Maryland Jockey Club

The Maryland Jockey Club released the fall schedule of 33 stakes worth $3.525 million in purses for Laurel Park, including the GIII Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash and 36th edition of the Jim McKay Maryland Million. The fall meet begins Thursday, Sept. 9 and continues through Saturday, Dec. 31. For the complete stakes schedule, click here. The six-furlong De Francis for 3-year-olds and up will help kick off the fall stakes schedule as one of four stakes worth $500,000 in purses Saturday, Sept. 18. Named for the late president...

Maryland Jockey Club and its parent company, 1/ST RACING (The Stronach Group), is hopeful horses will be able to return to Laurel Park the first week in August barring any delays in the ongoing renovation of the dirt surface, but even if they do, racing will likely continue at Pimlico Race Course in August until the Maryland State Fair at Timonium meet begins. An update on the project and a timeline were discussed June 14 during a Zoom community meeting hosted by the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. It was also...

Sal Sinatra has been named the next president of Equibase Company LLC by the Equibase Management Committee, effective June 21. Sinatra succeeds Jason Wilson, who departed Equibase to join The Stronach Group this past April. Sinatra, who completed a double major in Mathematics and Statistics from Rutgers, was an assistant clerk at the Daily Racing Form and in 1985, he became a racing official at Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands. He was also the assistant racing secretary at Beulah Park in Ohio. Between 1990 and 1999, Sinatra was president and...

Steve Asmussen claimed the top prize of $50,000 for the third time in five years in the Maryland Jockey Club's $100,000 trainer bonus offered to horsemen for their participation in stakes races over Preakness weekend, May 14-15, at Pimlico Race Course. The Hall of Famer edged defending champion Mike Maker. Asmussen started 11 horses in 10 stakes over the two days, finishing with 54 points. On May 15, he ran first and second with Mighty Mischief (Into Mischief) and Jaxon Traveler (Munnings) in the GIII Chick Lang S. and also...

After undergoing three rounds of out-of-competition blood sample testing as part of an agreement between the Maryland Jockey Club and Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit (Protonico), Concert Tour (Street Sense) and Beautiful Gift (Medaglia d'Oro) have been reported clear and are eligible to race this weekend at Pimlico Race Course in the GI Preakness S. and GII Black-Eyed Susan S. Two samples were drawn May 6 and May 10, respectively by the Maryland Racing Commission and were screened by Industrial Laboratories in Colorado. A third sample was drawn on May 11...

The Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) announced Tuesday that it had accepted the entry of Medina Spirit (Protonico) for Saturday's GI Preakness S. Trainer Bob Baffert revealed Sunday that Medina Sprit had tested positive for the prohibited medication betamethasone after winning the GI Kentucky Derby, which put his appearance in the second leg of the Triple Crown in doubt. The MJC, which operates Pimlico for The Stronach Group (TSG), had the option of banning all entries from Baffert. Following the announcement of the drug positive, Churchill Downs said that it would...

Mounting problems that have forced the closure of the main dirt track at Laurel Park are now tentatively anticipated to be fixed by the start of June. But difficulties related to the sourcing and testing of materials for the base and cushion are keeping the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) from setting an exact timetable for the return of racing and training at its primary venue. On Thursday, the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) met at Laurel for the board's first in-person monthly meeting since the onset of the pandemic. But Laurel's...

Edited Press Release The reconstruction of the Laurel Park dirt surface began in earnest April 17 as heavy machinery began removing the cushion from the base from the rail out. Maryland Jockey Club Track Superintendent Chris Bosley said that over the next several days the cushion will be removed and the base will be inspected to determine if there are any deficiencies. Bosley, who has been in contact with Glen Kozak, who oversees racing surfaces for the New York Racing Association, said the MJC is in the process of locating...

Live racing will be cancelled from Saturday, Apr. 17 through Monday, Apr. 19 at Laurel Park due to the ongoing evaluation of the main track surface conditions, the Maryland Jockey Club and 1/ST RACING announced Thursday. As part of regular track maintenance, the MJC identified Apr. 14 that the main track had not responded sufficiently to wintertime cushion repairs. Gallops will be allowed during an abbreviated training schedule Friday, Apr. 16. Due to the uncertainty of the timeline to rehabilitate the main track surface cushion at Laurel Park, 1/ST RACING...

As a result of the ongoing pause of live racing at Laurel Park through Sunday, Apr. 4, the Maryland Jockey Club has pushed its Spring Stakes Spectacular program back one week to Saturday, Apr. 24. All seven stakes worth a total of $750,000 in purses originally scheduled for Saturday, Apr. 17 will be run on the new date with a similar 12:40 p.m. post time. Nominations for all stakes are due Saturday, Apr. 3. The Spring Stakes Spectacular is led by the $125,000 Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8...

The Preakness Stakes card will be run in front of a limited crowd of 10,000 when it returns to its traditional date May 15 at Pimlico, 1/ST and the Maryland Jockey Club announced Tuesday. The decision to include fans was made in consultation with, and by approval of, local and state health and governmental authorities and includes the approval for a limited number of fans for Black-Eyed Susan Day May 14. A limited number of tickets will go on sale to the public Apr. 5. Tickets will be available for...

Laurel Park's 19-spring meet will feature a seven-race stakes schedule worth over $750,000 and highlighted by automatic-qualifying races for the GI Preakness S. and GII Black-Eyed Susan S. Co-headlining the stakes program are the $125,000 Federico Tesio S. for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles and the $125,000 Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies at about 1 1/16 miles. The Tesio serves as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the May 15 Preakness and the Weber City Miss is a 'Win and In' event for the May...