Reigning state-bred Horse of the Year, Post Time, entered in MM Classic. (Jeffrey Snyder /TMJC)
40th Jim McKay Maryland Million Attracts 244 Pre-Entries
Laurel Park to host Saturday, October 11 with Race Day Dining Package
Dan Illman/Laurel Park
LAUREL, Md.— “Maryland’s Day at the Races,” the Jim McKay Maryland Million at Laurel Park on Saturday, October 11, attracted 244 pre-entries, including 2024 winners Foxy Junior and Shkhara Fire.
Entries will be taken, and post positions drawn on Sunday, October 5. Post time on Maryland Million Day is 11:30 a.m. ET. Gates open at Laurel Park at 10:00 a.m.
The richest race on the program, the $150,000 Classic going 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds and up, drew 17 pre-entries, including multiple stakes-winner Barbadian Runner.
Cross-entered in the Sprint, Barbadian Runner recently captured the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes at Charles Town for owner AJ Will Win Stables and trainer Henry Walters. Other notable pre-entries include Mosler Time, Mugatu, andHittheroadjak, who finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, in last year’s Classic.
Five Maryland-bred horses are pre-entered in the Classic, including the reigning state-bred Horse of the Year, Post Time. Horses that are Maryland-bred but not Maryland Million-eligible may only participate in a Maryland Million race if fewer than eight Maryland Million-eligible horses are entered.
Nineteen horses pre-entered the $125,000 Turf for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/8 miles on turf. Among them are 2024 runner-up Sky’s Not Falling, and Crabs N Beer, third in this race in 2022 and 2024.
Precious Avary, one of 21 fillies and mares that pre-entered the $125,000 Ladies at 1 1/16 miles on turf, hopes to continue her string of good Maryland Million performances. The winner of this race in 2023 and last year’s runner-up, Precious Avary finished second in Monmouth’s Pinot Grigio Handicap on September 13 for owner Smith Farm and Stable, and trainer Tim Shaw.
Foxy Junior scoring the 2024 MM Distaff. (Jim McCue/MJC)
Foxy Junior, one of 25 pre-entries for the $100,000 Distaff for fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs on dirt, is expected to defend her title after grabbing her prep race, the $100,000 Twixt Stakes at Laurel on September 6. A homebred owned by Dianne Stern and trained by Bernie Houghton, Foxy Junior has banked $452,669.
The $100,000 Turf Sprint for 3-year-olds and upward at 5 ½ furlongs enticed 17 pre-entries. Witty won this race in 2023 and is looking to rebound after finishing eighth as the favorite in last year’s Turf Sprint. Had to Have Him, third last year, enters the 2025 edition in raging form after taking the $100,000 Laurel Dash on September 13.
Twenty-one prospective runners pre-entered the $100,000 Sprint. Freeze the Fire, third in this race last year, is among the notable names, along with multiple stakes-winner Twisted Ride.
Juveniles take center stage in the $100,000 Nursery for 2-year-olds and $100,000 Lassie for 2-year-old fillies, both sprinting six furlongs. Among the 31 Nursery pre-entries are Live Stream, the recent winner of the Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile at Presque Isle Downs, and impressive Delaware debut winners Big Cuddle and Buds Notion, both trained by Gary Capuano. The Lassie’s 24 pre-entries are led by the unbeaten Just Philtored and stakes-placed Slewperstitus.
Rounding out the program are four Maryland Million Starter Handicaps. Two of them, the $50,000 Turf Starter for 3-year-olds and upward, and the $50,000 Turf Distaff Starter for fillies and mares, are contested at 1 1/16 miles. On dirt, the $40,000 Maryland Million Distaff Starter for fillies and mares, and the Maryland Million Starter for 3-year-olds and up, are run at seven furlongs.
Jevian Toledo aboard Intrepid Daydream after his third of four wins of the day with the 2023 MM Distaff. (MJC Photo)
With a winner on last year’s program, Jevian Toledo moved into a tie for most victories among Maryland Million jockeys with Hall of Famer Edgar Prado.
John “Jerry” Robb is the leading active trainer in Maryland Million history. His 12 wins place him three behind all-time leader Dale Capuano.
Great Notion, Maryland’s leading sire since 2016 and based at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md., has produced at least one Maryland Million winner for 15 consecutive years, a streak continued by Starstruck Notion (Turf) and Brilliant Ice (Classic) in 2024. Represented by 25 pre-entries, his 22 wins have him tied for second with Allen’s Prospect behind all-time Maryland Million leading sire Not For Love (37).
Named for the late Hall of Fame and 13-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster who helped launch the groundbreaking concept in 1986, the Jim McKay Maryland Million has evolved into the second-biggest day on the state’s racing calendar behind only the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
“Maryland’s Day at the Races” celebrates the stallions that stand in the state, as well as its rich and diverse racing history, which dates to the founding of the Maryland Jockey Club in 1743 and has spawned copycat events across the United States and Canada.
