Laurel Park

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...

When Penn National shut down for a one-month planned break Sept. 23, Tyler Conner, the track's third-leading rider this year in both wins and earnings, wasn't sure what he'd do to keep his income flowing. Yet the 30-year-old jockey, who is soft-spoken but highly driven, managed to build enough out-of-town business to the point where he has just completed a demanding six-day run of riding at six different tracks in the Northeast and Canada. His whirlwind tour included more than 1,800 miles of driving, nearly all of which he accomplished...

The longest shot on the board got elevated to victory via disqualification of the 5-1 rival who beat him by a neck in the featured $150,000 Classic S. on the 38th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million program Saturday at Laurel Park. Ain't Da Beer Cold (Freedom Child), dismissed by the betting public at 36-1, led the field until the quarter pole under Jevian Toledo when Market Maven (Super Ninety Nine) seemingly put him away. But Ain't Da Beer Cold refused to quit, digging in and reclaiming the lead a half-furlong...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be present at this year's Maryland Million Day at Laurel Park on Saturday, Oct. 14, the equine advocate said in a release Thursday afternoon. On a day designed to promote and celebrate Maryland breeding and racing, the TAA will be recognized, along with Maryland Jockey Club, with a named race. Following the running of the Maryland Jockey Club S., a presentation will be made to the winning connections including a branded Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance blanket and swag bag. "The Maryland Jockey Club is honored to...

Betty McCue has been selected as the winner of the Maryland Million 2023 Joe Kelly Unsung Hero Award. Presented by the Board of Directors of Maryland Million Ltd, the award honors the memory of Maryland Million publicist Joe Kelly and celebrates important characteristics that are valuable, but sometimes go overlooked. McCue runs EHM Stables with her sister, Evelyn Martin, offering lessons, boarding, lay-ups, sales and leases. In addition, McCue is very active in pony racing. She maintains a large stable of ponies and is an avid participant in the U.S....

Partnerships in racing are nothing new. The days are upon us where programs are filled with syndicates and lists of names that can rival even the race entries themselves. It's a way to spread risk, cost and reward across multiple parties while increasing the comradery of racing. And while those partnerships are oftentimes consolidated in the form of a sale at the end of a horse's career, the 2023 Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover event has given opportunity for new kinds of teams to form, even across industries. Enter Gina...

Set to take place Oct. 17 at Laurel Park, the 38th Jim McKay Maryland Million has attracted 281 pre-entries with defending champions MSW Ournationparade (Cat Nation) and MSW & MGSP Fille d'Esprit (Great Notion) leading the fields. Ournationonparade is one of 21 Classic pre-entries, eight of whom are Maryland-bred but not Maryland-sired, while last year's Maryland Million Distaff winner, and reigning Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, Fille d'Esprit highlights 23 pre-entries in the Distaff, 18 of whom are Maryland-sired. Maryland-bred horses may participate in a Maryland Million race if less...

Dear Thoroughbred racing participants, HISA's most important mission is to protect the health and wellbeing of the horses participating in Thoroughbred racing. Over the past few months, the challenges of that mission--and the critical importance of it--have never been more apparent. The events at Churchill Downs, Laurel Park and Saratoga Race Course this spring and summer were a sobering reminder that we must further prioritize creating a culture of safety and an ecosystem of care that takes into account all factors contributing to equine fatalities. And it is the responsibility...

As Tuesday's entry time looms, the GI Travers S. is shaping up as a rare showdown of the three winners of this season's Triple Crown races. That's happened only five times since 1978, and on no occasion during the last 45 years when the winners of those spring Classics all graced the starting gate for Saratoga's "Midsummer Derby" has any one of them emerged victorious. That's a fairly daunting stat considering how the match-up of the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S. winners is essentially what...

Jamie Ness was the leading trainer and Jaime Rodriguez was the top jockey at the Laurel Park summer meet which concluded Sunday. Ness saddled 27 winners at the 33-day stand, while Brittany Russell was second in the standings with 22 wins. Rodriguez outdistanced five-pound apprentice Axel Concepcion, 39-29, to finish as leading rider. Ness and Rodriguez put an exclamation point on their meet with a Sunday hat trick--Madison Avenue Racing Stable, Inc. and Jagger Inc.'s Liberty Star in Race 5, Double B Racing Stables' My Boy Colton in Race 6...

Joining an ever-growing list of tracks to cancel their programs to start the weekend, Delaware Park will follow suit and reschedule their Saturday live racing card due to the excessive heat forecasted for the region, the track said in a release Friday. Acting upon the recommendation of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC) veterinarians, the entire July 29 live racing card will be transferred to Friday, Aug. 4. The national weather service has predicted temperatures in the 90s with a heat index of value approaching the mid-100s. Live racing is...