Four allowances on Laurel Park's card Saturday

Laurel Park doesn’t have a stakes Saturday, but the 11-race card is nevertheless interesting. It begins with the first 2-year-old race of the Maryland season and includes four allowance or optional-claiming races. Six of the races are scheduled for turf.

Race 8, a second-level optional claimer for fillies and mares at seven furlongs, will match the impressive comeback winner Shimmering Aspen against a pair of horses returning from layoffs, Midnight On Oconee and Great Soul.

Shimmering Aspen, a Malibu Moon filly, was purchased for $200,000 as a yearling in 2015. She was 1 for 2 last year and recently returned from a seven-month layoff to win a first-level optional-claiming sprint. Trained by Rodney Jenkins, she is the only 3-year-old in the field.

Midnight On Oconee finished second in both the Silverbulletday and Rachel Alexandra stakes last year at Fair Grounds. She will be making her first start since June for Larry Jones, who is 6 for 17 at the meet coming into the weekend.

Great Soul will be making her debut for trainer Tom Proctor and her first start in 13 months. Last year, when trained by Tim Keefe, she won the Wide Country Stakes and was second in the Caesar’s Wish at Laurel.

In race 4, a competitive second-level optional-claiming race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf, the main players look to be Conscription, Speak Up Sailor, and Giovanna Blues.

Conscription enters off a pair of runner-up finishes at Tampa Bay Downs for Graham Motion. Speak Up Sailor finished second in a similar race two weeks ago while making her Laurel debut for Michael Stidham.

Giovanna Blues will be making her first start since winning a first-level allowance over Tapeta at Woodbine in November. She is now in the stable of Michael Dickinson.