General George, Fritchie Highlight Laurel Winter/Sprint Stakes

[Wandering Eyes]

The GIII General George Stakes and GIII Barbara Fritchie Stakes highlight a 25-strong stakes schedule worth a combined $2.6 million for the winter/spring meet at Laurel Park.

The seven-furlong events are part of a Feb. 15 card that also includes the John B. Campbell Stakes and Nellie Morse Stakes, each carrying a $100,000 purse. Three-year-old males and females feature on programs scheduled for Feb. 22, with the one-mile Miracle Wood Stakes for sophomore boys and the seven-furlong Wide Country Stakes for the girls. Those two events serve as lead-up races for the Private Terms Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth for the colts and geldings and the Beyond The Wire Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. In turn, those two contests serve as the middle legs of series that concludes with the Apr. 19 Federico Tesio Stakes and the Weber City Miss Stakes, each offering the winner berths in the GI Preakness Stakes and GII Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, respectively, as part of the 'Preakness Preview' day.

The Laurel Park winter-spring meet will be the first presented by the new TMJC, a nonprofit entity under the auspices of the state's Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA). The MTROA will take control of day-to-day racing in Maryland on Jan. 1.

The new TMJC has increased the purse of both the Federico Tesio and Weber City Miss by $25,000. Those races will now be worth $150,000 each.

“We look forward to building a new era in Maryland racing,” said Bill Knauf, President and General Manager of TMJC. “The General George and Barbara Fritchie are historically important races, and our Preakness Preview Day will be a showcase event for 3-year-olds.”

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