Classic high point of Maryland Million card

Maryland has the Preakness, Black-Eyed Susan, Barbara Fritchie, and De Francis Dash, but to some in the local racing community the Maryland Million is the highlight of the year. On Saturday, Laurel Park will honor its Maryland-sired runners for the 33rd time with a 12-race card that will offer more than $1 million in purses.

“It’s fun to win on Maryland Million Day, to beat your friends and competitors,” said Mike Pons, who operates Country Life Farm with his brother Josh. “It kind of validates what you do every day.”

The Maryland Million comprises seven stakes and four starter handicaps. Field size is strong this year with 129 entrants in the body of the races, an average of 10.75 horses per race.

This has been a difficult fall meet at Laurel because heavy rain has saturated the turf, which is the heart of the track’s racing program. Through Thursday, only a single grass race had been held since Oct. 4. Sal Sinatra, president of the Maryland Jockey Club, is confident the five turf races scheduled for Saturday will go off as planned.

“One of the turns is still a little soft, but we should be in good shape for Friday and fine on Saturday,” Sinatra said. “I just didn’t want to chew the course up for two days before Million.”

In a new Million Day twist, a concert is scheduled on track property. The Clubhouse Festival, an electronic music gathering, will be held in a venue built in the parking lot outside the clubhouse turn. This is similar to the concerts Gulfstream Park holds on Pegasus Day. Both tracks are owned by The Stronach Group.

“We’re trying to marry entertainment and racing together,” Sinatra said. “We’re trying to make event days here at Laurel.”

Although the festival headliner, the DJ Deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”) canceled his performance earlier this week, a crowd of 5,000 to 6,000 is expected, according to Sinatra.

The races and concert both begin at noon, with the festival expected to run until about 9:30 p.m.

The $150,000 Maryland Million Classic has drawn a competitive field of 10 Maryland-sired runners, with three Maryland-bred horses on the also-eligible list, including last year’s Classic winner Bonus Points. The also-eligibles will be allowed into the race only if the field scratches down to five or fewer, driving home the point that Million Day is all about horses sired by Maryland stallions.

The top Classic contenders include Clubman, Saratoga Bob, and Admiral Blue.

Clubman, who is trained by Jonathan Maldonado, enters off a close second in an open second-level optional-claiming race. The 4-year-old son of Not For Love is 5 for 20 in his career.

“Clubman is a beautiful horse,” Maldonado said. “He’s working really good and I expect a big race from him. He can race close to the pace or farther back, but I expect him to be close to the front Saturday.”

Saratoga Bob finished fifth in the off-the-turf Find Stakes in his last start but there are reasons to believe he might improve in the Classic for trainer Katie Voss.

“The Find was not a particularly good spot for him, but he had trouble with the heat this summer and we needed a race so we ran him there,” Voss said. “He came out of it really well.”

Rudy Rodriguez sends in Admiral Blue from New York. He has been competing against nonwinners-of-three $50,000 claiming runners but has speed, which makes him dangerous.

The $100,000 Sprint Handicap and the $100,000 Distaff have two of the heavier favorites on the card, Lewisfield and Crabcakes - both 4-year-olds by Great Notion.

Lewisfield is based at Charles Town with Jeff Runco. He will carry 126 pounds in the six-furlong Sprint and concede from eight to 16 pounds to his seven rivals. Lewisfield won the open Polynesian at Laurel in August and the Maryland-bred Not For Love in March.

If Laki is lucky enough to draw in from the also-eligibles, he could go favored. He also is assigned 126.

Crabcakes is the 123-pound highweight in the seven-furlong Distaff. Trained by Penn National-based Bernie Houghton, she is 8 for 14 in her career and 6 for 8 at Laurel.

Anna’s Bandit, the second highweight at 120, comes back on short rest for Jerry Robb after finishing third in the West Virginia Cavada Breeders Classic at Charles Town last Saturday. She also is a 4-year-old by Great Notion.