Morris Schapiro, long identified with racing at various other tracks, gained control of Laurel Race Course by purchasing 6,710 of 10,000 shares in the track from the Maryland Jockey Club. The MJC, which had bought the plant from the Butlers of New York in 1947, liquidated another of its holdings with a view to devoting its resources to the rebuilding of the Pimlico course in Baltimore.

Mrs. Robert H. Heighe, one of Maryland's foremost breeders, and owner of one of the state's leading racing stables, announced the sale of her Prospect Hill Stud near Bel Air. Maryland's leading lady of the turf (and second vice president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association) entered racing in 1929 and would continue to campaign her popular green and white silks. The 200-acre farm was being sold to Mr. and Mrs. Bliss Flaccus, who planned to continue its use as a Thoroughbred nursery.

Tred Avon, one of the nation's finest racemares in the early 1930s, died at age 22 at Danny Shea's Merryland Farm, where she resided as a pensioner. Bred and campaigned by Sylvester Labrot, she was buried at Holly Beach Farm where she was foaled, next to the grave of her sire, *Sir Graysteel. The champion handicap mare of 1932 won 22 races, her greatest victory coming in the Washington Handicap at Laurel when she defeated the turf stars Equipoise and Mate.

A.G. Vanderbilt's Loser Weeper was selected by the Maryland Racing Writers' Association as the Maryland-bred horse who "has done the most during the 1950 racing season to enhance the prestige of the Maryland horse breeding industry." The balloting to decide the winner was between the 5-year-old son of Discovery and Outdone and five others: Double Brandy, Pilaster, Tuscany, Family and Tenure; Loser Weeper was the unanimous winner.

Tuscany, a son of The Rhymer bred by Mr. and Mrs. S.M. Pistorio, won the Maryland Futurity at Laurel and appeared on the cover.

The Pimlico Special "wasn't up to its usual high standard . . . but it made a good race to watch, and the winner, Greentree's One Hitter, is a plucky little rascal." It was the first time a Pimlico Special winner was sired by a winner, as Shut Out won the race in 1943. It was also the second straight win for the stable and for jockey Ted Atkinson, who won with Capot the previous year.