Laurel Park

As the Heritage winter meet winds down with two racing days left on the calendar, Jamie Rodriguez enjoyed a four-win afternoon Sunday at Laurel Park and cemented his claim to the leading rider title. In addition to his four wins on the day, Rodriguez claims 46 through the meet, 18 more than runner-up Jeiron Barbosa, and helped conditioner Jamie Ness move ahead of Brittany Russell in the race for leading trainer. All four of Sunday's wins were on Ness runners and the combo hit at a lofty 29 per cent...

Laurel Park will open for a 15-day Spring meet beginning Friday, April 5. In a release from the Maryland Jockey Club, the meet, which will run through Sunday, May 5, will play host to a total of nine stakes worth over $950,000 topped by the Federico Tesio S., a 'Win and You're In' for the Triple Crown's middle jewel, the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 18. Additionally, the Weber City Miss S. offers 3-year-old fillies the chance to nab a paid spot in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. May...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Carlos Mancilla has been suspended for 15 days for a post-race Gabapentin positive from Sept. 10, and fined $1,000. Gabapentin, a Class B controlled medication, is an anti-seizure medicine for humans that is also used to treat complications from shingles. According to the final ruling by an internal adjudication panel, Mancilla said that the positive probably came about because of the horse, Cara...

Midlantic-based trainer Cal Lynch celebrated the 1000th victory of his training career when Mosler Time took out the Saturday finale at Laurel Park. The 4-year-old gelding covered six furlongs on the main track in 1:12.25 in the claiming event for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old maidens and comes one day after Forest Boyce marked 1000 wins in the saddle at Laurel. "I'm delighted for everybody that's helped get to this point. It's all about the team," he said. "A thousand winners, a lot of people helped get there. A lot of...

When is a maiden not considered a maiden for entry purposes? Pennsylvania-based owner Albert "Abby" Abdala III lost $5,331 in second-place purse money trying to find out after an "ineligible entry" ruling was imposed upon him and his trainer, Bernard Dunham, on Feb. 2 by the Turfway Park stewards. Abdala, who has owned Thoroughbreds for 10 years after getting started in horse ownership with Standardbreds, told TDN in a Feb. 8 phone interview that he still doesn't understand why Turfway officials accepted his entry for the 0-for-9 Magnolia Wind (Central...

The Maryland Jockey Club has called off Friday's 10-race card at Laurel Park due to continuing adverse weather conditions from last weekend's winter storm along with ongoing rain throughout the region. Per the MJC release, Laurel, Pimlico Race Course, Rosecroft Raceway and the MJC OTB network will remain open for simulcasting. Live racing is scheduled to return Saturday with a special 11:40 a.m. post time. The 11-race program is co-headlined by the $100,000 Spectacular Bid S. for 3-year-olds and $100,000 Xtra Heat S. for 3-year-old fillies.

Having already lost the live racing program Saturday to wintry weather conditions, officials from the Maryland Jockey Club has also cancelled live racing for Sunday. The next scheduled program is Friday, Jan. 26, which is set to featuer the $100,000 What a Summer S. and the $100,000 Fire Plug S., each of which was originally programmed for the Jan. 20 card. The season's first 3-year-old stakes will take place next Saturday, Jan. 27, with the running of the $100,000 Xtra Heat S. for fillies and the Spectacular Bid S. for...

The Maryland Jockey Club has cancelled Friday's races at Laurel Park after a winter storm dropped several inches of snow across Northern and Central Maryland, the club said in a release early Friday morning. Dangerous driving conditions has also caused simulcast wagering to be cancelled at both Laurel and Pimlico Race Course. The Saturday card with a 10-race program, including four stakes highlighted by the $100,000 What A Summer and $100,000 Fire Plug, will start at noon ET. Several tracks, including Oaklawn Park and Turfway Park, were forced to cancel...

   This story is a deeper dive into the joint press release issued earlier Jan. 5 by The Stronach Group, the Maryland Jockey Club, and the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority. The latest recommendation in a years-long attempt by multiple stakeholders to consolidate Maryland racing at a single, reimagined racetrack now calls for a project dubbed "Pimlico Plus," with racing centered in Baltimore and supported by the construction of a new training facility elsewhere in the state, according to a report issued by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA)...

Forty-two starts into his career and with 25 wins, Greeley and Ben (Greeley's Conquest) is in top form as he will look to close out 2023 with a win over four rivals in Saturday's Gravesend S. at Aqueduct. It will, however, be his last ever start at an NYRA track, where horses who are 10 or older are not allowed to compete. That's fine with his connections. They can race him next year at just about anywhere else and are confident that the story of one of the true iron...

Ronald "Ronnie" C. Cartwright, a Maryland-based trainer who conditioned multiple graded-stakes winners throughout his career, passed away Nov. 11 at the age of 93. A steeplechase jockey who then trained from the late 1960's through 2005, Cartwright won almost 700 races and his horses earned more than $13 million. His graded-stakes winners included Mz. Zill Bear (Salutely), Castelets (King's Bishop), Miss Slewpy (Slewpy), Palliser Bay (Frosty the Snowman) and Mymet (Mehmet). "I've been in this for 60 years and will miss it," Cartwright said soon after he retired in 2005....

Highlighted by a Winter Carnival program featuring the GIII Barbara Fritchie S. and GIII General George S., as well as the start of Maryland's series for 3-year-olds leading up to the 149th GI Preakness S., Laurel Park will offer 17 stakes worth $1.8 million in purses during its 2024 winter meet. The 38-day winter meet begins Friday, Jan. 5, running Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Saturday, Mar. 30. Daily post time is 12:25 p.m. There will be no live racing Easter Sunday, Mar. 31. Stakes action kicks off Jan. 20...