Barn fire, Monmouth Oaks, Big T: The week in social media

Approaching the starting gate at Timonium. Photo by The Racing Biz.

The Monmouth Park Oaks is being run this weekend, a barn fire struck at a local horse farm, and racing at the Maryland State Fair is on its way.

Here is the 411 on what the racing world has been talking about in the Mid-Atlantic region this week:

Get ready for the Monmouth Oaks!

The 95th running of the Monmouth Park Oaks (G3) takes place this Saturday, August 17 at Monmouth Park, with a field of five lining up to do battle in the 1 1/16-mile event.

The field for the Monmouth Park Oaks consists of Horologist, Sweet Sami D, Stay Smart, Jaywalk, and Lady Banba. Jaywalk, the morning line favorite for the race, is coming into the event off a nine-length victory in the Delaware Oaks (G3) last month. To date, the millionaire daughter of Cross Traffic has made it to the winner’s circle five times in nine career starts and looks poised to add yet another graded stakes victory to her collection this Saturday.

Post time for the Monmouth Park Oaks is at 2:40 p.m.

Barn fire damages local farm

Terror struck on Monday, August 12 when a barn fire unleashed its wrath at Anchor & Hope Farm in Cecil County, MD. The fire was discovered by an employee around 12:26 p.m., who immediately sounded the alarms. Nearly 50 firefighters arrived on scene and battled the flames for nearly an hour and a half before the fire was defeated.

One firefighter on the scene had to be taken to a hospital where he was treated for heat exhaustion and was later released. Fortunately, all of the people and horses on the property escaped with their lives.

Because of the fire, Anchor & Hope Farm will offer ten of its yearlings for sale privately, as they are not currently equipped to prepare them for the fall sales as they originally planned. The farm will be offering various colts and fillies for sale by both Bourbon Courage and Imagining, and also have a Mineshaft colt available, as well. The farm hopes to sell their yearlings as quickly as possible so that they can focus on rebuilding and moving forward.

Almost Big T Time 

Live Thoroughbred horse racing will soon be in full swing at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, and fans have a chance to win a special experience at the races.

The Maryland State Fair Facebook page is holding a contest where the winner will receive admission, food, and drinks for themselves and up to ten friends. The winner will also have the opportunity to get their picture taken with a jockey and will even have one of the races named in their honor.

In order to be entered in the contest all fans have to do is leave a comment under the contest post on the Maryland State Fairs Facebook page about which Triple Crown race is their favorite and the reason behind why it’s their favorite. The races will take place from August 30 through September 2, with the selected winner being granted the option of which day they would prefer to attend the races.

The contest ends at midnight on August 25.

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