Aguirre Jr. earns 1st win at Laurel Park

Benny Havens got Laurel Park’s fall meet off to a rousing start, swinging to the lead on the far turn and fending off Mister Frank’s Way the length of the stretch to give trainer Anthony Aguirre Jr. his first career win in the first race on Friday’s opening day program.

Owned by Aguirre and ridden by 2018 Eclipse Award-winning apprentice Weston Hamilton, Benny Havens ($21.20) covered one mile over a firm Bowl Game turf course in 1:38.92 for a half-length triumph in the $33,000 waiver maiden claiming event for 2-year-olds.

“It’s a dream come true,” the 24-year-old Aguirre Jr. said. “I’m just happy to get the monkey off my back and get my first win.”

It was the third career start for Benny Havens and seventh for his trainer, whose first came with Red Clay Road July 18 at Laurel. Aguirre’s father, Anthony, is also based at Laurel and owns 140 wins since 2001. His mother, Kaymarie Kreidel, won 190 races as a jockey between1992 and 2006 and now works full-time as an outrider for the Maryland Jockey Club at Laurel and Pimlico Race Course.

Live Oak Plantation homebred American Giant put away heavily favored Still Alive in mid-stretch, reeled in pacesetter Hello Beautiful approaching the wire and edged past to spring a mild upset in Friday’s opening day feature.

Ridden by Julian Pimentel for trainer Mike Trombetta, American Giant ($14.80) ran 5 furlongs in 1:04.34 over a firm Exceller turf course to capture the $42,000 entry level optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies by a neck.

Men’s college soccer: Barry Sharifi scored the equalizer for Loyola Maryland off a Brian Saramago assist in the 51st minute Friday, but 10th-ranked Virginia Tech (3-0) came back to score just under 25 minutes later to post a 2-1 non-conference victory in the first game of the Fairfield Inn JMU Invitational.

Loyola (0-3) will face James Madison, the tournament host, on Sunday night at 7.

College field hockey: No. 2-ranked Maryland beat No. 13 Boston College, 3-1, Friday in its first game in the Big Ten/ACC Cup at Northwestern. Freshman Emma DeBerdine and sophomore Linda Cobano scored their first career goals as Terrapins in the victory. Maryland (3-0) picked up its first win over a ranked team this season.

Hunting: Archery hunting for whitetailed and sika deer opened in Maryland on Friday and continues through Jan. 31.

For the 2019-20 season, the statewide bag limit for white-tailed bucks is two deer (no more than one per weapon season). Maryland hunters in Region B (the state’s central, southern, and eastern regions) have the option to take one additional bonus buck after purchasing a Bonus Antlered Deer Stamp. The antlerless deer bag limits differ between deer management regions