This week we will run a series of 10 Maryland Million Moments, indelible moments that have helped to define the meaning of Maryland’s Day at the Races. Here, Herat wins the first running of the Maryland Million Classic.

When the inaugural Maryland Million Classic was run at Laurel Park in 1986, it was more than just a horse race—it was the birth of a new tradition.

And fittingly, it was a horse by Maryland’s greatest sire — perhaps the greatest sire who ever stood anywhere — who stole the show. Herat, a son of the legendary Northern Dancer, delivered a dominant front-running performance in the $200,000 Budweiser Maryland Classic, the day’s featured race. Though owned by a Louisianian, trained by Nebraskan Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg, and ridden by New Yorker Jerry Bailey, Herat’s pedigree made him a fitting first winner of the state’s new showcase.

After facing some of the nation’s best horses in California, including the formidable Precisionist, Herat found Laurel Park’s competition much kinder. Breaking sharply under Bailey, he cruised through an easy opening half-mile before effortlessly pulling away from his pursuers. He completed the 1¼ miles in 2:03 1/5, just one-fifth of a second off the track record, to win by 5½ lengths over Castelets.

Herat retired with a record of 31 starts, 8 wins, 5 seconds, and 2 thirds, earning $771,415. He had earlier captured the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap, but it was his Maryland Million Classic triumph that cemented his connection to his home state’s legacy. On that October afternoon, Herat didn’t just win a race, he helped launch a Maryland institution.

Conceived by ABC sportscaster Jim McKay as a celebration of Maryland’s thriving breeding industry, the event brought together a crowd of more than 20,000 that blended the spirit of a major sporting event with the pride of a state fair. “This wasn’t just a typical race crowd,” McKay said. “It was a festive event.”