Laurel Racing Surface Issues Addressed at Open Forum

Horsemen in Maryland were promised during an open Zoom forum the afternoon of April 16 that every measure is being taken to evaluate and rehabilitate the main track surface cushion at Laurel Park and remedy the situation that forced the cancellation of live racing April 17-19.

As part of regular track maintenance, the Maryland Jockey Club, owned by 1/ST Racing, identified April 14 that the Laurel main track had not responded sufficiently to wintertime cushion repairs.

“As a racetrack operator we have a couple of responsibilities and the most important one is to make sure that the sanctity and the safety of the racetrack is the best it can be at all times,” said Aidan Butler, the COO of 1/ST Racing, which also owns Pimlico Race Course.

Maryland racing shifts to Pimlico, effective April 22, on an emergency basis. Meanwhile, it was announced during the forum that training hours on Saturday morning have been adjusted to 5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for horses to jog and gallop on the outside of the track, and an abbreviated training schedule will change throughout the process on a daily basis and updates will be issued. In addition, horses now will be able to train at Pimlico and there will be shuttles provided to carry horses to and from the track.

Friday’s panel, which included executive director David Richardson and president Tim Keefe of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, 1/ST senior vice president of racing Steve Koch, MJC track superintendent Chris Bosley, racetrack surface safety expert Dr. Mick Peterson, 1/ST Racing head track superintendent Dennis Moore, veterinarians, horsemen’s group representatives, and MJC executives, addressed the issue with the intent of moving forward to identify the problems and remedy the situation rather than look back and point fingers.

“I feel confident that no expenses are going to be spared, and Aidan Butler has assured me that the team that he has assembled here will get the job done right,” said Keefe, a longtime trainer in Maryland. “Trust me when I tell you that I know how this situation has affected all of us, especially after a year of COVID-19 and what seems to be an eternity of quarantine (due to an outbreak of the EHV-1 virus over the past six weeks) here at Laurel and at Pimlico. I know how this is affecting everybody.”

There are currently 960 horses stabled on Laurel’s backstretch, according to the MTHA.

Butler said that when he got the heads-up last week that the track was not performing up to expectations 1/ST Racing rallied and assembled its team. He said they all understand the current situation is a huge inconvenience for those affected, and while it will take a lot of hard work and considerable expense to fix the problem, the ownership group is committed to do so.

“Maryland has the opportunity to be as good of a jurisdiction and as good of a racing circuit as any in the country but we’re not going to get there if the track isn’t as good as it can be,” Butler said. “We’re putting a heck of a lot of resources into this to make sure the Maryland track is not only good like other racing surfaces, but we really want it to be the best.

“As much as I’d like to wave a magic wand to get that done immediately, it’s going to take time. We think we can be fairly creative with keeping the horses on the ground at Laurel and keep them in some form of training, but it’s not going to be business as usual, just immediately from a training perspective. As long as we can continue to do things safely and as long as we can continue to get the support of everybody (horsemen) on this call, I think this too shall pass pretty quickly, and we’ll end up with a racing surface that we’ll all be extremely proud of."

Peterson acknowledged that winter racing on a dirt track is difficult and said that in the Mid-Atlantic region some years are more challenging than others. He said that the necessary use of salt applied to the track in the freeze-thaw cycle is particularly challenging as the weather turns to spring, and that affects the track materials. He said another challenge is being able to acquire consistent materials in the quantity required for proper racetrack maintenance.

Peterson added that extensive testing and a set of procedures are needed, and he sees this current situation not as a one-step process but one that requires a long-term solution.

Bosley added that the track cushion material needs to be removed so that they can thoroughly and properly examine the base and stressed the importance of taking as much time as needed to do it right. It was estimated that will take at least two weeks and was hoped it will be less than three weeks.

“Once we get everything situated, we have to figure out how we got to this point. As I’ve said before, I don’t subscribe to the thought that it’s just a materials issue,” said Keefe. “But I don’t want to waste a lot of time and effort now to go over that. I believe there is a discussion we need to have, whether it’s a difficult discussion or not, with management to figure out how we got here so that we don’t find ourselves back in the same predicament.”

Butler said 1/ST Racing is on board.

“You’ve got my word. I’m going to be in Maryland for next week and probably the week after. We can have a full sit down with the horsemen,” he said. “Obviously, we’re going to look to the future and look to making this as good of a surface as any. We can always learn how you got somewhere by where you came from. It’s good as a practical matter to go back in time and look at things we all could have done better, things that can change, things that can bring results. You’ve got my word that I’ll be out there. I’ve never been shy about listening. We’ve got to make sure this is made right.”