Preakness to top 120 racing days at Laurel

The Maryland Jockey Club announced Thursday that it has received approval from the Maryland Racing Commission to conduct 120 days of live racing at Laurel Park in 2026. Mirroring this year’s racing calendar, races will be run at the track from January to June and will resume in September after a summer hiatus.

The most notable date on the Maryland racing calendar in 2026 will be Saturday, May 16, when Laurel will host the Preakness Stakes for the first time in the track’s history. It will be the first time since 1909 that the race is run outside Pimlico, which is currently under reconstruction and is expected to reopen in 2027.

Races have already been scheduled for Laurel’s winter meet, which will begin on Friday, Jan. 9, and run through Sunday, March 29. Racing will be conducted on Fridays and Saturdays in January and will extend to Sundays in February.

The first $100,000 races in Laurel’s 3-year-old stakes program, the Spectacular Bid for colts and geldings and Xtra Heat for fillies, are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31. The Miracle Wood and Wide Country will be run on Saturday, Feb. 21, followed by the Private Terms and Beyond the Wire on Saturday, March 21.

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The series of stakes will eventually culminate with the Federico Tesio and Weber City Miss during Laurel’s spring meet in April. The winners of those races will earn automatic berths in the Preakness and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan, respectively. Over the course of the four prep races, the 3-year-old males will progressively stretch out from seven furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, while fillies will start at six furlongs and stretch out to 1 1/16 miles.

In recent years, Laurel’s winter meet has been a common battleground for trainers Jamie Ness and Brittany Russell, who have finished first and second in order in each meet since 2023. Since 2022, Russell has consistently gotten the better of Ness at Laurel’s fall meet, which will return in 2026 and begin after the Maryland State Fair at Timonium concludes in late August.

The Maryland Jockey Club also announced a card featuring four stakes on Valentine’s Day, including the $200,000 General George for older sprinters and $200,000 Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares. Both races will be run at seven furlongs.

Laurel will host the “February First Chance Last Chance” Handicapping Tournament for the card, featuring a $500 buy-in. Prizes include a full seat to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and two prize packs for the National Handicapping Championship, which will be held at Caesars Horseshoe Las Vegas in March.

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