The post The Maryland Jockey Club Announces Changes to 2027 Preakness Week first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

“The Preakness Stakes is a cornerstone of Maryland’s history, culture, and economy– so our administration is dedicated to preserving our state as a key power player in the Triple Crown for generations to come,” said Gov. Moore. “With this final acquisition we are not only leveraging the Preakness’s iconic status and uplifting our horse racing industry, we are revitalizing the communities that directly benefit from the economic opportunities of the race.”

The Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) issued notes to finance the acquisition. No General Fund tax dollars are being expended to acquire the IP rights.

“MEDCO is proud to have had the opportunity to conceive and execute a financial transaction that secures ownership of the Preakness and Black-eyed Susan IP and cements the success of horse racing in Maryland for generations to come,” said Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) Chief Executive Officer Tom Sadowski.

Through this acquisition, the State of Maryland secured ownership of the valuable IP rights, ensuring that the Preakness will call Baltimore and Maryland home well into the future and the State will remain in firm control of Maryland’s multi-billion dollar equine industry. With the acquisition of the IP rights, the State of Maryland now possesses sole ownership of the vital assets that drive its horseracing sector– with Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park under control of the Maryland Stadium Authority and day-to-day horseracing being overseen by The Maryland Jockey Club, a not-for-profit organization established by state law.

“We thank Governor Moore for his leadership on this acquisition and look forward to executing the State’s vision for a world-class Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan event next year at the new Pimlico,” said Bill Knauf, President and General Manager of The Maryland Jockey Club. “With all assets now residing with the State, we will work closely with the Maryland, Baltimore and Park Heights business communities to showcase the Preakness on the national stage.”

This acquisition is a strategic move to ensure the Preakness Stakes remains a world-class event, managed in the best interest of Maryland’s racing community and taxpayers. By owning the IP, the State will no longer be subject to the disadvantageous fee structure of the existing exclusive licensing agreement, which would have escalated costs for the State over time. Instead, the State will operate under a model that prioritizes industry health and community benefit, consistent with the nonprofit model adopted by the Maryland Jockey Club.

The State remains committed to growing the Preakness and enhancing its status as a premier event in the Triple Crown. The Maryland Jockey Club has already secured partnerships with best-in-class industry leaders, including Oak View Group for sponsorship growth and KO Productions for world-class event production. While the State will now own the IP, it remains open to identifying areas of mutual interest with Churchill Downs and other industry partners to benefit the broader Triple Crown and the sport of horseracing.

In 2024, the Maryland General Assembly authorized the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue $400 million in bonds to redevelop the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The new facility will support over 500 jobs, and go from hosting approximately 15 racing days per year to becoming the permanent home of Maryland Thoroughbred racing with more than 100 racing days annually. As the centerpiece of Maryland’s Thoroughbred racing industry—which sustains more than 28,000 jobs and has generated approximately $3 billion in economic impact—the new Pimlico Race Course will be a year-round hub of economic activity for Park Heights, surrounding communities, and Baltimore City.

The State of Maryland has also prioritized investments in Park Heights through the ENOUGH Initiative, which has provided nearly $3 million to revitalization efforts led by Park Heights Renaissance. One of 27 ENOUGH communities, Park Heights is implementing evidence-backed initiatives to improve the wellbeing of young people, including revitalizing vacant homes, addressing food insecurity for residents, and strengthening educational resources for parents.

The post Governor Moore Announces Maryland Fully Owns Preakness Intellectual Property Rights After Final Acquisition first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

LAUREL, MD—Striker Has Dial’s gate-to-wire victory in the Skipat Stakes highlighted Horacio De Paz’s Preakness meet at Laurel Park, where he won 5 of 26 starts. His runners finished in the top three 61% of the time.

De Paz, who maintains a string of 35 horses at Laurel and keeps a base in New York, used that momentum to launch a successful Saratoga summer, winning with 6 of his first 16 runners at the prestigious boutique track.

De Paz lit up the Saratoga toteboard with a pair of juvenile debut winners, both bred in New York. B Yutiful Carly, a filly by Greatest Honour owned by Triple B Stables, rallied from off the pace to win a restricted maiden special weight race at 35-1 odds on July 11.

The following afternoon, De Paz scored at 18-1 with Professor Plum, a colt by Solomini owned in partnership with John Foster and Dennis O’Neill.

“I figured they were ready to get started. As far as talent went, I wasn’t sure where we were. We were just trying to get them to their first race and develop from there. Mentally, they seemed fine, but you never know when you come up to Saratoga. We never really laid them down or worked them with older horses. They did everything perfectly to the point where they were just ready to get started.”

After Pimlico Race Course is rebuilt, Laurel Park will become the state’s main Thoroughbred training center. Both B Yutiful Carly and Professor Plum prepared for their winning debuts at Laurel Park.

“We always thought Laurel was a good surface to develop horses,” said De Paz, who credits “the space and a little bit of economics” for training at Laurel. “It’s a nice quiet setting. It’s not as busy as it is at Belmont.”

De Paz masterfully conditioned Striker Has Dial to win the Skipat after almost eight months on the sidelines. The 5-year-old Dialed In mare finished second in the 2025 Skipat and trained at Laurel upon returning to the races this year.

“I was originally targeting an allowance race at Laurel, and that was going to be a prep for the Skipat Stakes.”

De Paz has kept a string of horses at Laurel since his days as a private trainer for Sagamore Farm.

“I like the surface there,” De Paz continued. “It’s a 1 1/8-mile racetrack. It’s a wide racetrack. It’s an essential location to get to Kentucky, and you can also get to New York. If certain races don’t go, you’re able to move them around.”

*Brittany and Sheldon Russell win Grade 2 Honorable Miss with Maida

Continuing the theme of Laurel-based horses enjoying prosperity at Saratoga, Maida blitzed the field in the Grade 2, $250,000 Honorable Miss Stakes on July 26, while Striker Has Dial finished a solid fourth.

Trained by Brittany Russell, Maryland’s perennial leading trainer, and ridden by her husband, Sheldon, Maida has been based at Laurel Park since before her career debut at Pimlico last year.

A 4-year-old filly by Improbable, Maida, owned by Harry Papaleo, is unbeaten in three Laurel starts, winning those races by a combined margin of 28 lengths.

She earned her first stakes victory at Laurel last summer, dominating the $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes by eight lengths.

Maida returned from a layoff to win the $125,000 Alma North Stakes at Laurel on June 27, earning a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure. She received a 98 Beyer in the Honorable Miss.

The post Laurel-Based De Paz Strikes at Spa first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

Most days early in the week, you can look up at the half-mile pole at Laurel Park, where Tana Aubrey, the assistant to trainer Michael Trombetta, sits in a chair, keeping an ever-watchful eye.

If you don’t see her, you can listen for her voice during a loose horse or track emergency. From her vantage point, she’s often heard keeping the riders safe, calling out where they need to go and what they need to do to stay out of harm’s way.

Walking up the hill, I was greeted with a smile and a wave, despite it being the busiest time of the year and in the middle of training hours.

After catching up for a moment, I asked about Tana’s early days at the racetrack.

“My first job was walking at Pimlico for Charlie Lewis with a work permit,” she said. “I was only 15. My dad owned a couple of horses, and my uncle trained. I really liked horses when I was younger. I had a pony, did 4-H, and all the pony things.”

Between training sets, Tana also shared that she “groomed for Franny Campitelli, starting on the pony. I also worked for Joe Devereux at times, even going to California for him.”

After leaving California, she returned to Maryland. “When I got back, I spent some time working for Ann Merryman before starting here.”

I asked what it was like to work with Team Trombetta.

“I think I’ve been here now 27 years,” she said. “The stable wasn’t that big when I started. I don’t think Mike was even training full time yet. The barn started growing, started expanding slowly. It really started with only 8 to 15 horses.”

Her smile widened. “After Sweetnorthernsaint [second in the 2006 Preakness Stakes], things really started expanding. 2007 was our first Saratoga meet. There were only 10 or 12 horses. It was fun and a different atmosphere.”

I asked about her long-time position as assistant trainer. I found it very interesting to learn that Tana didn’t have strong aspirations to become an assistant. “It was like I gradually just fell into the official assistant job.”

She raised her hands a little. “I was doing a lot of those things anyway,” she said with a laugh. “There’s so much that goes into being an assistant, including all kinds of horse and people management, and other things like matching horses and people in sets. It’s also about managing and shipping the runners. It’s a lot of horse care and a lot of people care. Mike told me once early on that you can’t micromanage. You have to pick your battles, or you will drive yourself crazy. A lot of the help has been here a long time. They make it easier when they become a team.”

A lot of effort goes into finishing the day’s training.

“I think sometimes women and women’s intuition help,” she admitted. “It’s that strong insight, and women are just more detail-oriented. It’s like matching riders to horses, and what a difference that can make. It is so satisfying to see horses succeed and to notice the little details and changes that make it work. I have given up on watching the clock, unless I have to be somewhere. I just keep going and get things finished.” She smiled. “I like walking around when everything’s quiet and just watching the horses. You can really tell a lot when they are relaxed and just standing in their stalls.”

Gazing across the racetrack, Tana said quietly, “Hopefully, we can find a strong group for the next generation. It’s a lot of work. It’s cool. The world has opened up a lot. There weren’t very many women when I started, but there are a lot more now.”

About the Author:
As a jockey, Emily Fewster rode winners at Colonial Downs, Evangeline Downs, Fair Grounds, Laurel Park, Meadowlands, Pimlico, Timonium, and Yavapai Downs. She is an active supporter of Thoroughbred Aftercare and OTTB promotion. She now works as an equine appraiser, an exercise rider at Laurel Park, and contributes to TMJC broadcasts as a handicapper and paddock analyst.

The post Catching Up: Tana Aubrey first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

Journalism, the winner of last year’s historic 150th edition of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, overcame a disastrously slow start to win Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 San Diego Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at Del Mar.

Reunited with jockey Umberto Rispoli, Journalism broke very poorly and raced last and widest as the field of five entered the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile San Diego.

Grade 1-placed Mirahmadi controlled the rated fractions of 23.34 and 47.47 seconds on the fast main track. He was challenged from the outside by Grade 1-placed The Cal Man and multiple Group 1 winner The Goat after six furlongs in 1:11.58.

Despite the rough start, Rispoli remained patient aboard odds-on Journalism, and they raced in the second flight, never too far off the leaders. They kicked for home from four wide, collared both The Cal Man and The Goat, grabbed the lead, and fended off a late challenge from multiple stakes-winner Shea Brennan to prevail by three-quarters of a length.

Journalism, the 125-lb highweight who conceded between five and nine pounds to his rivals, returned $2.40 to win.

After the Preakness, this Journalism has been anything but yellow, taking on the best of the best in his seven subsequent starts, winning the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park, and finishing on the board in such prestigious Grade 1 races as the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, and the Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga.

Trained by Michael McCarthy for Bridlewood Farm, Coolmore, Don Alberto Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Elayne Stables 5, and Robert LaPenta, Journalism has won half of his 14 career races, earning $4,770,755.

The bay colt by 2007 Preakness winner Curlin is expected to next race in the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Pacific Classic Handicap at Del Mar on August 22.

*Napoleon Solo second in Grade 1 Haskell

Back on the East Coast, the 2026 Preakness winner, Napoleon Solo, gave a gallant effort, finishing second in the Grade 1 $1,000,000 Haskell Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the Monmouth Park strip.

Making his first start since capturing the Preakness, held this year at Laurel Park while Pimlico Race Course is being rebuilt, Napoleon Solo broke to the lead under jockey Paco Lopez and set splits of 24.15 and 48.29 seconds while racing well off the inside.

Napoleon Solo took the inside pressure from Baby Vino on the second turn, and they raced six furlongs in 1:12.01. The two bumped turning into the stretch, with Baby Vino getting the better of Napoleon Solo by a half-length in 1:50.18 on a sealed, sloppy surface.

Iron Honor, the Preakness runner-up, finished third, 3 ½ lengths behind Napoleon Solo.

Napoleon Solo, who captured the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct as a 2-year-old, is trained by Chad Summers for Espoir USA, which purchased Napoleon Solo from Al Gold’s Gold Square LLC following the Preakness. A son of Liam’s Map, Napoleon Solo has won three of six starts and earned $1,760,520.

The post Preakness Hero Journalism Wins San Diego ‘Cap first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

LAUREL, MD – Between morning sets, I caught up with Jessica Lindsey, John Robb’s assistant trainer and a lifelong horse-racing enthusiast. Jessica has been instrumental in the development of some of Robb’s top horses, including multiple stakes-winner Anna’s Bandit, Romeo, Studlydoright, Princess Kokachin, and Fille d’Esprit.

Q: “Jessica, how long have you been doing this?”

A: “I’d say 25 years, with five of them with Robb. I started in the test barn at Colonial. From there, I walked hots for Ferris Allen. I just kept going.”

Jessica has been spotted saddling in the paddock and smiling in the winner’s circle, but she hasn’t forgotten how she got there, since her family wasn’t involved in racing.

“My parents got me into horses, thinking it would keep me away from the mall and boys,” she laughed. “It was the most expensive mistake they ever made.”

Jessica, having galloped and ponied, now spends her days as the assistant to longtime Maryland-based trainer John “Jerry” Robb. I asked Jessica for a little insight into her life as the “mother hen” to a full barn, including a group of young exercise riders, as well as all other barn responsibilities.

“I love the 2yos. It’s super exciting to watch them develop, but heartbreaking at the same time,” she said quietly. “It’s so good to know the family and each generation. It’s so special to know them from birth through their first steps on the racetrack. But it makes it harder. I’m more emotionally invested. It makes the claiming game harder. They are my family, like my kids.”

Her familiar smile and laugh took over. “What can I say? I’m a nut.”

Jessica spoke with a more serious tone, emphasizing the teamwork involved. “It’s a real group effort here, all for the benefit of the horses. It can be tough because outsiders often don’t see the full extent of everyone’s involvement. It’s literally everyone—the owners, the barn staff, and the farm workers—all working together,” she explained.

Q: What’s your advice for the younger generation?

A: “Work, work harder, and try to work under a veteran, an old-school guy who has been in the trenches. Start however you can, and listen, take it in. Jerry has more knowledge in his little toe than I’ll ever have. He might be tough, but whenever I need it, I have someone to answer for anything. He’s just one call away. I have a lifeline of support and information with him and Gina [Robb].”

About the Author:
As a jockey, Emily Fewster won 40 races at tracks including Colonial Downs, Evangeline Downs, Fair Grounds, Laurel Park, Meadowlands, Pimlico, Timonium, and Yavapai Downs. She is an active supporter of Thoroughbred Aftercare and OTTB promotion. She now works as an equine appraiser, an exercise rider at Laurel Park, and contributes to TMJC Broadcasts as a handicapper and paddock analyst.

The post Catching Up with Jessica Lindsey first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

LAUREL, MD—While Barbosa was away, Yedsit played.

After winning eight races over the past three Laurel Park cards and moving into a narrow lead in the jockey standings, red-hot Jeiron Barbosa was at Churchill Downs on Sunday to ride The Stork Club in the $225,000 Debutante Stakes.

That opened the door for Yedsit Hazlewood, and the teenage sensation kicked it down, winning five races on the final day of the meet to claim the championship.

Hazlewood began his march toward the title with a rallying victory aboard Vanilla ($4.60) in the fourth race for trainer Jamie Ness. About half an hour later, Hazlewood and Ness struck again, this time with Stronsino ($8), who returned from a year-plus layoff to wire the field in race five.

Moving on to the sixth race, Hazlewood spread the wealth, guiding Matthew’s Ticket ($8.80) to a facile maiden victory for trainer Phil Capuano. He then teamed again with Ness for the trainer’s third win of the card, as Spidey Man ($3.20) took no prisoners in the seventh. In a fitting end to the meet, Hazlewood wired the field aboard Pudge Boy Palace ($4) for his mentor, trainer Jose Corrales.

Originally from Panama, Hazlewood, 18, missed a couple of months during his first year in the saddle due to injuries from an automobile accident, yet still achieved 137 victories in 2025, earning $4,451,869. Those numbers helped him finish as the runner-up in last year’s Eclipse Award voting for Outstanding Apprentice Rider.

He earned his first riding title last summer at the Maryland State Fair Meet in Timonium and led the standings at the Laurel Park Fall, Winter, and Spring meetings.

Hazlewood also earned year-end honors as Maryland’s winningest jockey and currently leads the 2026 national standings in total winners.

With Laurel Park going dark for the next two months, Hazlewood will move his tack to Kentucky for the summer, where he will compete at Ellis Park.

*Jamie Ness captures training title

Ness began Sunday in a similar boat to his go-to rider, one race behind Brittany Russell in the trainer standings after she won three races Saturday.

After his own hat trick on Sunday, the veteran trainer secured his second training title in Maryland this year. Ness also won the Laurel Park winter meet and finished second to Russell in the spring.

Ness, 51, of Heron, South Carolina, has now earned nine training titles in Maryland. The 16th trainer in history to reach 4,000 victories in North America, he was the nation’s winningest trainer last year and is currently third in 2026, behind only Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox.

*Around the track:

*Maiden winners Rylnnslookinglucky and Matthew’s Ticket each earned a 5% bonus on Sunday. The bonus program, which began on March 1, rewards Maryland Million-eligible horses that win maiden races in the state. Only horses sired by Maryland Million stallions, conceived in Maryland, and fully nominated and certified for the Maryland Million program qualify. Stallions must have been nominated in the year the horse was conceived.

Rylnnslookinglucky is a 4-year-old filly by Madefromlucky out of Iflookscouldkill, by Louis Quatorze. Bred by Michael J. Harrison, Rylnnslookinglucky is owned by Harrison in partnership with Herradura Racing. Angel Cruz rode for trainer Kenny Cox.

Matthew’s Ticket is a 3-year-old gelding by Maryland sire Fortune Ticket out of Jazzy Java, by Nobiz Like Shobiz. Bred in New Jersey by Gina and Kelly Lupton, Matthew’s Ticket is owned by Mopo Racing and trained by Phil Capuano.

*Congratulations to Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group, Steven Keil, and Joanne Shankle on finishing in a three-way tie for the owner’s title.

The post Yedsit Hazlewood Wins Five Races and Jockey Title first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

LAUREL, MD—The last time trainer Ron Moquett won the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash was in 2015, when Gentlemen’s Bet won by disqualification.

Eleven years later, Moquett stood beaming in the Laurel Park winner’s circle after his 4-year-old gelding Hymn’s drama-free victory in Saturday’s 2026 edition of the $175,000 De Francis Dash for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.

“When you look back at the winners, for a guy who grew up loving sprinters, it’s a marquee race,” Moquett said about the De Francis Dash. “It’s had its ups and downs, but it’s consistently been a top-tier sprint race. I’m very happy to win it. If the race had another $100,000 purse and was just called Something Sprint, it wouldn’t mean as much as it does carrying that name, so that’s cool.”

Hymn is now unbeaten in three starts since being gelded.

“We were a little slow to geld him because he’s so beautiful and we loved his family,” Moquett admitted. “We thought that if he ran like he looked, he had the potential to be something someone would breed to. It killed me to geld him, but I’d rather have a good gelding than a slow colt.”

Hymn is very good, as evidenced by his powerful stretch rally in the Dash, one of four stakes races on the program.

Faust and Celtic Contender sparred for the early lead through fractions of 23.10 and 46.91 seconds, with Wickedivine sitting a pocket trip just inside Hymn.

Celtic Contender and jockey Forest Boyce swept to the lead in the upper stretch, but Bejarano swung Hymn outside for a clear run, and Hymn unfurled his long stride.

He charged past Celtic Contender in the stretch and drew off impressively to win by 5 ½ lengths in 1:11.51 on the fast track. Celtic Contender nipped Wickeddivine by a head for second. Faust, Petingas Twin, and Pentathlon completed the order of finish.

Hymn was Bejarano’s second winner of the day. He piloted Mongolian Apple ($21.60) to a front-running victory in the fifth race.

“We thought he would be a little back off the pace with some of these,” Moquett said. “There are some really nice horses in there that can set some nice fractions. He’s naturally in that position, and the [outside] post position was advantageous for us.”

Hymn paid $5.40 to win as the betting favorite. Slam Notion, Haileysfirstnotion, Full Moon Madness, and Fire Pit were scratched out.

Bred by Fleur De Lis Stables, Hymn is a son of McKinzie out of the stakes-placed Salt Bae, by Paynter. He was a $140,000 yearling buyback and then sent to Moquett. Campaigned by Fleur De Lis, William Sparks, and Bret Jones, Hymn won his debut by four lengths last year but had trouble focusing on the task at hand.

“From the moment he walked into our barn, you could tell he had something on his mind,” Moquett said earlier this week. “He was calling out to every female horse and pony he had ever seen since he was 2 years old.”

Since being gelded, Hymn has put it together, winning a first-level allowance at Oaklawn on April 10 and a second-level heat at Churchill on May 16.

Hymn has won 4 of 13 starts, earning $408.639. Moquett mentioned the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga on June 25 as a potential next stop for Hymn.

*Barbadian Runner all heart in the Deputed Testamony

They should start calling him Barbadian Warrior.

Displaying the resiliency that helped him beat back local legend Post Time in last year’s Maryland Million Classic, Barbadian Runner parried a late thrust from Adero to win the $125,000 Deputed Testamony Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles.

Owned by AJ Will Win Stables, trained by Henry Walters, and ridden by Forest Boyce, Barbadian Runner’s Cinderella story continued onward and upward.

Barbadian Runner, a $5,000 yearling purchase that has now earned $932,050, used his excellent tactical speed to sit just off pacesetter Catalytic’s splits of 25.42 and 50.48 seconds.

Catalytic’s rider, Sheldon Russell, tried to sneak away in the third quarter, clocked at 1:15.90, but Boyce would have none of it. She pushed the button, Barbadian Runner responded, and they opened a clear lead inside the three-sixteenths pole.

Adero loomed boldly and seemed to have the momentum to pass Barbadian Runner, but the gritty gelding refused to yield.

At the wire, Barbadian Runner won by a nose. Adero finished 2 ¼ lengths ahead of Catalytic. Xcellent Start, who placed fourth, was declared a non-starter after the stewards ruled he was held by an assistant starter at the gate. Cadet Corps and Duke of Duval followed. Jokestar, Warp Nine, and Sacred Thunder withdrew.

Barbadian Runner ran nine furlongs in 1:52.90 and paid $3.20 to his many backers.

“Those are nice horses, a solid group,” Boyce said. “Today, the dirt is so quick, and we needed to be close. Luckily, he’s willing to do it right now. I appreciate him stepping up to the plate and being ready to run it a little differently than he normally would.”

Barbadian Runner, the best Maryland-bred older dirt horse stabled at the grounds, is considered a throwback because he raced without a break longer than 45 days between his career debut, a fourth-place finish on June 30, 2024, and his second-place run behind graded stakes winner Post Time in the Robert T. Manfuso Stakes on December 20, 2025. Barbadian Runner has triumphed at distances ranging from 5 ½ furlongs to 1 1/8 miles on both wet and fast tracks.

The Deputed Testamony was his third run in 2026.

“Fortunately, it was a slow enough pace,” Walters said. “I thought he’d have something left, and he did. He’s so versatile. If the early pace was fast, he’d kick in when he’s supposed to. He’s a very easy horse to manage.”

Bred by Shamrock Farm, Barbadian Runner is by Barbados and out of Quiet Run, by Northern Afleet. His dam is an unraced half-sister to Grade 3 winner It Happened Again.

A seven-time stakes winner, Barbadian Runner has won 9 of 23 races. While short-term plans are pending, Walters said defending Barbadian Runner’s Maryland Million Classic is a future goal.

The $150,000 Maryland Million Classic is held at Laurel Park on October 24.

*Around the track:

*Jockey Julian Pimentel won his first race since 2021, guiding It’s Electric ($13.80) to victory in the sixth race, a maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles on turf. It was Pimentel’s ninth start since his comeback.

“I had been spending a lot of time with family and friends, taking care of myself at my home in Columbia,” Pimentel told TMJC’s Emily Fewster after the win. “My good friend and agent, Roniel Gerardo, was instrumental in getting me back into the saddle. He kept asking me to come back, and I reconsidered.”

Pimentel, who captured three graded stakes aboard the popular Ben’s Cat between 2012 and 2014, also won the Grade 3 General George Stakes in 2017 aboard Imperial Hint.

Pimentel rode his first North American winner in 2000 and was a finalist for the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey the following year. Pimentel has won 1,807 races, and his mounts have earned $59,001,633.

*Trainer Brittany Russell and jockey Sheldon Russell won three races Saturday. Oracle of Beaufort ($9.20) was placed first via disqualification in the opening race. First-time starter Everday’s a Bonus ($6.80) uncorked a furious finish to win the third, and Maida ($5.00) powered away from her rivals in the $125,000 Alma North Stakes

*Laurel Park was proud to host Tom Hashimoto and Taka Morita, representatives of the Japan Racing Association. They appeared in the winner’s circle after Thundering (11.20) prevailed in the Japan Racing Association Turf Cup.

The Japan Racing Association Turf Cup underscores the close relationship between The Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC) and the Japan Racing Association (JRA).

On March 7, Bill Knauf, President and General Manager of TMJC, was present at Nakayama Racecourse to present the winner’s trophy for the Grade 3 Laurel Park Sho Nakayama Himba Stakes.

*Jockey Jeiron Barbosa rode two more winners, moving into first place in the Laurel Park jockey standings with only one day left in the meet. Barbosa prevailed aboard Probable Angle ($10.60) in the second race and Just Do Believe in the fourth. Yedsit Hazlewood is one win behind in second place. Jorge Ruiz is in third, four wins behind Barbosa.

*The race for the trainer’s title is also extremely tight. After Brittany Russell’s big day on Saturday, she moved into a one-win lead over Jamie Ness. Jose Corrales and Michael Trombetta are tied for third, two wins behind Russell.

*The free “Laurel Park Handicapping Guide” is available on every race day. It provides picks, analysis, trainer stats, trip notes, horses to watch, track bias info, and more from The Maryland Jockey Club’s team of handicappers. Sunday’s guide is available. Click here to view it.

*Sunday is the final day of the Laurel Park Preakness Meet. There will be mandatory payouts on all wagers with carryover potential, including both “Value Pick 5” bets, the Chesapeake Pick 6 Jackpot Wager, and the Jackpot Super High 5 (Race 6).

The post Hymn Sings Victory Tune in De Francis Dash first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

By Vinnie Perrone

LAUREL, MD–Four talented horses traveled 200 miles or more to try the $125,000 Alma North Stakes at Laurel Park, but none could approach the filly that walked from her backyard.

Maida, a racy 4-year-old filly stabled at Laurel, sauntered over from Brittany Russell’s barn and then tore through the Alma North with tremendous urgency. She popped to the lead from the outside post, thwarted all five chasers and drained the drama from the 6 1/2-furlong affair, finishing 10 1/2 lengths ahead of runner-up Grammy Girl and 14 lengths before third-place Benedetta.

The runaway bore gravitas given the fillies and mares she trounced: Grammy Girl (2-1), trained by Saffie Joseph, had arrived from New York off two straight graded stakes scores; Bam’s Bliss Kiss (9-2), from the Jorge Abreu barn, had won six straight, and New York stablemate Jody’s Pride (5-1) had a Grade 2 victory on her ledger. Traversing a fast track, each of them saw Maida’s black tail pull farther and farther ahead.

“She’s been training really well; I had a lot of confidence in her today,” said Russell, whose husband Sheldon rode the filly. “We always thought she was a very good horse.”

The evidence supported it. After a nondescript debut in the Pimlico mud on Black-Eyed Susan Day, Maida added blinkers and capped a three-race winning streak by dominating the $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes at Laurel last September. After she finished sixth in the Grade 2 Raven’s Run at Keeneland a month later, she got the winter off and resumed training this spring.

“Yeah, the blinkers have helped,” Brittany said. “Also, she’s walking out of her own stall [to race]. This is home. She’s good on this track.”

To be precise, three starts, three victories.

Favored at 3-2 for her first start in eight months, Maida blasted through quarter-mile fractions of 21.72 seconds, 45.76 and 1:11.72, stopped the clock in 1:18.44 and boosted her six-race earnings to $198,150 for breeder Harry Papaleo’s Goodfellas LLC. The bay filly has an inverted white triangle on her face that tapers to a stripe and a certain pedigree that gave Russell boundless hope from the outset.

Before she became Maryland’s preeminent trainer, Russell galloped graded stakes winner Eve Giselle for Tim Ritchey. In 2021, Papaleo sent Eve Giselle to the stallion Improbable, and Russell was thrilled to receive the resulting filly.

“When this filly showed up, she stood out right away,” Russell said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Six fillies and mares pursued the Alma North following the withdrawals of Trouble in Love, Onyx Ten and Hold Your Breath.

Russell said she’ll keep Maida sprinting and aim for a graded stakes beyond the filly’s home track.

The race’s namesake, 1971 Maryland-bred Horse of the Year Alma North, won the Grade 1 Matchmaker at Atlantic City in 1973 and retired late the next year with stakes victories at nine tracks and 55 on-the-board finishes from 78 starts.

*JRA Turf Cup Witnesses a Thundering Display

A threatening rainstorm never overtook Laurel Park this muggy afternoon, but Thundering did.

A Maryland-bred enigma owned and bred by Canadian Jal Dastur and based in New Jersey, Thundering set the pace under talented apprentice Yedsit Hazelwood and proceeded to win the $125,000 Japan Racing Association Turf Cup by a length and half over fast-closing Thundering Display, who got second by a nose over spunky 8-year-old What Say Thee. Crisper, age 7, finished fourth.

Thundering, a 4-year-old bay gelding with three white socks and a knack for close defeats, prospered from a sound plan well executed. Trainer Derek Ryan deemed the eight-horse lineup thin on speed and instructed Hazelwood to urge Thundering out of the gate. Jockey and horse obliged.

On a firm turf course, Thundering took the lead first time past the grandstand at 9-2 and held it through manageable fractions even as Nelson Avenue (6-1) and favored A Bourbon for Toby (9-5) encroached along the backstretch and into the far turn. With Hazelwood urging Thundering, A Bourbon for Toby briefly drew even outside under Forest Boyce but soon tired of the chase.

Truly Quality, meantime, trailed into the homestretch at 5-2 and didn’t immediately honor jockey Sheldon Russell’s cue to advance. The graded stakes winner from Jonathan Thomas’s Kentucky stable finally rallied between horses in midstretch but posed no threat to Thundering, who managed 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.21.

Thundering earned $75,000 with his third victory in 16 tries. His earnings, $236,418, could have been sweetened had he not been nosed out of first in Delaware Park’s Kent Stakes and beaten by a half-length in Woodbine’s Toronto Cup.

Trainer Ryan has saddled few horses at Laurel Park in a 30-year career, but he steered Thundering to Maryland after a prospective race at Monmouth Park didn’t fill and another at the imminent Colonial Downs meet drew too many.

“This was plan two,” he said.

Another wrinkle: Ryan removed the blinkers Thundering wore when he broke his maiden at 2 in Woodbine’s Display Stakes and almost all his other starts.

“I like ’em as natural as possible,” said Ryan, whose Jersey-bred sprint sensation Book’em Danno wears no blinkers.

Maryland-bred Thundering, by Mosler from the Street Cry mare Keep Right, was foaled at Country Life Farm in Belair. (Accordingly, Country Life principal Josh Pons made his way to the winner’s circle.) Thundering had raced in Canada, Delaware, New York, Florida and New Jersey but never Maryland.

Ryan said he has Thundering’s 2-year-old half-brother, Loyal Prince (by Cairo Prince), close to a debut in Florida.

Relationships defined the moment, the Japan Racing Association Turf Cup promoting a cooperative spirit between the Maryland Jockey Club and the JRA.

*Evan Trommer Wins Handicapping Challenge

Evan Trommer finished first among 133 horseplayers today in the De Francis Dash Day Handicapping Challenge, a $5,775 score that also earned him a seat in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series this fall.

Trommer, a 61-year-old retired distribution CEO from Sarasota, Fla., played two entries through Xpressbet and advanced late on one of them to take the lead before Laurel’s 11th-race finale. He uncharacteristically chose to wager nothing, he said, which probably won him the tournament.

“That was the best decision I made all day,” he said.

An accomplished tournament player, Trommer said he used “a stalking trip” in the De Francis challenge. He lagged until Laurel’s ninth race, when he nailed the Thundering-Truly Quality exacta that returned $37.40 for $2 and followed that with a $45 exacta play in the $175,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The $13.60 payoff, Hymn over Celtic Contender, gave him the lead entering the Laurel finale, a turf sprint for $16,000 maiden claimers.

Trommer didn’t like the favorites in the eight-horse field but couldn’t find a viable alternative. So he sat it out. My Captain won the race at 10-1, and none of Trommer’s pursuers played the 6-7-9 result in a manner to pass him.

The $33,250 prize pool included $11,250 in cash payouts for the top five finishers and seats, travel, and lodging for either the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Keeneland or the 2027 National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas for the top three finishers.

The one-day tournament allowed handicappers to wager at Laurel Park or online through Xpressbet, TVG/4NJBETS and HPI. Participants paid $500 to enter and received a $250 bankroll for win, place, show, exacta and daily double wagers on all races at Laurel Park and select races at Monmouth Park. Entrants had to play at least five Laurel Park races and wager at least $50 bet per race.

The post Local Girl Makes Good: Maida Dazzles in Alma North first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.

LAUREL, MD—If horseplayers haven’t already, they might be wise to jump onto the “Barbosa Bandwagon.”

Since June 15, jockey Jeiron Barbosa’s mounts have won 12 of 28 starts, a whopping 43% strike rate. Horseplayers who blindly plunked two dollars on each of those horses were rewarded with a $4.06 ROI.

On Friday, Barbosa won three races at Laurel Park. It’s the third time in less than a month he’s achieved a hat trick here.

His big afternoon began in the second race aboard favored Final Engagement ($3) for trainer Jerry Robb. Barbosa angled All the Hardways ($19.20) to the inside at a crucial moment in the fourth race, and they drove home over the odds-on favorite Take a Hint for trainer Ferris Allen. Barbosa then gave a masterful ride aboard the talented but temperamental Maupansant in the sixth race. After Maupansant dumped Barbosa in the post parade, the jock remounted and took advantage of a hot pace to post the $42.80 upset for trainer Catie Keil.

Barbosa also won three races at Laurel Park on May 30 and again on June 21.

Barbosa, 22, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was one of three finalists for the 2022 Eclipse Award for champion apprentice jockey. That year, he captured the Laurel Park spring meet with 20 victories, tied Angel Cruz for top honors at the Laurel fall meet with 44 wins, and won the Pimlico fall meet with 12 wins.

With two days remaining in the Preakness Meet at Laurel Park, Barbosa’s recent hot streak has propelled him into a tie with Yedsit Hazlewood in the race for the Preakness Meet riding title. Both Hazlewood and Barbosa have 19 wins at the meet. Jorge Ruiz is third in the standings with 17 wins.

*Around the track:

Maryland-bred maiden winner Regal Engagement earned a 5% bonus on Friday. The bonus program, which began on March 1, rewards Maryland Million-eligible horses that win maiden races in the state. Only horses sired by Maryland Million stallions, conceived in Maryland, and fully nominated and certified for the Maryland Million program qualify. Stallions must have been nominated in the year the horse was conceived. Final Engagement is a 3-year-old filly by Engage, out of Les Miards, by Jazil. Bred by trainer Jerry and Gina Robb’s No Guts No Glory Farm, Final Engagement is owned in partnership by Not Guts No Glory Farm and Moonstruck Stables.

Trainer John Salzman Jr. and jockey Joe Rocco Jr. teamed up for two wins on Friday. They captured the opener with newly claimed Majestic Blue ($10.20), moving Salzman’s record in first starts off the claim to 14 of 36 (39%). Rocco and Salzman also won the day’s featured seventh race with Rerun Table ($3.20).

Live racing resumes Saturday with an 11-race card featuring the $175,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash and three $125,000 stakes races. There are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a bettor-friendly 12% takeout. Please note a $6,367.21 carryover into Saturday’s late “Value Pick 5” (races 7 through 11). There is also a special All-Stakes Pick 4 on races 8 through 11. Find the stakes advances here.

Laurel Park proudly hosts the De Francis Dash Day Handicapping Challenge, a one-day contest available both on-site and online. The event takes place Saturday, June 27, at Laurel Park or 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 contest will be held at Laurel Park. Monmouth Park races are optional. There are no mandatory Monmouth Park races. Based on 120 entries, the total prize pool is $30,000, including one full seat to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge ($10,000 value) and two National Horseplayers Championship Prize Packs ($5,350 value each, each including a $400 flight voucher and a hotel stay). Additionally, the top five finishers will split $8,300 in prize money, with $4,150 going to the winner, $1,660 to the runner-up, $1,245 to third place, $830 to fourth place, and $415 to fifth place. All entry fees are returned as prizes. The listed prizes are estimates, and the actual prizes will depend on the final number of participants. For entry information and contest rules, visit here.

The free “Laurel Park Handicapping Guide” is available on every race day. It provides picks, analysis, trainer stats, trip notes, horses to watch, track bias info, and more from The Maryland Jockey Club’s team of handicappers. Saturday’s guide is available Friday afternoon. Click here to view it.

Sunday is the final day of the Laurel Park Preakness Meet. There will be mandatory payouts on all wagers with carryover potential, including both “Value Pick 5” bets, the Chesapeake Pick 6 Jackpot Wager, and the Jackpot Super High 5 (Race 6).

The post Barbosa Wins Three More at Laurel Park first appeared on Maryland Jockey Club.