laurel park | Horse Racing Free Tips

Report: Examination Of Laurel Surface Revealed Problems As Far Back As 2017

Laurel's recent renovation of its dirt track came after three horses suffered fatal breakdowns during morning works over a 10-day period in April. Initially, racing at Laurel was shifted to Pimlico Race Course with Laurel open for only light training. A total renovation of the racing surface became necessary after further inspection showed that the depth of the track's cushion, the top layer that horses run over, was inconsistent in spots, demonstrating that the track's problems went deeper than just the immediate surface.

According to a report from The Racing Biz, some officials in Maryland had warnings that there were serious problems with the track surface as far back as 2017.

Maryland horsemen had been reporting their concerns about Laurel for years, until the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association commissioned former track superintendent John Passero to inspect the surface and recommend any necessary changes in 2017. Passero found inconsistencies with the depth of the cushion in parts of the surface, but while his report went to some board members of the MTHA and some commission members, it's not clear exactly who did and didn't get the information at the time and there were no immediate changes made to the track as a result.

For much of the intervening years, two commissioners told The Racing Biz they heard concerns about the track surface but also heard the commission as a whole and The Stronach Group report at public meetings that they'd had no complaints about the racetrack.

Now, as renovation of the dirt oval at Laurel is nearing completion, the horsemen, the track ownership and the commission are hopeful that improved communication, aggressive maintenance and possibly improved reporting of non-fatal injuries can help eliminate such a problem going forward.

Well Known In Pennsylvania, Jockey Silvera Plans To Pick Up More Mounts In Maryland

Jockey Ruben Silvera, far and away the leading rider at Parx this year, may soon be bringing his talent to Maryland on a more regular basis.

The 33-year-old Panama native is in the midst of a career year with 144 wins, already having topped his previous high of 124 from 2020 and ranking in the top 10 nationally. He is also less than $72,000 from besting last year's $3,505,099 in purse earnings.

Much of Silvera's success comes from his association with trainer Jamie Ness, a winner of 3,378 career races and currently tied for third with 15 wins from 65 starters at the extended Preakness Meet at historic Pimlico Race Course, which returns to action with a live eight-race program Friday and runs through Aug. 22.

During the Preakness meet, Silvera has two wins, two seconds and three thirds from eight mounts with $124,945 in purses earned. Seven of his rides have been on Ness horses, including Indian Lake, winner of the $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby July 24.

“He likes to ride, and he's a good rider. He's the leading rider by far at Parx,” Ness said. “He's going to try to come down to Laurel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, be at Laurel more in the fall. He's trying to get his foot in the door. Another top rider in the jock's colony is always better.”

Laurel Park, after completing a reconstruction of its main track, will have horses back on the grounds next week and open its calendar year-ending fall meet Sept. 9.

Through Aug. 4, Silvera had won 142 races and $3.247 million in purse earnings from 569 mounts at Parx since the meet opened Jan. 4, leading runner-up Frankie Pennington by 45 wins and $517,808. Pennington owns nearly 2,700 lifetime wins and is a member of the Parx Hall of Fame.

Silvera will continue to ride at Parx, which operates on a Monday through Wednesday schedule, with Laurel scheduled to run Thursdays through Sundays.

“We'll see what happens. I'll talk to Jamie about it more over the next couple of weeks, but wherever Jamie wants him to go is where we're going to go,” Silvera's agent, Richard Englander, said. “It makes sense for him.”

Both Silvera and Englander have connections to Maryland. Silvera's wife's brother-in-law is former jockey Elvis Trujillo, who launched his training career last summer at Laurel. Among his 2,102 wins as a rider was the 2018 General George (G3) with Something Awesome.

Englander was voted the Eclipse Award as North America's leading owner in 2001 and 2002 and won 1,384 races between 2000 and 2009 including a high of 405 in 2001. He is also a General George winner, taking the 2003 edition with My Cousin Matt when it was a Grade 2.

My Cousin Matt's win in 1:22.12 for seven furlongs over a sloppy track came 26 minutes before Xtra Heat captured the Barbara Fritchie (G2) in 1:24.76 in what would be the final race of her Hall of Fame career.

“That was a crazy race he ran that day. Xtra Heat was a freak. To beat her by [two] seconds at the same distance the next race on the same track? That was just crazy,” Englander said. “He was a great sprinter.”

A contemporary of Luis Saez in Panama where they attended the country's jockey school, Silvera rode his first U.S. race at Gulfstream Park, finishing fourth with Great Bear March 24, 2011. He picked up his first winner aboard Power Rules May 7, 2011 at Calder Race Course.

Equibase statistics show Silvera with 744 wins and $21.97 million in purse earnings from 5,305 career mounts. He already has six wins this month including a four-win day Aug. 4.

“I love the riders out of Panama. They're strong, strong riders and real good riders, most of them. That's the group he came from,” Englander said. “He is [a hard worker]. He really is, especially for a leading rider that's like 40-something in front. You would think that he could maybe get lazy, but no. He works five, six days a week. That's Ruben.”

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Training Over New Main Track at Laurel to Start Aug. 10

The extensive, expensive, and months-delayed installment of the new main track from the base up at Laurel Park is now close enough to completion that executives with The Stronach Group (TSG) have greenlighted Aug. 8 as the move-in date for horses and Aug. 10 as the first day of training.

Speaking via videoconference, Steve Koch, the senior vice president of racing for TSG, which owns both Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, said July 28 that the “whole oval really is an entirely new racetrack.”

Years of piecemeal repair jobs failed to provide the uniformity and safety standards that led to the closure of the surface for racing after the Apr. 11 program.

After switching the race meet over to Pimlico Apr. 22, TSG officials had initially targeted the start of June for the return of racing at Laurel.

At an Apr. 22 Maryland Racing Commission meeting, members expressed frustration at how Laurel's main track problems got so out of hand so quickly, grilling TSG executives for not having the foresight to identify and remedy the difficulties before the project spiraled into a multi-million dollar rehab.

But the initial excavation work revealed even more extensive problems, and then TSG ran into trouble with the sourcing of base and cushion materials.

Horses were mandated to be moved out of Laurel during the week of the GI Preakness S. in mid-May, and a revised July move-in date had to be pushed back to August as work progressed.

On Wednesday, Koch detailed the remaining work in stages, starting with the back straight from the six-furlong pole to the half-mile marker.

“All of the deep excavation is completed. All of the drainage tiles are laid in. All of that's been in-filled back. The base is laid back in there. And between finalizing the base and laying in that cushion, that will continue to happen through this weekend,” Koch said.

From the half-mile pole around the far turn to the second finish wire, Koch said the work “really is complete. The base is laid in all the way around there, and the tractors are actually working that material, getting a head start on having all of that cushion fully settled in. So that's really great news, that you can see a complete track all the way around the turn down the front stretch.”

From second finish wire around the clubhouse turn to the six-furlong pole, “that is where we still have a lot of work. That is where we are still re-laying that base rail to rail in fine grade, and it will receive its cushion going into next week,” Koch said.

“The very last thing that we will do is the chute. We anticipate that the chute will be done by the time that we are training horses out there on Aug. 10. But it will be last, and if any [remaining work] is held over, it ought to be in the chute,” Koch said.

The last four days of TSG's repair timeline before horses train over the surface are reserved for track maintenance crews “to be working the track in like a racetrack should be worked in before it's ready and safe for training and racing,” Koch said.

Mick Peterson, the director of the Racetrack Safety Program and a professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky, has been retained as a consultant by TSG for the project. He fielded a question about the markedly different coloring of the new cushion by explaining its reddish hue is by design.

“The color does matter, and that's one of the tests we do,” Peterson said. “A small amount of iron oxide can make a big difference in the way it performs. That will tend to be redder. Not surprisingly–it's rust.”

As for the grass course, Koch said, “The turf at Laurel is looking great.”

But Koch quickly added the caveat that “it is suffering from some heat stress,” which is a typical mid-summer problem in the region.

Koch said the deep-tine aeration strategy that has been implemented throughout the course since the spring thaw has now been paused during the summer heat, but he added that it will probably become a permanent part of Laurel's ongoing turf maintenance.

“I can say this with confidence: The turf course is now draining way, way better than it was a year ago and it will continue to make improvements,” Koch said.

Racing continues at Pimlico through Aug. 22, then moves to Timonium during the Maryland State Fair Aug. 27-Sept. 6. Opening day at Laurel is Sept. 9.

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Move-In Date At Laurel Pushed Back To Aug. 10 As Work On Track Surface Wraps Up

While Maryland horsemen had originally hoped to move back into Laurel Park by Aug. 6, officials with The Stronach Group announced this week that they will again have to push back the timeframe based on the progress of a major track resurfacing project. The new target for the resumption of training at Laurel is Aug. 10.

Steve Koch, senior vice president of racing operations for the company, said there is still some final grading work to be done on some portions of the main racing surface, and new cushion material will need to be mixed in throughout. Work on the drainage and base on both the backstretch and frontside of the track is complete, with the work on the front designed so it will match the backstretch.

“The whole oval is a totally new racetrack, as the cushion will be,” said Koch. “We don't put horses on the track until it's safe and ready to go.”

The cushion material was sourced from a Maryland quarry based on its ability to make a specific mix of material that would be consistent with other tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region and be similar to previously successful mixes in Maryland. The company, Stancills, was also chosen for its ability to continue to provide quality-tested material on an ongoing basis without supply chain interruptions.

“One of the challenges we have, not just at Laurel but at a lot of the tracks, is the continuing supply of a consistent enough material so that the track, when it's supplemented or repaired, does not drift over time or change,” said Dr. Mick Peterson, racing surfaces expert consulting on Laurel Park.

After four days of mixing the cushion surface in thoroughly, officials said training can resume Aug. 10 and anticipate timed works will be permitted then if trainers desire.

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The track has also hired Logan Freeman as Maryland Turf Consultant to prepare a review of the irrigation and nutrient management of the turf course. The turf has been aerated regularly since spring, with a break in July to alleviate heat stress, and Koch anticipated that aeration will resume soon and continue indefinitely.

The last day for training at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, where much of the Laurel Park population is stabled temporarily, will be Aug. 7. Staff housing in Timonium-area hotels will close Aug. 12. Horsemen will be able to ship into Laurel beginning Aug. 8.

The post Move-In Date At Laurel Pushed Back To Aug. 10 As Work On Track Surface Wraps Up appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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