Fair Grounds turf-course conditions will limit upcoming schedule

Fair Grounds Racecourse will be forced to limit use of its turf course during the early portion of the New Orleans’ track’s 2022-23 racing season.

The inner lanes of the grass course aren’t in satisfactory condition for racing and, when the meet opens Nov. 18, a limited number of turf races will be conducted with the temporary rail set at 27 feet, its outermost position.

The rail position limits field size in turf sprints and, with nowhere to move the temporary rail until the inner lanes on the course are ready for use, Fair Grounds’ first condition book has been altered, with some turf races originally scheduled for turf moved to dirt, and others canceled.

Fair Grounds, until course conditions improve, will host about six grass races per week compared to 12 to 15 under normal circumstances, according to Gary Palmisano Jr., executive director of racing for Fair Grounds’ parent company, Churchill Downs Inc.

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The situation is a blow to a venue that doesn’t offer purses as high as a regional competitor, Oaklawn Park. Oaklawn has no turf racing and many Midwest stables with grass runners choose to winter in New Orleans because of that dynamic.

CDI’s flagship track, Churchill Downs, had to cease racing on its newly installed turf course this summer because of serious problems with the grass. Since the brief Kentucky Downs meet ended in mid-September, Kentucky horsemen, many of whom winter at Fair Grounds, had only the three-week Keeneland meet in October to race their grass runners.

Palmisano said Fair Grounds followed regular turf maintenance procedures after the popular New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival ended on May 8. The jazzfest spreads across the Fair Grounds infield and the turf course, but the course has always been ready for use when the Thoroughbred racing season opens in November. Palmisano said an intense rainy period in July and August and unusually dry conditions in September and October led to the compromised course condition. With favorable weather, the full course could be ready for use in mid-December, Palmisano said.

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