A crowd approaching 20,000 was on hand at Laurel Park Saturday for the 34th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million program.
A 13-time Emmy winning, Hall of Fame broadcasterMc Kay was the first person to conceive of a special state-bred program, to celebrate Thoroughbred racing in his home state.
The Maryland Million features that state’s sires and was the forerunner to similar programs elsewhere. Concurrently, New York held its New York Showcase Day program on the same afternoon.
Laurel Park distributed over $1 million in purses on a 12-race card that feature large-field, highly competitive events.
In the featured events, Mr. d’Angelo upset the Maryland Million Turf Stakes at 17-1 and Zonda denied My Sistersledge a repeat victory in the Ladies Stakes.
Forest Fire, from the barn of John Servis and ridden by Paco Lopez, took the Maryland Million Classic with a game stretch performance.
Total handle was $5.783 million, representing a 1.4-percent increase over last year’s renewal.
