The 40th edition of the Jim McKay Maryland Million returns to Laurel Park on Saturday. The 12-race showcase became the nation’s first statewide Breeders’ Cup spinoff in 1986 and remains Laurel’s biggest date on its annual racing calendar. First post is 11:30 am ET with 134 horses passing the entry box among 8 stakes and a quartet of starter handicaps.
Let’s meet the contenders for the Maryland Million Day stakes fest:
POST TIME (pictured): Laurel superstar headlines the Race 11 Classic in search of 11 straight wins over the home track without a loss. This time a year ago, the $1.4 million earner was preparing for his second-place run in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Brittany Russell trains the 5-year-old by Frosted, whose 2025 ledger includes a third-place finish in the Blame at Churchill Downs behind last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and a recent third in the Woodward in New York behind Breeders’ Cup Classic prospect Locked. Sheldon Russell rides Laurel’s 2-time Polynesian Stakes winner (by 28-1/2 combined lengths).
WITTY: The Race 2 Maryland Million Turf Sprint could come down to a furious finish if this 6-year-old’s style and history have its expected say. The Elizabeth Merryman trainee has won 11 times with 11 seconds from 34 starts – the vast majority of those wild rallies from far back. He won the Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Preakness Week at Pimlico and Colonial Downs’ Van Clief this summer. A win Saturday puts him right at the doorstep of the $1 million career milestone and would give him a second crown in this race, having won it in 2023.
FOXY JUNIOR: Penn National-based mare has made the most of her Laurel appearances, winning all 3, including the 2024 Maryland Million Distaff, which she’s back to defend in Race 7. She’s since added the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes and the Twixt most recently by open lengths. Bernard Houghton trains the 11-time winner who would pass $500,000 in career earnings if successful Saturday in a rematch of last year’s top-4 finishers in the Distaff.
PRECIOUS AVARY: The 2023 Maryland Million Ladies winner on turf just missed by a neck when second in her title defense a year ago and is back for more Saturday in Race 10. The 5-year-old mare is a daughter of Divining Rod, third in American Pharoah’s 2015 Preakness score en route to the Triple Crown. This will be this Tim Shaw trainee’s fourth straight Maryland Million Day appearance, which includes a debut in the Lassie in 2022.
SKY’S NOT FALLING The 2022 Maryland Million Turf Sprint winner missed adding a second division to his ledger last year when falling a nose short in the Maryland Million Turf. The 7-year-old returns looking for that Turf title in Race 4. Mike Trombetta sends out the gelding in what will be his sixth straight Maryland Million appearance, dating back to the 2000 Nursery – earning more than $500,000 along the journey.
BARBADIAN RUNNER: 3-year-old may be the Race 11 Maryland Million Classic division’s heir apparent after 4 stakes wins on the sophomore campaign, including the Spectacular Bid and Miracle Wood locally. Shipped out of town to win Monmouth’s Jersey Derby and most recently Charles Town’s Robert R. Hilton Memorial Stakes for veteran trainer Henry Walters.
TWISTED RIDE: Third in the 2024 Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga, this Parx-based veteran was runner-up in the 2023 Maryland Million Sprint and makes his second appearance in the race. He’s a 4-time stakes winner over his local track in Philly and would surpass $700,000 in lifetime earnings with a victory in the Race 12 finale.
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