2016 Racing Calendar Expands to 157 Days
Remember not so long ago when racetracks in surrounding states were expanding their schedules and increasing their purses while Maryland tracks were cutting dates and struggling to compete for horses as its purse structure stagnated?
Maryland trainer Tim Keefe does. He looks around now and sees Maryland as perhaps the only racetrack in the country that isn’t pulling back as the Maryland Jockey Club works its plan toward restoring year-round racing to the state.
“I think we are the only place in the country that’s expanding,” says Keefe, president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “For so long, we’ve always seemed to have been fighting for more dates. Now, in 2016, we have 15 more days. That’s significant because it shows we are moving in the right direction. The Stronach Group is fully committed.”
Tim Ritvo, the Stronach Groups’ chief operating officer, said he sees forward progress continuing toward the goal.
“We plan to keep going,” he says. “We want 200 days of racing . . . We’re looking to host a Breeders’ Cup one day and bring back the D.C. International. We think it is all viable if [the business] is run properly.”
The winter meet at Laurel Park will run Jan. 1 through Feb. 15, take a three-week break and then return to run March 11 through May 8.
The meet will offer 20 stakes with purses totaling $1.95 million. It will be highlighted by the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie G2 Stakes and the $250,000 General George G3 Handicap.
Adding a new dimension to the winter meet is the designation of the April 9 $100,000 Federico Tesio Stakes as a “Win & You’re In” for the May 21 $1.5 million G1 Preakness Stakes and the $100,000 Weber City Miss Stakes as a “Win & You’re In” for the May 20 $250,000 G2 Black-Eyed Susan.
Pimlico will begin its 28-day meet that includes the Preakness May 12 and run through June 26.
Laurel resumes live racing July 1 and will run through Dec. 31, except for the Aug. 26-Sept. 5 break, when the Timonium Fairgrounds is in operation.
The total MJC schedule adds up to 157 days. To those who remember Maryland racing a decade or two ago a total of 164 days [including the Timonium dates] may not seem like much.
In 1986 Maryland had 286 days of racing and MJC chief operating officer Doug Illig recalled there were still about 220 days in 1997, before Maryland agreed not to compete against Colonial Downs in Virginia during the summer. Since then the number of racing days dwindled to a low of 142 in 2013, according to the MJC’s 2015 Media Guide.
But Keefe adds perspective when looking at the big picture.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to see 250 again,” Keefe says. “But everyone is excited because we’re going in the right direction. Perhaps, compared to 10 or 20 years ago it looks insignificant, but those 15 days signal our progress and it shows [the MJC] is working toward its plan of . . . full-time racing.
“It gives more credence for horsemen to come to Maryland,” Keefe continues. “They can come here, set up shop and raise a family. They don’t have to be nomads. You can race here year-round.”
Keefe points out this area also benefits from being in a region surrounded by other racetracks. That benefit shows itself in the three- week break in Laurel’s 2016 schedule.
MJC vice president and general manager Sal Sinatra said there are four reasons for the break that begins in mid-February and runs through March 10:
· It is that time of year when 2-year-olds and turf horses return to the racetracks.
· It is a notoriously bad weather time of the year that cost Maryland most of its lost racing days in 2015. Sinatra said Laurel Park ran just one day during that time period a year ago.
· The break comes at a time when PARX Racing in Pennsylvania is operating, giving local horsemen an alternative racing venue, while the barns at Laurel Park and Pimlico get cramped and the fields get smaller due to the influx of the turf and younger horses.
· By stretching the Laurel meet to May 8, the horsemen get to maximize the use of Laurel’s premier turf course. It also allows Pimlico’s turf course to remain fresh for Preakness week.
In January and February, Laurel will race Friday through Monday to take advantage of the fact PARX and a number of other tracks are closed on Monday, making Laurel’s simulcast signal more significant.
“Every decision that is being made is being made in the best interests of Maryland’s horsemen,” Keefe says. “You’ve got to try different things. You see that in our stakes schedule. Not everything we try will work. If it does work, great; if it doesn’t, we’ll move on. But doing something just because that’s the way it was done in the past is not a good reason to keep doing it that way anymore.”
