The broken panels of glass in the grandstand overlooking the track at Laurel Park are still confounding the experts, said Joe De Francis.
De Francis, president and CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club, hired a team of glass, construction and structural experts to determine why the large panels were cracking at an alarming rate. They've yet to ascertain the cause, De Francis said.
"At this point, we really don't know," he said. "We've still got engineers crawling all over the place."
MJC officials have closed portions of Laurel Park, currently serving as a simulcast center. And, with the consent of the Maryland Racing Commission, the MJC switched its Aug. 8-24 racing dates from Laurel to Pimlico.
That brief meet will come after Colonial Downs, which is open now in Virginia, and before Timonium, which runs Aug. 25 to Sept. 3 at the state fairgrounds. Where racing will be held after Timonium remains unclear.
The MJC plan calls for thoroughbreds to run at Laurel from Sept. 6 to Dec. 31. But that long meet, which includes the Maryland Million and the rescheduled Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, could be conducted at Pimlico if extensive repairs are required at Laurel.
Since the beginning of the year, 10 large panels of tempered glass have cracked at Laurel. They've cracked in the same way that a car window splinters, but remains in place. At first, track officials believed the damage was caused by vandals. When panels kept breaking, De Francis summoned the experts.
