Maryland Jockey Club | Horse Racing Free Tips

De Francis Dash Moves to Laurel Summer Meet

Laurel Park's summer meet stakes schedule–anchored by the repositioned $150,000 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash–features 14 stakes worth $1.3 million. The six-furlong DeFrancis has been moved from its traditional spot on Laurel's fall calendar and will be run July 16 this year.

Joining the De Francis on the July 16 program are the $100,000 Alma North S., the $100,000 Big Dreyfus S., and the $100,000 Prince George's County S. All four races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

The 37-day summer meet opens Friday and continues through Aug. 21. Racing will be conducted Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the summer meet, with a post time of 12:40 p.m. There will be a special Independence Day holiday program Monday, July 4.

The post De Francis Dash Moves to Laurel Summer Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Beyond the Wire Earns MJC Award of Merit

Beyond the Wire, a Maryland-based Thoroughbred aftercare program, will be honored with the Maryland Jockey Club's Special Award of Merit during the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Thursday.

The Special Award of Merit is presented to those who have made a positive impact on the racing industry. Past winners include Hall of Fame horsemen D. Wayne Lukas, Jerry Bailey, Ramon Dominguez and King Leatherbury; late Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim McKay, founder of the Maryland Million; and MJC track photographer Jim McCue.

“We are honored and really appreciate the recognition, as the program has been a big effort on the part of the Maryland racing industry,” Beyond the Wire's program administrator Jessica Hammond said. “Hopefully, the award will also provide an additional spotlight on the importance of aftercare.”

Launched in 2017, Beyond the Wire reached a milestone in mid-March when 5-year-old gelding Bundi Bundi trained by Pedro Nasario became the 500th horse to move through the program. Hammond said they have since added another 20 horses.

“It's a busy, busy program,” Hammond said. “The good news is that it shows that trainers are prioritizing a good aftercare program for their horses. People are even foregoing getting money for their horses so that they know that they are going to have a safe and secure retirement. Instead of risking having a horse end up in a bad spot, trainers are saying let me just retire them through Beyond the Wire.”

Beyond the Wire is an industry-wide initiative between the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Maryland Jockey Club, 1/ST Racing, Northview Stallion Station, Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland jockeys. The organization is a first exit from racing program designed to facilitate safe and enriching placements for retiring Maryland-based racehorses.

Annual pledges and donations, and owners' contributions of $11 per start, enables Beyond the Wire to place retired Thoroughbreds exclusively with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited farms. Horses that go through the program receive retraining and rehabilitation as needed.

Partner farms are MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, Foxie G Foundation, New Vocations, Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue, After the Races, Equine Rescue of Aiken and Life Horse.

Beyond the Wire will have an information table set up during the Sunrise at Old Hilltop tours which run from 6-9 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information on the program, visit: www.beyondthewire.org.

The post Beyond the Wire Earns MJC Award of Merit appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Music Fest Forces Maryland Summer Dates Switch

A two-day electronic dance music festival at Pimlico Race Course has forced a dates reshuffling of the first regularly scheduled summer race meet at the Baltimore track in 17 years.

The Aug. 6 and 7 Moonrise, which is billed as one of the premier “rave” gatherings on the East Coast, drew about 30,000 people to the Pimlico infield each summer between 2014 and 2019 with no conflicts to the horse racing schedule. That's because the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) at that time chose to race during the summer months at Pimlico's sister track, Laurel Park.

According to an approval unanimously voted in by the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) at its monthly meeting Tuesday, the nine race dates spanning Aug. 5-21 that were previously assigned to Pimlico will now revert to Laurel. After the seven-date Maryland State Fair meet at Timonium Aug. 26-Sept. 5, the circuit will move to Pimlico to run nine dates between Sept. 9 and 25. Then Laurel starts up again to race through the fall and winter.

In 2020, the Moonrise event was canceled because of COVID-19 restrictions. In 2021, Pimlico had to host racing from April through August because of the emergency closure at Laurel to install a new main track, but there was no conflict with the concert because it still couldn't be held under pandemic precautions.

In October of 2021, when the MRC approved a schedule of '22 race dates that included a regularly scheduled August meet at Pimlico for the first time since 2005, the status of the concert had not been known.

One of the intentions of moving the mid-summer meet from Laurel to Pimlico this year was to give Laurel's turf course a break during the hottest time of the year in Maryland.

Instead, Laurel will be running from June through August without a rest while going up against neighboring Colonial Downs in Virginia, which hosts a grass-centric summer meet spanning July 11-Sept. 7.

Moonrise will feature 50+ artists over two days, highlighted by Zedd, Rezz, Adventure Club, Excision, Chris Lake, Zeds Dead, FISHER, Moore Kismet, and Dom Dolla. Two-day general admission tickets start at $130.

Racing enthusiasts scanning the list of performers will note that one solo artist goes by the stage name “Trivecta.”

The post Music Fest Forces Maryland Summer Dates Switch appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Weather Delays Work on Pimlico Dirt Track

Due to a forecast for rain early next week, work on the Pimlico Race Course dirt surface has been rescheduled for Monday, April 25, through Wednesday, April 27. The work, which entails an examination of previous work done on the base at Pimlico in advance of the spring meet, was scheduled for Easter Sunday, April 17, through Tuesday, April 19.

Pimlico and Laurel already were scheduled to close for training on Easter. The Maryland Jockey Club also said that because of the forecast for rain, entries will not be taken for grass races that were scheduled for Thursday, April 21, and Friday, April 22.

The post Weather Delays Work on Pimlico Dirt Track appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post