Chad Summers will jab at you about a perceived slight from years ago that really wasn't a slight at all. He'll tell you a long, almost-true story that ends with a punchline and you walking away shaking your head and throwing up your arms. He'll use "the other Chad to reference a more well-known trainer who shares his first name.
A racetracker's racetracker, that's a compliment, Summers will poke, prod and challenge you and your opinions and never -- ever -- forget to remind you that you were wrong about something. He'll drown out attempts at nuance or explanation. He'll make all of his points, listen to some of yours and tell you why his make more sense.
But the trainer of Napoleon Solo, winner of the 2026 Preakness Stakes-G1 at Laurel Park in May, will shift into history mode, call himself "an old-school horseman" and mention the likes of Kelly Kip and Artax while extolling the virtues of a round pen or training on an empty racetrack.
He'll get humble and real and talk about the blessing of doing night checks at the barn, dishing up another scoop of feed or just watching horses stand around.
Summers will also pause and steer a press-conference interview in a different direction. He'll get personal, take a stand and speak from the heart about racing, racetracks and the future.
"We're going to love this and remember this for the rest of our lives, but the fact that . . . Laurel is going to shut down and only be a training center is a travesty," he said after his first classic win as a trainer. "I would just hope that we get the opportunity as an industry to rally and save some of these tracks. We can't allow this to keep happening. There's only going to be three or four tracks left at the end of the day. I thought Laurel put on a great show this week. I thought it was a great crowd, the ones that were here. I wish we could have a little bit more. But it's a shame that Laurel is going to close because it's a wonderful facility."
Summers, who grew up going to morning training sessions at Belmont Park with his father Scott and brother Dan, isn't wrong.
Substituting for a closed-for-reconstruction Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Laurel performed admirably. Attendance was capped, the infield was empty, the turfside terrace wasn't turfside, the infield winner's circle festivities felt a little contrived -- and far away -- but given the circumstances the old place shined. The 2026 Preakness and its supporting races will be remembered as one of many swan songs for Laurel, opened in 1911 and at various times set for sale, demolition and most recently repurposing as a training center through a variety of owners.
All of it feels necessary, given the state of the industry in Maryland and the country. Thoroughbred foal crops are smaller. Facilities are aging. On-track attendance lags, except for a handful of major events. New York closed 131-year-old Aqueduct last month to consolidate at a new Belmont Park on Long Island and historic Saratoga Race Course upstate. Maryland will do something similar, with a new Pimlico the main racing venue and Laurel reduced to a training center (and hopefully not a housing development).
Summers called Aqueduct and Laurel "foundation racetracks" and it had nothing to do with construction. The trainer meant that such tracks provide a base for people to experience the sport and maybe, just maybe, get interested enough to someday become a trainer, an owner, a bettor, a fan.
Typically near cities, foundation racetracks reach enough people to matter. Or reached. Aqueduct (New York City) hosted its final races June 28. Laurel (Washington, D.C. and its Maryland suburbs) faces a closing day in 2027 or 2028 -- though optimists hold out hope of some continued racing dates. Those two tracks follow Arlington Park (Chicago), Suffolk Downs (Boston), Detroit Race Course and Hazel Park (Detroit), Hollywood Park (Los Angeles), Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows (San Francisco Bay area) and plenty of others all in the name of progress.
Everything changes, I understand, but take away enough pieces of a foundation and even the strongest building will collapse. Racing needs all the foundation it can get.
And people like Chad Summers are part of it.
