Laurel Cancels March 14 Card Due to Lack of Entries

For the first time in the recent memory of several Mid-Atlantic trainers, Laurel Park canceled a race card due to insufficient entries. The Maryland racetrack announced March 9 it had canceled its March 14 card and would move those races to March 15. No one with the Maryland Jockey Club who had the authority to talk about the cancellation was available to discuss the issues affecting the cancellation with BloodHorse but several trainers said a particularly harsh winter combined with the annual struggles of maintaining a robust horse population during the winter were likely at fault. Also a factor is the head-to-head competition Laurel faces this year with the three-day meet March 12-14 at Colonial Downs that features the Virginia Derby and the Virginia Oaks, both qualifying races for the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Road to the Kentucky Oaks, respectively. "I'm not sure why they are struggling, but we had a lot of inclement weather this year and I think a lot of horses got backed up in their training," said Jamie Ness, who currently leads the trainer standings at Laurel. "I know management tried to do everything they could but just couldn't get it to go. I've been in Maryland 10-15 years and I don't remember a card being canceled because of a lack of entries. Hopefully it is a one-off." Both trainers Hugh McMahon and John Robb said the steady shift in emphasis toward turf racing at Laurel over the past 10 years has made filling races even tougher during the colder months. "That's the big picture," Robb said. "They are running five to six turf races every day, so then when you get to where there is no turf season, you've already run your dirt horses out of town. Now you need them back and it doesn't work that way." "It is incumbent upon us to acquire turf horses because they accommodate those races," McMahon added. "Inevitably you end up with a bunch of turf horses, and you have to let them leave in winter because there is no accommodation for them here. That hurts the horse population in the winter months, when it is an ongoing struggle." The strong three-day meet at Colonial Downs most assuredly impacted Laurel's March 14 card. Colonial Downs first ran the Virginia Derby as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in 2025. Churchill Downs Inc. acquired the New Kent, Va., racetrack in 2022 as part of acquiring the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment. Colonial Downs operates seven Rosie's gaming facilities and The Rose Gaming Resort that offer historical horse racing electronic games that help grow its purses. In 2025, Laurel Park did not run on the same weekend as the three-day Virginia Derby meet. This year, Laurel had scheduled 13 races in its condition book for March 14—a $47,000 maiden special weight; three maiden claiming races ($22,000, $30,000, and $41,000), six claiming races ($22,000-$40,000), two allowance/optional claimers ($53,000 and $56,000), and one $49,000 allowance race. On the same day, Colonial Downs is offering two $75,000 maiden special weights; two maiden claiming races at $40,000 and $50,000; an $85,000 allowance/optional claimer; three $100,000 stakes, and the $250,000 Virginia Oaks and $500,000 Virginia Derby. McMahon said he did plan around the conflicting dates and has eight horses entered in races at Colonial Downs during the three days, with an entry in each of the two $100,000 Sandy Bottom Stakes division races going a mile for fillies and mares 4 and up. "A lot of Maryland trainers have both Virginia-certified and Maryland-bred horses, so that meet is dependent on those horses for the preceding days leading up to the big day," he said. While it worked out that McMahon had horses that fit the races carded at Colonial Downs, he said it would be preferable that the Mid-Atlantic tracks better coordinate their schedules. "We have the technology and the information to synchronize the condition books. It would be better to be complementary rather than competition," he said. "These races, especially the Virginia Derby, have national interest, and we should make whatever accommodations we can to support it. The game needs it."