Laurel to Anchor Maryland Circuit in ’26 with Same Template of 120 Dates

[Wandering Eyes]

For 2026, Maryland's racing calendar will look more or less like this year's schedule after the Maryland Racing Commission on Wednesday approved a slate of 120 dates for Laurel Park.

That's the same number of racing days that the non-profit Maryland Jockey Club had been awarded for this season, with the only difference being that in 2025, six programs were run at Pimlico Race Course as part of the GI Preakness Stakes meet.

Pimlico has since been demolished and is being rebuilt with the goal of all commercial-track Thoroughbred racing in Maryland shifting to the new Baltimore venue by 2027, at which time racing will cease at Laurel.

Laurel's management submitted a request of specific racing dates and post times to the commission for only the early portion of '26.

After racing concludes this year at Laurel Dec. 31, the track will take a brief break before the '26 season opens Jan. 9 with racing through the end of that month on Fridays and Saturdays with 12:00 (Eastern) post times.

In February and March Laurel will add Sundays to make a three-day racing week.

Chris Merz, the commission's executive director, told TDN in an email after the meeting that the expected summer break and the exact race dates around it in the spring and fall would likely not be finalized until March or April.

The Timonium Fair applied for 10 dates covering Aug. 27-Sept. 13, although Merz said at the meeting that “they will likely run seven of those days,” which is consistent with the fair's applications in previous years.

Fair Hill, which conducted its first race meet in six years this past August, was granted eight dates of racing. “Stakeholders are going to work together to get specified dates,” Merz said.

Fair Hill's card in '25 consisted of six pari-mutuel flat races on the turf. But according to a Nov. 2 story in The Racing Biz, the event's organizers have discussed re-introducing steeplechase racing, possibly over Memorial Day weekend in '26.

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