Maryland Racing

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has announced that the state of Maryland has matched the $85-million bid from Churchill Downs for the intellectual property and branding rights to the Preakness, which will now be held by the state. The story was first reported by the Baltimore Banner. Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement provided to the Banner that his administration has made "historic investments" to ensure the future of Maryland's racing industry, and that the $85-million decision will secure a "vital asset for our state." It will "preserve Maryland's position...

It was the most literal of dream scenarios. The thing is, it had happened before. From time to time, Valerie Mastromonaco will have a dream--always about a horse--and then something will happen to bring it to life. Nothing dramatic, most of the time. True, once she dreamed that a particular horse in the barn had a problem, and unfortunately turned out to be right. But she doesn't take the phenomenon too seriously, as a rule; nor expect anyone else to do so. "I've no theories," she says. "I just think...

Maryland State Steward Adam Campola said Saturday that the Laurel stewards took a close look at Paco Lopez's winning ride aboard Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) in the GI Preakness Stakes, but decided not to take action because they did not believe that the jockey violated any of HISA's rules related to misuse of the whip. PETA called on Maryland officials to strip Lopez of his race winnings and suspend him. It contended that he violated HISA Rule 2280(c)(1), which reads, "A Jockey shall not: raise the crop with the Jockey's...

The leaders of Maryland's Thoroughbred industry are not resigned to the fact that racing in their state has reached a watershed moment. They see it as the catalyst that will mark the beginning of a large-scale resurgence in the coming years. Churchill Downs Incorporated's acquisition of the intellectual property rights for the Preakness Stakes and the legislative review of the Maryland Stadium Authority's proposed purchase of Laurel Park, as well as the ongoing Triple Crown schedule debate, have all been recent hot-button issues sparking industry-wide conversation about the future of...

The 2026 National Thoroughbred League season in Maryland with a Kentucky Derby weekend event at Laurel Park on Saturday, May 2, hosted by Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Laurel Park program is part of a two-day NTL Derby weekend celebration, which will begin Friday, May 1 at The Horse You Came In On Saloon before shifting to Laurel for Saturday's live racing event. The NTL operates as a team-based, season-long competition featuring city-affiliated teams that earn points based on race results at events held across the country. Horses compete...

Third in the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on Keeneland's opening weekend, Talkin (Good Magic) will skip the GI Kentucky Derby and be pointed toward the GI Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park by trainer Danny Gargan. Eleven lengths behind 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Further Ado (Gun Runner) as that one dominated the Blue Grass, Talkin would be the trainer's chief hope for a second win in the Triple Crown series behind Dornoch, also a son of Good Magic, who claimed the GI Belmont Stakes in 2024. Gargan said...

Back in 1988, attendance for the GI Preakness Stakes at Laurel Race Course was 7,372. By 2002, the Preakness crowd at the renamed Laurel Park had more than doubled, to 15,917. Of course, those figures from decades ago weren't for the in-person, live running of the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Those head counts represent only people who turned out for Laurel's simulcast of the Preakness. The race itself was conducted 28 miles north at the Preakness's traditional Baltimore home, Pimlico Race Course. In that era, the Preakness throng...

With the GI Preakness moving to Laurel for this year's running, attendance will be limited to just 4,800 patrons, according to a spokesperson for 1/ST Racing. The story was first reported by Matt Hegarty in the Daily Racing Form, who provided 1/ST with a list of questions regarding this year's race. Though 1/ST had turned over Laurel and Pimlico to a quasi- public organization now running racing in Maryland, 1/ST maintained the rights to the 2026 Preakness. Over the two days that encompass the GII Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness,...

Frigid weather across the country claimed its latest program as Laurel Park was forced to abandon the remainder of their Friday card after the first race as well as postpone the Saturday and Sunday cards. Saturday's ten-race program, highlighted by the Spectacular Bid Stakes for 3-year-olds and the Xtra Heat Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, has been moved to Wednesday, Feb. 4. Sunday's nine-race program has been moved to Thursday, Feb. 5. Laurel Park will run a Wednesday through Sunday schedule next week. The first post time is 12:00 pm ET....

In an abrupt switch of plans that had seemed cemented for the past year as part of the $400-million "Pimlico Plus" rebuild of Maryland's Thoroughbred racing infrastructure, the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) is abandoning plans to convert its recently purchased Shamrock Farm in Carroll County into an 800-horse training center, and will instead buy Laurel Park from The Stronach Group (TSG) with the intention of turning it into an 1,100-horse training facility. With Pimlico Race Course now demolished and projected to be rebuilt in time for the 2027 GI Preakness...

It was a good year for the new management team at the Maryland racetracks, where the average daily handle at Laurel was up 13.49 percent and average per-race handle increased by 14.29 percent. To talk about what went right for Maryland racing last year, the future of the GI Preakness Stakes, the decision to form a circuit with Colonial Downs, and to report on the rebuild of Pimlico, Bill Knauf, the president and general manager of the nonprofit Maryland Jockey Club, joined the team for this week's TDN Writers' Room...

Bill Knauf, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to outline plans for the future of racing in Maryland, including this year's Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park.