Laurel turf racing season to end Sunday, Nov. 10

The Maryland Jockey Club has announced that the turf racing season at Laurel Park will conclude Sunday, Nov. 10.

The MJC on Oct. 30 said it accepted the recommendations of its turf consultant, Logan Freeman of C6 Turf Management LLC. Freeman has served in that capacity for four years and was instrumental in the revitalization of the 140-foot-wide course.

Freeman said that despite mostly-dry weather this fall there have been cold mornings—morse so than in 2024—and multiple heavy frosts have affected the turf course’s ability to recover from wear and tear.

“The turf does still look good considering the absence of rain and these cool mornings, especially when you consider the amount of turf races recently run, but the turf is no longer effectively healing from use,” Freeman said in a letter to MJC Acting President Mike Rogers. “I was at Laurel Park (the evening of Oct. 28) getting an overall understanding of the current condition of the turf. I noted that the gaps are stressing, there is no seed germination in the divot fill, and the turf is turning off color in areas of hoof impact, especially in the most recently used lanes of 3 and 6.

“These are all signs that the turf is transitioning to dormancy and will not be able to hold up to prolonged wear and tear.”

Freeman noted there are 21 races scheduled for the grass Oct. 31-Nov. 3, and he believes lanes 1 and 4 will be used up by the end of the weekend. He said that leaves the turf crew with one more “quality rail movement” to lanes 2 and 5, and lanes 3 and 6 will not be able to recover to provide a quality surface thereafter.

“Turf growth and recovery has a lot to do with sun angle, and length of daylight, in addition to number of cold mornings and frosts,” Freeman said. “The days are much shorter, the sun is lower in the sky, and we have had multiple cold mornings—earlier than last year—which have all led to reduced recovery.”

The turf crew still has work to complete on the gaps, fertility and amendment applications to be made, along with aerification of the entire turf to complete before temperatures get consistently cold, Freeman said. “These practices need to be performed as soon as possible to help ensure the best possible turf course next year.”

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