Laurel Park hosts one of its best annual days of racing and wagering this Saturday with the 41^st running of the Jim McKay Maryland Million Day – a 12-race card that includes eight stakes races with purses totaling $1 million restricted to Maryland-sired horses who are nominated to the Maryland-bred program.

Competition will be heated in several divisions on both dirt and turf. Here is a closer look at the stakes races that comprise the 2026 Maryland Million from Laurel Park. Enjoy the races!

Race 2, Maryland Million Sprint Stakes, $100,000, six furlongs, 3-year-olds & older, 12:29 p.m. ET

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The first Maryland Million race of the day happens early on the Saturday program with the Maryland Million Sprint in Race 2. The horse to beat will be #8 Haileysfirstnotion (8-5), a consistent six-furlong specialist who has not run out of the money once since 2024 with five wins in his last 12 races. He ran third by 1 ½ lengths in a tough edition of this race last year and exits a win with a strong speed figure in his last race in the $125,000 New Castle Handicap at Delaware Park. He has the speed to lead but is versatile and professional and doesn’t need the set the pace in order to win. #4 Suremeanttobe (9-2) is, for the most part, a newcomer at the stakes level but has finished in the exacta in 10 of his 18 career races and has gotten good lately with improved speed figures in back-to-back second-place finishes in expensive races at Colonial Downs and Belmont Park. He goes first-time out off the claim for trainer Mike Maker. #7 Celtic Contender (3-2) makes the rounds in these Mid-Atlantic sprint stakes and usually makes a dent. He exits an allowance-optional claiming win at Colonial Downs in his last outing and ran second in both stakes races this summer in spots similar to this one.

Race 4, Maryland Million Ladies Stakes, $125,000, 1 1/16 miles, turf, fillies and mares 3 years old & older, 1:27 p.m. ET

The Maryland Million Ladies is a 1 1/16-mile turf race with a full field of fillies and mares. There are two top contenders in the race, starting with #2 Nick’s Notion (2-1), who won a turf allowance and a $100,000 turf handicap at this summer’s Colonial Downs meet and exits a competitive fourth against open company in Laurel’s $100,000 All Along Stakes. Now she moves in against state-bred company and looks good in this spot for the lethal high-percentage jockey-trainer combo of Forest Boyce and Robert Bailes (who team for 28% wins over the last year including 4-for-13, 31% at Laurel). #10 Mopo (9-5) has switched back and forth from sprints to routes on this circuit the last couple years and has been able to hit the exacta in 12 of 15 lifetime races so far, including top-two placings in 7-of-8 races at Laurel. Her only career stakes win came at six furlongs on this course in June, and she’s in good current form exiting a third-place finish by 1 ¼ lengths in a $100,000 stakes race at Delaware Sept. 12. Paco Lopez has the mount for a high-percentage barn.

Race 5, Maryland Millions Lassie Stakes, $100,000, six furlongs, 2-year-old fillies, 1:54 p.m. ET

A full field of 2-year-old fillies will go to the post for the $100,000 Lassie and the top two contenders both arrive from Delaware Park. The pick is #6 Olivia’s Legacy (2-1), who exits an expensive allowance-optional claiming win last time and before that had narrowly missed twice in a row at the stakes level at Delaware with seconds in both the $88,000 Blue Hen Stakes and the $125,000 Small Wonder Stakes, both at six furlongs. Paco Lopez, who was aboard the last two outings, will have the mount. The horse Olivia’s Legacy will have to beat will be #12 Whitten Way (6-5), should she draw in off the also-eligible list. Whitten Way is already a two-time stakes winner at Delaware this season, including the aforementioned Blue Hen Stakes where she defeated Olivia’s Legacy, and more recently in her last race when she stretched out to one mile and won the $160,000 White Clay Creek Stakes. Whitten Way cuts back in distance to six furlongs for trainer Gary Capuano, who has won with a stunning 40% of his 87 juvenile starters this year.

Race 6, Maryland Million Turf Sprint Stakes, $100,000, 5 ½ furlongs, turf, 3-year-olds & older, 2:23 p.m. ET

Whenigettoheaven wins Meadow Stable Handicap at Colonial (Coady Media)

A full field of turf sprinters has been assembled trying to knock off last year’s winner of this race, #4 Had to Have Him (4-1), who is winless in three races so far this year but was knocking on the door last time with a runner-up finish to #9 Witty (9-5) in the $99,000 Ben’s Cat Stakes at six furlongs on June 20. Both Had to Have Him and Witty are top contenders, but the horse they’ll all be trying to beat will be #8 Whenigettoheaven (2-1), who was the third-place horse in that same Ben’s Cat Stakes when beaten a half a length. Since then, Had to Have Him has been on the sidelines and Witty has finished off the board twice in stakes races against open company, while Whenigettoheaven improved last time out with a $100,000 handicap victory at this 5 ½-furlong turf sprint trip at Colonial Downs. Witty moves back into a spot that better suits him on Saturday and he’ll be live, and Had to Have Him has a realistic shot at a Maryland Million Turf Sprint repeat for trainer John Salzman Jr., who is already 5-for-12 in the win column at the current Laurel meet. Whenigettoheaven, however, could get the best of them all with a repeat of his last effort with Paco Lopez aboard at his wheelhouse distance of 5 ½ furlongs.

Race 7, Maryland Million Distaff Stakes, $100,000, seven furlongs, fillies and mares 3 years old & older, 2:52 p.m. ET

The Distaff has drawn a full field of fillies and mares set to race seven furlongs on the main track. The race will feature #2 Takethemoneyhoney (6-5), who could be a vulnerable heavy favorite as she makes her return from a seven-month layoff. She’s never been worse than second in 10 lifetime outings with seven wins, and she is a multiple stakes winner between six furlongs and a mile at this equivalent class level. She also just missed by a nose in second in Laurel’s $198,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes against open company back in February. If Takethemoneyhoney loses, it won’t be by much, and it will be because perhaps she’s not fully at 100% cranked in this first race back after a long stretch on the sidelines. If there is an upset brewing, the two most likely candidates at much better odds are #10 Slewperstitus (4-1), who exits a win in Laurel’s $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes against open company, and #7 Divine Seeker (3-1), who steps up in class but is in career-best form coming off a 6 ½-length win at Parx Racing last time at this seven-furlong distance.

Race 9, Maryland Million Nursery Stakes, $100,000, six furlongs, 2-year-olds, 3:51 p.m. ET

Walt's Notion wins James F. Lewis III Stakes at Laurel (Jeffrey Snyder/Maryland Jockey Club)

Two-year-olds take to the track going six furlongs in the Maryland Million Nursery with a full 10-horse field plus two also-eligibles. #9 Walt’s Notion (4-5) is the odds-on favorite on the morning line and is the horse to beat coming off a win last time in the $99,000 James F. Lewis III Stakes against open company at Laurel on Oct. 3. He missed by a head in an earlier juvenile stakes race at Delaware or else otherwise he would be coming into this race undefeated in three starts so far. He looks like the real deal at this level with Paco Lopez picking up the mount on Saturday. Another thing that Walt’s Notion has going for him in this race is the fact that both of his top challengers are drawn out on the also-eligible list and will need defections to get into the race. #12 Metallican (9-2) is trying to switch back to the dirt after beginning his career a perfect 3-for-3 with his last two wins coming on the turf. #11 Remembertheword (6-1) comes off an easy 2 ¼-length win at Laurel with a solid 74 Beyer Speed Figure when strongly improved in his first outing for trainer Joseph Murphy. If either or both of those horses cannot draw into the field, one other plausible upsetter could be #6 Monster Mitch (5-1), who steps up from the maiden claiming level but did win his career debut easily with a solid speed figure in an effort that was flattered when the third-place horse from that race, #10 Aruba Ariba (9-2), came back to graduate by 9 ¾ lengths in his next race.

Race 10, Maryland Million Turf Stakes, $125,000, 1 1/8 miles, turf, 3-year-olds & older, 4:20 p.m. ET

The Maryland Million Turf has attracted a 14-horse field plus one also-eligible entrant ready to go 1 1/8 miles on the grass. Another race, another heavy favorite. Paco Lopez gets aboard #7 Thundering (4-5), who ranks as the legit horse to beat in this field at low odds based on stakes wins this year, including Laurel’s $125,000 JRA Turf Cup Stakes against open company in his only race so far on the local turf course, and last time out at Colonial Downs in the $126,000 Find Stakes. Those looking for longshots will have a lineup of 20-1 to 30-1 options to choose from, the best of which is #5 Zevon (30-1), whose chances to at least hit the board far outweigh his odds based on a solid second-place finish in his last race and very solid speed figures in five of his last six races. He has tactical speed in a race otherwise mostly devoid of any pace aside from fellow longshot #12 Majestic Blue (30-1), who may also be worth a flier in trifectas. Finally, the other horse with a chance to round-out the exactas or trifectas will be Graham Motion trainee #2 Alakan (5-1), who exits a loss in a $185,000 allowance race at Kentucky Downs but ran a close second behind Zevon when last seen in an allowance race at a comparable distance on this turf course back in April.

Race 11, Maryland Million Classic Stakes, $150,000, 1 1/8 miles, 3-year-olds & older, 4:49 p.m. ET

Barbadian Runner wins Battery Park Stakes at Delaware (Hoofprints, Inc.)

Saturday’s featured race at Laurel is the Maryland Million Classic, which has drawn an eight-horse field plus a trio of also-eligible entrants. The afternoon’s shortest-priced morning-line favorite is #2 Barbadian Runner (2-5), who has been competing all around the mid-Atlantic region this year and already has earned stakes wins in Laurel’s $125,000 Deputed Testamony Stakes and in Delaware Park’s $200,000 Battery Park Stakes last time out. His speed figures tower over this field; he owns 10 lifetime wins, including seven at Laurel; and he is a specialist at this 1 1/8-mile distance. The field of challengers lining-up against Barbadian Runner contains a lot of sprinters stretching out who might have trouble handling this two-turn route distance. #1 Market Maven (6-1) has the best chance at an upset amongst the challengers in this race but is more likely for a minor placing behind the favorite. He went wire-to-wire last time in a claiming race at Parx. #9 Derbyness (5-1) is an also eligible who will also have a chance at an in-the-money finish if he is able to draw into the field. He has been no worse than second in his last four dirt races, all routes and all at Laurel.