New & Notes
Please note that Rosecroft will host a special live racing card Saturday, Nov. 3, beginning at 6:40 p.m., about one hour after the Breeders’ Cup Classic is run at Churchill Downs. The track is offering a special Breeders’ Cup seating package along with a buffet that will be available for roughly eight hours in the clubhouse. Details are available under the “Upcoming Events” tab on the website. Racing secretary Pete Hanley said he expects to have a 10-race program given the fa
News & Notes
The 2018 Potomac Pace, which in its first two years at Rosecroft attracted many of the top older pacers in the country, has been scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 2, according to track officials. Last year, the Potomac was held the weekend after the Breeders Crown and attracted three of the four top-three finishers from the Crown Open Pace. Keystone Velocity paced to an all age track-record 1:47 3/5 victory one year after All Bets Off equaled the record of 1:48 2/5. The 2018 Breeder
Racing Returns October 24th
Live racing returns to Rosecroft Oct. 24 after a Sunday program that was halted after the sixth race because of a blown transformer that left the homestretch without lighting. The Open I and “winner’s over” paces were among the seven races that had to be canceled. Here’s a look at several races on the Wednesday card that begins at 6:40 p.m.: Race 2 Sometimes it’s tough to give 2-year-olds an edge over older competition, but the older entrants in this “non-winners of 1 pari-mu
News & Notes
With 10 nights in the books for the fall meet, the trainer and driver standings indicate a competitive racing program at Rosecroft. Heading in to the Sunday, Oct. 21, program, Arlene Cameron leads all trainers with 9 wins, four more than John Hollingsworth and Megan Roberts, who each have 5. Six trainers each have 4 victories: Buddy Bright, Eric Foster, Michael Hall, Jerry Nock, Sheldon Powell and Brian Wright. When statistics for the winter/spring meet are added, the top fiv
News & Notes
The racing and gaming industries became closely linked in the early 1990s when state legislatures and in some cases voters approved casino-style gambling at racetracks. In Maryland, only one track has a casino but all six casinos generate revenue for purses. It’s important to keep tabs on the numbers, because the revenue is the primary funding source for purses at the state’s two harness tracks. It’s also the basis for an almost year-round calendar for harness racing and a pr
News & Notes
Ideal weather conditions and a very fast racing surface last Sunday evening produced three sub-1:51 miles—two by horses on the engine and one from off the pace. The $12,000 open pace went to Soto, who left from post 7 in a very tough field but was able to get the lead quickly and wasn’t seriously challenged in a 1:50 1/5 victory. He returns to Harrington, where he’s one of five entered in the $15,000 open handicap pace Monday, Oct. 14. Kotare Yael N, in his second local start
News & Notes
The last of the Maryland Sire Stakes finals for 2-year-olds on Oct. 3 produced three divisional speed records in the series and gave two trotters a sweep of the big-money events in the state. The finals at Rosecroft and Ocean Downs each went for $67,000. Owner, trainer and breeder Richard Hans’ Whoopdee Goo, a gelding by Googoo Gaagaa, took the 2-year-old colt and gelding trot in a sire stakes record of 1:55 1/5 for Jim Morand, who also drove him to victory in the final at th
News & Notes
Classifying races isn’t as simple as it used to be for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact it was common for harness tracks to race five or six programs a week because the horse population, and an appetite for betting, warranted such schedules. Harness tracks had stable areas—and therefore a captive group of horses a racing secretary could count on to fill the entry box each week. And with so many Standardbreds in the Mid-Atlantic region and so many racing opp
News & Notes
It pays to pay attention to betting pools, particularly when they are smaller than average. This played out again in the first race Sunday, Sept. 30. Go Big Spinder was sent off at 12-1 in a very competitive “winners over” pace with a field of nine and got a perfect inside trip to win. He paid $27.40 on top but $37 to place and $12.80 to show. The win, place and show pools at Rosecroft can be on the light side, particularly at times of day when there is more competition for t