Planned race cards at Laurel were canceled Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the behest of the Maryland Racing CommissionGetty Images
The resumption of racing at Laurel Park “remained uncertain" as confirmation is awaited on a "deal with the Maryland Jockey Club for an independent consultant to examine the racetrack’s dirt surface after five horses suffered fatal injuries in racing or training this month," according to a front-page piece by Belson & Walker of the BALTIMORE SUN. The concerns come amid “horse racing’s most high-profile time of the year.” Planned race cards at Laurel were "canceled Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the behest of the Maryland Racing Commission,” which "regulates the state industry and is attempting to mediate between the two sides.” The Maryland Jockey Club subsequently “canceled its planned card for Thursday” after trainers and owners “refused to enter enough horses to make up viable race fields.” Redevelopment plans for Laurel and Pimlico Race Course are currently “stalled,” with the new Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority set to “work on an amended vision for the dilapidated facilities under legislation recently passed by the Maryland General Assembly.” The condition of Laurel, which was “supposed to remain the state’s headquarters for daily racing and training,” is “one of the difficult issues at play" as elected and industry leaders consider what to do next. The Maryland Stadium Authority, which has managed the redevelopment, concluded last year that the “track surface needs to be completely replaced” (BALTIMORE SUN, 4/24).
