Racing Returns To Timonium State Fair For 7-Day Meet

The Maryland State Fair at Timonium will offer seven days of live racing from Friday, Aug. 25, through Monday, Sept. 4 under a schedule approved Aug. 1 by the Maryland Racing Commission. Racing will held Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays plus Monday, Labor Day. First post time is set for 12:25 p.m. each day.

Daily purses are expected to average $287,000. Open allowance races in the condition book carry a purse of $60,000, while maiden special weight events will go for $46,000. The minimum purse is $15,000 for $5,000 maiden claimers.

There will be two stakes this season: the $100,000 Timonium Distaff for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up, at 6 1⁄2 furlongs on Saturday, Aug. 26, and the $100,000 Timonium Juvenile for 2-year-olds at 6 1⁄2 furlongs on Saturday, Sept. 2. Both stakes are $75,000 guaranteed plus $25,000 for Maryland-bred or Maryland-sired runners.

The Maryland State Fair is sponsoring $20,000 in trainers’ bonuses based upon accumulated points, and grooms will be rewarded to the best-turned-out horse in each race.

College Day at the fair will take place Aug. 26. Ten $1,000 college scholarships are awarded to preregistered full-time college students in attendance. In addition, Aug. 26 has been designated Ladies Day at the Races.

For the popular trainers’ bonus, there are two categories that each award $10,000. One is for trainers who have started 30 or more horses between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1, 2023, and one for trainers who have started 29 or fewer horses during the same period.

The bonus points for both categories are number of wins (5 points), number of seconds (4 points), number of thirds 93 points), number of fourths (2 points), and each starter (1 point).

Points are awarded for the horse’s first start of the meet. If it races more than once the second start doesn’t count toward points.

For both categories, first place earns $5,000; second place, $2,500; third place, $1,500; fourth place, $600; and fifth place, $400.

Note that horsemen may not transfer horses to another trainer for the Timonium meet.

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