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: WITTY. The co-feature on Saturday at Laurel Park was the Ben’s Cat Stakes, featuring five Maryland/Virginia-restricted older males sprinting six furlongs on the grass. Witty became a millionaire and a stakes winner for the sixth consecutive season with a determined half-length victory. The 9-10 favorite sat off the pace early on, while Had to Have Him battled for the early lead and took complete command at the top of the stretch. Witty had to call on all of his heart and class to get by, eventually doing so in the last sixteenth to win by a half-length. This was his 13th career win, his ninth in stakes company, and his second Ben’s Cat win, the first of which came in 2023. With his $1,007,882 in career earnings, he became the second offspring of legendary Maryland stallion Great Notion to earn a million dollars, joining Coastal Mission. Jeiron Barbosa rode the Lizzie Merryman-trained homebred, whom she co-owns with Marc Detampel.

SECOND STAR: GOVERNOR SAM. More than 30,000 fans visited Monmouth Park on Father’s Day, and they were treated to a pair of stakes races. One of them, the five-furlong Get Serious Stakes, went to Governor Sam. He raced on the pace in the two-path early on, giving early leader Speed Figures all he could handle. At the top of the stretch, Speed Figures gave way, and Governor Sam kicked on and opened up a clear advantage. Runner-up Souper Quest, among others, gave game chase, but Governor Sam’s jumped start gave him the edge, and he crossed the wire 1 1/4 lengths in front. He ran the distance on a firm grass track in a sharp 55.18 for his fifth stakes win in 16 career starts, with earnings of $881,848. He’s owned by Bregman Family Racing LLC (a group which includes Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman) and Swinback Stables LLC, trained by George Weaver, and ridden by Paco Lopez.

THIRD STAR: DRY POWDER. Earlier on the Sunday card at Monmouth, Lopez guided Dry Powder to a three-quarter length victory in the Lady’s Secret Stakes. She set moderate early fractions, going the first quarter in 23.97 seconds and the first half-mile in 4.48 seconds. She was challenged on the final turn by Inefficiency, who was rank in the early stages, and Flowers for Me. It looked like Dry Powder was in deep water, but she managed to fight off her rivals and prevail. She ran 1 1/16 miles on dirt in 1:46.21 for her second win of the year, and her first stakes victory since August’s Cathryn Sophia Stakes at Parx. She’s owned by Gold Square LLC and trained by Chad Summers.

SECOND STAR: WINNING TIME. Led all the way in an impressive second-level allowance sprint win earlier on the Tuesday program.

THIRD STAR: DYLAN’S RUBY. Sat off the pace and eventually worked his way to victory in a first-level allowance route on Monday.