Laurel Park

This is a great place to have your Thanksgiving meal. It is served in the club house and yes, you have to have reservations (it sells out). Before you say, «horse tracks are dumps full sketchy people,» do not. Over the past several years the owners have been renovating the place and there are lots of families here. Every time I come here I have great time and the service had been fabulous. Our server (who got us our drinks) on Thanksgiving was great. The food is buffet style with good variety of tasty food. Besides the good eats and great service, the other two reason I come here are that I get to bet on the horse and my troublemaking family member are not here.

I’ve hosted 2 group outings here and both times the group has had a lot of fun. I had a package set up which included VIP parking for my guests and lunch. We had our own hostess who greeted us at the door and escorted us to our tables.
The food was pretty good and with alcohol tossed on top, pretty soon everyone was having a great time.
Part of the VIP package included naming one of the 10 races and having that name displayed on the jumbotron. Just preceding «our race» our hostess escorted us to the paddock where we could observe the horses being walked just prior to the race.
Then we were escorted to the rail just in front of the track to watch the race.
Finally, the package included a lovely photo of our group standing with the winner of the race.
We left with a memorable story. One of our group won the trifecta, but alas, the winner was disqualified because the two horses bumped. Easy come, easy go.

Woo-​hoo I’ve never attended this place before but i had fun! I was here for a St. Patrick’s day event. Which actually happened to be a pig roast for st. Paddy Day. It was great! First of all. They had assigned tables and they gave out a lot of freebies perks. Nice. the event included a buffet and 2 drinks. Lunch was good and yes I should have took pictures of the meal but i was being greedy and i digged in right away. So much for pictures lol. I did take a picture of the killian’s Irish Red on tap. On tap and on time. I loved it. Very tasty. I will be getting that again on St Patrick’s day. They held the event indoors due to the weather. From what i understand you can sit indoors and watch the horses racing or sit out side on a beautiful day. They do charge a rate For indoors watching if you’re not at the Sunday brunch or at an event. I’ve never bet on the horses before so i said hey I’m a give it a try. I got lucky twice in picking my horses. Now that’s what I’m talking about. The betting starts out at the minimum being $ 2.00 and as high as you want. I definitely will be back to try my luck. Especially since i love horses. So if you’re up for a change. Give them a try. Hey what do you have to lose but maybe a couple of dollars. You may win…:)

My first visit here was made less intimidating by a wonderful lady named Denise. Since I’m not a horse racing fan, I had no idea even where to park or which entrance to go in. Along the long walk from the parking area I found many helpful people.
Once inside Denise greeted me warmly from her spot at the betting area. She explained the different ways to play and how much each would cost. She was patient and made me understand the most complicated bets. Thanks for also wishing me luck!

Overlooked gem in the DC area. Horse racing in the Balti-​Wash metro area (Laurel, Pimlico, Rosecroft) goes largely unpromoted and unreported. (Need proof? The Park has been here for nearly 100 years: Only two reviews on Unilocal.)
Laurel is a fine place to take in a race. Lots of tradition, good viewing area, accessible paddock. The Post recently reported that, thanks to legalized gambling in Maryland, Laurel and Pimlico are now subsidized and guaranteed to be around for at least a decade. Here’s hoping that with its newfound security, Laurel does a little promotion to make itself known in the DC area.
Also nearby is a great Amish market and a western wear store.
BTW, 4 stars instead of 5 because of the crappy food court.

Cash a winning ticket and head home.
Yeah, didn’t exactly go that way. Amazing how excitement of picking a winner on the 1^st race quickly morphs into wild enthusiasm to make it happen again.
Joined Mike T. at Laurel Park for a day of racing a few weeks ago. It’d been probably 18 years or so since I was last at a track. Laurel is a great place to get one’s feet wet with horse racing. On this particular day the horses that should have won (according to statistical analysis) didn’t and some bizarre long shots did. But I still ended up with a few winners, only left $ 14 down on the day, and had a ton of fun.
Pack a lunch (there are concessions, but I was happy with my sandwich from home) and spend an afternoon taking in the sport of kings in the enclosed grandstand or hanging out down on the rail. Whether your ticket is a win or another crumpled dream tossed on the pavement, you’ll have a good day watching these beautiful creatures.