The May 2026 issue is ready for you!  In anticipation of an historic 2026 Preakness at Laurel Park, the editorial staff went all out with this magazine–filled with great stories leading up to the big day, plus all your usual favorites.

Preakness ships to Laurel for 2026
Everything is the same – yet different – as Maryland’s biggest Thoroughbred weekend heads to substitute venue Laurel Park for 2026. By Tom Law.

Laurel deserves Preakness showcase
To the people there every day, Laurel Park is ready for its
big moment as a Preakness host. On-track, it might be more ready than Pimlico. By Joe Clancy.

The ‘Lost’ Preaknesses
The 2026 edition isn’t the first Preakness to occur away from Pimlico. Decades ago, racing historians David Woods and Joe Hickey found the others. By Cindy Deubler.

Laurel legends set table for 2026

Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Kelso, Sir Ivor, Secretariat and plenty of other greats graced Laurel Park in a history that started in 1911. By Joe Clancy.

Trackside Laurel Park: Miss Fulton Gal shines

The last horse purchased by Vince Bracciale, 3-year-old filly Miss Fulton Gal becomes a stakes winner. By Paul Halloran.

Into the Far Turn with Retired Racehorse Project

The Retired Racehorse Project works on its future by creating strategic plan, looking forward. By Kristen Kovatch Bentley.

Enjoy the read! Click the cover to get started.

As a lead-in to Preakness Week, the Library will host its annual Book Sale & Art Mart. The sale will feature new and gently read copies on a wide variety of equine topics and includes out-of-print titles.

A selection of framed artwork will also be available, along with Preakness souvenirs and vintage posters. Proceeds help to maintain and add to the Maryland Horse Library collection and assist with Library programs.

Maryland Horse Foundation Expands Signature Workforce Initiative
Program to run June 1-5, 2026. Applications Now Open

Reisterstown, MD — The Maryland Horse Foundation is proud to announce the expansion of its signature educational initiative – the Maryland Thoroughbred Career Program – with the launch of the Maryland Horse Career Program (MHCP), an immersive, week-long experience designed to introduce young adults between the age of 18-25, to the full breadth of career opportunities across Maryland’s diverse horse industry. The 2026 program will run June 1-5, 2026, and applications are open through February 1, 2026.

Formerly known as the Maryland Thoroughbred Career Program, the MHCP reflects a significant evolution of the Foundation’s workforce development mission. While the program has historically focused on the Thoroughbred sector, the expanded MHCP now encompasses the entire Maryland horse ecosystem, including racing, breeding, sport, competition, recreation, veterinary and farrier services, event management, media, aftercare, and equine-assisted services.

“With this transition to the Maryland Horse Career Program, we are widening the horizon for young people who love horses,” said Cricket Goodall, Executive Director of the Maryland Horse Foundation. “Whether their passion lies in racing, training, veterinary work, competition management, or community programs, we want them to see that Maryland’s Horse Industry offers a vibrant, interconnected industry where they can build meaningful and successful careers.”

By partnering with the Maryland Horse Industry Board and University of Maryland, Equine Studies, MHCP’s selected participants will go behind the scenes with professionals across multiple sectors of the industry, gaining firsthand exposure to a wide array of equine careers. Graduates of the MHCP are eligible to apply for the Work Experience Program that supports further training, certifications, education, and career advancement opportunities.

The online application is now available and must be submitted by February 1, 2026. Interviews will occur in the two weeks following the deadline, with final selections announced in March. More information about the Maryland Horse Career Program is available HERE. Questions may be directed to Maryanna Skowronski, maryanna@marylandthoroughbred.com

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About the Maryland Horse Foundation

The Maryland Horse Foundation was chartered in 1988 by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association to support the educational needs of Maryland’s horse industry. The Foundation develops and funds statewide equine education programs and oversees the Maryland Horse Library & Education Center. MHF works collaboratively with industry partners to strengthen Maryland’s entire equine ecosystem and inspire the next generation of horse industry professionals.

The newly-released The Racetracks of America: From the Pre-Civil War Days to the 21st Century — “An unprecedented history of the tracks that have defined American racing since the 1800s. . .” — will be discussed during a mid-morning talk with its Editor in Chief, Brien Bouyea, and followed by a book signing, on Sunday, Oct. 12 starting at 11 a.m. at the Maryland Horse Library & Education Center in Reisterstown. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

Bouyea will offer a brief overview with a visual presentation, and provide additional details about chapters in the book that focus on Bowie and Havre de Grace.

The 440-page coffee table book chronicles the rich history of America’s iconic racetracks. The entire project took about a year to complete, with Bouyea assigning writers based (as much as possible) on tracks they were familiar with. Thirty-five writers, a who’s who of equine journalism, contributed histories of dozens of popular past and present racing venues. The impressive volume includes close to 600 photographs, paintings, programs, admission badges, and other memorabilia.

The book was produced by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in partnership with Keeneland Library, with underwriting support from Stella Thayer and the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust. “The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s mission is to preserve and promote the history of Thoroughbred racing in America and this volume is a perfect example of the Museum doing exactly that,” said Bouyea. “I want to thank Keeneland Library, all of the contributing writers and photographers, and the trustees and staff of the Museum for their support of this unique project.”

Bouyea was among the contributors, and adds to his stable of historical work which includes Bare Knuckles and Saratoga Racing: The Remarkable Life of John Morrissey, and, as co-author, The Travers: 150 Years of Saratoga’s Greatest Race. Prior to joining the Museum in 2010, Bouyea won numerous national and New York State writing awards while working for a variety of newspapers and magazines covering professional and college sports.

Books will be available for purchase for $75, with a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book going to the Maryland Horse Library.

As part of the cooperative effort between Maryland and Virginia, multiple stakes from June 2025 through March 2026 will be for both Maryland-bred or -sired and Virginia-bred or -sired horses.

The stakes will be run at Laurel Park and Colonial Downs. Six of the 16 stakes are scheduled for the turf, including two for 2-year-olds at Colonial. Virginia-certified horses are not eligible to compete in the series of state-restricted stakes.

In 2024, Maryland and Virginia officials began discussions on regional cooperation for scheduling of racing dates to maximize opportunities for owners, trainers and breeders. The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, created by legislation in 2023, played an active role in the process, which resulted in efforts by both Maryland and Virginia.

A key aspect of the 2025 schedule is the renewed working relationship with Colonial, which continues to expand its live racing schedule given revenue from historical horse racing machines. Colonial will offer 47 programs this year over roughly 12 weeks, with most racing in July and August.

The annual Maryland-bred stakes program, valued at the usual total of $1.05 million, now will combine with $750,000 from the six Colonial stakes to create an overall $1.8 million restricted stakes program. Colonial is providing the $750,000 in purse money for its stakes.

Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Katharine Voss said horsemen and breeders in both states worked to fashion the program. As an added bonus for Maryland, eight of its state-restricted stakes will increase in value from $75,000 to $100,000, and a pair of late-season 2-year-old events–the Maryland Juvenile and Maryland Juvenile Fillies–will be worth $125,000, up from $100,000.

“This program came out of the initial discussions to work on coordination of schedules in the region,” Voss said. “With Laurel being dark in July and August, we had some stakes but no place to squeeze them in. Colonial is thrilled with the merging of Virginia-bred races with our Maryland-bred races.”

Voss noted statistics that indicate Maryland has about four times as many 2-year-old and 3-year-old state-bred horses as Virginia.

“It all seemed to make sense,” Voss said. “We were told by state leaders to consider coordinating racing in the region. When I spoke to Boyd Browning of Fasig-Tipton, he said it would be important for parties to get together to develop regional programs to combat the rapid growth in the Kentucky program (largely from historical horse racing revenue).”

The first two Laurel stakes are the Jameela and Ben’s Cat in June, followed by the Miss Disco, Star de Naskra, Find, and All Brandy–formerly run at Laurel–and a pair of juvenile stakes, the Jamestown and Dolley Madison, at Colonial in July and August. There will be an additional eight stakes, two each on four racing days, in December 2025 and January and March in 2026.

The revised stakes schedule dovetails with the new $600,000 Owner & Developer Bonus Program to support Maryland-bred horses racing at Colonial and Delaware Park during Maryland’s live racing break from July 4 through Aug. 17, 2025. The program rewards the connections of Maryland-bred horses with bonus payments based on a points system tied to race conditions at Colonial and Delaware.

Combined with a similar $600,000 Breeder and Stallion Bonus Program to be offered by the Maryland Bred Race Fund, up to $1.2 million will be available for Maryland-bred horses during the about seven weeks of downtime during the summer.