Laurel cancels Sunday card, alters stakes schedule

Laurel Park has canceled its Sunday card as the track maintenance crew continues to work on the racing surface following last Thursday’s storm. Laurel received approximately eight inches of snow.

“We’re still trying to get the moisture out of the track and get it back to a consistent, safe surface,” Sal Sinatra, general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, said Sunday morning.

Laurel also has pushed back two stakes scheduled for next Saturday until March 21. The stakes in question are a pair of $100,000 races for 3-year-olds, the 1 1/8-mile Private Terms and the one-mile Caesar’s Wish for fillies.

Laurel has canceled eight complete cards and the bulk of another card due to winter weather and track conditions since Presidents Day, Feb. 16. Only 12 races have been run at Laurel since the holiday, and the training schedules of the locally based horses pointing to the stakes have been compromised.

There now will be four stakes at Laurel on March 21. The $100,000 Harrison Johnson Memorial, for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, and the $100,000 Conniver, for fillies and mares at seven furlongs, already were scheduled.

Laurel’s next scheduled card is Thursday.