LAUREL, Md. — The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) and the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) were able to finally come to an agreement moments before the meeting Tuesday morning.
An inspection will officially take place to test the conditions of the track at Laurel Park.
Five horses were euthanized in April including the two horses last Thursday who suffered injuries during the 4th and 5th races.
This raised concern for many horsemen and women because they feel the track conditions are unsafe.
The Maryland Racing Commission held an emergency meeting as a result. The main point of the discussion, ensure safe track conditions.
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"It's the safety and wellness of the jockeys and the horses that is our primary concern, until we're satisfied that the track is safe to run on it was not going to happen," said Michael Algeo, Maryland Racing Commission Chairman.
"With any athlete you're going to have injuries no matter how hard you prepare them or how safe the surface or environment you put them in, however having said that, when you have a series of incidents in what you call a cluster, it raises some concern," said Timothy Keefe, President of MTHA.
Over the weekend there were conflicting reports about if the track conditions were approved by another superintendent Dennis Moore. Keefe says that Moore's results were based off of limited data.
"It's a little unfair to say that Dennis gave a stamp of approval because he wasn't here for very long he was in here for 48 hours," he says.
All of the confusion has now been cleared up and the MTHA and the MJC agree to have a third party, John Passero, conduct a complete inspection on the track starting Wednesday morning.
"I'm hoping that everyone is happy with how this was handled but I also understand the frustration," said Algeo.
Races at Laurel Park have been suspended until the Maryland Racing Commission approves of the track conditions after the inspection is conducted.
