mrc | Horse Racing Free Tips

After Fatality-Free Month, Snow Poses First Challenge to New Laurel Surface

The work-in-progress new dirt racing surface at Laurel Park has made it through 10 racing dates and nearly a month of training without a catastrophic injury after being closed for 11 days in late autumn after eight equine fatalities. But a Monday snowstorm followed by a sharp drop in overnight temperature provided the first 2022 challenge to a track that has historically been prone to problems during winter weather.

Training was cancelled at Laurel Monday and Tuesday but will reopen Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. without timed workouts being permitted as a safety precaution. A chance of freezing rain is in the Wednesday forecast ahead of the next scheduled race date on Thursday, Jan. 6.

Mike Rogers, the president of the racing division for The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns Laurel, gave an update on the track to the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) during Tuesday's monthly meeting.

After Rogers accentuated the positive aspects of the project, commissioner R. Thomas Bowman, a veterinarian who chairs the MRC's Equine Health, Safety and Welfare Advisory Committee, reported that despite the progress, he has concerns that the expert consultant hired to represent the horsemen is not having his input fully acted upon by TSG, which is relying more heavily on the expertise of its own consultants.

Bowman said that he is “absolutely confident that everybody is trying to do the right thing” to keep the track safe. But, he added, “I am fairly disappointed, however, in the apparent disagreement on which of the experts that has been brought in is actually the pilot of the ship.”

When speaking remotely via teleconference, Rogers had introduced both Chris Bosley, the MJC's track superintendent, and Glen Kozak, who served in that same capacity in the mid-2000s before being hired by the New York Racing Association, in case the commissioners wanted to ask questions. Bosley handles the day-to-day operations while Kozak has been hired to consult.

Not introduced was John Passero, who years ago was Laurel's superintendent but has recently been retained by the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association as its consultant. It was not clear if Passero was on the call in listen-only mode; in December he had been previously introduced alongside the other experts to speak at MJC meetings.

According to Bowman, Passero “has the confidence of the horsemen–at least the rank and file horsemen–and there seems to be a disconnect in what John proposes to do and what some of the other experts propose to do. And John Passero has been very, very quick to point out that he is not trying to be critical of anyone else's opinion. But he does feel frustrated when his input is not being heeded.”

Bowman continued: “Everybody has tried to be cooperative. Everybody has offered me what I think is an honest opinion. But when it gets down to it, somebody's got to call balls and strikes, and it would seem that the person most able to do that would be someone that is on the grounds on a regular basis.”

After Bowman aired his concerns, Rogers addressed what he said he believes to be the discrepancy among the consultants.

“All experts are on the same page. The only disagreement is timing on one of the issues,” Rogers said.

That issue has to do with a “pad” of compressed cushion that sits on top of the limestone base. It was established weeks ago as a protective measure while the body of the cushion gradually gets rebuilt through the addition of coarse sand. Laurel's crews have already added 2,000 tons of sand, with another 1,000 tons to be slowly mixed in.

“At some point, we all know that pad will not be able to be maintained,” Rogers said. “And the crew is going to have to dig into that pad, and we do not want to do that until we feel the cushion has the body in it to do that.”

MRC chairman Michael Algeo said he appreciated that explanation, but he underscored to Rogers that the commission wants to avoid a problem that has happened in the past, whereby TSG keeps telling the MRC, “everything's going okay, and all of a sudden we have a track issue. And then we repair it a little bit, and then we have a track issue.”

Recent history bears out Algeo's point of view. The autumn cluster of fatalities was only the latest safety blow at Laurel. After years of freeze/thaw and drainage troubles that TSG attempted to fix via piecemeal repairs, the main track was in such bad shape last spring that Laurel ceased racing on Apr. 11, 2021, to begin an emergency overhaul, which morphed into a multi-million-dollar rebuild from the base up. What was initially supposed to have been a closure of about one month ended up taking five months before racing could resume.

“The racing commission is charged with making certain that we have a safe track. At the same time, our commission cannot be the 'track police,'” Algeo said. “This is a period of time which most concerns me, because this is the type of weather–the change of weather, the deep freeze, the snow–is where the track surface issues seem to happen in a 24-48 hour period.”

Bosley expressed confidence that the Laurel surface made it through Monday's test of four inches of precipitation followed by a dramatic temperature drop to 17 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The way that we maintenanced the track [Monday] night was with the drag harrows, pretty much every single drag harrow we had, with added weights and the draw bars down,” Bosley said. “And that's important because with added weight and the draw bars down, the drag harrows will be riding on top of or will be into the pad that we established.”

After crews worked all night, Bosley said it was “very impressive” how the track reacted to the winter weather.

“That's a really good sign,” Bosley said. “An early inspection of the pad [Tuesday] morning [revealed] that we still have a pad … That means that the plan we submitted is working. It means that the sand that we have added into the track is working. That doesn't mean that we need to stop adding this coarser sand into the track. We definitely need to add more. But we're definitely heading in the right direction.”

The post After Fatality-Free Month, Snow Poses First Challenge to New Laurel Surface appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Massive Laurel Horse Move-Out Preakness Week

Difficulties with the dirt track base repair and cushion resurfacing project at Laurel Park continue to mount, with the loose-ended timetable for the work now expected to extend at least until the start of July.

Executives with The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns both Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, said during a Friday tele-meeting that they now need to pause work on the problematic and expensive project at Laurel until management can relocate of all horses stabled at Laurel to other facilities in Maryland.

This news was delivered two weeks after TSG came under fire at a Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) meeting for an alleged “accumulation of bad decisions over time” that led to Laurel's main track safety concerns not being addressed sooner by track management.

At that Apr. 22 meeting, TSG's senior vice president of racing, Steve Koch, told commissioners that Laurel would tentatively be back up and running by the start of June, with limited training allowed at the facility and horses vanned to Pimlico for timed workouts. That plan changed last week when TSG announced all horses would instead have to vacate the property.

The cumbersome logistics of orchestrating such a large horse and worker migration on short notice couldn't come at a worse time for TSG and Maryland horse outfits, with the GI Preakness S. week on the cusp of getting underway at Pimlico.

During the May 7 meeting, Koch projected a new, albeit hazy, timeline for the completion of repairs.

“At the moment, we've requested of the racing commission that the race meet remain at Pimlico through the end of June, so returning early July to be back at Laurel,” Koch said. “There's a lot of unknowns as we get into this racetrack [project and] we'll know more as this thing unfolds.”

Aidan Butler, TSG's chief operating officer, likened the moving-target time frame as a “cat and mouse” game.

Although Butler's words were meant to be figurative, as Friday's meeting evolved, it became clear that felines and rodents were literally involved in the ever-widening scope of the project.

That's because TSG will use the opportunity of having a vacant barn area to launch its most thorough rat extermination attempt to date.

Back in January, TSG executives confirmed to the racing commission that spending $20,000 monthly to try and eradicate rodents while horses remained stabled on the grounds wasn't working, largely because of the abundance of unsecured or spilled horse feed kept the rats well satiated.

Dionne Benson, TSG's chief veterinary officer, said during Friday's meeting that in addition to everything else, that means backstretch outfits will have to attempt herd their barn cats and bring them along once they get stall reassignments at either Pimlico or the Timonium fairgrounds. This is because of concerns that the cats could be poisoned by eating either the rodenticide or a rat that has consumed it.

Then MRC commissioner David Hayden suggested that all hay and straw should also be removed from the backstretch to eliminate another readily available food source for the rats.

David Richardson, the executive director of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, said that hay and straw removal would be done if the exterminators recommended it.

Richardson asked trainers to expediate getting their requests in to the Laurel racing office about their preference–either Pimlico or Timonium–for being relocated, and to note if their stable help will need living accommodations at either venue.

TSG will provide a shuttle service to those tracks for employees who wish to remain in their Laurel living quarters, and trainers can still keep tack and other personal property secured at Laurel, so long as nothing gets stored in stalls.

To date there have been 789 stall requests: 502 for Pimlico and 287 for Timonium, meaning the majority of outfits will not make the cut for the preferred stabling at Pimlico.

Richardson said that the day after the Preakness, construction will begin on three new 40-stall barns at Pimlico, and that temporary stabling there will also be made available.

As for the housing of backstretch workers, those who opt to live on the grounds at Timonium could end up relegated to either the jockeys' quarters or some other areas that have access to bathrooms and showers, because there are currently no dorm facilities there that meet fire code requirements.

“There are still a lot of items that are outstanding,” Richardson said, underscoring the difficult nature of the transition.

TSG executives also addressed the implications of turf racing in Maryland because of the extended meet at Pimlico.

Koch said the grass course at Pimlico–which is only half as wide as the one at Laurel–will, per usual, get used “very, very heavily” on the Friday and Saturday of Preakness week.

“So yeah, there are [future] constraints on that course in the sense that, you know, how much [use] can 70 feet sustain compared to the 140 feet that we have at Laurel?” Koch asked rhetorically.

Butler then picked up the topic: “If it's usable we will use it. Once it's through the big weekend…we're going to use it as often as we can.”

Even before Laurel's main track woes arose this winter and spring, TSG executives were on record as contemplating the addition of a synthetic racing surface there.

Butler said on Friday that with the base now exposed, TSG has the opportunity to assess what the scope of that project might look like. But he added that the synthetic option won't be contemplated until a later date–which will eventually mean more logistical headaches.

“Because there is a very high likelihood of us putting in a tunnel at Laurel, there is no way to drill under the track,” Butler said. “That will have to be a section…cut completely down through the substructure. That means later, when we come to replacing and putting in tunnels and replacing surfaces, or having new surfaces, I should say, there is unfortunately going to be some more disruption.”

The post Massive Laurel Horse Move-Out Preakness Week appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Judge’s Ruling Condemns Maryland Commission’s Hearing Procedures

Howard County Circuit Court Senior Judge Lenore Gelfman released a ruling on Feb. 9 that condemned the Maryland Racing Commission's hearing procedures over a lack of due process, the right to a fair and impartial hearing, reports The Racing Biz.

The case before Judge Gelfman was that of the Jan. 18, 2020 Geisha Stakes at Laurel, in which the winner, Artful Splatter, veered out into the path of the oncoming Anna's Bandit, who finished second. Stewards ruled no change in the order of finish, and Jerry Robb, trainer and co-owner of Anna's Bandit, appealed that decision with the MRC.

A hearing was held on Feb. 27, 2020, in which the commission upheld the stewards' decision. Robb's attorney, Lorraine Lawrence-Whittaker, filed an appeal with the circuit court alleging that the MRC hearing was flawed.

Judge Gelfman concluded that “the hearing before the MRC did not adequately protect Petitioner against the deprivation of one of his most essential and foundational rights,” that of due process.

Both the petitioner and the stewards are represented by counsel in these hearings, as is the Maryland Racing Commission. However, Judge Gelfman found issue with the fact that the MRC's counsel, Eric London, has also been presiding over the hearings.

“This court notes that Counsel for the MRC interjected himself repeatedly, leading to the conclusion that he, not the MRC, was the decision-maker,” Judge Gelfman wrote. “Counsel's participation and manner in the hearing deprived Petitioner of due process,” she said.

As for Robb's case, that has been remanded to the MRC for a new hearing.

The Racing Biz reports that the first hearing since the court's ruling was held on Feb. 25, and MRC chairman Emmet Davitt presided.