Parx Racing is set to begin laying sod for its replacement turf course Monday, Sept. 21, after the Pennsylvania Derby card. The work marks the next phase of a rebuild that has kept turf racing off the Bensalem track since 2024.
The project’s foundation work is complete, according to The Racing Biz. That work included removing the former surface and upgrading the water and irrigation systems. Parx expects the new course to host racing in spring 2027 rather than immediately after installation.
Hummer Turfgrass Systems is handling the sod installation, with the work expected to take about two weeks, Thoroughbred Daily News reported. Parx expects horses to return to the surface in spring 2027.
A delayed return to Parx’s turf calendar
The two-year interruption has removed a regular grass-racing option from Parx’s program. The track’s 2024 stakes announcement identified the $250,000 Grade III Turf Monster as part of the Pennsylvania Derby Day undercard, providing a clear example of the stakes calendar tied to the turf course before its closure, according to Parx Racing.
The Turf Monster is expected to return when turf racing resumes, but the reopening schedule does not establish how many races were displaced during the closure or how individual horsemen adjusted their programs. Those effects cannot be measured from the project timeline alone.
The regional racing picture
Parx is one of three thoroughbred racetracks identified in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, alongside Penn National Race Course in Hershey and Presque Isle Downs in Erie. That statewide list establishes the size of Pennsylvania’s track network, but it does not by itself show which venues offered comparable turf programs while Parx’s course was unavailable.
A separate Mid-Atlantic construction project illustrates how a major racing-facility rebuild can require a temporary operating arrangement, though it is not a turf-course comparison. In July 2025, Laurel Park said racing and training would shift there during demolition and construction at Pimlico in Baltimore, with the Preakness expected to return to Pimlico in 2027, according to the Maryland Stadium Authority announcement cited by Laurel Park.
For Parx, the immediate milestone is the sod work after the Pennsylvania Derby. The more consequential test will come later: whether the new surface has matured sufficiently for a safe and durable return to turf racing in spring 2027.
