The March 2023 edition of the Horsemen's Newsletter is now online and available for download. To view this edition click here
The Horsemen's Newsletter is published monthly by the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and is mailed to licensed owners and trainers in the state of Maryland.
The winners of the sixth annual Renaissance Champions Awards, a cooperative effort between the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, will be announced starting the week of Feb. 26. Awards will be given for the top Maryland owner, trainer, jockey, dirt horses, turf horses, claimer, Maryland stallion, broodmare and breeder, as well as the champion Maryland-breds of 2022. Special awards will be presented to Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park Backstretch Employees of the Year.
The Renaissance Awards were created to recognize the best of Maryland racing and breeding from the previous year. Champions and industry award winners will be announced Monday, Feb. 27, through Saturday, March 4, each afternoon at 1 p.m. on Maryland Thoroughbred social media platforms.
Maryland Jockey Club veterinarians now have the authority to place horses on the vet’s list under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority regulations, effective immediately.
The HISA Racetrack Safety Program, which began July 1, 2022, defines a regulatory veterinarian as a vet “employed by a state racing regulatory agency, racetrack, or HISA who, in addition to other duties, is responsible for monitoring the health and welfare of covered horses during covered horse races.”
The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and Maryland Jockey Club will be hosting an open forum for horsemen with Dr. Mary Scollay, Chief of Science for the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit to discuss the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program.
Trainers, owners and other interested persons are encouraged to attend the event, which will be held:
TUESDAY, FEB 21 at 11am
in the Conference Area located adjacent the
Carriage Room in the Laurel Park grandstand.
As representatives of the Maryland racing and breeding industry continue to negotiate given the expiration of a 10-year agreement Dec. 31, 2022, the Maryland Racing Commission has expressed interest in playing a role in the discussions.
After an initial one-month extension, Maryland Jockey Club Acting President Mike Rogers told the MRC Feb. 7 the parties have extended the negotiation period by six months—beyond the Preakness meet at Pimlico Race Course. The primary parties are the MJC, which is owned by 1/ST Racing (The Stronach Group); the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association; and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association.
The initial 10-agreement, which guaranteed 100 live racing programs and called for a "revenue-sharing" contract with horsemen for additional dates, was signed in December 2012. Then-Gov. Martin O'Malley and the MRC were involved in the negotiations that led to the agreement.
The Maryland Jockey Club, citing “strict scrutiny” from the Maryland Department of the Environment, on Feb. 1 enacted policies for horsemen stabled at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course.
“All trainers and their employees must do their part to help the situation,” MJC Acting President Mike Rogers and Director of Security Major Mike Singletary said in a letter to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “MJC is requiring everyone to follow these common-sense policies to help us all avoid severe sanctions from the MDE.”
The policies, which carry sanctions for violators, are as follows:
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