Laurel

With all eyes on Maryland this week as Saturday's 150th running of the GI Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course takes center stage, a unique organization that highlights all that Maryland's Thoroughbred industry has to offer aims to keep that focus year-round. The Maryland Thoroughbred Partnership (MTP), launched earlier this year, was created by Maryland Thoroughbred industry leaders to educate the general public about the expansiveness of the industry behind the nationally recognized sport of horse racing, which makes up a large part of the state's greater equine industry. The...

The Maryland Jockey Club, Inc., a newly formed nonprofit entity charged with overseeing live Thoroughbred racing at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and a new, state-of-the-art training facility built in Carroll County Maryland, has named its inaugural Board of Directors, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority announced Friday. The MTROA, established to secure the long-term stability and modernization of Thoroughbred racing in the state, played a central role in establishing The Maryland Jockey Club, Inc. as a nonprofit operator that prioritizes the interests of horsemen, fans, and the broader Maryland...

Fritz Widaman has been named Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sponsorships, the Maryland Jockey Club announced Friday. Previously a key executive at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Widaman brings over 37 years of experience to his new role. Throughout his career, Widaman has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the horse racing industry by leveraging his sales, marketing, and business development expertise to foster growth and innovation. "We are thrilled to have Fritz join the new TMJC," said MJC President and General Manager Bill Knauf. "He is a seasoned professional...

As relief for all the talk of impending track closures, take a look inside my crystal ball for a glimpse of what racing could look like in New York, Maryland and Florida three years from now... Imagine the year is 2028. A newly reconstructed Belmont Park, thanks to a massive $455 million capital infusion, has secured the future of racing in New York for another half-century. The last time Belmont underwent wholesale reconstruction was in 1968, when Nelson Rockefeller was governor. Belmont's new grandstand, designed by stadium architect Populous in...

Bill Knauf, a long-time executive at Monmouth Park, has been named the president and general manager of the non-profit entity the Maryland Jockey Club Inc. that is set to take control of Maryland's two major Thoroughbred tracks starting Jan. 1. The announcement of his hiring was made by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Authority (MTRA), a non-profit group modeled after the New York Racing Association, which operates racing at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The Maryland tracks were transferred to the MTRA by The Stronach Group, which donated them to the state...

Operations have ceased at Pimlico Race Course as of Saturday, August 31, in order to allow the construction of the new Pimlico under the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority. Saturday, Maryland Jockey Club Acting president and General Manager Mike Rogers issued a statement marking the event. "On July 1, 2024, ownership of Pimlico Race Course was officially transferred from The Stronach Group to the State of Maryland as part of the plan to secure the Preakness Stakes's continued presence in Baltimore and establish Pimlico as the permanent hub for year-round...

Change is on the horizon for Maryland racing with legislation passed earlier this year that allowed 1/ST Racing to turn both Pimlico and Laurel over to the state of Maryland. Once that bill was signed, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) was born. Soon after, Corey Johnsen, a former racetrack executive for Lone Star Park and Kentucky Downs, came on as the MTROA's interim CEO. He joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, to discuss the future of racing in Maryland. Johnsen, who was this week's...

Change is on the horizon for Maryland racing with legislation passed earlier this year that allowed 1/ST Racing to turn both Pimlico and Laurel over to the state of Maryland. Corey Johnsen the interim CEO of the newly formed Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to discuss the future of racing in Maryland.

The Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth, scheduled to be run Sunday, is contested annually at a mile-and-one-sixteenth on the turf and is for 3-year-old fillies. With those conditions, it should be an easy race to fill. Not this year. The racing office did not get enough entries and the race was scrapped. Not that any of this should come as a surprise. There is a glut of racing in the Mid-Atlantic states. When Colonial Downs opens on July 11, there will be eight Mid-Atlantic tracks running within a range of...

1st-Laurel, $46,060, Msw, 6-22, 2yo, f, 5f, 1:00.28, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. SHAREDASHENANIGANS (f, 2, Into Mischief--Sharing {GISW-USA, G1SP-Eng, $1,092,751}, by Speightstown), the first foal out of 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner and 2020 G1 Coronation Stakes runner-up Sharing, was favored at 3-5 while facing four rivals on debut. Her worktab included a four-furlong bullet out of the gate in :48 (1/32) at Graham Motion's Fair Hill base May 24. She pressed the top two from an outside third and rolled up three deep on the far...

Racing returns to Newmarket's July Course later this month but prior to that John and Thady Gosden took advantage of the fresh turf to give three of their stable's Royal Ascot runners a racecourse gallop on Saturday morning, including the Breeders' Cup victrix Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Now five, the Cheveley Park Stud homebred was fourth behind her stable-mate and fellow Thompson family colour-bearer Audience (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) on her return in the G1 Lockinge S. on May 18.  She now looks likely to have another attempt at the G1...

The high-class but lightly-raced Laurel could bid to get her season underway in the Duke of Cambridge S. at Royal Ascot, according to Barry Mahon, Juddmonte's European racing manager.  Laurel has not been seen since disappointing when well-fancied for last year's Lockinge at Newbury. As a three-year-old, she was beaten less than a length in the Sun Chariot S., on what was just her third ever run, and connections are keen to see what she is capable of given the chance. "Laurel is on target for Ascot when I was...