special stakes buffet in the dining room, Maryland Jockey Club hat giveaway and more.

To make buffet reservations call 301-725-0770. Click here for more information.