Post Time hopes to keep perfect record at Laurel Park with win in the $150,000 Milton P. Higgins III Maryland Million Classic. (Jerry Dzierwinski/TMJC)
“Maryland’s Day at the Races” at Laurel Park on Saturday
> Strong Field Entered in MM Sprint
> Gary Capuano’s Two Strong MM Nursery Hopes
Dan Illman/Laurel Park/Edited
LAUREL, Md.— Post Time, the reigning Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, is the headline attraction for Saturday’s 40th edition of the Jim McKay Maryland Million, presented by Brown Advisory.
Special first post for the 12-race program is 11:30 a.m. ET. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. ET. On the wagering side, Laurel Park offers two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout rate. The Early “Value Pick 5” spans races 1 through 5, while the Late “Value Pick 5” sequence comprises races 8 through 12. Additionally, races 9 through 12 make up an All-Stakes Pick 4 wager with an estimated $100,000 pool.
Listed as the 3-5 morning line favorite, Post Time drew post five in the featured tenth race, the $150,000 Milton P. Higgins III Maryland Million Classic for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/8 miles.
Trained by Brittany Russell for Mrs. Ellen Charles’s Hillwood Stable, Post Time is unbeaten from 10 prior outings at Laurel Park. The winner of last year’s Grade 3 General George Stakes at Laurel, he dominated the previous two editions of the Polynesian Stakes here by a combined 28 ½ lengths. Two weeks ago, Post Time finished third of three in the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct, 4 ¼ lengths behind the victorious Locked.
Post Time will be piloted by regular rider Sheldon Russell, and is the Classic high weight at 124 lbs.
“It’s the same thing with Post Time,” Brittany Russell said. “It’s home. He’s good here. We’re running him back in two weeks. Hopefully, he responds to that. It’s a little bit of a tricky situation for us, but he’s a good horse, and I think he’ll show up regardless.”
Blue Kingdom is the 5-1 second choice on the morning line. A 4-year-old gelding by First Mondays, Blue Kingdom captured his last three starts by a combined 16 ¾ lengths, including a gate-to-wire romp in a $50,000 starter allowance at Delaware on Sept. 25. Trained by Jamie Ness for Darryl Abramowitz’s DEA Thoroughbred Racing, Blue Kingdom breaks from post six under Mychel Sanchez, will carry 120 lbs., and looms the controlling speed in the race.
Blue Kingdom was claimed by Ness out of a victory in a $30,000 “non-two” claimer on July 30, the horse’s first start following a seven-month layoff.
“We saw a Maryland-bred off a layoff. We took a shot,” Ness said. “He still has all his conditions. Maryland Million, it’s the big day for Maryland, so we always try to take chances in these races. Post Time is a Grade 1 horse, and we’re still an entry-level allowance horse, so it’s a tall task. He’ll get the old litmus test.”
Barbadian Runner, the third choice on the line at 6-1, breaks from post position two under Forest Boyce. Trained by Henry Walters for AJ Will Win Stables, Barbadian Runner is a 3-year-old gelding by Barbados. A four-time stakes-winner this year, all against open company, Barbadian Runner recently won the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for 3-year-olds racing seven furlongs at Charles Town. Barbadian Runner carries 121 lbs. in the Classic.
First preference in the Jim McKay Maryland Million races goes to horses that are Maryland-sired. If there are fewer than eight Maryland-sired entrants in a race, then Maryland-bred runners are included in the body of the field. With fewer than eight Maryland-sired entrants in the Milton P. Higgins III Memorial Maryland Million Classic, both Post Time and Secret Zipper were allowed to enter.
All the Hardways, the lone Also Eligible in the lineup, will compete if there is a race-day scratch, and it appears there will be an opportunity, as Ness mentioned that Feeling Woozy is an uncertain starter, and that trainer Gary Capuano will scratch Secret Zipper, and is unlikely to run Sacred Thunder.
All the Hardways is conditioned by John “Jerry” Robb, who holds the all-time Jim McKay Maryland Million record for wins by an active trainer.
2025 Maryland Million Classic Field
Strong Field Entered in MM Sprint
A strong field of nine entered the $100,000 Fair Hill Training Center Maryland Million Sprint for 3-year-olds and upward at six furlongs.
Haileysfirstnotion hit the board in eight of nine starts for Gary Capuano and owners Daniel Crowley and Non Stop Stable. The 4-year-old Great Notion gelding just missed in a restricted allowance at Delaware on Sept. 14.
“He ran a great race again,” Capuano said. “It’s a shame he didn’t win. Hopefully, he makes amends. No Lasix for these horses, and for him, it might make a difference. We’ll see. He’s been rock-solid all year.”
Slam Notion nabbed the restricted Star de Naskra Stakes for 3-year-olds at Colonial on July 12. Two starts later, he won a high-level allowance there. Both of those races were at seven furlongs over wet tracks.
“He’s about as honest as they come,” said trainer Bailes. “Can’t say enough good things about him. He gives you what he’s got all the time.”
Multiple stakes-winner Twisted Ride looks like a tough customer shipping in from his Parx base for trainer Mike Moore. A 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred gelding by Great Notion, Twisted Ride hasn’t won in over a year, but placed in two stakes during that time period, including a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga during the summer of 2024.
Freeze the Fire was third in this race last year, and Salzman Jr. claimed him for $20,000 out of a winning effort at Timonium with plans to run in this year’s event.
“Every time they [ran] him in a stake, he runs his best race,” Salzman Jr. noticed. “I thought maybe the Lasix is drawing him up and hurting him. But when I claimed him, he won that day, and I scoped him, and he did bleed. So, I’ve been really working on that horse. I bought a salt machine, and I’ve been working on him pretty hard. I breezed him and told jockey Jeiron Barbosa to go in 1:02, and he worked a half-mile, and galloped out in 59. I gave Barbosa hell, and he told me that he did it so easy.”
Wickeddevine makes his second start of the year for trainer Cox and Bonuccelli Racing after finishing third, beaten a half-length, in a state-sired allowance on Sept. 20.
“We really thought he would win,” Cox said. “He ran his eyeballs out in between and impressed us again.”
That was his first start following a 321-day layoff.
“He had some baby stuff, and we gave him time,” Cox said. “No surgery. I thought he was the best 2-year-old of the crop. He did everything the way he was supposed to. We kicked him out, brought him back, he’s worked bullets, and we’ve never really sat him down. I think he’s going to turn out to be a nice horse.”
Gary Capuano’s Two Strong MM Nursery Hopes
Gary Capuano seems to have the bases covered in the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Maryland Million Nursery for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.
Pocket 3s Racing’s Big Cuddle came from off the pace to win his debut, a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight at Delaware on Sept. 11.
“He ran a really nice race,” Capuano said. “He had shown some talent. He didn’t break quick enough. He got a decent trip, but he came from off the pace. He gained some experience, got a little dirt in his face, and started putting things together. He’s been breezing well.”
Conversely, Buds Notion led at every call when graduating in his Delaware debut nine days later. Owned by Pinochle Partners, Buds Notion drew off in the stretch to score by 5 ½ lengths.
“He’s been quick in the mornings,” Capuano noted. “We expected, as long as he broke well, that he’d be out there. He cruised along and was a little green, laying in a bit through the stretch and looking around.”
Both Big Cuddle and Buds Notion are by Great Notion.
Lundi Loot breaks from the inside post for trainer Lynn Ashby. A gelding by First Mondays, Lundi Loot adds blinkers for the first time after finishing second in an open “non-two” allowance at Delaware on Sept. 28.
Code of Silence is still a maiden, but he finished third in the restricted First Dash Stakes at Delaware on Sept. 14, three lengths behind runner-up Lundi Loot.
“He’s just like a diesel engine,” said trainer Keefe. “It takes a little bit of time to get going. He’s a big boy. He’s a lot like his half-brother, [stakes winner] Tattooed. I would love to see him go a little bit farther in distance. Hopefully, there will be a quick pace. I don’t think he’ll be too far off it, but he’ll definitely come running at the end.
The Fasig-Tipton Maryland Million Nursery drew an overflow field of 16. Feels So Right and Flatter My Dad are on the Also Eligible list.
Maryland Million Nursery Field
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 $40,000 Maryland Million Starter for 3-year-olds and up, are run at seven furlongs.
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.
