Trainer Jamie Ness is coming into Maryland Million Day at Laurel Park with a busy slate, including a hopeful in the Classic, Blue Kingdom, who will try his luck against Maryland star Post Time.

But Ness’s best chances for a winner might come earlier on the card, when he sends out two talented fillies in divisional races — Witchyness in the Lassie and Concrete Faze in the Ladies.

Witchyness, a homebred daughter of Golden Lad, is 6-1 on the morning line in the $100,000 Lassie for 2-year-old fillies. She made just one start back in July at Delaware Park and surprised everyone with her performance. After breaking poorly from the rail and trailing the field early, she unleashed a determined rally to win by three parts of a length in her debut.

“She’s doing great,” Ness said this week. “She’s a homebred. She ran well first time out. She’ll want more distance down the road, but this looks like a wide-open race.”

Recalling her debut, Ness smiled at how unexpectedly the filly came to hand. “She broke terrible from the one hole, dead last. I was thinking, well, maybe she’ll run on and get a piece. She just ran on and just kept coming. I was so proud of her.”

The Lassie favorite is Slewperstitus (9-5) for trainer Robbie Bailes, and Ness’s filly hasn’t raced in three months, which is a concern, but Ness hopes for another big outing.

In the $100,000 Ladies, Ness will also saddle Concrete Faze, the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/8-mile turf test. The Super Ninety Nine filly has been a revelation since Ness claimed her for $40,000 in February, winning five of ten starts and thriving on dirt.

The big question Saturday is the turf. She’s winless in five grass tries, though she did have excuses in several.

“She’s fine, but we’re not sure turf is her ideal surface,” Ness said. “But she’s in good form, and she qualifies for the race, so we’re gonna take a shot. Since we’ve got her, she’s been really good, but the turf thing is obviously unknown.”

Ness claimed Concrete Faze earlier this year with a specific plan in mind.

“She had all her conditions, she was a Maryland-bred, and that day she was running against the boys, so I knew she wouldn’t win,” he said. “But she fit us perfectly.”

Ness has three prior Maryland Million wins, including the 2022 Classic, which he won with first-off-the-claim Ournationonparade.