Senior Senator is Grand again

Irvin “Skip” Crawford’s Senior Senator retained the Grand National Challenge Cup on Saturday with a dominant victory in the 117th running of the historic middle jewel of the Maryland Timber Triple Crown.

Ridden by 23-year-old amateur Eric Poretz, his regular jockey throughout his timberracing career, Senior Senator claimed the Challenge Cup for Crawford with his third straight victory in the 3 ¼-mile race in Butler. The victory set him up for an assault on a third victory in the Maryland Hunt Cup next Saturday in Glyndon.

Laurel Park: Robert Manfuso, Wayne Harrison and trainer Katherine Voss’ Las Setas won a free entry into the $300,000 Black Eyed Susan (G2) with her victory in Saturday’s $125,000 Weber City Miss at Laurel Park, but the daughter of Seville had to earn it. The Weber City Miss, an about 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies, was a win-and-in event that offered the winner a free-entry into the Blacked-Eyed Susan at Pimlico on May 17.

Runnymede Racing’s Alwaysmining took his winning streak to another level with an 11 ½-length romp in Saturday’s $125,000 Xpressbet Federico Tesio at Laurel Park, punching his ticket to the 144th Preakness Stakes (G1).

Golf: Mount Pleasant Golf Course and Manor Country Club produced almost identical scores in advancing to the championship round of the annual team matches of the Maryland State Golf Association. Mount Pleasant, in the final for the first time, defeated Crofton CC, 14 1⁄2-31⁄2, and Manor, a 4-time champion whose last title was in 1971, stopped Columbia CC, 14-4. The two winners will play for the state crown next Saturday.