Laurel meet begins with capital improvements, new wager
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Racing resumes in Maryland after a four-week break as the sport shifts 28 miles south from Pimlico Race Course to Laurel Park.
This will be the first time Laurel has held more than a single card in July in more than a decade. Earlier this year, an agreement was renegotiated that left these racing dates to Colonial Downs, which has not raced since 2013.
Laurel had been scheduled to open Aug. 1 but modified its original dates request and will race three days a week until Timonium opens at the Maryland State Fair on Aug. 28.
Racing will be held Fridays through Sundays. The Friday card will have a 3:40 p.m. Eastern first post, and racing will begin at 1:30 on Saturdays and Sundays.
“I’m anxious to see how our summer experiment goes,” said Sal Sinatra, general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club. “We want to run when the fans are off. The Friday twilight cards will have a buffet and bands. Saturday will be strictly racing and simulcasts. Sundays will be family days. We have a lot of things planned.”
:: Bet Laurel Park with DRF Bets. Get up to a $500 cash bonus! Find out more today.
The Stronach Group, which owns both Maryland tracks, has made approximately $7 million in improvements to Laurel this year, including two new barns, flat-screen televisions, a high-definition signal, and modernizing several areas of the track.
There are a number of changes on tap for this meet.
On the wagering side, a 50-cent Super High 5 with a 15 percent takeout will be offered on the last race each day. It will join the pick five with an industry-low 12 percent takeout and the 10-cent Rainbow 6 on the menu.
Parking and admission will be free.
“I didn’t like people paying to park and to get in,” said Sinatra. “I want everyone to get used to coming out here and having a good time.”
A stakes schedule for the meet has not been released. According to Sinatra, there will not be any stakes in July, but there will be in August. Purses are expected to average about $250,000 per day.
“We want to have a statebred day and are still working out the details with the breeders,” he said. “We are also talking to the Virginia horsemen about hosting some of their stakes. A schedule should be out very soon. During July, we are going to use the turf course a lot and stick to allowance races.”
Laurel has an excellent turf course that is 142 feet wide and has many different racing lanes, like its sister track, Gulfstream Park. It has been underused in years when Laurel did not race during the summer.
New capital improvements include an indoor/outdoor bar on the ground level and new televisions at the ground-floor bar at the far end of the grandstand. Renovations will soon begin on the first-floor simulcast area. A second-level sports bar and owner/trainer lounge are in the planning stages.
“I’m expecting the architect’s plans any day for the new sports bar,” Sinatra said. “We want that ready for football season so we can do social-media games and fantasy football. It’s going to be what I call an adults’ arcade.”
◗ Pete Medhurst, who calls the races at Rosecroft and Ocean Downs harness tracks, will be the Laurel announcer until Dave Rodman returns July 31. Rodman is currently working the Northern California fair circuit.