Cutty Shark punched his ticket to next month's $250,000 General George Handicap (Grade 3) at Laurel Park with a victory in Friday's feature at Laurel, a $47,000 optional allowance test. Trained by Donald Barr and ridden for the first time by Xavier Perez, Cutty Shark covered 7 furlongs in 1 minute, 23.41 seconds, the same distance as the General George on Presidents Day, on Feb. 16. It was the fifth Laurel score for Cutty Shark, who also finished second in the City of Laurel Stakes and third in the Fire Plug Stakes. Friday he broke sharply, contested the pace between horses and then edged away to win by a neck. The son of Old Fashioned paid $5.40 as the betting favorite and boosted his earnings to nearly $175,000. "We lost a lot of training days with him because of the weather," Barr said. "I don't feel like he was at his best today. It was an ad-lib training job but he still ran a 1:23 and he should be better in the General George." Barr captured the 1995 General George, then a Grade 2, with Who Wouldn't. Extrasexyhippzter, who was making his first start since Preakness day 2014, turned in a very game second, and Never Stop Looking, who won the Fire Plug at Laurel on Jan. 3, finished a length farther back in third. All three are possible for the Presidents Day classic.
Orioles: The Orioles settled Friday with infielder-outfielder Steve Pearce, who agreed to a $3.7 million, one-year deal with the club. Pearce had been asking for $5.4 million in salary arbitration after his breakout year in 2014, and the Orioles had countered with $2 million — so they agreed to the exact midpoint. Pearce, 30, hit .293 with a career-best 21 homers and 49 RBIs while playing in a big league career-best 102 games. He has been playing professional ball since 2005 and this will be his first season making over $1 million. ... Minor league third baseman Austin Anderson has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for an amphetamine, Major League Baseball announced. Anderson, 22, batted .307 with one homer in 19 games with short-season Single-A Aberdeen last year. He was the club's ninth-round draft pick in 2014 out of the University of Mississippi.
—Dan Connolly
NFL: The San Diego Chargers have hired former Ravens wide receivers coach and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan as linebackers coach. He was the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator the past three seasons.
Major Arena Soccer League: The Blast has signed Edwin Cubillo, a 27-year-old attacking left-footed defender who played with Blast forward Diego Zuniga on the Costa Rica national futsal team. The Blast placed Kaoru Forbess (foot) on injured reserve.
College basketball: Fans attending today's Goucher doubleheader against Merchant Marine will be asked to pay a $5 admission fee to support the rehabilitation of Damon Brooks, who suffered a career-ending spinal cord injury in 2012. For information about Brooks, search for Damone Brooks at HelpHOPELive.org.
Sailing: Annapolis Yacht Club will host a "What's Next?" seminar today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Commodore's Room to help prospective participants prepare for the June 5-6 Annapolis-to-Newport Race. Panelists will be Will Keyworth, Mike Jones, Jay Herman, Bruce Bingman, Garth Hichens and Ralph Naranjo. To reserve a seat, call 410-263-9279. For information, go to annapolisnewportrace.com.