Now that the curtain has come-down on the second straight summer meet at Laurel Park, this blogger has decided to take this opportunity to look back on lessons learned over the 7-week, 24-day summer meet at Maryland's "track by the tracks" smack dab between Baltimore and DC.
It was the first full meet after $20 million in renovations and improvements at Laurel Park and fans embraced the upgrades turning out in droves to experience all that the new and improved Laurel Park has to offer.
The most visible of those upgrades is the huge 36 foot by 56 foot LED, high-definition video and tote board that graces the infield that fans can see from almost anywhere from the paddock to the barn side of the grandstand.
Not to mention the continuing efforts to upgrade the "racing experience" in the grandstand and the construction of more of those new big white barns with brand spanking new stalls for the stars of Laurel Park, the top horses in the Mid-Atlantic if not along the East Coast.
To that end, total handle on Laurel Park's summer meet was up 20.2 percent over the previous year while average and in-state handle also increased. Total handle on Laurel's 24-day summer meet – the same number of days as last year – was $63.2 million compared to $52.6 million in 2015.
Average handle increased 12.4 percent from $1.7 million to $2.1 million while in-state handle increased by 14.2 percent from $18.1 million to $20.7 million.
The summer of '16 at Laurel Park will always be remembered for its incredible turf course offerings. It seemed as though each and every day there was amazing racing on what is now recognized as one of the best turf courses not only on the East Coast, but across the nation.
When the racing office's condition book called for a race on the turf this past summer meet it was a pretty good bet that not only would it be a full-field, it would also be a field filled with quality horses from far and wide that would provide plenty of memories of voracious runs to the wire.
New Maryland Jockey Club Turf Course Superintendent extraordinaire Gonzalo Herrera has done an amazing job taking the incredibly well-manicured turf that Robbie Mitten cared-for for so many years and making it the gold standard for Thoroughbred racing turf courses far-and-wide.
Great racing attracts great jockeys. And that was defiantly the case for the summer meet at Laurel Park as you would be hard pressed to find a better young jockey colony at any racetrack anywhere.
We're talking about a jockey colony in Maryland that is now being mentioned in the same breath as those in NY at Saratoga and Belmont and in California at Del Mar and Santa Anita.
A week didn't go without the likes of Trevor McCarthy riding his heart-out not only at Laurel but also in bigtime stakes races up and down the East Coast. A summer that saw Jevian Toledo win an amazing 12 races over the course of the last 5 days of the summer meet to take the jockey's riding title.
And who knows how it would have turned-out if red hot Victor Carrasco hadn't been thrown in a post parade with a few weeks to go in the meet.
That said, Feargal Lynch continued to make a mark in his new surroundings as the Irish rider finished a close second to Toledo in the jockey standings. A meet that included a 4-win day for Feargal on the Clemson-themed Rub The Rock. Dabo Swinney would be proud!
And how about Forrest Boyce taking it up another notch this summer not only by riding some great mounts at Laurel but also posting her first career win at Saratoga.
And what a thrill it was this summer to also see some of the top veteran riders in the nation throughout the summer meet at Laurel Park including Hall of Famer Edgar Prado, my gym buddy Horacio Karamanos (above) the very talented Julian Pimentel (below), Alex Cintron and that cagey veteran Taylor Hole.
The summer meet also marked the return of one of the most talented and popular riders these parts has seen in decades, Sheldon Russell. Midway through the summer meet Sheldon returned from a torn labrum and fractured shoulder to the delight of railbirds and handicappers alike at Laurel Park.
The summer meet also saw the return of popular apprentice jockey Darius Thorpe who did it in fine style winning his first race back in the saddle at Laurel.
Not to mention some also just as awesome racing by the likes of Alex Gomez, Xavier Perez, Omar Orlando Ortiz and Angel Serpa, to name a few.
As good as the jockey colony is at Laurel Park, the line-up of trainers who flocked to run horses at the "track by the tracks" was once again amazing over the last 2 months. The summer trainer's title has become a very coveted prize and this summer it ended in a photo finish.
In fact it was a dead heat as two of the real good-guys at the track tied for the title. Both Hanny Smith and Tim Keefe ended in a first place tie with 10 wins each.
And those are some kind of bragging rights for that pair of conditioners as each day at Laurel Park they were sending out horses against the likes of Hall of Famer King Leatherbury, Graham Motion, Kieron Magee, Rodney Jenkins, Wayne Potts, Katy Voss, Jamie Ness, Jerry Robb, Lacey Gaudet, Mary Eppler, the Capuano brothers, Ferris Allen, Phil Schoenthal, Linda Albert, Rudy Rodriguez, John Salzman, Ollie Figgins, Mike Trombetta, Geirge Weaver...and the list goes on!
It was a summer at Laurel Park that saw the 20-something daughter of a Maryland racing legend take the reins of her family's stable in a big way.
Lacey Gaudet established herself as a trainer to be reckoned with her in Maryland. And it was a summer to remember for Eddie and Linda's daughter and Gabby's sister.
Be it saddling back-to-back winners on a Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park with The Pulse (below) in the 3rd and Ruston Vow in the 4th.
Be it saddling her first ever starter at Saratoga and cashing-in a "show" ticket thanks to a great performance by Pret Say Eye.
Or be it saddling John Jones (below), the 43-1 longshot that knocked-off the mighty Ben's Cat and the rest of the field in the Mister Diz Stakes on the last weekend of the summer meet at Laurel.
BTW, John Jones is the same horse that Lacey shrewdly claimed this summer at Laurel for what now looks to be the bargain price of $25,000. It goes without saying that it was a summer to remember for Laurel Park trainer Lacey Gaudet and Team Gaudet Racing.
And for the second straight summer, Laurel Park's summer meet Friday twilight racing and Gallop Hour proved to be a big hit with its 3:40 pm first post time, its bands on the apron and food and beverage specials. And while it wasn't twilight, the August Saturday crab feast was once again a big hit.
With his colleague Gabby Gaudet handling Saratoga Live racing analyst duties at the Spa for the better part of the summer, Stan Salter stepped-up in a big way during Laurel Park's summer meet hosting Today At The Races with a team of special guest analysts that included track announcer Dave Rodman, oddsmaker and Equibase chart caller Keith Feustle and award winning turf writer Vinnie Perrone.
Stan has done it all at the track from exercising horses in the morning back-in-the-day to now representing Maryland racing to fans here in Maryland and across the nation and providing valuable information that can out a smile on the face of any race fan and handicapper.
And not to mention all the great Laurel Park summer meet photos that the great Jim McCue shot through the lens of his cameras from the finish line to the winner's circle along with his friend and colleague and "man about the track" photographer Jerry Dzierwinski.
This photo of Jerry shooting out on the turf course is from the Maryland equine photographer Dottie Miller .
She did a great job all summer documenting the summer meet at Laurel Park.
For all of those reasons (and more) it goes without saying that it was a special summer meet to remember at Laurel Park. Kudios to Sal Sinatra, Georganne Hale and all the talented and hard working Maryland Jockey Club staff who make it such a pleasure to enjoy all that Laurel Park has to offer.
And the best thing is we only have to wait just a couple weeks until Dave Rodman says "they off" again at the 'tracks by the tracks" for the September 9th return of live racing at Laurel Park.
Until then, grab a corn dog and enjoy the next couple weeks of Maryland State Fair racing at Timonium.