mike rogers | Horse Racing Free Tips

Base Repairs Needed Prior to Preakness Meet

Pimlico Race Course will shut down for training over a three-day period later this month to repair the base of the main dirt track ahead of the GI Preakness S. meet that runs May 12-30.

Mike Rogers, the president of the racing division for The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns both Pimlico and Laurel Park, alerted the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) to the upcoming closure during Tuesday's monthly commission meeting.

Rogers said the exact dates for the repairs are dependent on weather. Apr.17-20 is the primary time window, with Apr. 25-27 a backup option.

During the Apr. 5 meeting, Rogers described the work as a “normal, routine process.” He later detailed the areas that need attention in a follow-up email to TDN.

“The areas are on the outside before the chute and the outside in the middle of the far turn,” Rogers wrote. “The areas are previous repairs that have been repaired a number of times in the last 5+ years. While the track is shut down we can examine any other previous repairs done and fix accordingly.”

Pimlico's main track has been pressed into increased usage over the past year because of a massive main-track replacement project at Laurel. It's also scheduled to see extra usage this summer, because Pimlico is scheduled to host an August meet for the first time since 2005.

One year ago, Laurel's main track was in such bad shape that TSG ceased racing on it Apr. 11, 2021, to begin an emergency rebuild from the base up. The project was repeatedly delayed and had its scope expanded, and it ended up taking five months before racing could resume instead of the initially projected one month.

When racing resumed Sept. 9, Laurel's main track had no apparent safety issues. But the onset of cold weather revealed problems with seams in the base of the homestretch, then the cushion atop that layer needed substantial reworking to give it more body and depth.

Eight horses died from fractures while racing or training over Laurel's main track between Oct. 3 and Nov. 28, leading to several halts in racing and training that extended into January while expert track surface consultants scrambled to provide a fix.

Rogers reported to the MRC that the surface at Laurel is now in the process of being gradually de-winterized to prepare for warmer weather.

“]Laurel], as we know, we have issues with the cushion,” Rogers told the MRC. “So we're actually in the process now of converting that cushion back to being a summer track. So we're adding some of the finer materials again so that we can water the track and the track can withstand the warmer temperatures that happen in the summertime.”

Rogers continued: “The shoulder season when we go back and forth to the summer track will now be much more manageable than we've seen in the past. We're doing that now and there seems to be positive feedback from the horsemen. We were getting feedback earlier that [the track was] 'dead' or didn't have life to it. And that's kind of consistent with the track having the larger-coarse fibers that we've added [for winter]. And with the temperature warming up, now we're adding that finer [material].”

A check of the base of Laurel's main track will also be scheduled in the near future, Rogers said.

And Laurel's turf course is just 10 days from its first scheduled race on Apr. 15, Rogers reported.

“I know there's been discussions in the past about the drainage of this turf course. But we've undertaken to [install] cameras to check our drainage system. So everything checks so far–the drainage system is absolutely fine. But we do have prior maintenance practices of rolling this turf course quite a bit, so there's compaction that's fairly deep in the turf course. So it's actually a vertical drainage issue [and] we've been aerating it quite a bit. We aerated it last year, and we're continuing to do that. So I'm confident that we're heading in the right direction.

“Is this turf course exactly where it needs to be?” Rogers asked rhetorically. “Not quite yet. We still need to do much more aeration [so that] if we have a big rainstorm, it can drain properly and [we'll be] ready to race in short order. It's a work in progress, but we're definitely much better than we were last year, and I'm confident we'll be in good shape.”

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MD Horsemen Press For Swift Return Amid Track Woes

Laurel Park, which hasn't hosted racing since Jan. 2 and was closed for 18 days in late autumn over safety and weather-related woes that have plagued its new multi-million-dollar dirt surface, is now scheduled to next card racing for Sunday, Jan. 16–but only if Mother Nature cooperates.

The Maryland racing community and Laurel executives traded updates and opinions on the controversial, work-in-progress track restoration project Tuesday afternoon in a 30-minute videoconference.

But when Mike Rogers, the president of the racing division for The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns Laurel's corporate parent, the Maryland Jockey Club, asked if owners and trainers wanted to opt for a conservative approach that pegged the return of live racing to Thursday, Jan. 20, or to try to resume racing this coming Sunday even if that meant running up against a predicted new storm system, the horsemen didn't hesitate to press for the quickest return possible.

“I think there's no question we should try to take the entries [on Thursday] for Sunday,” said Tim Keefe, the president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA). “As long as the track's performing the way it's supposed to be performing…I absolutely think we give it a shot on Sunday.”

Backed by supportive comments from other trainers, Keefe didn't stop there. He advocated for Laurel to immediately add racing for next Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 18 and 19, which are normally dark days on the track's weekly calendar.

“What's to preclude us from running [makeup dates] next week?” Keefe asked. “If things are up and running on Sunday [and Monday], why not run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; all through next week to try to catch up some of these horses, get some races in?”

Trainer A. Ferris Allen agreed. “Horsemen have been very patient with all of this process, and there are lot of people that are hurting economically out here from the way all of this has been handled. And so we really need to get this back going, and we need some proactive behavior on the part of the Maryland Jockey Club for this situation,” he said.

Rogers said makeup days next week would be an issue that hinged on being able to properly staff the track with employees. He repeated several times that Laurel would eventually make up the lost dates, and seemed at least politely receptive to considering other ideas that horsemen suggested, like adding races instead of racing dates, adding bonus payments to help struggling outfits, or even raising purses.

“We know we have a horse population now,” to absorb makeup dates next week, Rogers said. “It's just whether it can sustain a continuation of running that many days week after week.”

Yet while Laurel seems poised in the near future to provide something that horseplayers crave but rarely get from winter racetracks in the Northeast–the prospect of large betting fields–Keefe urged track officials to go in the other direction, by slicing races that draw overflow entrants into split divisions that feature smaller fields.

“Rather than running a big, 14-horse field, split 'em up. Give us more opportunities to win races, more opportunities to run these horses,” Keefe said.

Alan Foreman, an attorney who represents the MTHA, said purse increases made the most sense for the near term.

“I think that's probably the appropriate direction, is either bump up the purses or you can certainly create some bonuses within the purse itself,” Foreman said.

After years of freeze/thaw and drainage troubles, Laurel's main track was in such bad shape last spring that Laurel ceased racing on it Apr. 11, 2021, to begin an emergency rebuild from the base up. The project was repeatedly delayed and had its scope expanded, and it ended up taking five months before racing could resume instead of the initially projected one month.

When racing resumed Sept. 9, the main track had no apparent safety issues. But the onset of cold weather revealed problems with seams in the base of the homestretch, then the cushion atop that layer needed substantial reworking to give it more body and depth.

Eight horses died from fractures while racing or training over Laurel's main track between Oct. 3 and Nov. 28, leading to a halt in racing through Dec. 16 while expert track surface consultants were hired to provide a fix.

One of them was Glen Kozak, who worked as Laurel's track superintendent in the 2000s decade before being hired away by the New York Racing Association and eventually promoted to its senior vice president of operations and capital projects. During the Jan. 11 conference, he provided a review of what maintenance crews have been doing to shore up Laurel over the past few days.

Kozak said that on Monday morning–after some Sunday rain–crews stripped back the dirt cushion, peeled off 2,000 tons of material, and moved it to the clubhouse parking lot so coarse sand could be more aggressively added to the mix.

“We got about 1,100 tons down [Monday], graded that out, conditioned that to be able to open the track for training [Tuesday],” Kozak said. “That entire process was repeated [after Tuesday training] from the 40-foot mark [out from the rail]. We're currently on the fifth [outer] band right now, with more material going on, and I think everybody's able to see how the inside of the track performed [Tuesday] morning, with 22 degrees and with the amount of moisture that was in it…. It's just getting this product [sand] into the cushion, so that way it can be maintained. But it's moving along very, very well.”

Rogers said horses would once again be permitted on the track for non-timed training on Wednesday, with the potential for published workouts to resume on Thursday, Jan. 13.

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Racing Resumes At Laurel Park On Thursday; Commission Meeting Stresses Need For Continued Communication

Live racing will return to Laurel Park this Thursday, Dec. 16 for the first time since Nov. 28, the Maryland Racing Commission confirmed during a Zoom meeting on Tuesday.

The main track at Laurel was closed for an examination on Nov. 29 after an alarming number of fatalities – four from racing injuries and three while training – occurred between Nov. 6-28. The Maryland Jockey Club followed that inspection by cancelling racing and suspending morning workouts to allow for repair of the surface.

It was the second time in 2021 that racing at Laurel was halted because of track conditions. The first occurrence was in April after a spike in musculoskeletal injuries, which led to racing being shifted to Pimlico on an emergency basis. Track ownership undertook a multi-million dollar track renovation project that wasn't completed until August, with racing resuming at Laurel in September.

With help from noted trackmen Dennis Moore from California, Glen Kozak from the New York Racing Racing Association, and former MJC track superintendent John Passero, Maryland Jockey Club officials explained at last week's meeting that the most likely explanation for the cluster of fatalities was that water seeped into a seam in the base material of the stretch before that base material was able to cure, causing a slight depression. That has been repaired, and several additional changes have been made.

“We've been out every single day, day and night, to make sure that we have the best racing surface possible,” said Laurel's track superintendent Chris Bosley. “There's been a huge learning curve with this material and this track from when it was put in in July to where we are now.

“Everyone knows that this is a different material, different track, and everything is brand new on this racetrack. We're getting as much information as possible, and we're not going to stop until this thing is perfect, and then we'll do everything we can to keep it perfect.”

Laurel's main track reopened for workouts on Dec. 10, with 55 horses working Friday, 123 on Saturday, 56 on Sunday, 20 on Monday and another 15 on Tuesday.

“We've seen a drastic improvement in the track cushion,” said Mike Rogers, president of racing at the MJC. “The feedback that we've been getting is very positive.”

Horsemen's representative Tim Keefe echoed those sentiments on Tuesday's call: “We're definitely seeing a different racetrack out here… I think everything's moving in the right direction.”

Several jockeys also joined the call to praise the improved track surface, including Xavier Perez.

“The difference in the surface of the track is 20 times better than it was,” he said. “My opinion is that the track is just perfect.”

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With all parties on the call agreeing that the track surface was safe for racing to resume, the Maryland Racing Commission made no action to prevent Laurel Park from doing so on Thursday. Cards for Thursday, Dec. 16 and Friday, Dec. 17 have already been drawn.

Rogers went on to stress the importance of continuing open lines of communication between all parties.

“If we don't know it, we can't address it,” said Rogers.

A presentation from Dr. Thomas Bowman, chair of the MRC's Equine Health, Safety and Welfare Advisory Committee, continued that theme.

“Transparency and trust and communication have not always been a part of the culture on the racetrack,” Dr. Bowman said. “I have gotten an absolute thrill out of serving in this capacity because every person I have talked to has gone out of their way to at least appear to be cooperative. There doesn't seem to be any indication in my mind that there is any party or parties who aren't willing to step up.”

That said, Dr. Bowman doesn't believe that the process by which information from the trainers and exercise riders and jockeys gets to the MJC officials and the trackmen is sufficient.

“We're trying to come up with a system that will allow the horsemen and the riders and the vets to all have input, and that that input is collected on a regular basis, and put in the responsible hands… If we had had a collection system, possibly we could have avoided this tragedy in the first place.

“I don't think this is the end of this process, I think this is the beginning. It's a work in progress… It appears to be a watershed moment in the way that this has changed.”

The Maryland Racing Commission meets again on Jan. 4.

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Racing At Laurel Could Resume By Dec. 16

Live racing at Laurel Park could resume by next Thursday, Dec. 16, officials relayed to the Maryland Racing Commission during a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday. Timed workouts could resume as early as Friday, Dec. 10.

Entries had been taken for Friday, Dec. 10, but those races will not be held.

During Tuesday's meeting, comments from trainers and the public showed a perception that Maryland Jockey Club and Stronach Group officials were over-emphasizing science rather than experience, specifically referencing that of on-the-ground track maintenance professionals, trainers, and exercise riders. MJC acting president Mike Rogers countered that all feedback is welcomed and taken seriously, but Stronach's chief operations officer Aidan Butler added that ultimately the final decisions lie with the track operator.

Racing and timed workouts at Laurel have been cancelled since Nov. 28 after an alarming number of fatalities – four from racing injuries and three while training – occurred between Nov. 6-28. It was the second time in 2021 that racing at Laurel was halted because of track conditions. The first occurrence was in April after a spike in musculoskeletal injuries, which led to racing being shifted to Pimlico on an emergency basis. Track ownership undertook a multi-million dollar track renovation project that wasn't completed until August, with racing resuming at Laurel in September.

Track management launched a new investigation into the racing surface on Nov. 28, with help from noted trackmen Dennis Moore from California, Glen Kozak from the New York Racing Racing Association, and former MJC track superintendent John Passero. The process involved peeling back the track cushion to examine the base.

Rogers detailed that the most likely explanation is that water seeped into a seam in the base material of the stretch before that base material was able to cure, causing a slight depression. That has been repaired, and several additional changes have been made, including adding 50 tons of coarse white sand into the cushion.

Rogers added that this is typically the time of year that the racetrack surface needs specific maintenance ahead of the winter months, but that the entirely new surface hadn't reacted to changing conditions in the way it was expected to.

Only the outermost part of the racetrack was opening for light training through Monday, Dec. 6, but the entire width of the dirt course was scheduled to open for light training on Tuesday, Dec. 7.

Whether racing resumes on the 16th will depend on a satisfactory safety review of the repairs, officials said. Another commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 14 to detail the outcome of that safety review and to grant approval for the resumption of racing.

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