Maryland Million brings in fans, dollars

Featuring 12 races of horses sired by Maryland-based stallions, the Maryland Million Classic drew a record crowd of about 27,000 fans. The amount wagered on the live card was more than $5.98 million, smashing the previous mark of $5.04 million set in 2005.

“Anyone that was in attendance today at Laurel Park knows that [racing in Maryland is alive and well],” Lou Raffetto, Maryland Jockey Club president and chief operating officer said in a statement. “The Maryland Million is a small sample of what Maryland racing is capable of when given the financial resources to compete.”

But there was just as much action on the track as there was at the betting windows.

Evil Storm, ridden by jockey Jeremy Rose, dramatically claimed the Maryland Million Classic, which featured a purse of $300,000, by blasting from the back of the pack to post a dominating win in 1:58.19. Last year, Evil Storm finished third in the Classic, but made no mistake this year as it won by three lengths. The win is the first of the year for the horse, and only its eighth career victory.

“Michael Gorham had been pointing this horse to this race and he ran a big one today,” Rose, a three-time winner of the Classic, said in a statement. “He was plenty fit and gave a big effort today. We saved ground early and I had plenty of horse left at the finish.”

Not everyone, however, left a winner.

Trainer Chris Grove had nine horses start for him on the day, but failed to claim a win, despite earning more than $133,000 in prize money.

“It really wasn’t the day that we were looking for, but would be hard to call it a bad day,” Grove said in a statement. “I bet a lot of trainers here today would like to go home with that result. The main thing is, everybody came out of their race in good order and that’s the most important thing. You live to fight another day, but they have to come back in good order first.”

— dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com