Laurel Park gets green light to start summer meet early

The Maryland Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a proposal from Laurel Park to open its summer meet one month earlier than initially planned, with the new opening scheduled for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Under the new schedule, Laurel will run Fridays through Sundays beginning July 3, with first post on Fridays at 3:40 p.m. Eastern and daytime cards Saturdays and Sundays. Parking and admission will be free. The summer meet will run through Aug. 27, but racing will continue at Laurel from Sept. 10 through the end of the year, as usual, after a break for a brief live meet at Timonium.

Maryland’s horsemen had urged the track to modify the summer racing schedule when it became clear that Colonial Downs in Virginia would once again be closed this year instead of holding its traditional midsummer meet. Laurel and its sister track, Pimlico, had formed a circuit with Colonial for the past 15 years, but that circuit was disrupted when Colonial and Virginia horsemen could not agree on a live racing schedule last year, leading to the track closing.

Laurel is hoping to draw new customers Friday from the commuters who travel the Washington-Baltimore corridor, and it is renovating areas of its grandstand to create a billiards room and a new indoor/outdoor bar on the grandstand apron. Each Friday twilight card also will feature a live band and “themed buffet,” according to Laurel officials.