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Preakness Will Remain At Pimlico Race Course
After Deal Brokered For Maryland Horse Racing |
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley Wednesday "brokered a last-minute deal that guarantees live racing next year at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course and ensures the storied Preakness Stakes will continue" in the state, according to a front-page piece by Hanah Cho of the Baltimore SUN. Owners of Laurel Park and Pimlico -- MI Developments and Penn National Gaming -- and "industry representatives for horse owners, breeders and trainers agreed to a framework that would allow the tracks to at least break even financially and run races on 146 days" in '11, the same as this year's schedule. The deal came "during a one-hour meeting attended by O'Malley at the State House Wednesday morning." The Maryland Racing Commission then "unanimously approved the agreement, which calls for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association to contribute" $1.7M and the state to provide $3.5-4M to help pay for track operations. The state's contribution will be "funded by slot-machine revenue earmarked for track improvements." Cho notes the Maryland Jockey Club, which runs Laurel and Pimlico, "has been hemorrhaging money for several years." Penn National Senior VP/Public Affairs Eric Schippers said the deal gives track owners and horsemen time to "work together for a long-term plan to restore the viability of racing." MJC President & COO Tom Chuckas Wednesday acknowledged that he "had 'real doubts' about Maryland racing after the racing commission rejected an earlier proposal Tuesday." Chuckas said that "racing's stakeholders will begin discussions at the first of the year to devise solutions for the industry's future and to ensure a similar morass doesn't develop next year" (Baltimore SUN, 12/23). The MRC met late afternoon Wednesday "to award the dates for 2011." The vote was 5-0 "in favor, with three commissioners absent," and thus Laurel "will open Jan. 1 as usual" (BLOODHORSE.com, 12/22). Chuckas said, "At the end of the day, through all this misinformation and disputes, we all care about racing. We came together this morning and realized the fate of an entire industry was in jeopardy" (THOROUGHBREDTIMES.com, 12/22).
TEMPER THE EXCITEMENT: In Baltimore, Andy Green wrote Maryland racing fans "should hold our applause." The last-minute deal "puts racing on life support for at least a year, but it doesn’t change an obviously poisonous ownership structure for the tracks that imperils racing’s long-term viability." The agreement, which "would require the legislature to approve the use of money intended for racetrack capital improvements to cover operating expenses, buys time." Green: "But for what? Penn National’s plan appears to be to lobby the legislature to propose a constitutional amendment that would allow a second Anne Arundel County slots license at Laurel, which has virtually no chance of succeeding." MI Developments Chair & CEO Frank Stronach has been "promising for years to revitalize racing so it can stand on its own, with little to show for it." Given the "obvious discord between Mr. Stronach and Penn National, it’s hard to conceive that they would be able to agree on a plan to make racing self-sufficient, and if they did, it’s even harder to believe they would follow through" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 12/22).
