Plenty of racing action took place throughout the Mid-Atlantic this past week.

Here’s a look at the “three stars” of each track:

REGION’S BEST

FIRST STAR: CELTIC CONTENDER. Laurel Park hosted an open allowance sprint on Saturday, with a field of four sprinters going six furlongs. 2024 Maryland Million Sprint winner Celtic Contender, in his first start since late July, made his return to the races a winning one. He battled for the early lead with Petingas Twin, then shook off that rival at the top of the stretch and opened up a 1 1/2 length lead at the top of the lane. Neither of the closers could make much of an impact, and Celtic Contender held sway to win by 3 1/4 lengths, with Petingas Twin holding second. The winner, a 5-year-old son of Irish War Cry, covered six furlongs on a fast track in 1:10.29 and improved to 6-for-19 lifetime with earnings of $389,275. He’s a homebred for the Lewis Family Racing Stable, trained by Hammy Smith and ridden by Forest Boyce.

SECOND STAR: TWISTED RIDE. Parx ran an open allowance sprint of their own on Tuesday, with a quartet of male sprinters traveling six furlongs. Twisted Ride called on his class to win by 1 3/4 lengths. He made the front and set a clear early lead, then was challenged on the far turn by second choice Counterspy. However, Twisted Ride, who was sent off as the 7-10 favorite, fended him off and won by 1 3/4 lengths, with Counterspy holding second. Twisted Ride ran the distance in 1:10.40 on a fast track, and won for the 12th time in 41 starts. All of those victories have come at his Parx base. Andy Hernandez was up on this Kasey K Racing Stable homebred, who co-own him with Michael Day and Final Turn Racing Stable LLC. Michael Moore is the winning trainer.

THIRD STAR: LATE NITE CALL. Earlier on Saturday’s card, Laurel showcased a second-level allowance route for fillies and mares. Stakes-placed in each of her last three Laurel starts, Late Nite Call bounced back with a 1 1/4-length win. Breaking from the rail in the five-horse, 1 1/16-mile contest, she battled for the early lead with Girvinized from the far outside, setting a first quarter of 23.36 seconds and an opening half-mile in 47.03. They opened up ten lengths on the rest of the field as they moved up the backstretch. Girvinized weakened from her efforts, but Late Nite Call had more to give and won without much drama. This was her third career win, her first since last May at Pimlico, and boosted her bankroll to $167,890. She was bred in Maryland by Larry Johnson and is owned by Richard Harris, trained by Niall Saville, and ridden by Xavier Perez.

SECOND STAR: PREACHA MEYERS. After a string of second and third-place finishes, he bounced back to win a first-level allowance sprint on Wednesday.

THIRD STAR: HAPPILY DELUSIONAL. Battled for the early lead, pulled clear, and held off a late-rallying rival to win a first-level allowance route on Monday.