Maryland racing to remain at Pimlico through Aug. 22
Maryland racing officials now expect to race at Pimlico Race Course throughout most of August due to the need to conduct far more work than anticipated on the renovation of the main racing surface at Pimlico’s sister track, Laurel Park, the officials said Monday and Tuesday.
While racing officials for the tracks’ owner said that they hope horses can return to Laurel to begin training during the first week of August, they also said that they anticipate that racing will continue to be conducted at Pimlico Race Course through Aug. 22, when racing will stop at Pimlico and move to the Timonium Fairgrounds as scheduled. The first live racing card at Timonium is expected to take place on Aug. 27.
Racing was moved from Laurel to Pimlico in April after the tracks’ parent company, 1/ST, decided to renovate the main racing surface at Laurel. The project has run into unanticipated problems due to the discovery of drainage problems throughout the backstretch, the officials said during a conference call with horsemen Monday.
“As most people are aware, things haven’t gone as smoothly as possible,” Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST, said on the call. “The base is in worse shape than we anticipated, but we are dedicated to doing this project right without cutting corners.”
Dennis Moore, the senior track superintendent for 1/ST who was called in to help with the renovation, said that the drainage system on Laurel’s backstretch regularly backed up, leading to “soft spots” in the cushion. The entire drainage system will now be replaced, Moore said.
Butler said on the call that the best-case scenario would allow horses to return to Laurel Park on Aug. 2, with training resuming on Aug. 6. But he cautioned that a number of factors could impact that schedule.
“It’s a mammoth job, way bigger than we originally anticipated,” Butler said.