With horse racing facing an uncertain future due to the national health crisis, Laurel Park will soldier on Friday with a 10-race card that will be held before a spectator-free grandstand. Races 9 and 10 – an $8,000 claiming sprint and a $10,000 maiden claimer going 1 1/16 miles, with each having 10 betting interests – are scheduled to bookend the $1 Stronach 5, which has a 12 percent takeout and a guaranteed pool of $100,000. The interior slots will be filled with races from Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, and Golden Gate Fields. Race 9 has a post time of 5:29 p.m. Eastern, and the entire sequence should take just more than 30 minutes to complete. There is a Friday Rainbow 6 carryover of $18,132 at Laurel. The sequence includes race 5-10. Access to Maryland Jockey Club facilities is currently limited to essential racing personnel only. Owners are not permitted in the grandstand or the stable area. Race 8 at Laurel is a one-mile first-level allowance for 4-year-olds and up that should come down to Lucky Britches, part of a Jamie Ness-trained entry that has Trevor McCarthy named on both halves, and Star Sign, who trainer Robert Mosco will ship south from Parx Racing. With Parx and Penn National having temporarily suspended racing due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be plenty of Pennsylvania-based horses showing up in the Laurel entries moving forward. Ness claimed Lucky Britches on behalf of his Jagger Inc. for $16,000 at Parx in January. The 5-year-old has since made two starts in $25,000 starter races at Parx, finishing fourth on Jan. 28 and winning Feb. 17. The Lookin At Lucky gelding is 4 for 17 lifetime. Star Sign, a 4-year-old Verrazano gelding, won a $25,000 starter in mid-January and has since finished second in a pair of allowance races. He missed by a neck in his last start to Whistling Birds, who came back March 3 to win a second-level optional-claiming race at Parx by nine lengths at 2-1. Star Sign, who is 4 for 11, has been steadily improving for Mosco and holds the upper hand Friday. His regular jockey, Anthony Salgado, will be in to ride. Star Sign’s recent mid-80s Beyer Speed Figures and the 89 Lucky Britches earned in his last start are superior to the other six members of the field. In race 9, the first leg of the Stronach 5, Midnight Cry and High Roller guarantee the six-furlong race will have a quick pace. If they compromise each other, the race could set up for E J’s Revenge to come from just off the pace. E J’s Revenge races for Joseph Taylor, who dominated the Parx trainer standings in 2019 and leads the pack again this year. In race 10, Bill Mott has a rare Laurel starter in Ihadadream, who is dropping to the $10,000 maiden-claiming level following a fourth-place finish in a $25,000 race at Aqueduct. Johnny Jiggle, who Ness drops from a $20,000 maiden claimer at Parx, is the horse to beat. Johnny Jiggle will be ridden by hot seven-pound apprentice rider Charlie Marquez, whose father is jockey Carlos Marquez Jr. Charlie Marquez, 17, posted his second riding triple in a week at Laurel on Sunday and is currently third in the standings behind veterans McCarthy and Alex Cintron. ◗ The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Maryland Jockey Club have started a text alert system to keep interested parties aware of developments in Maryland racing. To sign up go to https://go.aws/39ZbL2C.