Laurel will allow out-of-state shippers beginning June 12

Laurel Park in Maryland will begin allowing out-of-state horses to run in its races beginning on June 12, the track said in an announcement on Friday.

Laurel Park, which returned to spectator-free live racing last weekend after being closed for 2 1/2 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been limiting entries to horses based in Maryland. The horses that ship-in to the track may be accompanied by one trainer and one groom only, the track said, and they will be placed in the track’s receiving barn.

Tracks that have returned to live racing have been operating under similar in-state restrictions on their horse populations, in an effort to mitigate the risk of the virus being spread on backstretches. Laurel Park had overflow fields for its first weekend of racing, conducted Saturday-Monday last week, and it plans to race on a Friday-Saturday schedule beginning next week.

While the track will open up to equine shippers, the jockey colony will remain closed. The only jockeys allowed to ride will be those that participated in racing on reopening weekend, the track said.

Laurel will also allow horse owners into the track beginning this Saturday, but the owners will only be allowed to watch the race on the track’s apron while maintaining social-distancing requirements, the track said. Once the race is over, the owners will be required to leave the track.