The Maryland Racing Commission on Wednesday approved 2026 live racing days for Laurel Park, Timonium, and Fair Hill.

It also approved 48 live days of harness action at Ocean Downs.

The Commission okayed 120 live days at Laurel Park in 2026. It also signed off on up to 10 days at Timonium and up to eight days at Fair Hill, though neither of these tracks is expected to use its full allotment.

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Laurel’s 2026 schedule will be substantially similar to its 2025 slate with small differences. The 120 projected days are identical to what it will run this year, and Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC) chief executive Bill Knauf said the company expects to run all 120 approved days next year.

Laurel’s 2026 calendar will kick off Friday, Jan. 9, and during January the track will run two days per week, Friday and Saturday, with a noon post time. Starting in February, the track will add Sundays back and run three days per week. The winter meet concludes March 31.

Knauf said that TMJC is planning to run through March, without the brief break it took this year to accommodate the Virginia Derby. It will once again take off July and August, while Colonial’s meet is in full swing.

In recent years, Timonium has typically run seven of the 10 days carved out for it. It generally runs three days during the weekend prior to Labor Day and then four days ending on Labor Day.

State Fair Assistant General Manager David Gordon told the Commission that the staff at the Fair had been “diligently working with Racing Committee chair John Mooney to have a great race meet” in 2026.

Fair Hill is permitted by state law to run for up to eight days, but it had gone six years without a single race day until this past August, when racing returned. Commission executive director Chris Merz said that Fair Hill officials had not decided yet which days or how many they planned to run in 2026.

NOTES The Commission heard a presentation from Kevin Atticks, Maryland’s Secretary of Agriculture, regarding Gov. Wes Moore’s recent executive order establishing a strategic plan for the horse industry – not just racing but all disciplines. The plan creates a “really good opportunity… for a future where horses are key to the economic viability of the State,” Atticks said…

The Commission has added a new veterinarian at Laurel Park. It also wrestled with a proposed specimen testing regulation that would allow the state vet to designate another person, not necessarily a veterinarian, to draw blood from horses post-race. Current regs require a veterinarian to do so… Equine medical director Dr. Elizabeth Daniel reported that one horse in late September and one in October suffered injuries during morning works that ultimately proved fatal. There were no racing fatalities in October…