Video edited on Kapwing

If you blinked, you missed it. The 2024 Timonium meet came and went, as it always does, in a flash, arriving August 23 and hitting the finish line September 2.

Things kicked off with Flinny Tin Tin in the winner’s circle and ended with Caerus there, the latter conquering just two rivals as scratches beat up closing day. Speaking of Flinny Tin Tin, her half-brother, Chinny Tin Tin, also won during the meet, breaking his maiden in a front-running score on closing day. Both victories were by larger margins than the whiskers on your chinny chin chin.

Chinny Tin Tin’s win – hey, that rhymes! – came following an 18-month layoff and was the second closing day win by a horse off more than a year. In the first, Doris’ Slaying It was well-beaten by Ariel Moon but elevated to first because that rival came over and shut her off into the first turn. Doris’ Slaying It hadn’t raced since June of 2023.

At the other end of the spectrum was Irish Hero, winner of a Maryland restricted allowance in race eight on closing day. He was wheeling back after having raced at the Big T August 23 and won easily under jockey Wesley Ho, chased home by stablemate Banditsgoldenchild, also racing for the second time at Timonium. Both are trained by John Robb.

They were two of the 21 horses to make two starts during the brief stand. None managed to win twice, however, Irish Hero and the Charlie Frock-trained Forgotten Gift coming closest, each with a win and a second.

Forgotten Gift’s win Sept. 1 gave the Timonium-loving Frocks their lone win of the meet. In the trainer standings compiled by racing secretary Georganne Hale – which award points based on starts and finish position – Frock was second in the small barn standings with 17 points. The small barn title went to John Salzman, Jr., who started just seven horses but won with four of them to finish with 17 points.

Others enjoying productive meets with smaller Big T presences included Flinny and Chinny’s trainer, Ferris Allen, who won with three of five starters; Kerry Hohlbein, who was two-for-two, and Robbie Bailes, who was two-for-four.

At the other end of the spectrum was Anthony Farrior, who led the meet with five wins and 33 starts (11 more than any other trainer) and ran away with the big barn training title with 94 points, double his nearest competitor. Farrior struggled through a winless opening weekend and was winless on closing day. In between, however, he won five times, including three on September 1.

Among Farrior’s more notable scores were victories by Mendys Honey and Flying to Neptune. The former, a three-year-old Mendelssohn filly he trains for Ultra Championship Racing, improved to two-for-two in a sharp allowance score, getting four furlongs in 44.79 seconds. The latter, a two-year-old Maryland-bred Fiber Sonde filly – a pretty unusual combination itself – won at first asking a four-furlong maiden special weight dash for owner A. R. D. Racing Stables.

Of course, the biggest win of the meet went to Late Frost. The bullring-loving Frosted filly won the $75,000 Shine Again Stakes for trainer Michael Matz and owners Runnymoore Racing. Angel Cruz was in the irons.

Cruz, the 2022 Timonium riding champion, won five races during the meet, from 35 starters. That was good for fifth in the standings. Three riders – J. G. Torrealba, Arnaldo Bocachica, and Cristian Maldonado – won six races apiece to create a three-way tie for second in the standings.

Xavier Perez, leading rider of 2023 at the Big T, retained his title this year. Perez won eight times from 31 starts, a feat more impressive because he took off the final day of the meet. He had good reason, of course; he was riding two-year-old Studlydoright in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, where the Jerry Robb trainee finished seventh.

One other big winner on the meet was Georganne Hale. Hale, the longtime racing secretary at Timonium and, previously, at the Maryland Jockey Club, was feted for her 40 years of service during a winner’s circle ceremony August 31 that included a congratulatory video, proclamations, and a brief speech from State Fair general manager Andy Cashman.

And so back into mothballs for another year goes the Big T. The seven-day meet known for its old-school grandstand and older-school vibe, its enthusiastic crowds and modest betting, kids in the stands and families camped out on the apron, the sole surviving fair meet in the East.

Maryland racing resumes Saturday at Laurel Park for the fall meet, which includes the October 12 Maryland Million. Saturday’s first post is 12:25 p.m.

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