Laurel, Pimlico to race 146 days in 2014

Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in Maryland will run 146 live race dates in 2014, along the same lines as the number of live race dates the two tracks ran this year.

The schedule was approved Tuesday by the Maryland Racing Commission after horsemen and officials of the tracks’ parent company, the Stronach Group, presented the plan for approval.

The schedule will provide for 46 live racing days at Laurel to start the year, from Jan. 1 to March 29. Racing will then move to Pimlico for the annual spring meet, running from April 3 to May 17. After Pimlico closes, one day after the Preakness Stakes, live racing will not return to either track until Sept. 5, when Laurel will begin hosting a 65-day meet through the end of the year.

This year, the two tracks are scheduled to hold 146 live racing dates as part of the first year of a 10-year agreement between the Stronach Group and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association to cooperate on live racing schedules and other racing issues. Purses in Maryland are heavily subsidized by casinos unattached to racetracks in the state, and several political figures have recently called for those subsidies to be cut.