Fair Grounds turf course problems continue

Fair Grounds continues to be plagued by problems with its turf course, a situation that came to a chaotic head during the Thursday race card.

Though there has been no significant rainfall at Fair Grounds since Dec. 30, the turf was used for only two races last weekend, on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5. Fair Grounds initially planned to use the course as scheduled on Sunday, Jan. 5, but after one race, riders expressed concern with horses slipping on the far turn, and grass racing on a course termed yielding was abandoned.

On Thursday, races carded for turf were again scheduled to be run on grass, which this time was called good, but after the first of four grass races – race 2, a sprint – riders, track management, and stewards decided to move the card’s other turf sprint, race 4, to the main track, while keeping two later two-turn races on grass. The first of those, race 6, was run as scheduled, but riders this time reportedly told stewards that horses also were having trouble on the course’s first turn, at which point the day’s final turf race, the eighth, was moved to the main track.

The surface switches played havoc with multi-race wagers and further called into question the viability of the local course. Fair Grounds, acknowledging growing issues with the turf over the past few racing seasons, sowed the course before this meet with a different variety of grass than had traditionally been used while repairing the drainage system on the far turn. The course received favorable reviews during November and December, but has failed to dry sufficiently since a rainy end to December.