Book Covers 15-Day Span; No Specific Dates Announced
LAUREL, MD – The Maryland Jockey Club has released a spring condition book for Laurel Park covering a period of 15 days ahead of the still-undetermined resumption of live racing in the state.
Specific dates have not been set. As part of Gov. Larry Hogan’s statewide shutdown, live racing was paused in Maryland following the March 15 program at Laurel out of concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Highlighting the early condition book is the highly anticipated seasonal debut of racing over Laurel’s world-class turf course. Six grass races are in the book for the first day, including a $40,000 maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles and both a $55,000 open allowance and $47,000 optional claiming allowance at 5 ½ furlongs – all for fillies and mares 3 and up.
A total of 148 races and 42 substitute races are in the spring condition book, including 71 turf races. It was put together by Jillian Tullock, who worked in several capacities for the MJC from 1994-2019, including assistant racing secretary under Georganne Hale, before being appointed racing secretary March 5.
Click here to view the 2020 spring condition book.
Laurel successfully held three spectator-free programs prior to pausing live racing, including a March 14 card featuring four $100,000 stakes led by the Private Terms for 3-year-olds, won by Lebda, and the Beyond the Wire for 3-year-old fillies, won by Claudio Gonzalez-trained stablemate Princess Cadey.
According to the book, purse levels are the same as they were before live racing was suspended in mid-March. For instance, the bottom purse is $15,000 for $5,000 claimers, $33,000 for the waiver-maiden $40,000-$35,000 claimer, and $40,000 for maiden special weight events. There also are open $55,000 allowance races on the dirt and turf.
The MJC racing office said there won’t be an accompanying index at the present time.
https://www.laurelpark.com/horsemen
The Maryland Jockey Club Press Release
Photo: Maryland Jockey Club
