Laurel cancels for second straight week

Laurel Park in Maryland has canceled another three-day racing week because of concerns regarding the track’s dirt racing surface, but progress has been made diagnosing the problems with the track and taking corrective measures, with hope racing can resume Thursday, Dec. 16.

Laurel on Tuesday announced that racing Dec. 10 through Dec. 12 was canceled, this following a similar announcement Dec. 2, when Laurel said it wouldn’t race as planned Dec. 3-5. A news release regarding the initial cancellation said horsemen and the track’s parent company, 1/ST, were “working with industry experts to analyze surface composition and maintenance procedures.”

Those industry experts – chief among them former Maryland track superintendent John Passero and Glen Kozak, vice president for facilities and racing surfaces at the New York Racing Association – helped determine that the Laurel surface required additional material and altered maintenance practices, according to Alan Foreman, general counsel for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.

Coarse sand is being added to the existent surface, Foreman said, and the way the track is harrowed will be changed.

“The recommendations are to hold moisture, deepen the surface, and give it body,” Foreman said when reached by phone Tuesday afternoon. “They’re ensuring there’s sufficient water content. This track is going to need a lot of water as you get into the winter months. You need to create that cushion for safety.”

A Maryland Jockey Club official did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

This past April, Laurel halted racing and training because of dirt-track issues, eventually replacing the entire surface, which reopened for use in early September. The new surface initially was favorably received by horsemen, but complaints, Foreman said, began coming in late October, when colder weather arrived.

“The track was too hard, times were too fast, horses were coming back with injuries,” said Foreman.

Between Nov. 6 and the Nov. 28, seven horses – four racing and three training – suffered injuries so severe that euthanasia was prescribed, according to a report first published by Thoroughbred Daily News. It was following the last of those fatalities, American Playboy in the eighth race Nov. 28, that the decision was made to halt racing and curtail training.

No breezes have been permitted at Laurel since Nov. 28 and until Tuesday morning only the outer portion of the dirt oval had been open for training. Multiple trainers said the traffic cones delineating the part of the track available for training were down Tuesday, when the whole surface once again was accessible.

According to Foreman, a plan has been formed to resume timed workouts Friday, Dec. 10, with the intention of racing again Thursday, Dec. 16, if the surface is deemed safe. Kozak and Passero will remain involved in track maintenance for now, Foreman said, and the way daily maintenance is performed by the Laurel track crew will be revisited once the situation has been stabilized.

“There are more decisions to be made going forward,” Foreman said.