Via TD Thornton
Seven Laurel Park horses have died since November 6, and a total of eight have died this fall after breaking a bone while racing or practicing on the newly installed main dirt track there.
The most recent fatality occurred during Laurel’s eighth race on November 28, and training has been halted for three days since. A portion of the surface has been dug up in the middle of the track to allow more track maintenance consultants to come try and discover if there are any underlying issues that need to be addressed.
Laurel’s next scheduled race date is Friday, December 3, but it could be in danger, according to Alan Foreman, an attorney representing the Maryland Thoroughbred Riders Association.
“We’ve looked at every potential factor and what we’re focusing on right now is the track surface at Laurel,” said Foreman. “I think everyone understands that’s what we’re looking at, because with this cluster of red-flagged deaths, most of them happen at the same point on the track,” he described as being in the middle of houses.
“If there is a short-term remedy, then we will try to make a short-term remedy. If it’s a long-term problem, we’ll have to address all of those factors. The expectation is that we will be able to start training on the surface by the end of this week and we will be able to resume racing next week,” said Foreman.
But, Foreman was quick to add, “We shouldn’t allow these horses to race on this surface until we feel certain it’s a safe track.”
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Mike Rogers, president of the racing division of The Stronach (TSG), the company that owns Laurel, told TDN by phone he could not immediately comment on when the race would resume. He said a press release detailing that decision is being drafted by TSG executives.
No timed exercise has been allowed at Laurel as of Sunday, although horses have been allowed to gallop around the tethered area of the homestead, Rogers said.
Rogers said that on November 23, a “minor maintenance” issue was identified in the home. “It was a small settlement within the base that we handled. Our crew found it. We are working on it. So that’s the reason that ‘dogs’ were up. We pulled up the mattress, and did some maintenance work to fix the little thing that happened… .before the sixteenth pole,” he said.
“We’re planning on training in time for Saturday, December 4,” Rogers said.
The death cluster is the latest safety blow at Maryland’s premier racing and training venue. Laurel stopped racing again on April 11 to begin a multi-million dollar emergency overhaul of the main track, rebuilt from the base within four months in an effort to address severe deterioration. important due to years of near-daily use and partial repairs to fix a multitude of problems.
“Anytime you put a new surface down, that can create problems of its own, so you have to be careful when going back,” says Foreman. He added that when the new main track at Laurel opened on September 9, “We’re off to a good start with it.”
The Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) confirmed the names and dates of the dead horses by providing a horse death report to the TDN on Wednesday. Counting only fracture deaths on the main track since the new surface was installed, Laurel’s first catastrophic injury occurred on October 3, when a teenager named Kyosha claimed the worth $10,000 lost action near the three-quarter column in a seven-time sprint. Equibase chart says she was beaten.
After that, there were no major deaths until November 6, when fat 3-year-old Bella Thyme died during or after a workout.
On November 13, Bust’em Kurt, a 2-year-old pony, was racing in the first flight of a herd of horses in the six-lap MSW sprint when she stripped her rider naked at the top. road after being fatally injured.
On November 19, the critically injured 3-year-old Gale Winds was critically injured after being pulled up during the first phase of the NW2L six-way sprint for US$10,000.
On November 25, the 5-year-old gelding Manicomio fell while leading in the sixteenth third column. The Equibase chart says he got an upgrade on the track.
The MRC’s death report lists a horse named Golden Sky that died during or after training on November 27 (Equibase does not list any active race-age horses under that name).
Two horses trained by renowned Maryland nurse, Dale Capuano, have also recently died: One was a 2-year-old American Playboy, who, according to Equibase, was “injured in the eighth column and had to retire from competition.” ” this past Sunday in a six-times allowance/optional claimant match.
The other is the promising Moquist, a chubby 3-year-old boy with a 4-4 record who is a half-sister to recent GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West (Spin hard). According to the MRC, she died on November 21 during or after practice.
- Michael Hopkins, chief executive officer of the MRC, told TDN that from his perspective, all parties involved appear to be working together in an effort to address whatever caused the deaths.
“The committee cares about that, number one,” Hopkins said. “Secondly, TSG brought their people from California. [Noted track superintendent] Dennis Moore is here. The riders hired John Passero, who was the race director [in Maryland] as an independent party to give his opinion on what he sees in one way or another.
“Hopefully they’ll come to a conclusion about what’s best to address any issues the track may have,” continued Hopkins. “I understand that they are cooperating [and] understanding each other’s positions and perspectives. [But] I don’t know where it is. John has been here since Monday. I think Dennis arrived on Tuesday night. ”
One aspect that has contributed to the stability and safety of previous versions of the main track Laurel is likely to be out now: the last seven deaths have all occurred since cold weather. More, colder weather, along with moisture, can cause uneven growth.
During a teleconference on November 10, Laurel track director Chris Bosley said that the clay content in the new trail “was higher than anticipated, so we’re adding straight, 100% pure silica sand.” and have smaller seeds. It will help break the material up a bit, help loosen the stain and help it dry faster. The moisture is still underneath and the material binds together, so we’ll introduce silica sand to break it up and maybe slow down the run a bit. Silica sand is aggressive and expensive sand – so we’ll take this process slowly. “
Although both Hopkins and Foreman told TDN The onset of colder weather could be a contributing cause of racetrack problems, both highlighting that horse fatalities can be multifactorial in nature, which causes difficult to identify any problems that need to be fixed.
“They are looking at everything. They’re looking at a very wide range here to make sure everything is right. Just from what we see, something is wrong. It just doesn’t feel right,” Hopkins said. “Is there a problem with the horses? I do not know. We didn’t get a chance to gather the medical history, vet records and stuff about those horses to sit down and evaluate each one individually. “
The foreman added: “Those are not horsemen. It is not a drug. It doesn’t run bad horses. You look at everything, but you look for the common denominator. It seems to be the surface of the race, and that’s what we’re focused on. “
If the fix ends up being more complicated than expected, the prospect of having to move the race to Pimlico Circuit (TSG’s other Maryland track 30 miles north in Baltimore) would be a much tougher endeavor this season. winter than last spring. . stable areas at Pimlico and Timonium fairgrounds. But at this time of year, neither of those locations are ready in winter to host large numbers of horses.
“The problem with Pimlico is that there is no place to train horses, unless we allow training at Laurel,” said Foreman. “That’s the problem with consolidating races here – we don’t have a backup if the dirty surface in Laurel is no longer in service.”
