Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Handicap
The Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in March at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. It is open to three-year-olds and up and is run at miles (nine furlongs) on the dirt. An ungraded stakes race, it offers a purse of $100,000. The stake will run this year on Saturday, March 17, 2018. The race was named in honor of African-American trainer Harrison E. Johnson, a Maryland-based trainer who died in 1985 at age 45 in a plane crash along with George  F. Griffith while flying from Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York to Virginia. Johnson was piloting the plane. The native of Adelphi, Maryland, had been a trainer since the spring of 1969. His best race horse was Gutsy O'Shay, winner of the 1973 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga. That gelding was named Maryland-bred two-year-old champion in 1973. Records. Speed record: Most wins by an horse: Most wins by a jockey: Most wins by a trainer: