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No Lasix in Maryland’s Graded Stakes Starting in 2021

The Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) voted unanimously Wednesday to expand a race-day Lasix ban that began this year with 2-year-olds to include horses of any age competing in graded stakes starting in 2021.

“A few months ago, the commission passed an emergency regulation restricting Lasix to any horse that’s two years old for the next three years, as part of [a negotiated] agreement between the HBPA and The Stronach Group,” J. Michael Hopkins, the MRC’s executive director, explained prior to the vote during the Dec. 2 teleconference meeting.

“Moving forward, it also included graded stakes races beginning in calendar year 2021,” Hopkins said. “What this regulation does is extend that restriction for 2-year-olds to include any horse [of any age] running in a graded stakes going forward in accordance with that agreement.”

Prior to the vote, commissioner David Hayden, who has bred Thoroughbreds at Dark Hollow Farm near Baltimore for three-plus decades, asked for a clarification on the current Lasix rule for 2-year-olds. He wanted to know if the current crop of juveniles who have been racing without Lasix this season will be able to receive it in Maryland once they turn three Jan. 1.

Hopkins confirmed that yes, the current crop of juveniles will be permitted Lasix in less than a month after starting their Maryland careers without it.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Hayden replied. “But, what do I know?”

The MRC unanimously approved two other rule changes during Wednesday’s meeting.

The first tweaked the existing regulation on shock wave therapy. Currently, Hopkins explained, horses can’t race in Maryland for 10 days after receiving that treatment. The revised version of the rule now prohibits shock-waved horses from working out on the track during that same 10-day post-treatment window.

Another rule change will require trainers and assistants to affirm that they have participated in four hours of continuing education programming prior to being granted a license. Although this rule doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2022, the coursework itself must be completed during calendar year 2021.

The MRC also proposed a new rule, based on recent discussions with horse people and track officials, to extend the right for a new owner to void a claim if the state veterinarian observes that a claimed horse is lame while cooling out in the test barn up to one hour after a race.

Although this rule still has to be published in the state register and go through a public commentary phase before it can be voted in for good, Hopkins suggested that commissioners adopt it as an emergency regulation simultaneous to that process, “to move it forward in a more expeditious manner.” Thus, it takes effect right away.

Sal Sinatra, the president of the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, gave commissioners a brief update on the grass course at Laurel.

“We’re putting our turf course to bed,” Sinatra said. “We have some sand coming in next week; we have a deep drill-and-fill process that’s going to happen the week after on the turn. It doesn’t drain. We’ve reached out to some consultants [and] a company from Virginia is coming to dig down about 12 to 18 inches to put some sand in that turn to help with drainage. Just preparing [for next season] as we move forward.”

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Pies Donated to MJC Backstretch Workers and Food Bank

For the past 32 years, the Maryland Jockey Club has had a tradition of handing out free pies to its patrons during its Thanksgiving Day program.

Along with live Thoroughbred racing at Laurel Park, fans would arrive in the morning to free cider, coffee and donuts, and leave with an apple or pumpkin pie.

This year, with no fans in attendance for Thursday’s live program, the Maryland Jockey Club didn’t want to stop the tradition of giving away pies. So 1,500 pies were ordered as usual, with 500 going to backstretch workers at Laurel and Pimlico and the remaining 1,000 to the Maryland Food Bank.

“During these extraordinary times our strict protocols for everyone’s safety and security do not allow us to have fans at Laurel Park this Thanksgiving, but we didn’t think it should stop a tradition of giving thanks,” said Sal Sinatra, President and General Manager of the Maryland Jockey Club.

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Maryland Jockey Club Announces Re-Opening Protocols For Patrons At Laurel Park

Laurel Park will reopen Thursday, Oct. 15, to a limited number of patrons after having received the go-ahead from Anne Arundel County government.

The county's approval came after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued a revised executive order allowing racetracks to accommodate up to 250 “spectators,” a number that doesn't include the licensed personnel who have had access in order to conduct live racing programs or licensed owners. Laurel Park reopened for racing May 30 after a two-and-a-half-month shutdown because of COVID-19 restrictions, and soon after permitted licensed owners to view races from the apron.

In a letter to the Anne Arundel County Health Department, MJC President Sal Sinatra noted that Laurel and Pimlico Race Course have conducted live racing “under strict protocols to ensure the safety of all participants in racing—jockeys, stewards, owners, trainers, horsemen, backstretch workers, support staff and others” with success. The MJC also submitted a list of protocols for the return of patrons to Laurel.

The grandstand entrance at Laurel Park, which is equipped with a thermal camera for temperature screening, will be the primary entrance for employees, patrons and owners each day. The Horsemen's entrance near the Racing Office and paddock will be staffed only on live racing days beginning at 8 a.m. for trainers, jockeys and backstretch personnel that require access.

Food and beverage service will offered in the concession area in the food court in the first-floor grandstand from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. subject to discretion of management. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the SportsBook Bar on the second floor of the grandstand will be open with the option to purchase food and beverage prepared in the food court.

Laurel Park will be open five days a week, with Mondays and Tuesdays dark for simulcasting until otherwise noted. Racing is currently held four days a week on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule. Simulcasting will be available on Wednesdays in the grandstand Silks simulcast area.

Facial coverings will be required for all guests and employees. Furniture will be rearranged to accommodate social distancing, and physical barriers have been installed where person-to-person interactions will occur. There will be increased sanitization measures and disinfection of all commonly-touched areas such as self-service betting machines.

The first floor of the clubhouse will continue to be used to accommodate jockeys and valets and will not be open to the public.

The information window in the Silks simulcast area in the grandstand will be open Thursday through Sunday. On Wednesdays, check-cashing will be handled through the Guest Services booth in the Silks simulcast area.

The following is information specific to owners and trainers:

Owners will be allowed access to the apron from the clubhouse fence line to the apron tent, which will be exclusive to owners.
Owners will be allowed to watch from the paddock area but will not have access to inside the paddock.
Owners on the grandstand side who wish to visit the paddock area must leave the building through the grandstand exit and walk or drive to the Horsemen's paddock entrance near the Racing Office. They can return to the grandstand through the primary grandstand entrance only. The walkway along the racing surface from the paddock to winner's circle will not be available to owners.
Winners' photos will continue to be taken on the racetrack.
Trainers who enter the grandstand and need to travel to the paddock for saddling must exit the building via the grandstand entrance and walk or drive to the paddock, and return to the building through the grandstand entrance. The walkway along the racetrack will not be accessible.
Owners and trainers will have limited access to the horsemen's boxes on the second floor and can access the area via the clubhouse staircase closest to the grandstand simulcast area. The pathway will be partitioned with privacy curtains.
The valet parking lot will be reserved for horsemen only live racing days. Horsemen overflow parking will be available in the adjacent lot generally used for paid parking.

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MJC President Sal Sinatra Talks Cleaning Up Racing On TDN Writers’ Room

In a sport crying out for more strict, no-nonsense regulators and administrators, Maryland Jockey Club president Sal Sinatra fits the bill. Just in the past week and a half, Sinatra has made major waves in the industry, first by calling for the eventual end to claiming races at The Jockey Club Round Table and then by busting Wayne Potts for “paper training” for a banned trainer in Maryland. Wednesday, Sinatra joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss an array of issues plaguing racing and the steps, big and small, that can be taken to clean up the game for good.

“When I see forged health certificates, when I have repeated claims for not paying bills, when there’s theft, when I’m watching horses race and return and run under others’ names, [situations] that everybody’s aware of, action should’ve been before it gets to my desk,” Sinatra said of the challenges he faces as a head regulator. “Unfortunately, since I’ve been in Maryland, [Potts] is the sixth person I’ve actually tossed. And I don’t know why I seem to be the only one doing it.”

Sinatra went on to say that one of the reasons cheating trainers aren’t more severely punished is that they fill races, a byproduct of there being too much racing on the whole in America and specifically too much cheap claiming races.

“Coming from the racing secretary side, we’ve got too many races,” he said. “Most of these [cheating] guys run their horses a lot. They help you when you call them. So they’re kind of racing office favorites, and the gray area becomes not so gray when you need the horse to make six or seven to fill the entries and close.”

Sinatra added that while racing is making strides in certain areas of correcting itself, there remains one more basic long-term problem it hasn’t addressed: the morality of its participants.

“We’re all trying to make a living. We’re trying to be proud. We’re trying to clean our image as best as we can,” he said. “We have to make ourselves look better. We’re trying with the breakdowns. We’re trying with the medications. But there’s a character flaw. There has become a real character issue. There’s people in the game right now that–I hate to say it–but they shouldn’t be around animals, let alone horses.”

Sinatra caused a stir when he suggested at the Round Table that America should move toward a future without claiming races. He expounded on how a transition to that future could look.

“For one, we have too many categories for horses to enter into,” he said. “You got non-two, non-three, non-four, one win in six months, two wins in six months. I think a ratings system reduces that, so if you put two horses at a rating of 80, maybe a horse that only has three wins runs against a horse with nine wins. You could hypothetically replace starter allowances with these ratings races. There may be a way of combining claiming and letting people who don’t want to lose their horse run their horse against like horses.”

Sinatra further lamented the lack of growth in the worth of claimers over the years, despite inflation and higher purses, leading inevitably to animal welfare issues.

“We’ve created this arena, and especially with the [revenue from] slots, we never valued the horse part of it. When I worked at Monmouth in the mid-80s, the last race was always a Jersey-bred nickel [claimer]. And today the bottom is a Jersey-bred nickel. We’re talking 35 years later. That horse has to be worth a little more than that. But we keep it low so people can get in the game, and then the poor horse gets chewed up. We have to fix it.”

Sinatra said that a lot of racing’s ills come back to the core issue that has been discussed at length on the Writers’ Room in the past: an oversupply of races that exists despite the realities of declining foal crops and horses who run less frequently overall.

“A lot of things got broken down over time because we have too much racing, there’s too many opportunities and we’re trying to fill all this stuff with no supply,” he said. “That’s really the biggest problem. A horse used to run eight or nine times a year. And you have the same amount of stalls that aren’t filled as much. You do the math. Most of the tracks now are propped up by slot machines. Companies can afford to lose $5-10 million on racing when they’re printing money across the parking lot. It’s not good for our sport. So we need to clean it up. We need to look at the whole model and reboot or it’s going to go away.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers recapped the weekend’s Grade I action and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, applauded Churchill Downs for making the decision to race without spectators for the GI Kentucky Derby and broke down the Karl Broberg situation at Remington. Click here to watch the podcast, click here for the audio-only version.

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