[boxify cols_use =”2″ cols =”5″ position =”right” order =”none” box_spacing =”5″ padding =”3″ background_color =”gray” background_opacity =”25″ border_width =”1″ border_color =”blue” border_style =”dotted” height =”220″ ]WEEKEND STAKES

SATURDAY

  1. Wide Country S. (LRL 4) — 3yo fillies
  2. Miracle Wood S. (LRL 6) — 3yo
  3. Native Dancer S. (LRL 7) — 4yo and up
  4. What a Summer S. (LRL 8) — Fillies and mares 4yo and up[/boxify]With four stakes on tap at Laurel Park tomorrow, it’s fair to wonder who they’re named after.  Who were…
  • Wide Country?
    • Wide Country, a Maryland-bred filly of 1988, was a daughter of Magisterial out of the Mullineux mare Bazooka Babe.  Bred by Diana W. Carlson and trained by Robert Camac for Thomas Tanner, Wide Country won 12 races and more than $800,000 in her career.  As a three year-old — the condition for tomorrow’s race — she won the Grade 3 Pimlico Oaks and Grade 2 Black Eyed Susan.
  • Miracle Wood?
    • The tough-as-nails Miracle Wood, a son of Baederwood out of the pint-sized Dedimoud mare Age of Miracles, made 117 starts in his career.  Keeping it in the family, he was bred (in Maryland) and owned by Bert Allen and trained by Bert’s son, Ferris.  Miracle Wood won nearly $500,000.  His stakes triumphs included wins in the Maryland Juvenile Championship and the Delaware Valley Handicap at Garden State, and he finished fifth in the 1986 Preakness.
  • Native Dancer?
    • Had Native Dancer not finished second in the 1953 Kentucky Derby, this son of Polynesian out the Discovery mare Geisha would have posted a perfect career record.  As it was, he won 21 of 22 starts, was Horse of the Year in 1952 (as a two year-old) and again in 1954, and won the Preakness, Belmont, Travers, and Metropolitan while earning more than $785,000 under the tutelage of William C. Winfrey for Alfred Vanderbilt’s Sagamore Farm.  He was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1963.  He also was a sire of great repute.
  • What a Summer?
    • Maryland-bred What a Summer, a daughter of What Luck born in 1973, was the Eclipse Champion Sprinter in 1977.  Bred by Milton Polinger and trained by Leroy Jolley for Mrs. B.R. Firestone, What a Summer won 18 races and more than $479,000 in her career.  Among her key victories were three grade 2 events, the Black Eyed Susan and the 1977 and 1978 runnings of the Fall Highweight.