FAIR HILL, Md.--There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the beleaguered Fair Hill turf track that would mean racing could eventually resume.
Fair Hill turf course
It won't happen fast, but there's hope in the form of the recently created Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority.
Best of all, the Maryland racing authority not only has the money to fix, maintain and race over the Fair Hill turf track, it also has the knowledge of how to do it.
"The potential of the Fair Hill turf track is very much on our radar," said Alan Foreman, a member of the board of the The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority.
Foreman is one of the leading racing law attorneys in the United States and the chairman and chief executive officer of Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Associations, Inc., based in Stevenson, Md, which represents more than 20,000 owners and trainers throughout the United States.
He is also a founding director of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and is counsel to many horsemen’s and racing industry organizations.
THE MARYLAND Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority was established in 2023 to position Maryland as a best-in-class location for thoroughbred horse racing.
The Authority’s mission includes re-imagining Maryland’s horse-racing infrastructure to maximize the value and impact of State facilities investments; and establishing the most effective racing operating model to align the needs of patrons, horsemen, breeders, community residents and others.
The Authority helps preserve and grow the economic impact of Maryland’s historic equine industry, and promotes and protects the health and safety of horses, jockeys and other workers.
"There are so many other things on our plate now, but eventually we're going to take a strong look at Fair Hill's turf track," said Foreman. "We only have the turf track at Pimlico, and we can't use that every day. There's a fabulous turf track at Fair Hill."
Pimlico's turf track couldn't last through the spring, summer and fall turf racing season, so to have consistent turf racing, Maryland needs a second turf track.
The authority is looking at plans to redevelop Pimlico and is evaluating the feasibility of having an alternative training facility from the two or three alternative sites now available in the State.
Also, in so far as the racing authority taking over the Fair Hill turf track, there are legal, statutory and legislative issues to deal with.
The turf track , which is an entirely different entity from the Fair Hill Training Center, is controlled by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
And even though the DNR already has it's plate full with things like operating all the state's parks, it may not want to give up the track.
The track encircles the main competition rings of the Maryland 5 * Event, which is a feather in the cap of the DNR.
But while the Maryland 5 * Event has been a success, the turf track has not been usable for five years.
No horses have been allowed to train over the track, and there has been no racing.
The DNR clearly has no idea of how to manage and maintain the track, and it doesn't even seem to understand that it doesn't know.
The meeting in the tea barn at Fair Hill, supposedly called to get input on how to keep the "Fair Hill Special Event Zone" a world class venue, was just another exhibition of government bureaucracy and incompetence.
But with a tremendous turn-out of trainers as well as a very large number of spectators who just want to see racing resumed at Fair Hill, the meeting did show the huge amount of interest in the track
"The Fair Hill turf track is very much going to be looked at," said Foreman. "This is a great time for Maryland racing."
