Officials at Laurel Park have announced that the track's winter/spring stakes schedule will feature 22 added-money events–13 of which have seen increases in their purses–worth $2.25 million, highlighted by the GII Barbara Fritchie S. and GIII General George H. during the Winter Carnival Feb. 17. The winter/spring meet opens Monday, Jan. 1 and runs primarily three days a week through Sunday, May 6. The Maryland Jockey Club will stage 171 days of live racing, an increase of nine days over 2017.
“We continue to see fans and horsemen respond to our improved racing product and renovated facility at Laurel,” said Maryland Jockey Club President and General Manager Sal Sinatra. “Our handle continues to grow as our field size and quality continues to improve. We're looking forward to more growth come the new year.”
In addition to the Winter Carnival, Laurel will also play host to 'Owners Fantasy Day' Mar. 17, led by the $100,000 Private Terms S. for 3-year-old males and the Beyond the Wire (ex Caesar's Wish) for sophomore fillies, each at a one-turn mile. The latter events serve as preps for the $125,000 Federico Tesio S. and $125,000 Weber City Miss S. Apr. 21. The winners of those two races are designated as 'Win and You're In' races for the GI Preakness S. and GII Black-Eyed Susan S., respectively.
The winter/spring stakes schedule begins Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, with the running of the Fire Plug S. and the What a Summer S. Both races saw their purses hiked by a third to $100,000.
For the complete 2018 winter-spring meet stakes calendar, visit www.laurelpark.com/horsemen/stakes-schedule.
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