Post Time hopes to maintain a perfect record at Laurel Park with a win in the $150,000 Milton P. Higgins III Maryland Million Classic. (Jerry Dzierwinski/TMJC)
“Maryland’s Day at the Races” at Laurel Park on Saturday
> Strong field entered in MM Sprint
>Gary Capuano’s two strong MM child hopes
Dan Illman/Laurel Park/Edited
LAUREL, Md.— Post timethe reigning Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, is the main attraction of Saturday’s 40th running of the Jim McKay Maryland Million, presented by Brown Advisory.
Special first post for the 12-race schedule is 11:30 a.m. ET. Gates open at 10:00 AM ET. On the betting side, Laurel Park offers two “Value Pick 5” bets, each with a low 12% takeout percentage. The early “Value Pick 5” includes races 1 through 5, while the late “Value Pick 5” series includes races 8 through 12. Additionally, races 9 through 12 constitute an All-Stakes Pick 4 bet with an estimated pool of $100,000.
Post Time was listed as a favorite on the morning line of 3-5 and finished in post five in the featured tenth race, the $150,000 Milton P. Higgins III Maryland Million Classic for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles.
Post Time was trained by Brittany Russell for Mrs. Ellen Charles’ Hillwood Stable and is undefeated in 10 previous appearances at Laurel Park. The winner of last year’s General George Stakes at Laurel, he dominated the previous two runnings of the Polynesian Stakes here by a combined 28 ½ lengths. Two weeks ago Post Time finished third of three in the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct, 4 ¼ lengths behind the victorious Locked.
Post Time is piloted by regular rider Sheldon Russell and is the Classic with a heavy weight of 124 lbs.
“It’s the same with Post Time,” Brittany Russell said. “It’s home. He’s good here. We’ll bring him back in two weeks. Hopefully he’ll respond to that. It’s a bit of a tricky situation for us, but he’s a good horse and I think he’ll show up no matter what.”
Blue kingdom is the 5-1 second choice on the morning line. Blue Kingdom, a four-year-old gelding by First Mondays, captured his last three starts by a combined 16 ¾ lengths, including a gate-to-wire romp in a $50,000 starter fee at Delaware on September 25. Blue Kingdom, trained by Jamie Ness for Darryl Abramowitz’s DEA Thoroughbred Racing, breaks from post six under Mychel Sanchez, will carry 120 lbs and looms large. controlling speed during the race.
Blue Kingdom was claimed by Ness after victory in a $30,000 “non-two” claimer on July 30, the horse’s first start after a seven-month layoff.
“We saw a Maryland bred after a layoff. We gave it a shot,” Ness said. “He still has all the conditions. Maryland Million, it’s the big day for Maryland, so we always try to take risks in these races. Post Time is a Grade 1 horse, and we’re still an entry-level horse, so it’s a tall order. He’ll get the old litmus test.”
Barbadian runnerthe third choice on the line at 6-1, breaks from post position two under Forest Boyce. Barbadian Runner is a 3-year-old gelding from Barbados, trained by Henry Walters for AJ Will Win Stables. Barbadian Runner was a four-time stakes winner this year, all against open company, and recently won the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for three-year-olds racing seven furlongs at Charles Town. Barbadian Runner carries 121 pounds. in Classical.
First preference in the Jim McKay Maryland Million races goes to horses that are Maryland sired. If fewer than eight Maryland-bred runners participate in a race, Maryland-bred runners will be included in the field. With fewer than eight Maryland participants in the Milton P. Higgins III Memorial Maryland Million Classic, both Post Time and Secret Zipper were allowed to compete.
All hard roadsthe only one eligible in the lineup will compete if there is a race day scratch, and it appears there will be a chance, as Ness said Feeling Woozy is an uncertain starter, and trainer Gary Capuano will scratch Secret Zipper, and is unlikely to run Sacred Thunder.
All the Hardways is conditioned by John “Jerry” Robb, who holds the Jim McKay Maryland Million all-time record for wins by an active trainer.
Classic 2025 Maryland Million field
Entering a strong field in MM Sprint
A strong field of nine competed in the $100,000 Fair Hill Training Center Maryland Million Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.
Hailey’s first note got on the board in eight of nine starts for Gary Capuano and owners Daniel Crowley and Non Stop Stable. The four-year-old Great Notion gelding just missed a limited benefit in Delaware on September 14.
“He had another great race,” Capuano said. “It’s a shame he didn’t win. Hopefully he does well. No Lasix for these horses, and it could make a difference for him. We’ll see. He’s been rock solid all year.”
Slam concept took the limited Star de Naskra Stakes for 3-year-olds at Colonial on July 12. Two starts later he won a large allowance there. Both races took place at seven furlongs over wet tracks.
“He’s as honest as they come,” coach Bailes said. “I can’t say enough good things about him. He always gives you what he has.”
Winner of multiple bets Twisted ride looks like a difficult prospect coming from his Parx base for trainer Mike Moore. Twisted Ride, a 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred gelding by Great Notion, hasn’t won in more than a year but has placed two in that span, including a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga in the summer of 2024.
Freeze the fire came third in this race last year and Salzman Jr. claimed him for $20,000 from a winning effort at Timonium with plans to compete in the event this year.
“Every time they [ran] If he puts him in a post, he runs his best race,” Salzman Jr. noted. on. “I thought maybe the Lasix was picking him up and hurting him. But when I claimed him, he won that day, and I examined him, and he was bleeding. So I really worked on that horse. I bought a salt machine and I’ve been working hard on it. I gave him a breeze and told jockey Jeiron Barbosa to go in 1:02, and he worked a half mile and galloped out in 59. I gave Barbosa hell, and he told me he did it so easily.
Bad divine makes his second start of the year for trainer Cox and Bonuccelli Racing after finishing third, with a half-length defeat, on September 20, with a state allowance.
“We really thought he was going to win,” Cox said. “He stuck his eyeballs out and impressed us again.”
That was his first start after a 321-day layoff.
“He had some baby stuff and we gave him time,” Cox said. “No surgery. I thought he was the best two-year-old in the crop. He did everything he was supposed to do. We kicked him out, brought him back, he worked with bullets and we never really let him down. I think he’s going to be a nice horse.”
Maryland Million Sprint Field
Gary Capuano’s two strong MM nursery hopes
Gary Capuano appears to have the basics covered in the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Maryland Million Nursery for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.
Pocket 3s Racing’s Big hug came off the pace to win his debut, a 5 ½ furlong maiden special weight in Delaware on September 11.
“He rode a very nice race,” Capuano said. “He showed some talent. He didn’t break fast enough. He had a decent trip, but he got off the pace. He got some experience, got a little dirty in the face and started putting things together. He did a good job.”
Conversely, Buttons concept led every call as he graduated nine days later for his Delaware debut. Owned by Pinochle Partners, Buds Notion pulled away down the stretch and scored by 5 ½ lengths.
“He was fast in the morning,” Capuano noted. “We expected him to be there as long as he broke well. He drove along and was a bit green, laid down a bit on the stretch and looked around.”
Both Big Cuddle and Buds Notion are from Great Notion.
Monday loot breaks from the inside post for trainer Lynn Ashby. Lundi Loot, a gelding by First Mondays, adds blinders for the first time after finishing second in an open “non-two” fee in Delaware on September 28.
Code of silence is still a maiden, but he finished third in the limited First Dash Stakes in Delaware on September 14, three lengths behind runner-up Lundi Loot.
“He’s like a diesel engine,” said coach Keefe. “It takes some time to get going. He’s a big boy. He looks a lot like his half-brother, [stakes winner] Tattooed. I’d like to see him go a little further into the distance. Hopefully there will be a fast pace. I don’t think he’ll be far off, but he’ll definitely come running at the end.
The Fasig-Tipton Maryland Million Nursery drew an overflow field of 16. Feels So Right and Flatter My Dad are on the also eligible list.
Maryland Million Nursery Field
The program concludes with four Maryland Million Starter Handicaps. Two of them, the $50,000 Turf Starter for 3-year-olds and older, and the $50,000 Turf Distaff Starter for fillies and mares, are contested at 1 1/16 miles. On dirt, the $40,000 Maryland Million Distaff Starter for fillies and mares, and the $40,000 Maryland Million Starter for 3-year-olds and older, will be run at seven furlongs.
The Jim McKay Maryland Million, named for the late Hall of Famer and 13-time Emmy Award-winning announcer who helped launch the groundbreaking concept in 1986, has become the second-biggest day on the state’s racing calendar, behind only the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
“Maryland’s Day at the Races” celebrates the state’s native stallions as well as its rich and varied racing history, which dates back to the founding of the Maryland Jockey Club in 1743 and has spawned copycat events across the United States and Canada.
#Post #Time #Looms #Large #Classic