Six $100,000 Stakes, 2023 MJC Racing Calendar Giveaway
Friday Carryovers in Rainbow 6, Late Pick 5, Super Hi-5
Laurel Park to Honor Retiring Trainer Capuano Saturday

BALTIMORE – Delayed four days due to severe winter weather, Laurel Park will host six $100,000 stakes and a racing calendar giveaway Friday as part of its 11-race Christmastide Day program.

A total of 109 horses were entered on the card, which begins with a special early post time of 11:25 a.m.

Stakes action begins in Race 4 with the seven-furlong Heft for 2-year-olds, where Prince of Jericho is the 8-5 program favorite to run his win streak to three after back-to-back victories by 17 combined lengths.

Juvenile fillies take the spotlight in Race 5, the seven-furlong Gin Talking, where undefeated Malibu Moonshine chases her third straight win and second in a stakes following the Dec. 3 Maryland Juvenile Fillies at Laurel.

Fille d’Esprit seeks her 13th career win, sixth in a stakes and third in a row in the 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move (Race 7) for fillies and mares 3 and up against such rivals as multiple stakes winners Dontletsweetfoolya an Swayin to and Fro and Grade 2-placed Union Lake.

The six-furlong Dave’s Friend (Race 8) for 3-year-olds and up attracted a field of 11 including Grade 3 winner Jaxon Traveler, defending champion Threes Over Deuces, July 16 Frank J. De Francis Memorial winner Beren and stakes winners Karan’s Notion, Wendell Fong and Kenny Had a Notion, and Factor It In, third by a neck and a half-length, respectively, in successive Grade 3 stakes at Aqueduct.

Eleven horses were also entered in the Carousel (Race 9) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles led by multiple stakes winners Hybrid Eclipse and Malibu Beauty; Out of Sorts, exiting a 10-length triumph in the Claiming Crown Tiara; and Grade 3-placed Cover Version.

The final stakes race on Maryland’s 2022 calendar, the Robert T. Manfuso (Race 10) for 3-year-olds and up at about 1 1/16 miles saw an overflow field of 12 entered including Oct. 22 Maryland Million Classic winner Ournationonparade; graded-stakes winners Ridin With Biden and newly minted millionaire Cordmaker; and Armando R, a winner of back-to-back stakes at Laurel.

Starting at noon in the grandstand, fans at Laurel can pick up a Maryland Jockey Club 2023 calendar, one per person, while supplies last.

Laurel Park to Honor Retiring Trainer Capuano Saturday

Laurel Park will honor Dale Capuano Saturday, closing day of the fall meet, on his retirement following a 41-year training career.

Saturday’s Race 4, a six-furlong claimer for fillies and mares 3 and up, has been named the Dale Capuano Retirement Classic.

Georganne Hale, vice president of racing operations for the Maryland Jockey Club, will lead a special presentation in the winner’s circle following the race.

Based in Maryland throughout his career, the 60-year-old Capuano is retiring following the New Year’s Eve program. He ranks 22nd among North American trainers with 3,661 career races and topped $1 million in season purse earnings 34 times, including each of the last 30 years. Capuano was the state’s year-end leading trainer eight times, owns a total of 31 meet titles at Laurel and historic Pimlico Race Course, and is also the all-time leading trainer in Maryland Million history with 15 wins.

Notes: There will be carryovers of $8,814.80 in the 50-cent Late Pick 5, $4,695.52 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $1,207.95 in the $1 Super Hi-5 for Friday’s Christmastide Stakes Day program. Tickets with four of five winners in Thursday’s Late Pick 5 paid $163.20 while those with five of six winners in the Rainbow 6 were worth $1,461.90 … Friday’s Rainbow 6 sequence spans Races 6-11 and includes four of the six $100,00 stakes – the Willa On the Move (Race 7), Dave’s Friend (Race 8), Carousel (Race 9) and Robert T. Manfuso (Race 10).