Preakness preview day sets handle record at Laurel Park

Under new management, the Maryland Jockey Club set a handle record of $5,536,944 on Saturday’s Preakness preview-day program at Laurel Park.

The 12-race card featured five stakes and a hybrid, onsite and online handicapping contest.

Click here for Laurel Park entries and results.

Pay Billy won the $150,000 Federico Tesio, giving him a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for $2 million Preakness at Pimlico on May 17. Complexity Jane finished first in the $150,000 Weber City Miss and earned an automatic berth in the $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico on Preakness eve.

Three other $100,000 stakes also were on the program, the first stakes races contested on turf in Maryland in 2025.

There were 105 entrants on Saturday for an average of 8.8 starters per race. Comparatively, 72 horses started on the 11-race Federico Tesio card in 2024, an average of 6.5 runners per race.

This year’s Preakness preview-day card averaged $461,412 per race. Last year’s brought in $2,889,322 for an average of $262,666 per race.

The Maryland Jockey Club was transferred this year from The Stronach Group to the government-run Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority.