Rodriguez sends first group of horses to Laurel

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez shipped a dozen runners to Laurel Park this week. Rodriguez has informed the track that he will send in another dozen horses next week and eventually will have 35 to 40 horses in Maryland.

Rodriguez stables year-round at Aqueduct, but the New York Racing Association will be closing the backstretch there in early May. Trainers stabled at Aqueduct will either have to send their horses to Belmont Park or Saratoga.

Rodriguez had planned to send horses to Parx Racing, but that track is under an equine herpesvirus quarantine that has resulted in limited available stall space. Horses stabled at Parx also are not allowed to leave the grounds during the quarantine.