Pimlico offers five turf stakes on closing weekend

Pimlico will conclude its meet Sunday, and Maryland racing will shift to Laurel Park next Friday. Laurel will race the remainder of the year, except for a brief break for the Timonium fair meet, which runs from Aug. 26 through Sept. 5.

Pimlico has five turf stakes scheduled for Saturday, two for Maryland-breds and three for Virginia-bred or Virginia-sired runners.

The $75,000 Maryland-bred stakes will be run at 1 1/8 miles. The Find is for 3-year-olds and up, and the All Brandy is for fillies and mares.

The $60,000 Virginia-restricted stakes are the Edward Evans for 3-year-olds and up and the Nellie Mae Cox for fillies and mares – both at 1 1/16 miles on grass – and the White Oak Farm, a five-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and up.

The Maryland jockey colony is one of the most competitive in the East, and with three days left in the meet, four riders have a chance at the title.

Coming into the Friday card, Victor Carrasco leads the pack with 24 wins. Feargal Lynch and Trevor McCarthy are tied for second with 23, and Jevian Toledo is fourth with 21.

Lynch, who has had an excellent meet after moving to Maryland from Florida in mid-March, is the elder statesman of the group at 37. Carrasco is 23, McCarthy just turned 22, and Toledo is 21.

◗ Jockey Sheldon Russell had hoped to resume riding this week, but his doctors want to monitor his surgically repaired shoulder for another month, according to his agent, Marty Leonard.

Russell has not ridden since being injured in a training accident Nov. 9. He won the 2015 Laurel Park winter-meet title and in 2011 was the leading rider at all three Maryland meets. He led the Pimlico standings in 2013.