The stakes will be high once again on Presidents’ Day weekend at Laurel Park. The nine-race card Saturday, Feb. 18, will feature the Grade III Barbara Fritchie and Grade III General George, both at 7F, both carrying a $250,000 purse and both as part of a 50-cent Late Pick 4 wager that shapes up this way:

LRL 7th race (3:27 EST) -- Go deep in the $100,000 Nellie Morse Stakes, the first leg of the Pick 4 sequence. NINETYPERCENTBRYNN is a consistent router, always seems to finish with run and has faced the likes of Grade III winner Leader Of The Band (6-17, $602k), Grade II-placed Tonal Vision (7-27, $301k) and multiple stakes winner Love In The Air (4-13, $313k). Her uncoupled stablemate, PISTOL LIZ ABLAZIN, drew off ‘quickly’ to defeat three next-out winners in her first long-distance test for $40,000 in September. She returned three months later in a 7F stakes, bid 3-wide behind the dueling leaders and flattened out. HYBRID ECLIPSE sustained a wide run to win a stakes race at this distance two back and is 4-for-6 at Laurel Park, but she was no match for the troubled favorite in a rematch at 1-1/8 miles next out. AWARD WANTED arrives in peak form after she ‘swept to command’ in mid-stretch against Maryland-breds in the $75,000 Geisha Stakes on the stretch-out in distance.

LRL 8th race (3:58 EST) -- UNION LAKE didn’t duplicate her troubled third-place finish against multiple graded stakes winner Wicked Halo (6-11, $870k) when she ran 7F for the first time two starts ago. But she bounced back with an impressive allowance victory, pressing favorite Rossa Veloce (8-24, $421k) into her first loss in the last four tries. She won geared down and is today’s Pick 4 solo play in the Grade III Barbara Fritchie Stakes.

LRL 9th race (4:29 EST) -- BEREN has seven stakes wins, spanning four tracks and four distances, including the DeFrancis Dash at Laurel Park. If he doesn’t scratch for another spot as he did before the January 21 Fire Plug Stakes here, expect him to make a run at his first graded-stakes victory in the General George. FACTOR IT IN held off a late charge by BEREN to win the 6F Dave’s Friend stakes, part of a stakes three-peat at a track where he is 8-for-12. Laurel Park lover Eastern Bay returns after two graded stakes placings at Aqueduct, including a near miss in the Grade III Bold Ruler, a race that produced four next-out winners (average 95 Beyer). His trainer, Norm Cash, also sends out: PIRATE RICK, the beaten favorite in the Grade III Toboggan at Aqueduct after he reeled off four consecutive wire-to-wire allowance wins by a combined 17 lengths; and SIR ALFRED JAMES, who posted a 100 Beyer speed figure when he won a 7F stakes around two turns at Charles Town. Don’t sleep on YODEL E.A. WHO, who rallied from far back to finish second to FACTOR IT IN and appears well suited for the distance.

LRL 10th race (5:00 EST) -- PEYTON ELIZABETH projects a good trip at a good price for a 28-percent claim barn, but play it safe in this starter allowance field with all six-figure earners by punching the ‘ALL’ button.

Suggested 50-cent Ticket

LRL 7th race: 2, 5, 6, 7
LRL 8th race: 6
LRL 9th race: 3, 4, 7
LRL 10th race: ALL

COST: $42