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Amid Repairs, New Date for Racing at Laurel Now Dec. 16

The new date for the resumption of racing at Laurel Park has now been pegged as Thursday, Dec. 16, with timed workouts expected to resume Friday, Dec. 10.

Both targets are pending a satisfactory safety review of the extensive base and cushion work now being done on the troubled main dirt surface at Maryland's most heavily used Thoroughbred venue.

With the exception of light training that continues to take place around cordoned-off areas of the dug-up oval, Laurel has been closed for racing and timed works since Nov. 28.

Seven Laurel horses have died since Nov. 6, and eight total have perished this autumn, all after sustaining fractures while racing or training over a completely new multi-million-dollar surface that had been installed over the summer.

Executives from The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns Laurel, were called before the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) on Tuesday to explain the repair process and to face verbal grilling about why the problems escalated in the first place.

“There are seams that are being made in the base during starts and stops,” Mike Rogers, the president of TSG's racing division, said during the Dec. 7 meeting. “So our working theory is that some moisture got into [a seam in the homestretch] before it was able to cure, and it caused a slight depression.”

Rogers said that part of the repair job has been fixed, and now a consensus plan among “experts” hired by both the track and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) is underway to “add body to the cushion” by working sand into the mix.

John Passero, who years ago was Laurel's superintendent, has been retained by the MTHA as a consultant. He told the commission that the game plan outlined by Rogers should put the track in the “right direction” to resume racing and full training.

“All that happened was, as they started withdrawing water from the track, the cushion failed to do its job,” Passero said. “That was the long and short of it.”

Passero continued: “What's happening now is they're putting body back into the cushion, which [is] a little bit of a coarser sand that you can walk across the top of that will stop the horses from hitting the hardpan hard. That's the whole thing in a nutshell, and that's what they're aiming for now. The quicker you get that washed, clean sand into the track, the better off it's going to be.”

As expected, TSG officials faced considerable verbal blowback from commissioners. The key points revolved around the perception that TSG's reliance on scientific methods is occurring at the expense of not listening to the experienced opinions of riders and trainers. Commissioners also wanted to know what “measurable objectives” will be used to ensure safety moving forward.

Audio difficulties with the meeting's internet feed rendered large portions of the testimony unlistenable, and commissioners did not always identify themselves when speaking, making direct attributions difficult.

“We are all in this together,” said MRC chairman Michael Algeo. “The industry depends upon racing. We don't–need–negative–stuff,” he stressed, accentuating those final few words to make his point.

“This commission has an obligation, irrespective of our desire to be collaborative, to do what we think is right, irrespective of everybody's else's opinion,” Algeo said. “We have to act. Because at the end of the day, it's our obligation to [put] safety first. Safety, safety, safety.”

“Nobody's excluding anybody here,” Algeo continued. “It's a collaborative approach. I think we need both [science and experience]. No one's rejecting science. But when you have the science and something's not working, then you've got to scratch your head and go, 'Houston, we have a problem.'”

The cluster of fatalities is the latest safety blow at Laurel. The main track was in such bad shape last spring that Laurel ceased racing on Apr. 11 to begin an emergency overhaul of the main track, which got rebuilt from the base up over the course of four months while the race meet shifted to TSG's other track in the state, Pimlico Race Course.

Rogers said that, “Feedback from the trainers and the riders is critical. We welcome it, and we take it serious.”

But TSG's chief operations officer, Aidan Butler, said that ultimately, track executives have to take responsibility for the decisions that get made.

“There are always some people who want the track slower, some people who want the track faster,” Butler said. “We're all aware of that. But I believe…the maintenance routine that was done on the track this year was the same as last year and the year before…. Because of the complete change of the surface it just didn't react the way it should have done.”

The commission will meet again Dec. 14 to decide whether or not the final approval for the resumption of racing will be granted.

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Move-In Date At Laurel Pushed Back To Aug. 10 As Work On Track Surface Wraps Up

While Maryland horsemen had originally hoped to move back into Laurel Park by Aug. 6, officials with The Stronach Group announced this week that they will again have to push back the timeframe based on the progress of a major track resurfacing project. The new target for the resumption of training at Laurel is Aug. 10.

Steve Koch, senior vice president of racing operations for the company, said there is still some final grading work to be done on some portions of the main racing surface, and new cushion material will need to be mixed in throughout. Work on the drainage and base on both the backstretch and frontside of the track is complete, with the work on the front designed so it will match the backstretch.

“The whole oval is a totally new racetrack, as the cushion will be,” said Koch. “We don't put horses on the track until it's safe and ready to go.”

The cushion material was sourced from a Maryland quarry based on its ability to make a specific mix of material that would be consistent with other tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region and be similar to previously successful mixes in Maryland. The company, Stancills, was also chosen for its ability to continue to provide quality-tested material on an ongoing basis without supply chain interruptions.

“One of the challenges we have, not just at Laurel but at a lot of the tracks, is the continuing supply of a consistent enough material so that the track, when it's supplemented or repaired, does not drift over time or change,” said Dr. Mick Peterson, racing surfaces expert consulting on Laurel Park.

After four days of mixing the cushion surface in thoroughly, officials said training can resume Aug. 10 and anticipate timed works will be permitted then if trainers desire.

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The track has also hired Logan Freeman as Maryland Turf Consultant to prepare a review of the irrigation and nutrient management of the turf course. The turf has been aerated regularly since spring, with a break in July to alleviate heat stress, and Koch anticipated that aeration will resume soon and continue indefinitely.

The last day for training at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, where much of the Laurel Park population is stabled temporarily, will be Aug. 7. Staff housing in Timonium-area hotels will close Aug. 12. Horsemen will be able to ship into Laurel beginning Aug. 8.

The post Move-In Date At Laurel Pushed Back To Aug. 10 As Work On Track Surface Wraps Up appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Integrated Racetrack Tester Next Step in Racetrack Safety

The definition of insanity, some smart person once said, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

In a twist on that aphorism, Kaleb Dempsey, laboratory manager of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory (RSTL), explained one recent afternoon how part of the problem with the way racetracks maintain their surfaces is that, by virtue of their tools, they have been restricted to doing the same things over and over and expecting the same kind of results.

Which is where a new bespoke piece of equipment, currently undergoing teething tests, promises something of a quiet revolution.

“The goal is to help improve the surface if it needs improving,” said Dempsey, of a device called the Integrated Racetrack Tester, which combines into one the role of various surface measurement tools, and relays information in real time for quick consumption.

We had met at Del Mar–what was then the latest destination in Dempsey’s whistle-stop tour of racetracks as part of a real-world baptism of fire for the tester, a product of The Jockey Club funding.

“It has been a work in progress, and still is,” he said, of the new tool. “There’s only one way to find out if it works and that’s field testing.”

According to Mick Peterson, head of the RSTL and pioneer of the Maintenance Quality System (MQS), the data collection service used by a number of racetracks, the new tool when ready will be delivered into the hands of superintendents at several places, including Churchill Downs, Maryland Jockey Club and New York Racing Association tracks, Keeneland, Del Mar, and Santa Anita.

So, why the need for the new tool?

Traditionally, racetrack superintendents have used two main devices to measure the relative soundness and consistency of a surface–the GoingStick, to test the going on the turf, and the FieldScout TDR Meter, which can measure moisture content in both the turf and the dirt.

The GoingStick measures both the amount of force needed to penetrate the soil and the “shear,” which is the force required to pull the device through the ground–two vital measurements to understand how a horse’s hoof will behave on a given surface.

The problem, Dempsey explained, is that the GoingStick is user dependent–or what he describes as “strain-rate” dependent. In other words, “If I take a measurement, and hand it to you, and you take a measurement, it’s going to be different,” he said.

Different track superintendents, therefore, run the risk of coming up with different going measurements.

The process of gauging surface moisture can be a similar data minefield.

The FieldScout TDR 300–the model that most tracks possess, said Dempsey–can measure moisture content only. And while the latest model, the FieldScout TDR 350, has the ability to measure additional details like salinity and ground temperature, they both come with an in-built glitch: “They’re both so heavily impacted by salt content,” said Dempsey.

What this means is that a track like Del Mar where the irrigation water can be extra salty runs the risk of producing moisture content readings that are off base, sometimes markedly so, said Dempsey. It might tell the operator that the track is saturated, for example, when in fact it’s just fine.

Frustratingly for track crews seeking important data readings at the touch of a button, it can also take many hours for the information that GoingSticks and TDR meters collect to be beamed back to the Kentucky headquarters of the MQS, where they’re processed into a palatable format.

“Ten years ago, nobody was collecting this data, and it’s time to improve it,” Dempsey said. And he hopes the Integrated Racetrack Tester will do just that.

Dempsey and his colleagues have taken a Longchamp penetrometer-a surface measurement device used in Europe–and modified it a number of ways. The first is the introduction of probe-like sensors that read moisture content, salinity, dielectric constant–the permittivity of the surface–and soil temperature.

As compared to the TDR meter, Dempsey said he has “much more faith” in the Integrated Racetrack Tester’s ability to accurately measure moisture content in even high saline environments.

Dempsey has left the ground penetration system intact–what amounts to a little weight that drops like a guillotine down an enclosed shaft and thumps a measuring stick into the soil. But he has attached an electronic sensor to collect that information digitally.

Importantly for track maintenance crews hungry for up-to-the-minute information, the device has been kitted with a sophisticated GPS system that logs the location of each measurement–both moisture-related and ground penetration–and beams it directly back to the MQS in Kentucky.

“It’s all moving in real time,” said Peterson. “That’s where we’re headed.”

As with most prototypes, teething troubles are inevitable, and the Integrated Racetrack Tester is no different, with one of the tool’s key sensors working perfectly well in the cool air-conditioned laboratory, but proving finnicky in the heat of the real world.

“We’re at the point to where basically if I can get the temperature problem fixed, which I’ve gotten a lot closer to, we’re ready to roll out five more of these,” said Dempsey.

The tester was recently trialed at Keeneland during the Breeders’ Cup meet. “The one thing I like and appreciate about it is that it takes the human element out of testing the surface,” said Tim Fahrendorf, assistant track superintendent at Keeneland.

“With the current probe, the TDR 300, it can be affected if you just slightly wriggle it–when the air gets down to where the probe tips are on the surface,” Fahrendorf explained. With the Integrated Racetrack Tester, however, “You stick it in the ground and it remains still,” he added.

Fahrendorf did, however, raise a potential wrinkle on the map: The way in which handicappers will have to adjust to a new data set.

“Most people are used to seeing the going reports,” he said. “With the new device, it might take a little bit of time for people to look at it, understand it, and then ultimately use it to handicap and make their wagers.”

When the Integrated Racetrack Tester is up and running smoothly, Dempsey hopes to attach the GPS system to other commonly used tools, like the ground penetrating radar–a device used to map the composition of a track subsurface–and the water truck.

By harnessing the ability of the GPS system to transmit real-time data on a variety of different machines, Dempsey hopes to gather into their centralized system a broad array of information about the condition of many of the nation’s racetracks.

From this rich data set, analysts might be able to refine what information points are necessary and which are superfluous with an eye to streamlining the current approach to racetrack maintenance, said Dempsey.

“What do we actually need to be measuring on these surfaces to check the consistency?” said Dempsey, who suggested that such an analysis could be completed within the year.

“Maybe what we’re going to find is that we definitely want moisture from the TDR. We don’t want penetration from the GoingStick, but we want shear from the GoingStick,” he added. “Maybe those are going to be the metrics that we find are useful.”

Peterson posited that the data currently being funneled into the MQS could also be a useful tool for better understanding the factors underpinning equine fatalities–especially if integrated with some of the industry’s other data systems, like the Equine Injury Database.

The key, Peterson emphasized, is that the information is detailed, accurate and comprehensive. “We need so many measurements through so many circumstances before we understand what the risk is to the horse and rider,” he said.

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