Racing expected to resume

Maryland racing officials are confident that Laurel Park will return to live racing beginning Thursday after a more than two-week hiatus to address inconsistencies in the dirt track, the general counsel to the state’s horsemen said Monday.

Laurel Park has already drawn nine-race cards for both Thursday and Friday, in anticipation of receiving approval from the Maryland Racing Commission to return to live racing during a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. The commission has indicated that it will not approve a plan to return to live racing until receiving encouragement from local horsemen and racing-surface experts, according to Alan Foreman, general counsel for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.

Foreman said Monday that the Laurel main track opened for workouts Friday, and trainers and riders have been asked to report on their assessment of the surface after their horses finish their gallops. Over the past several weeks, workers have added coarse sand to the surface and implemented new maintenance procedures in order to allow the track to better retain moisture and deepen the cushion.

“It seems like with the changes everyone is happy,” Foreman said. “We have every expectation that the commission will approve the return to live racing.”

Laurel Park has called in several racing-surface experts to reassess the track, four months after finishing a complete renovation of the main track. Track officials have said that colder weather had exposed unforeseen weaknesses in the renovation.

Laurel canceled its threeday weekend cards from Dec. 3-5 after seven horses suffered catastrophic injuries while either racing or training on the surface during the previous month. As work continued, the track canceled the next weekend of racing as well.

As a result of the renovations, Laurel’s racing office added a card of racing to its schedule, so the track is now expecting to run four live race dates this week, from Thursday through Sunday.

Foreman said that the track and horsemen will remain vigilant about how the latest round of changes are affecting the surface.

“The surface will continue to be monitored, and we will assess it as we move forward,” Foreman said.