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Laurel Track Woes: Passero To Consult, Pimlico Move On Hold For Now

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) and the management team at 1/ST Racing announced an agreement Tuesday morning that will allow for the MTHA's preferred track maintenance consultant, John Passero, to be retained to perform testing that will hopefully lead to the latest round of fixes in a years-long series of safety woes that have plagued Laurel Park's main dirt track.

The agreement, which was announced at an emergency meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) Apr. 25, put off for the time being any action by the commission that would have mandated shifting racing to Pimlico Race Course some 30 miles north in Baltimore. 1/ST Racing owns both tracks under the corporate name Maryland Jockey Club (MJC).

Five horses have had to be euthanized this month at Laurel, including two who raced there Apr. 20. After last Thursday's fatalities, 1/ST Racing initially announced that racing would be canceled indefinitely, then later tried to fill an Apr.27 card that was abandoned when horsemen withheld entries. Management has maintained that the track is safe, while the horsemen have disagreed, at one point calling the situation a “catastrophic emergency.”

Passero used to be the MJC's track superintendent several decades ago, and the horsemen had lobbied for his inclusion as a consultant during the winter of 2021-22, which was when the last significant spate of equine deaths occurred over the Laurel dirt.

At that time, a Maryland racing commissioner described Passero during a public meeting as having the confidence of “rank-and-file horsemen” while noting that Passero felt “frustrated” when his input as a consultant “was not being heeded” by track executives.

Both in the past and for the present problems, 1/ST Racing has relied upon its own consultants, most notably Dennis Moore, known for his longtime track superintendent work at Santa Anita Park, another track in 1/ST Racing's corporate portfolio.

Craig Fravel, 1/ST Racing's chief executive officer, told commissioners during Tuesday's meeting that the negotiations with horsemen yielded “basically an access agreement for the MTHA to retain their consultant, John Passero, to come to the racetrack to perform whatever tests [and] evaluations [that] he feels are necessary to inform himself and his client [that could lead to] possible improvements to the racing surface.”

Fravel noted that Passero will be employed by the MTHA, and that the exact scope of his work is not defined by the agreement. Whatever data Passero uncovers will then be analyzed by track management, the horsemen, and the commission to determine the next steps.

Tim Keefe, the president of the MTHA, said he expected Passero to begin work as soon as Wednesday, Apr. 26.

Alan Foreman, an attorney who represents the MTHA, said, “We'll collectively assess his findings. Any work that needs to be done, our hope is that it is a relatively quick fix, and that we will be back to racing as quickly as possible.”

Fravel was asked directly by a commissioner about the possibility of relocating the current Laurel meet to Pimlico, which is scheduled to race May 11-29 for its GI Preakness S. meet.

“We're going to approach all of these questions in good faith,” Fravel said. “We're not taking anything off the table, but we need to let this process unfold,” before having discussions about moving to Pimlico.

MRC chairman Michael Algeo made it clear that the commission's top priority is safety.

“Racing will not resume here until this commission says it can resume,” Algeo said. “This is uncharted territory for the commission. This was not a hearing that we anticipated. It's not a hearing that we wanted. But I have emphasized throughout my time as chairman and member of this commission that we needed cooperation, communication and compromise.

“We cannot afford to get this wrong. We have to get it right,” Algeo underscored.

Algeo noted that the MRC has a regularly scheduled monthly meeting for next Tuesday, May 2, at which it could take next steps, unless sooner action is warranted. Although his tone was generally terse, Algeo added that he was “optimistic” the testing and the fixes could proceed as swiftly as possible.

Pimlico hosted an extended meet through the summer of 2021 the last time Laurel's track needed extensive repairs.

After years of freeze/thaw and drainage troubles, Laurel's main track was in such bad shape in the spring of 2021 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 in September 2021, 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, 2021, leading to weeks-long halts in racing through early the winter of 2022.

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Laurel’s Training Schedule Adjusted for Track Maintenance

The Maryland Jockey Club outlined a change in the training schedule at Laurel to accommodate a maintenance project on the main track. Expected to take a week, depending on weather. the project is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Aug. 23. According to MJC Track Superintendent Chris Bosley, the work involves a section of the homestretch that was repaired in the fall of 2021. An inspection that was part of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Racetrack Safety Program, which began July 1, determined that the area requires further review. Racing at Laurel concludes Aug. 21, with live racing taking place at the Maryland State Fair at Timonium for two weeks before moving to Pimlico for three weeks. During the project, the MJC will reimburse shipping costs for horses that travel to Pimlico for workouts only.

SCHEDULE

TUESDAY, AUG. 23: Training from 5-9 a.m. with one break from 7-7:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24 – THURSDAY, AUG. 25: No training -maintenance project begins.

FRIDAY, AUG. 26 – SUNDAY, AUG. 28: Dogs will be set up around the track for horses to gallop the right way only with no backing up, no joggers and no free ponying. Normal training hours of 5:30-10:30 a.m. will be in place. Gate schooling, standing only, no breaking.

MONDAY, AUG. 29: Dogs will still be up with galloping the right way only with no backing up, no joggers and no free ponying. Training hours will be 5-9 a.m. with one break from 7-7:30 a.m.

TUESDAY, AUG. 30: The entire track will be available for horses with regular training hours of 5:30-10:30 a.m., but workouts won't be permitted.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31: The track will be open for regular training hours of 5:30-10:30 a.m. with workouts permitted.

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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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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.”

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