Post time moves to 12:25 p.m. for the duration of the calendar year-ending fall meet starting with the return of live racing to Laurel Park Thursday, Oct. 22, to open Maryland Million weekend.
Limited to a maximum of 250 persons, Laurel will open its doors at 11:30 a.m. to spectators, who must enter through the clubhouse entrance, have their temperature taken and maintain social distancing guidelines.
Post time on Maryland Million Day, Saturday, Oct. 24, will be 11:25 a.m. Other exceptions come on Breeders' Cup Saturday, Nov. 7, and Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, also at 11:25 a.m.
Thursday's eight-race program is highlighted by a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the main track in Race 7. Among the field of seven are 2019 Sapling Stakes winner Big City Bob, most recently third in the Federico Tesio Sept. 7 at Laurel; Thundershook, a winner of three straight races and five of his last six; and two horses that were pre-entered in the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic – Galerio, a three-time winner from the last four starts, and Toughest 'Ombre, second in back-to-back races beaten less than a half-length combined.
Also on the card are maiden special weight events in Race 3 going seven furlongs for fillies and mares 3 and up led by Back Roads, a homebred son of Grade 1 winner Liam's Map making his race debut, and Pago Querido, a $235,000 2-year-old in training purchase last April; and Race 6, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for 2-year-olds featuring four first-time starters in the field of seven including Medaglia d'Oro homebred Filigree.
Race 5 is an entry-level optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track. Five of the seven entered are coming off maiden special weight wins including Whiskey and Rye, a daughter of Maclean's Music that fetched $150,000 out of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic 2-year-old in training sale in May at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.
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