LAUREL, MD—Sunday’s featured seventh race at Laurel Park was named the “Janis Milman 75th Birthday Race,” and a large crowd of friends and family gathered in the winner’s enclosure to celebrate the occasion.

They hollered longer and louder after Dalinar (#7) wired the field, with Dominguez (#5) chasing throughout to complete a $2 exacta that paid $81.20.

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Beaming from ear to ear, Janis held out her winning ticket and was congratulated by Dalinar’s trainer, Lynn Ashby.

“I’m 75, too,” Ashby said, extending her arm for a celebratory high-five with the birthday girl.

Dalinar is five, and he repeated the same pattern that led to a winning effort in his seasonal debut last year. He stretched out from a sprint to a route, took an early lead under jockey Jose Batista, and refused to yield.

“He got the winter off,” Ashby said. “We have a large farm, and he was out in that cold, cold weather we had. It took us about two months to get him ready. He’s beautiful.”

Dalinar, making his first start since an excellent runner-up effort at 5 ½ furlongs in a similar $48,000 state-bred or -sired allowance race for 3-year-olds and up on November 15, broke smoothly, set rated fractions of 24.20 and 48.85 seconds, fended off Dominguez after six furlongs in 1:12.08, and stayed strong to win by two lengths in 1:35.81 on the firm Bowl Game Turf Course.

Magical Mondays, the odds-on favorite, finished third, a length behind the runner-up. He was followed by Italiano Kid, Play It Cool, Brighty, and Kitty’s Son. Close the Gate scratched.

Dalinar returned $9 to win as the public’s second choice in the betting.

A homebred gelding owned by Teresa Beste, Dalinar is by Uncle Lino, out of Flirt Alert, by Deputy Storm. He is a half-brother to You’re the One, who finished third in the Conniver Stakes at Laurel Park on March 7 for Ashby and Beste.

Dalinar won one of his first eight starts on dirt, then flourished after switching to turf in the summer of 2024. He wired the field in his first grass start, a five-furlong heat at Delaware, then won twice on turf there last year.

“He had a light injury, but now he’s solid as they come,” Ashby said. “He's turned out to be all turf.”

Although Dalinar obviously likes the lawn at Delaware, Ashby noted that he is Virginia-certified and might end up at Colonial Downs this summer.

“He’s going to love that turf over there,” Ashby maintained. “We should have a fun season.”

Dalinar boasts a lifetime record of five wins from 17 starts. He has earned $171,704.

*Around the track:

Maida, the winner of the Weather Vane Stakes, resumed training following her sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Raven’s Run Stakes at Keeneland on October 18. The 4-year-old filly, sired by Improbable, recorded a three-furlong breeze in 38.20 seconds under the guidance of trainer Brittany Russell.

Faster Gator, who won the $300,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes at Mahoning Valley on November 24, breezed a half-mile in 48.40 seconds for trainer Anthony Farrior.

Jockey Yedsit Hazlewood rode a natural double on Sunday. He placed Take a Hint ($5.80) just off the early leader, then surged to command on the turn in the sixth race. About half an hour later, Hazlewood rallied four wide aboard Kerness K ($2.60).

Live racing resumes Friday with a nine-race card featuring two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout rate.

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. Friday’s guide is available Thursday evening. Click here to view it.

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