Coming off a weekend in which Laurel Park ran eight races on Sunday with 48 starters and nine races on Saturday with 55 starters (with three four-horse fields between the two days), the non-profit (TMJC), which took over the management of Laurel and Pimlico Race Course this year, is banking on a combination of better weather, an upcoming schedule break, and a new carryover structure for the Pick Five to boost field sizes and betting handle.
In response to a query from a commissioner, Bill Knauf, the president and general manager of TMJC, told the board of the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) during Tuesday's monthly meeting that entries have been difficult to fill of late.
“We are down, compared to last year, about 250 horses,” Knauf said. “Now, obviously, Pimlico was open [for training] last year. I think that is the single biggest reason. It's just horses are not on the grounds, and we just have a lot less population to draw from.
“But yes, [the races] have been harder to fill,” Knauf continued. “We've already drawn for this coming weekend, but the weekend after that we are taking a break [between Mar. 10 and 20 while Colonial Downs runs its Mar. 13-15 Virginia Derby festival]. So I just think that action will help us get a little bit of a break.
“You know, turf racing is hopefully around the corner, and then we will start to see some of those horses coming in,” Knauf said. “In general, I think the horse population just increases as it gets warmer. We've seen spots of sunshine from the handle, but it's still a tough go.”
During the Mar. 4 meeting, TMJC asked for and received commission approval to alter aspects of both the early and late Pick Five bets at Laurel.
According to Christopher Merz, the MRC's executive director, the two wagers previously functioned differently with respect to carryovers. The early Pick Five got paid out in its entirety to tickets with the most number of races won, even if those winning tickets did not have all five winners. The late Pick Five, by contrast, had a carryover that went into the next racing date's late Pick Five if all five legs went unhit.
Now, with the commission's approval, if no one selects all five winners, the early Pick Five will carry over to the next racing day's early Pick Five. And the late Pick Five will also carry over into the early Pick Five for the next day.
In explaining the new rule before the vote, Merz underscored that the early Pick Five will not carry over into that same afternoon's late Pick Five. All carryovers will be directed to the next day's early Pick Five.
“The reasoning for this is that their early Pick Five outhandles the late Pick Five by nearly half, if not more,” Merz said. “So the theory is if there's more money on the front end of their card, they will gain more attraction to their card. It's easier for them to market, and hopefully more eyes will come and bet on the card.
“This rule is very similar to what has already been established in New Jersey and, I believe, Indiana also carries this rule as well,” Merz said.
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