Laurel Park

The De Francis Dash Day Handicapping Challenge, a one-day contest available both on-site and online, will take place Saturday, June 27, at Laurel Park. The Challenge can also be accessed via Xpressbet, TVG/4NJBETS, and HPI. The $500 contest ($250 entry fee, $250 bankroll) offers Win, Place, Show, Exacta, and/or Daily Double wagering on the full schedule of live races at Laurel Park, plus select races at Monmouth Park. Contestants must play at least five (5) Laurel Park races, with a minimum $50 bet per race. The last race of the...

A $25,000 purse increase will be applied to a quartet of stakes races at Laurel Park for De Francis Dash Day June 27, the Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC) and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association announced Monday. The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash is now worth $175,000, while the Deputed Testamony Stakes, Alma North Stakes, and Japan Racing Association Turf Cup each offer $125,000 in purses. The Japan Racing Association Turf Cup, run at 1 1/8 miles on turf, highlights the close relationship between TMJC and the Japan Racing Association...

Alberto Delgado, who earned Eclipse Award honors as the champion apprentice jockey in 1982, recorded his first win as a trainer when In Honor of Jeff rallied from last in Sunday's sixth race at Laurel Park, a $12,500 non-winners-of-two claimer for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. It was the ninth starter saddled by Delgado, who retired from riding to train full time last December. "It feels great. I ran a couple of horses, and they were not running well," said Delgado. "Even though this horse was training well, you...

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Tribalism in Arcadia. No Nay Never Colt Finds His People BR Thoroughbreds' Tribalism (No Nay Never) graduated going a mile at Santa Anita on May 30 (video). The Michael McCarthy trainee was bred by Phoenix Thoroughbreds Limited. Second on debut at Keeneland, Tribalism was a $280,000 buy-back out of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The third foal and first winner for the multiple stakes-placed...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Michael McCarthy would like nothing more than to have the wildly popular Journalism (Curlin) return to Saratoga Race Course this summer. "It would be awfully nice if he could," McCarthy said just outside Journalism's stall at the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. "Saratoga, as I keep on saying, is a magical place for horses and people alike. We would be more than happy to bring him back here if the opportunity presented itself." First things first. Journalism, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don...

It's just like Wayne Lukas used to tell him. "One of these days you're going to get smart," Lukas would say. "And you'll quit that. And come over to the Thoroughbred business." This was when Bill Childs was still in the Quarter Horse game, and Lukas had already made the switch that transformed our sport. "Well, you're right," Childs told Lukas. "I'd love to. But man, it just takes so much money to be able to withstand it." "Well," Lukas shrugged. "You'll figure it out." And here he is, all...

'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Golden Tempo (Curlin) was not the only marquee name on the worktab over the last 48 hours, as horses prepping for next week's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival--as well as some household names not heading to upstate New York--turned in breezes at racetracks from coast-to-coast, from Saratoga, Laurel and Fair Hill to Santa Anita. To follow are works in alphabetical order at the various venues with parenthetical mention of intended targets or races to which the horses have been nominated. Saratoga (Oklahoma unless othewise indicated)...

With on-track attendance limited to about 4,800 fans at Laurel and with this year's GI Preakness Stakes drawing a weak field that was missing the GI Kentucky Derby winner and runner-up, there appeared to be a strong likelihood that betting handle would plummet at the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. But that did not turn out to be the case. According to Equibase charts, the all-sources handle for Saturday's 14-race card was $106,982,107. That was a drop of just 2.8% from the $110,043,794 wagered last year when 14 races...

TIMONIUM, MD - Buyers were out in force at the Maryland State Fairgrounds on a balmy Sunday morning in Timonium, a day ahead of the start of the two-session Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Trainer Chad Summers, a day removed from his first GI Preakness Stakes victory with Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map), was busy on the sales grounds. Also making the trek an hour so north after saddling horses in Saturday's Preakness at Laurel were conditioners Steve Asmussen, Danny Gargan, and Dallas Stewart, as well as the Legion...

LAUREL, MD--With the first two finishers in this season's Kentucky Derby opting to bypass the Preakness Stakes, something that hasn't happened in a quarter of a century, a full field of 14 readies to earn Classic glory in Saturday's second jewel of the Triple Crown, which will be staged at Laurel Park for the first, and quite likely, the only time. Despite the absence of what looks like the divisional leaders at this point, the 151 renewal of the Preakness Stakes offers a competitive group of 3-year-olds. One of this...

The first race on Friday's Black-Eyed Susan program at Laurel Park was marred by the death of first-time starter Hit Zero (Twirling Candy), who succumbed to an apparent cardiac event following the conclusion of the $35,000 maiden claimer, according to a statement from the Maryland Racing Commission. "The Equine Medical Director attended to Hit Zero and has initiated a full post-incident review consistent with Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) Equine Fatality Reporting Requirements," the statement said in part. "A necropsy will be conducted and a cause of death will...

LAUREL, MD--Annually, the third Saturday in May draws all eyes to Maryland for the second jewel in the U.S. Triple Crown, the GI Preakness Stakes. This season is no different, however, a major adjustment brings the Classic to Laurel Park while Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore gets a complete overhaul. Like the now defunct original structure of its sister track 30 miles north, Laurel exhibits the wear and tear of the years. Several areas of the venue have been renovated while others are now cordoned off or boarded up. However, one...