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Preakness Meet At Pimlico Opens Thursday, April 22

Championship racing returns to legendary Pimlico Race Course Thursday for the opening of its 23-day Preakness Meet at Pimlico, highlighted by the 146th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (G1) Saturday, May 15.

The Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, the 1 3/16-mile Preakness anchors 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million in purses on a program that includes the 120th edition of the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up on turf, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, debuting in 1870.

Other graded-stakes on the Preakness undercard are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, and $100,000 Arabian Derby (G1) for Arabian 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

Preakness Day post time is 10:30 a.m.

The 97th running of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies is the focal point of a Preakness eve program Friday, May 14 that offers six stakes, four graded, worth $1 million in purses. Among the supporting stakes are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles, $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs, and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles.

Post time on Black-Eyed Susan Day is 11:30 a.m.

The Maryland Jockey Club is once again offering bonus money totaling $100,000 to trainers who run a minimum of five horses in the 15 Thoroughbred stakes races during Preakness weekend. The trainer with the most points will receive $50,000, second $25,000, third $12,000, fourth $7,000, fifth $4,000 and sixth $2,000.

Points are accumulated for finishing first (10 points), second (seven), third (five), fourth (three) and having a starter (one) in the Runhappy Skipat, Miss Preakness, Allaire du Pont, Black-Eyed Susan, Pimlico Special, Hilltop, Jim McKay Turf Sprint, Maryland Sprint, Chick Lang, Preakness, Gallorette, James W. Murphy, Dinner Party, The Very One and Sir Barton.

Mike Maker edged 2019 winner Brad Cox to claim last year's top trainer bonus during Preakness weekend, delayed to Oct. 1-3 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen was the top bonus winner in 2017 and 2018.

There will also be bonus money totaling $50,000 for trainers with the most points in non-stakes races during Preakness weekend. The points are accumulated in similar fashion with $25,000 going to the leader, $10,000 to second, $7,000 to third, $4,000 to fourth, $2,500 to fifth and $1,000 to sixth.

Racing will be conducted at Pimlico Thursdays through Sundays with no live racing Sunday, May 16 or Thursday, May 27. The meet wraps up with a special Memorial Day holiday program Monday, May 31.

Post time will be 12:40 p.m. with exceptions on Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan day as well as a 12:15 p.m. start Saturday, May 1, Kentucky Derby day from Churchill Downs.

This year's Preakness meet was originally scheduled to begin May 6 but had its opening pushed up two weeks when the continuing evaluation and renovation of Laurel Park's main track necessitated its live race dates be transferred to Pimlico.

Spring Stakes Spectacular, a collection of seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses originally scheduled for Laurel Park's spring meet, will help comprise Pimlico's opening Saturday program, April 24. Leading the way is the $125,000 Federico Tesio, a 'Win and In' race for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the Preakness being contested at Pimlico for the first time since 2015.

Serving as the Tesio's co-headliner on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program is the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' qualifier for 3-year-old fillies to the Black-Eyed Susan. It is joined by a pair of $100,000 dirt sprints, the Frank Y. Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up and Primonetta for fillies and mares 3 and older. With the change in venue, the Whiteley has been shortened from seven to six furlongs, same as the Primonetta.

Also scheduled are the first three stakes of Maryland's turf season – the $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Dahlia for females 3 and older, both at a mile, and $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up. Carded for 5 ½ furlongs at Laurel, the Leatherbury will be contested at five furlongs at Pimlico.

A field of eight 3-year-olds and up will go 1 1/16 miles in a $15,000 claiming event to kick off Thursday's 10-race opening day program. Race 2 is a $40,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares ages 3-5 sprinting five furlongs, also on the main track.

The opening day feature comes in Race 9, an entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs that attracted a field of 11 led by narrow 3-1 program favorite Fast Break. The gelded 5-year-old son of champion Uncle Mo made his first start for trainer Brittany Russell March 21 at Laurel, chasing the pace before tiring to be fourth, beaten three lengths, racing for the first time in more than a year. Russell's husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, rides from Post 3.

Pimlico will serve up an 11-race program Friday, April 23 that includes a pair of allowance events. The first comes in Race 7 for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting six furlongs. The Russells figure to be prominent again with Juror Number Four, an Into Mischief filly making her sophomore debut after running second to Street Lute in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship Dec. 5 at Laurel. Also entered are 2020 Wide Country winner Naughty Thoughts and Proper Attire, exiting back-to-back victories in January and February at Laurel.

Friday's 10th race is an entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up at 1 1/16 miles with a field of eight including Moonsafe, a 15 ¼-length maiden claiming winner Feb. 27 at Laurel also being considered for Saturday's Weber City Miss, and Judi Blue Eyes, in the money in 13 of 22 career starts.

Trevor McCarthy has claimed the past two Pimlico jockey titles, but is currently riding in New York. Sheldon Russell had six wins, one more than Jevian Toledo, when Laurel's spring meet was canceled following the April 11 program and ultimately canceled with its dates moved to Pimlico.

Claudio Gonzalez swept all four meets in Maryland in 2020 including his first Pimlico stand. Overall he owns 16 meet titles including 10 of the last 11 at Laurel dating back to 2018, and has led all Maryland trainers in wins the past four years.

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Races Cancelled At Laurel Due To Track Conditions; Racing Moved To Pimlico Starting April 22

1/ST RACING and the Maryland Jockey Club announce today that live racing will be cancelled from Saturday April 17 through Monday April 19, due to the ongoing evaluation of the main track surface conditions. As part of regular track maintenance, the Maryland Jockey Club identified on April 14 that the main track had not responded sufficiently to wintertime cushion repairs. Gallops will be allowed during an abbreviated training schedule Friday, April 16.

Dr. Mick Peterson, from the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory (RSTL) along with 1/ST RACING's Senior Track Superintendent and the Maryland Jockey Club's Chris Bosley have been working together to assess the cushion replacement options using RSTL approved materials and to identify a project timeline.

“We understand that the timing of this Laurel Park main track maintenance is not ideal for our horsemen, but the safety of the horses and our riders must be our top priority,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Operating Officer, 1/ST RACING. “We have full confidence that Dr. Mick Peterson, Dennis Moore and Chris Bosley will manage this project quickly and will deliver a rehabilitated main track surface cushion that will offer superior training and racing to the benefit of Maryland horsemen for years to come.”

Due to the uncertainty of the timeline to rehabilitate the main track surface cushion at Laurel Park, 1/ST RACING and the Maryland Jockey Club submitted an application to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association to move live racing to Pimlico Race Course, effective, April 22 on an emergency basis. The application has been granted and live racing will be moved to Pimlico Race Course until further notice.

The post Races Cancelled At Laurel Due To Track Conditions; Racing Moved To Pimlico Starting April 22 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Training Schedules Return To Normal At Laurel Amidst EHV-1 Quarantine

Training hours at Laurel Park will return to the regular schedule Monday, March 29, upon the recommendation of Dr. Michael Odian, Chief State Veterinarian for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

For the past several weeks, horses in barns that had been under quarantine because of equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) have trained on the track at Laurel after regular training hours. Laurel is now considered one quarantine facility, as is Pimlico Race Course, and as of March 28 there were no positive EHV-1 cases at either facility.

Horses that are positive are housed at the former Bowie Training Center or at private farms. Each of the three barns being used at Bowie is considered a separate quarantine facility given their spacing on the property.

Training hours at Laurel are as follows: 5:30 to 10 a.m. on race days and 5:30 to 10:30 a.m. on dark days, with renovation breaks from 7-7:30 a.m. and 9-9:30 a.m.

The current 21-day quarantine at Laurel and Pimlico calls for only symptomatic horses or those with a temperature of 101.5 degrees or higher to be tested. If there are no more EHV-1 cases, the Pimlico quarantine will end April 12, and at Laurel, the date is April 18, according to Odian.

Live racing at Laurel was canceled March 27-29 and also April 1-3. No racing was scheduled for April 4, Easter Sunday. As of now, racing is scheduled to resume Thursday, April 8, subject to there not being additional EHV-1 cases. Only horses stabled at Laurel will be permitted to race until the Pimlico quarantine expires.

Horsemen are encouraged to continue taking horses' temperatures and to report any above 101.5 degrees to Dr. Libby Daniel, the Maryland Racing Commission Equine Medical Director, or Dr. Heidi Thomas, MJC Senior Veterinarian.

All backstretch employees are urged to continue various disinfection practices for barns and equipment and to refrain from interaction with other barns at MJC facilities. Veterinary officials said it's important to open up barns as much as possible to allow fresh air to circulate. It not only helps the horses but helps reduce the chances of spread of the virus in barns. It is also important to limit horse-to-horse contact and to keep stress on horses at a minimum.

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Maryland: EHV-1 Positives Up To 26, Racing Cancelled Next Weekend

The EHV-1 quarantine for horses at Laurel Park and Pimlico could now continue until mid-April and racing is cancelled through April 4, racing officials said during a horsemen's teleconference on Friday. A total of 26 horses have tested positive for the virus and are now in isolation at Bowie Training Center, and another 10 horses are suspected to have the virus but awaiting test results. Most of those horses have come from Laurel Park, but Pimlico has also had one positive with test results pending on another horse.

Veterinarians with The Stronach Group and state health officials described a shift in procedures for testing and quarantine as the situation has continued to evolve from the first EHV-1 positive at Laurel in early March. There are two schools of thought on the best testing procedures in EHV-1 outbreaks: one that suggests testing all potentially exposed horses and releasing them after two weeks if they test negative and show no symptoms. The other suggests a 21 to 28-day quarantine for exposed horses, and testing only of symptomatic horses. Initially, officials took the 14-day approach but quickly found a high number of positives from asymptomatic horses.

Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer for 1/ST RACING, said Friday that some 30 percent of the population is expected to be shedding the virus at any given time while having no illness. Most veterinarians agree that horses are commonly exposed to equine herpesvirus but for whatever reason, many never actually get sick from it. Horses who are sick and shedding the virus through their nasal secretions are releasing much greater amounts of the virus and therefore represent a danger to others that asymptomatic carriers likely don't.

In an effort to avoid quarantining the track over asymptomatic positive horses, veterinarians have now swapped their strategy to the 21-day plan, and say they need cooperation from horsemen to make this as efficient as possible. Trainers are asked to take horses' temperatures frequently and report any horse with a temperature of 101.5 or higher, or any horse exhibiting neurological symptoms. Those horses will be isolated immediately and tested.

In several cases, Benson said symptomatic horses have been removed from their home barns and tested negative at first sampling, then been positive on a second test taken a few days later. This means those horses were not shedding the virus at the beginning of their illness when they were in their barns, but began to do so in isolation as their illnesses progressed. In those cases, officials are not shutting down the barns those horses came from because they believe those horses weren't yet contagious when they last saw their stablemates.

Currently, confirmed positives are being sent to Bowie, where they can spread out across barns in different areas of the facility. “Suspect horses,” or those with symptoms, are being moved to designated isolation barns at their home track (either Laurel or Pimlico) to wait out test results. If feverish horses return two negative tests, they can return to their home barn because their fevers are likely caused by something other than EHV-1. EHV-1 is highly contagious and can be transmitted not just from horse-to-horse contact, but by people and equipment that travel between horses.

Training schedules have been disrupted at Laurel as officials try to keep horses from potentially-contaminated barns apart from the rest of the population, although Benson said it's extremely unlikely a horse could catch EHV-1 by jogging by an infected horse on the track. Horses that have been potentially exposed but are not ill are allowed to train because veterinarians believe the stress of three weeks of stall rest could make them more susceptible to developing symptoms.

If there are no more positives at Laurel, the quarantine could be released April 17. If the pending test at Pimlico is negative, its quarantine will be released 21 days from the first positive, which would be April 12. If the current pending test is positive, Pimlico will also be released April 17.

Veterinary officials said that contact tracing has been performed on all horses that left the Laurel grounds before the gates were closed at the start of March with the first detected EHV-1 case. No other cases have been reported in connection with Laurel's outbreak.

The Mid-Atlantic circuit is known for lots of horse travel up and down the East Coast, and owners and trainers on Friday's teleconference indicated they're losing significant revenue by being forced to remain at Laurel. Even if they were permitted to leave, Benson pointed out most other racetracks would not permit a horse to come in from a Maryland track right now. It is possible for trainers to get special permission from state veterinarian Dr. Mike Odian to send horses to a local farm, but they will be required to quarantine for 21 days there.

The EHV-1 strain in Laurel's outbreak is the “wild” type, which means it's not the same version of the virus making headlines in Europe right now, or the same version that's been found in Florida. While there is a vaccination for equine herpesvirus, it is not approved as a means of preventing the neurological form of the illness.

As everyone waits out the quarantine, there is one thing horsemen can do to help the situation, besides following all biosecurity protocols: open the barns. EHV-1 is thought to thrive in closed environments and creates infections when there's a lot of it in a concentrated amount of air space. Getting circulation through the barn will dissipate the virus and make it less likely a horse can get sick.

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