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Near-Record Heat Pushes Back Laurel Park Post Times

With high temperatures and humidity in the forecast, and in the best interests of its horses, horsemen and fans, the Maryland Jockey Club has pushed back post time for the live 10-race program at Laurel Park Saturday, July 23. The first race, a 5 1/2 furlong claiming sprint for maiden 3, 4, and 5-year-old fillies scheduled on the All Along turf course, will go off at 1:50 p.m. rather than the usual 12:40 p.m. starting time during the 37-day summer meet. The National Weather Service forecast calls for abundant sunshine and a high of 95 degrees Saturday, and near-record temperatures approaching 98 degrees Sunday. Laurel previously had its scheduled July 24 program moved to Thursday, July 28.

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Day 1 of HISA: Scratches Hard to Find, Lone Star Handle Plummets

Any worries that the first day under which horses had to be registered with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority in order to compete would create chaos were squelched early on in the day Saturday when a number of tracks reported that not a single horse had to be withdrawn from a race due to the new rules.

The TDN sent out survey questions to a number of racing officials Saturday to determine how many, if any, horses had to be scratched because either the horses or their owners or trainers had not been registered with HISA. The TDN heard back from eight tracks–Gulfstream, Laurel, Belmont, Churchill Downs, Evangeline Downs, Los Alamitos, Monmouth and Charles Town. All eight reported that not a single horse at their tracks had to be scratched because of HISA's regulations.

The numbers may have been a pleasant surprise for the HISA team, which had told the TDN earlier in the week that they were prepared for some scratches.

“Since such a registration process has never existed at the national level before, it's unclear how many people and horses are or will be participating in racing come July 1,” a spokesperson told the TDN. “It should be noted that the universe of people expected to register is limited to the 24 states conducting covered horse races under HISA's authority.”

As of Friday night, the last chance individuals had to register themselves and their horses so that they would be eligible to race on Saturday, there were 27,074 covered horses and 24,147 covered persons. Through mid-week, 30,846 different horses had competed in the U.S. this year, but that doesn't mean that some 3,846 horses were not registered. A good number of the 30,846 runners may have been hurt and/or retired at some point in the year, meaning there was no need to register them.

There were also no reports of jockeys who weren't registered and therefore could not ride.

The news wasn't nearly as good out of Texas. The Texas Racing Commission has not complied with the Horse Racing and Integrity Safety Act, arguing that under Texas law only the commission has the authority to oversee racing. That led the commission to rule that the signal from the state's tracks cannot be sent out of state and that advance deposit wagering companies could not take betting on Texas races.

Predictably, that led to a massive decline in handle Saturday at Lone Star Park on the first day that its races couldn't be sent out of state. Lone Star ran a 10-race card on Saturday, June 25 and handled $1,771,138 or $177,113 per race. There was an eight-race card on Saturday and total handle for the day was $215,107, for an average of $26,888 per race.

The Lone Star meet concludes July 24, so it's unlikely that the decreased handle will affect purses in the short term, but that could change if the HISA-Texas Racing Commission standoff persists.

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Walter Rodriguez Rides First Winner at Laurel

Walter Rodriguez, a 24-year-old native of El Salvador, rode the first winner of his career when he guided Rationalmillennial (Orb)–owned and trained by Jose Corrales–to victory in the sixth race at Laurel Park Sunday.

“I kept looking at the right side to make sure nobody else was coming because I wanted to go around the horse in front of me, and after that I knew I had it,” Rodriguez said. “It's very, very exciting. It's been a lot of hard work and a lot of help from all my friends.”

It was the third lifetime race for the Rodriguez, who rides with a 10-pound weight allowance and had no racing experience when he sought out Corrales more than two years ago.

“He came one day to the track and he said to me, 'I want to be a jockey.' I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was delivering refrigerators,” Corrales said. “Then I asked him if he had ever walked a horse, and he said no. That's where we started.

“In El Salvador, they don't even have a racetrack there,” Corrales added. “I said, 'You have to know how to walk horses. You have to learn everything, how to muck stalls and brush horses and be here early every day,' and he said, 'I'll do whatever it takes.' He worked his way along to where he was jogging horses for me and after that he started galloping horses, and at one time he was galloping all my best horses, my stakes horses. When all his paperwork came through, I took him to get his jockey's license. I told him, 'I'm going to make you famous.'”

Rodriguez made his professional debut June 17 at Laurel, finishing sixth aboard Manklin Creek (Bandbox), co-owned and trained by Corrales.

Corrales won 1,031 races as a jockey between 1981 and 1993 before becoming a trainer, but has continued to mentor prospective riders such as his nephew, Gerardo Corrales, currently tied for ninth in the standings at Churchill Downs, and David Egan. England's champion apprentice of 2017, Egan registered his first North American victory at age 19 on the Corrales-trained Bobby G Mar. 1, 2019 at Laurel. Two years later, Egan captured both the G1 Saudi Cup and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic aboard Mishriff.

“I've been teaching for the last 40 years and that's my passion. That's what I like to do. I love it,” Corrales said. “This kid deserves everything he gets. He learned everything by never giving up. He's a good listener and I'm glad I got him. I think he's going to have great things. He's got a good heart and he takes cares of his grandmother and everything like that. I see a lot of future in this kid.”

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De Francis Dash Moves to Laurel Summer Meet

Laurel Park's summer meet stakes schedule–anchored by the repositioned $150,000 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash–features 14 stakes worth $1.3 million. The six-furlong DeFrancis has been moved from its traditional spot on Laurel's fall calendar and will be run July 16 this year.

Joining the De Francis on the July 16 program are the $100,000 Alma North S., the $100,000 Big Dreyfus S., and the $100,000 Prince George's County S. All four races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

The 37-day summer meet opens Friday and continues through Aug. 21. Racing will be conducted Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the summer meet, with a post time of 12:40 p.m. There will be a special Independence Day holiday program Monday, July 4.

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