Racing surface taking some work

NEW ORLEANS – Pedro Zavala, the track superintendent at Fair Grounds, said Wednesday morning that he planned to blade and work the racing surface Wednesday afternoon in an effort to change the complexion of the main track.

Since last Friday, the day after a hard freeze in New Orleans, the dirt track has played very slowly, perhaps two seconds slower than par in six-furlong races. Fearing another freeze, the maintenance crew did not water the surface late last week, and even rainfall here Sunday night that led to Monday’s turf races being taken off grass did not tighten the track. The promising 3-year-old filly Harbour Island, for instance, easily won a first-level allowance race in 1:13 for six furlongs.

The maintenance crew, Zavala said, regularly performs work on the track on dark days, and he expects the surface to speed up with the start of this racing week.