Until last week, when the Maryland Jockey Club and its owners, MI Developments and Penn National Gaming, reached an agreement with the state’s horsemen, there was a veil of uncertainty whether there would be any live racing in Maryland in 2011. But Laurel Park will open its gates Saturday for a 49-day meet that runs through March 26, the start of a 146-day season divided into three meets at Laurel and Pimlico.

ARCADIA, Calif. − Comma to the Top, the top 3-year-old in California, will make his 2011 debut Feb. 12 in a stakes at Santa Anita or Golden Gate Fields.

Trainer Peter Miller said Wednesday that the $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita or the $200,000 El Camino Real Derby over 1 1/8 miles at Golden Gate Fields will be Comma to the Top’s next start.

The decision will be based on how Comma to the Top works later this month on Santa Anita’s newly installed sand-and-clay track, Miller said. The El Camino Real is run over a Tapeta synthetic surface.

Never Retreat and Category Seven are set to renew their New Orleans rivalry in the $60,000 Blushing K.D. Handicap on Saturday at Fair Grounds – but only if Mother Nature is in a benevolent mood.

The Blushing K.D. is carded for fillies and mares about 1 1/16 miles on turf, but a cold front is forecast to pass through New Orleans on Friday night, bringing with it a chance for the sort of heavy rain Fair Grounds has mainly dodged this meet. If the forecast holds, the Blushing K.D. will wind up on the main track, which will make for an entirely different race than the one on paper.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though pleased that Nicole H won last month’s Garland of Roses Handicap, jockey Ramon Dominguez was somewhat disappointed by the manner in which it was accomplished.

Hoping to get Nicole H to relax, Dominguez instead found himself and his filly dueling for the early lead. Nicole H was simply too good for the competition that day and drew away for a 2 1/2-length victory. Saturday, Dominguez may try to employ different tactics while hoping for the same result when Nicole H meets four opponents in the $65,000 Interborough Stakes over Aqueduct’s inner track.

When Western Prospector won a maiden race in his second start in April 2009 at Keeneland, covering six furlongs on Polytrack in a quick 1:09.64, he appeared a horse destined for stakes.

It’s just taken him while to make it there. But the time has finally come Saturday – 18 races after that maiden win – when he squares off against Tend and five other rivals in his first stakes appearance in the $50,000 Holiday Cheer at Turfway Park.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Arthur’s Tale has the pedigree, connections, and price tag to be a significant horse. A nonfactor in his first three starts, Arthur’s Tale stepped up with a visually impressive maiden victory when stretched out around two turns for the first time in his last outing.

On Saturday, Arthur’s Tale moves into stakes company for the first time when he meets six rivals in the $65,000 Count Fleet – the first dirt stakes of the year for 3-year-olds – at a mile and 70 yards over Aqueduct’s inner track.

MIAMI – The American Graded Stakes Committee stripped Calder’s next renewal of the Stage Door Betty Handicap of its graded status last month. But from the looks of the field for this edition of the Stage Door Betty, to be run Saturday, the committee just might want to re-evaluate its decision.

The Stage Door Betty was moved from its original spot on Dec. 18 to New Year’s Day, but because it had been scheduled to be run in 2010, the committee has allowed it to remain a Grade 3 for Saturday’s running. It will be ungraded when it is run next.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Harmonious won two Grade 1 stakes on turf for 3-year-old fillies in 2010, earning a reputation as one of the top members of her generation. Expect her to solidify that status in a small field in Saturday’s $150,000 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita.

STICKNEY, Ill. -- Hawthorne Race Course canceled its Thursday program before post time because of thawing conditions the track feared would be dangerous.

At 1 p.m. Central,  the temperature at nearby Midway airport was 43 degrees, by far the warmest day in December, with melting snow and ice leading to soggy conditions.

A pair of Grade 2 events during the President’s Day holiday weekend, the Barbara Fritchie Handicap for fillies and mares and the General George Handicap for older males, highlight 15 stakes that Laurel Park will hold during its 49-day winter meet that begins Saturday.

The Barbara Fritchie, on Feb. 19, and the General George two days later are both seven-furlong sprints worth $150,000.

The remainder of the stakes will be worth $75,000 apiece, a bump of $25,000 each from a year ago.