triple crown

The Maryland Jockey Club is asking the state racing commission for $4.4 million in subsidies for racetrack improvements — all of it for Laurel Park.

By Doug Donovan

Jun 18, 2019

Laurel Park will open its doors at 11 a.m. on Saturday so that fans can bet the Belmont Stakes card.

Based off the morning line, the Belmont Stakes boils down to two horses, War of Will and Tacitus, according to Liam Durbin.

One hundred years ago, Maryland-trained thoroughbred Sir Barton was the first winner of what would become known as horse racing’s Triple Crown.

By Mike Klingaman

Jun 6, 2019

Is there a compelling reason to watch the 2019 Belmont Stakes? Here are that and four other storylines heading into the June 8 race.

By Childs Walker

May 31, 2019

Stronachs succeeded in making Pimlico look horrific on national television so what should city leaders do in return?

Mark Casse was at Pimlico Race Course before 6 a.m. Sunday, relishing his Preakness victory and looking ahead to a Belmont Stakes run for War of Will.

By Childs Walker

May 19, 2019

A confounding Triple Crown season continued Saturday when War of Will won the Preakness in an upset at Pimlico Race Course.

By Childs Walker

May 18, 2019

Improbable entered the 144th Preakness as a favorite, but trainer Bob Baffert knew before his horse left the gate that those odds wouldn’t come through.

By Nathan Ruiz

May 18, 2019

Columnist Peter Schmuck gives his take on the Preakness and everything that led up to War of Will's victory.

By Peter Schmuck

May 18, 2019

A female traffic enforcement officer was struck by a vehicle on Northern Parkway near Interstate 83 about 8 p.m. Saturday, according to Baltimore Police. 

By Kevin Rector

May 18, 2019

Bodexpress threw Hall of Fame jockey John Velasquez in the starting gate, but fortunately stayed out of the way while running around the track at Pimlico.

By Don Markus

May 18, 2019

The 144th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. The race, which is 1 and 3/16 miles, features 3-year-old thoroughbreds.

Improbable has three wins in his six starts. Mike Smith will be the fourth jockey aboard — and he’s already faced the first three on the track.

By Jonas Shaffer

May 18, 2019

Trainer Bob Baffert has brought a parade of mighty horses to the Preakness. He's not sure his 2019 favorite, Improbable, belongs in their company.

By Childs Walker

May 17, 2019

Brad Cox is a rising star in the horse training business, and the 144th Preakness Stakes will give him his first shot at a Triple Crown race.

By Don Markus

May 16, 2019

Liam Durbin handicaps Saturday's 144th Preakness.

From the controversial Kentucky Derby, to the water main break this week at Pimlico to the uncertain future of the Preakness, the news all seems to be bad.

By Peter Schmuck

May 15, 2019

With no Kentucky Derby winner on hand to serve as its central star, the Preakness is left with a diverse field of 13 horses, led by favorite Improbable.

By Childs Walker

May 15, 2019

In 1980, a steward helped resolve the disputed Preakness in which the winner, Codex, was absolved of fouling his rival, a celebrated filly named Genuine Risk.

By Mike Klingaman

May 15, 2019

Days before the horse racing world turns its eyes on Pimlico for Preakness weekend, employees at the Baltimore track averted a strike, approved a contract

By Doug Donovan

May 14, 2019

Kim Boniface, a member of the prominent horse racing and breeding family of Bonita Farm in Darlington, died Friday. She was 51.

By Erika Butler

May 14, 2019

Alwaysmining could become the first Maryland-bred Preakness winner since 1983 and make Kelly Rubley the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race.

By Childs Walker

May 14, 2019

Just as he did after Classic Empire lost the 2017 Preakness by a head, trainer Mark Cassse is not looking back as War of Will gets ready for Preakness.

By Don Markus

May 14, 2019

Market King, trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, will be entered in the 144th Preakness Stakes, the Maryland Jockey Club’s racing office confirmed.

Moving Preakness to a different track alters the competition for the Triple Crown.

A total of 268 horses were nominated to the eight stakes, four graded, worth $1.15 million in purses that support the 144th running of the Preakness Stakes.

Championship racing returns to Pimlico Race Course on Thursday for the opening of its 12-day Preakness Meet at Pimlico, highlighted by the 144th running of the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes on May 18.

Howard High School swept the Howard County boys and girls outdoor track and field championships on May 6-7, 2019, at Long Reach High School.

By Jacob Calvin Meyer

May 7, 2019

Country House, the 65-1 longshot who was handed a Kentucky Derby victory by disqualification, will not run in the May 18 Preakness Stakes because of a developing illness, the first time in 23 years that the Derby winner will not compete for the second jewel in the Triple Crown.

By Childs Walker

May 7, 2019

Gary West also says he will file an appeal with the Kentucky racing commission Monday.

By Childs Walker

May 6, 2019

Kentucky Derby notebook: In a race defined by a controversial disqualification, trainer Bob Baffert's highly touted trio of contenders never challenged the lead.

By Childs Walker

May 4, 2019

There’s nothing quite like the Kentucky Derby, with its collision of 20 costly, hope-filled odysseys, all sorted out over two frantic minutes before a bellowing crowd of 150,000-plus.

By Childs Walker

May 3, 2019

Peter Schmuck's light-hearted predictions for the Kentucky Derby, Orioles and Ravens notes and few other items.

By Peter Schmuck

May 3, 2019

With morning-line favorite Omaha Beach out of the Kentucky Derby, rival trainers forecast a wide-open scramble among top contenders. Meanwhile, the scratched favorite's trainer, Richard Mandella, licked his wounds from an epic disappointment.

By Childs Walker

May 2, 2019

Liam Durbin handicaps the 2019 Kentucky Derby now that morning-line favorite Omaha Beach has been scratched.

Omaha Beach, the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby, was scratched from the race Wednesday afternoon because of an upper respiratory problem.

By Childs Walker

May 1, 2019

Omaha Beach, undefeated in two major prep races this year, is the 4-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $3 million Kentucky Derby.

By Childs Walker

Apr 30, 2019

Runnymede Racing’s multiple stakes winner Alwaysmining resumed training this week and continues to progress toward his graded-stakes debut in the 144th Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course.

Senior Senator repeats as Grand National steeplechase winner

Mystic Strike, ridden by Mark Beecher, took the win in the feature race Saturday of My Lady's Manor steeplechase in Monkton, the first of the Maryland Steeplechase Triple Crown.

Mark Beecher, a Fallston-based amateur jockey, took the inside trip with Upland Partners’ Mystic Strike in Saturday’s $50,000 My Lady’s Manor, surged to the lead at the final fence, and held off a hard-charging Witor to win Saturday’s 109th running of the Maryland timber classic.

The city, including The Sun newspaper, needs to do a better job at drumming up interest in Preakness.

Here's our latest update on the top 10 contenders to watch for the 2019 Kentucky Derby.

By Childs Walker

Apr 12, 2019

Each year, Maryland hosts three of the biggest races in the country. The first is Saturday, with the 109th running of My Lady's Manor, followed by the 117th running of the Grand National (April 20) and the 123rd running of the Hunt Cup (April 27).

Renovating Pimlico and keeping the Preakness in Baltimore is not only about keeping our history of almost 150 years intact, it's also about improving quality of life for Park Heights residents, creating jobs, offering an opportunity to those without opportune circumstances,

Boosters of Baltimore — from Mayor Catherine Pugh to longtime residents of Park Heights — urged a different, brighter future for Pimlico Race Course before the House Ways and Means Committee in Annapolis.

By Kevin Rector

Mar 1, 2019

A visual comparison of Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness, and Laurel Park, which might host the second jewel of the Triple Crown in the future.

Baltimore leaders plan to bus residents to Annapolis for a “big rally to keep the Preakness in Baltimore.” It comes as General Assembly lawmakers consider bills central to the future of horse racing in Maryland — and pivotal to the location of the Preakness Stakes, part of the Triple Crown.

By Luke Broadwater

Mar 1, 2019

State and local lawmakers have said for years they do not want to see the Preakness leave Baltimore. Yet no one raised any alarms as Pimlico's owner was focusing most of its finances of turning Laurel Park into a "super track" that would host the third leg of the Triple Crown.