After track inspection, track tentatively plans to race Saturday
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Laurel Park has made tentative plans to hold a live race card on Saturday after an initial review of the track’s main dirt surface turned up only minor irregularities, the president of the track’s horsemen’s group said on Wednesday.
Tim Keefe, a trainer who is the president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, said that John Passero, a track superintendent with a long history working in the mid-Atlantic, made some “quick fixes” to the main surface on Wednesday morning and had concluded that any additional alterations could be completed by Saturday.
“He made some quick fixes, some changes he thought were necessary,” Keefe said. “He’s very comfortable that we’ll be where we need to be on Saturday.”
Passero was hired by Laurel’s parent company at the behest of the MTHA, which began boycotting the entry box at Laurel last Friday due to concerns about the safety of the track. A day earlier, two horses had been euthanized after suffering injuries in consecutive races over the dirt surface. If Laurel races Saturday, the track will have lost five live race cards.
The MTHA and the owner of Laurel, 1/ST Racing, reached an agreement to let Passero review the track just prior to a special racing commission meeting yesterday that was called to discuss concerns about the track and the possibility of moving live racing to Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore. 1/ST also owns Pimlico.
Over the weekend, 1/ST had pushed back against horsemen’s claims that the track was unsafe, citing a “battery of tests” performed by its on-site maintenance team. In a statement released late on Saturday, 1/ST had said the tests proved that the surface’s attributes were “within industry norms.”
Horsemen said they would continue to boycott the entry box until Passero was allowed to review the surface.
Keefe said that the Laurel dirt surface will be opened for workouts and training on Thursday morning. Afterwards, horsemen and Laurel officials will collect feedback from exercise riders and trainers about the condition of the surface, Keefe said.
Although Keefe said he was hopeful that the card on Saturday could be held, he also warned that a storm system is expected to arrive in the area on Friday morning, which could jeopardize the plans.
“It might be a case where we have to seal the track [on Friday] and close it for training to make the Saturday card go,” Keefe said.
Racing is scheduled to continue at Laurel until May 7. Live racing is scheduled start at Pimlico for a 12-day meet running from May 11 to May 29, with the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, scheduled for May 20.
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