Silmaril seeks million in Maryland

Due and Play Bingo, both attempting to win the Maryland Million Classic for a second time, and Silmaril, seeking to attain millionaire status, top a group of 154 horses pre-entered Friday for next weekend's Maryland Million.

A record $1.7 million in purses in 12 races will be offered to the offspring of Maryland stallions on Saturday at Laurel Park.

The featured $300,000 Classic, one of five Maryland Million races to receive a purse boost, will feature the past two winners of the 1 3/16-mile race, Due and Play Bingo. The expected field of eight will also include Southern California shipper Frank the Barber, who won the Pomona Derby at Fairplex Park on Sept. 22.

Silmaril, an 11-time stakes winner with $946,153 in earnings, headlines the undercard. Trained by Chris Grove, she will seek to pass $1 million in earnings and become the fifth three-time winner of a Maryland Million race when she runs in the $150,000 Distaff.