The three race cards scheduled for Laurel Park in suburban Maryland from Saturday through Monday have been canceled and live racing will move to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore next week, two weeks earlier than planned, according to documents distributed by the parent company of the tracks on Thursday. The decisions by 1/ST, the company that owns the tracks, were made abruptly on Thursday after horsemen began contending that the main racing surface at Laurel needed repair and renovation. While it remains unclear how long a renovation of the racing surface at Laurel might last, 1/ST received approval on Thursday afternoon from the Maryland Racing Commission to move live racing beginning next Thursday to Pimlico, which had been scheduled to begin its meet on May 5. In a statement released late Thursday, 1/ST said that consultants are currently reviewing the Laurel surface in order to “identify a project timeline” for the renovation. “We understand that the timing of this Laurel Park main-track maintenance is not ideal for our horsemen, but the safety of the horses and our riders must be our top priority,” said Aidan Butler, the chief operating officer of 1/ST. According to a calendar distributed on Thursday afternoon, live racing will be held at Pimlico on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule from April 22-25, from April 29-May 2, and from May 6-9. The Preakness is scheduled for May 15, which will be followed by a dark day. Racing will continue through May 31, Memorial Day, according to the calendar. The developments are the latest blow to the Maryland racing circuit during a six-week period that has presented a series of hurdles. Aside from the wide-ranging impacts of the coronavirus pandemic over the past year, Maryland’s tracks have suffered an outbreak of equine herpesvirus in the past 45 days that have led to quarantines at both Laurel and Pimlico, the cancellation of two weeks of racing, and the rescheduling of several races that local horsemen use for preps for the blockbuster Preakness card. 1/ST had sent a notice to horsemen on Wednesday night stating that the review of the main surface would begin on Thursday morning, and that the track would be closed to workouts at that time. The statement said that 1/ST and the local management at the track “have identified that the main track at Laurel Park has not responded sufficiently to the necessary repairs following wintertime cushion changes.” :: Bet horse racing on DRF Bets. Double Your First Deposit Up to $250. Join Now. Sal Sinatra, the general manager and president of Laurel and Pimlico, said on Thursday morning that issues with the Laurel surface cropped up earlier this week when a horse broke down during training. After the breakdown, some horsemen and exercise riders began criticizing the makeup of the cushion, the top-most layer of the track, Sinatra said. “It felt like to them that the cushion wasn’t breaking away for the horses, that it wasn’t giving like it should,” Sinatra said.  David Richardson, the president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, did not respond to a phone message on Thursday.] Relations between horsemen and track management have become strained recently due to the equine herpesvirus outbreak and the cancellations related to the disease. Because horsemen could not ship out of the tracks, they have had limited opportunities to earn purse money. Racing was most recently conducted at Laurel for four days from April 8-11. Laurel is also planning to add racing dates to its live schedule in June and July to make up for the lost days. 1/ST is also the owner of Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields in California, two tracks that have been targeted by animal-rights advocates in recent years. Santa Anita had a spate of breakdowns early in 2019 that led to outsized media coverage of its safety protocols, and the company has become exquisitely sensitive to safety issues since the rash of injuries. All of 1/ST’s racetracks have implemented a variety of measures in the past 18 months to reduce injuries. Dennis Moore, the senior track superintendent for 1/ST, was flying to Maryland on Thursday morning to help conduct the review. In addition, Dr. Mick Peterson, a racetrack surface specialist who runs the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, is consulting on the review. The notice sent to horsemen on Wednesday night said that 1/ST was cognizant of the struggles facing horsemen due to the recent setbacks. “We appreciate the impact this will have on our horsemen and we thank you in advance for your patience and trust,” the notice said.