After a two-month absence due to COVID-19, horse racing will return to Laurel Park this Saturday with the approval of the Maryland Racing Commission, the Maryland Jockey Club announced today.
The Saturday card will kick off the start of the summer meet. For the first two weeks, Laurel will have racing on Mondays (June 1 and 8), after which the track will run a Friday-Saturday schedule, according to the racetrack’s website.
“Laurel Park will remain closed to the general public pending changes to the State’s further executive orders or guidance,” the Maryland Jockey Club said in a release.
The Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, a group representing in-state owners and trainers, released a 12-page set of health guidelines that the groups called “the industry’s most stringent health and safety protocols.”
Under the measures, the winners’ circle, typically the location of a post-race photo for the winning horse and his or her connections, will be closed.
Only horses stabled on the premises at Laurel or at Pimlico Race Course will be allowed access to the grounds and race. Similarly, only trainers and essential personnel responsible for the care of the horses (veterinarians, grooms, exercise riders and others) licensed with the Maryland Racing Commission may enter the backstretch and stables.
Emergency medical technicians and security staff will be stationed at the stable gate to take people’s temperatures and monitor for symptoms of coronavirus.
Jockeys, valets and race officials will also have their temperatures taken each day and be checked for signs of the disease. The track has also expanded the jockeys’ facilities to promote social distancing.
Female jockeys will maintain access to the regular jockey room, while male jockeys will relocate to the Tips restaurant and an annex trailer to change silks between races.
All jockeys are required to wear gloves during races and must change them after each race.
Starting gate officials must also wear gloves and change them after each race, and wear face coverings.
The groups have also taken a series of steps to promote social distancing and sanitation in the saddling paddock before each race. Only trainers and one groom per horse can enter the area before a race. Once a horse is tacked, and the trainer or groom must leave.
Stalls will be cleared of manure between each race and sprayed with a disinfecting bleach solution. When possible, horses will be saddled using every other stall to promote social distancing.
In dormitories, backstretch workers are also getting temperature and health decks, and rooms are being set aside for anyone who might have to self-quarantine.
The Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association also said there are hand-washing stations and sanitation stations throughout the track, and facilities are being regularly cleaned with enhanced protocols.
“Every employee, official, jockey, and horseman MUST maintain social distance and isolation strategies at all times, both within and outside of the racing and training hours,” the guidelines say. “Potential exposures to Covid-19 compromise the live racing program and therefore must not be tolerated.”
Racing officials had planned to go on with racing in mid-March, despite an executive order from Gov. Larry Hogan that explicitly closed both Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course and off-track betting facilities and restrictions on crowds of more than 10 people.
Alan Foreman, a local attorney and the chairman and CEO of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, told Baltimore Fishbowl at the time that conducting races with no crowds is an extension of training activities that were permitted by the state under the order.
But the Maryland Jockey Club ultimately decided to reverse course on March 20 and shut down opeartions.
Two weeks ago, Hogan lifted the state’s stay-at-home order and allowed retail stores, barber shops, hair salons, manufacturers, places of worship and other select locations to reopen at limited capacity.
He loosened more restrictions on Wednesday, saying it was OK for restaurants to set up socially distanced outdoor dining, swimming pools to open at a limited capacity, and youth camps and sports leagues to start up with certain restrictions.
