The Preakness Is Coming to Laurel — and the City Is Going All In 🏇

In just under two months, one of the most famous two minutes in American sports will happen right here in Laurel. The Preakness Stakes — the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown — is returning to Laurel Park on Saturday, May 16th, and the city has made clear it plans to make the most of every second. For a city that doesn't always get the spotlight it deserves, this is a different kind of moment.

There's also a story this week about a pool tournament at a Laurel venue that ended in disqualifications for cheating — and a genuinely gripping showdown between a veteran player and a 17-year-old underdog that the billiards world is still talking about. Plus: a Laurel woman wins $50,000 on an impulse scratch-off at the Fort Meade Road Wawa, and the illegal car rally problem in Laurel corridors is getting more serious — a stolen firearm was recovered at a Cherry Lane rally just this past weekend. Here's what's in this week's edition:

On Saturday, May 16, 2026, the Preakness Stakes — the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown and one of the most storied events in American sports — will be run at Laurel Park, 198 Laurel Race Track Road. Preakness 151 marks the 151st running of the race, and the City of Laurel is treating it as exactly the kind of platform moment a city gets very rarely. The official citywide campaign has launched under the slogan "Saddle Up, Laurel!" — a coordinated call for residents, businesses, and community partners to get involved through storefront displays, special promotions, and neighborhood engagement designed to make Laurel feel like the center of the state on race day. Mayor Keith R. Sydnor framed the stakes plainly, “This is a chance to put Laurel's best face forward for visitors, media, and regional attention the city doesn't typically command.” Interested businesses should contact [email protected], and full community participation details are at cityoflaurel.org/saddleup.

But for Laurel residents who want a first look before the main event, here's a date to put on the calendar right now: Saturday, April 18th — Preakness Preview Day at Laurel Park, and admission is free. Gates open at 11:00 AM, first race posts at 12:00 PM, and the afternoon card includes five stakes races anchored by two of Maryland's most important preps: the $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes, a key stepping stone for three-year-olds aiming for a Preakness bid, and the $150,000 Weber City Miss Stakes, a major prep for fillies targeting the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. In other words, the horses and connections you'll be watching on May 16th could be right in front of you six weeks earlier — for free.

There's more to do on April 18th beyond just watching the races. Laurel Park is running a Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge, where participants compete for a trip to the 2027 National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas or the 2026 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge at Keeneland. Registration is open now at laurelpark.com/preaknesspreviewdaycontest. The track's Value Pick 5 wager will also be available with an industry-low 12% takeout — a meaningful edge for anyone who bets seriously. And for those who'd rather sit down to a full afternoon with trackside views, dining packages are available starting at $95 (reservations at SeatGeek) and VIP hospitality packages at $150, which include premium box seating, open bar, and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot per four guests.

For Laurel residents, Preakness Preview Day is the best possible on-ramp to what May 16th will be. It's free, it's local, it's a genuine afternoon out at one of the most beautiful tracks in the mid-Atlantic — and it puts you in the stands before the crowds arrive. As for race day itself, city officials are working with Anne Arundel County on logistics and safety, and the "Saddle Up, Laurel!" campaign will continue to roll out community touchpoints between now and May 16th. Tickets for the Preakness are available at preakness.com/tickets.

What we still don't know — and what residents near the track should be asking — is exactly how traffic management will work on race day, which corridors will be most impacted, and what the parking and shuttle plan looks like for surrounding neighborhoods. Those details aren't public yet, but they matter for anyone who lives within a couple of miles of Race Track Road.

Something genuinely unusual happened at the Bank Shot Bar and Grill in Laurel on the weekend of March 7-8: a first-of-its-kind "Quad Bracket" pool tournament drew 123 entrants from four skill divisions, played down to a dramatic final — and then descended into one of the most talked-about disqualification controversies in recent tournament pool history. The event, run by B&L Billiards Tournaments, was a format innovation: four separate double-elimination brackets based on FargoRate skill rankings (ranging from 450-and-under to 600-and-higher) that fed into a single-elimination Final 16.

The final everyone expected to watch — a high-rated player facing a lower-rated one by design — never materialized the way the bracket intended, because two semifinalists were disqualified for deliberately manipulating their skill ratings. In competitive pool, a higher-ranked player can artificially suppress their ranking by intentionally playing poorly, allowing them to enter lower-rated brackets and gain a competitive edge. That's what two competitors were found to have done, and they admitted it. Their disqualification meant the final became a straight head-to-head between top-rated Lukas Fracasso-Verner and 17-year-old Lucas Kilgore — a pure matchup that, by all accounts, was exactly what the sport needed to watch. Fracasso-Verner pulled away from 8-4 to win the inaugural Quad Bracket title, but Kilgore's run to the final as a teenager against the field is a story of its own.

For Laurel residents, this is worth knowing: the Bank Shot Bar and Grill at the Laurel venue is a legitimate venue on the national competitive pool circuit. The tournament drew players from across the country, and the format controversy it sparked is now being discussed by the sport's governing community as they work to codify how to handle rating manipulation going forward. A small moment of national sporting drama, right here on our turf.

A Laurel woman stopped into the Wawa at 9600 Fort Meade Road on March 12th to grab something to drink. On the way out, a lottery vending machine caught her eye. She bought a $5 "Break the Bank" scratch-off on impulse, scratched it in the store, and scanned it on the machine to confirm what she was seeing: a $50,000 win. She claimed her prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore the same day. According to the Maryland Lottery, she described herself as an occasional player — and said she's planning to quit while she's ahead.

The Wawa on Fort Meade Road receives a $500 bonus — 1% of the prize total — as the retailer where the winning ticket was sold. For any Laurel residents still holding a "Break the Bank" scratch-off: the game still has two $50,000 top prizes remaining, along with tens of thousands of smaller prizes between $5 and $5,000.

Sometimes the best stories are the simplest ones: a woman stops for a drink, makes a $5 impulse decision, and walks out with $50,000. Congratulations to her. 🎉

Over the past two weekends, Laurel has been a focal point in an intensifying law enforcement response to illegal car rallies in Prince George's and Montgomery counties. On the weekend of March 7-8, the Maryland Car Rally Task Force — working with multiple agency partners — ran a coordinated overnight operation from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. targeting eight separate rally sites. Two of those sites were in Laurel: 13136 Mid Atlantic Boulevard and 6960 Van Dusen Road. At the Mid Atlantic Boulevard location, Gonnie Shamuray Lee, 27, of Laurel was arrested and charged with eluding, reckless driving, failure to remain at the scene of a dirt bike crash, and related offenses. Across all eight sites, law enforcement disrupted gatherings of up to 300 participants engaging in exhibition driving, roadway shutdowns, and disorderly conduct.

Then, this past weekend, it escalated further. On March 13th around 11:30 p.m., officers responded to a rally at the 14400 block of Cherry Lane — at least 100 vehicles — and during the break-up, stopped a vehicle driven by 20-year-old Diego Emmanuel Guerra of Woodbridge, Virginia. Inside his car: a loaded handgun reported stolen out of Texas. Guerra was charged with multiple handgun offenses and taken to the Prince George's County Department of Corrections. Prince George's County Police Chief Nader put it directly: "Illegal car rallies are dangerous. In this case, we recovered a gun that had been reported stolen. Do not come into our jurisdiction."

For residents who live near Mid Atlantic Boulevard, Van Dusen Road, or Cherry Lane, this is not an abstract public safety concern — these events are happening within blocks of homes, and the presence of a stolen firearm raises the stakes for everyone nearby. Prince George's County Crime Solvers is offering rewards of up to $500 for tips about illegal vehicle takeovers before they happen. You can report information at pgcrimesolvers.com, via the "P3 Tips" mobile app, or by calling 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). All tips can remain anonymous.

What we still don't know is how frequently these rallies are occurring when the task force isn't running a targeted operation, and whether the city of Laurel has a specific response plan for rally sites that keep reappearing in the same locations.

The Preakness is coming to Laurel Park on May 16th — and "Saddle Up, Laurel!" is the city's call for residents and businesses to get involved. But the real question is: what does a perfect race day in Laurel look like to you? Are you planning to attend, are you a local business thinking about how to participate, or are you someone who lives near the track and has questions about what race day will mean for your street?

Hit reply and tell us. We read every response, and the best ones may appear in next week's edition.

Our community photo spotlight continues! Each edition, we feature a photo from a Laurel resident that captures the beauty and spirit of our town.

Wendy caught tree buds in mid-bloom with a dusting of snow still clinging to their tips — two seasons sharing the same branch at the same moment. It's a photograph that feels exactly like March in Maryland: one foot in winter, one foot in spring, and neither one ready to let go just yet.

Want to be featured? Email your photos to [email protected] with the subject line "Show Us Your Laurel" and you might appear in an upcoming edition!

⭐ Mobile Prom Boutique 📅 Saturday, March 21 · 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 📍 Laurel High School, 8000 Cherry Ln, Laurel, MD | Free or low-cost prom attire for students who need it, right at Laurel High School. If you know a student who could use this resource — or if you have gently used formal wear to donate — this is the place to be Saturday morning. A community taking care of its own.

⭐ Native Gardening Happy Hour 📅 Wednesday, March 18 · 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM 📍 Facci Wood Fire Pizza & Wine Bar, 7530 Montpelier Rd, Laurel, MD | Tonight! Native plants, good pizza, and people who care about what grows in Laurel's soil. If you've ever wanted to make your yard more hospitable to local pollinators and wildlife, this is the room to start in.

⭐ Auditions: American Son 📅 Wednesday, March 18 · 7:00 PM 📍 Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 11416 Cedar Lane, Beltsville, MD | Also tonight — auditions for American Son, a powerful, timely play about race, family, and policing in America. If you're a performer in the Laurel/Beltsville area looking for your next project, this one is worth showing up for.

Also this week:

Planning ahead? Here are 3 more events coming up through March 28th.

⭐ Eggstravaganza 📅 Saturday, March 28 · 12:00 PM 📍 Granville Gude Park, 8300 Mulberry Ave, Laurel, MD One of the most popular family events of the spring season at Laurel's best park. If you have little ones, put this on the calendar now — these fill fast and the weather should be turning in your favor.

Also coming up:

Thanks for reading Edition #22 of the I❤️LAUREL Newsletter.

This week had a range that felt true to Laurel — the grandeur of a Triple Crown race coming to our doorstep, a billiards tournament drama that put the Bank Shot Bar and Grill on the national sports map, a $50,000 win on a $5 whim, and a public safety situation near residential streets that deserves continued attention. None of these stories are unrelated. They're all part of the same city, in the same week, happening to the same community. That's what this newsletter is here to capture.

Got an event, story tip, or business we should feature? Just hit reply — I read every response.

See you next week!

— Mike Mondy Founder, I❤️LAUREL

P.S. — Don't forget to move this email to your primary inbox so you never miss an edition! P.S.S. — Be sure to follow us on Instagram! @ilovelaurelmd 📱