M.J.C. slashes purses/stakes
 

Maryland racing is in serious trouble, once the Pa tracks are benefiting from slot income this proud racing community may whither and die!

Somer...this intrigues me as I wonder what kind of affect this will have on the Colonial meet. Longer meet?

possibly! The "Bible Thumpers" have made Maryland a battleground fighting the war about evil slots...unless they can compete with all the surrounding states, I see little hope...it's a shame cause racing in Maryland was once first class. Maybe when faced with the loss of thousands of jobs, the people of Md will come to their senses like they did in Jefferson County WVa!

Heaven knows I always look forward to the Timonium Fair meet.


COME ONE....COME ALL...TIMONIUM RACE TRACK....the home on the 3 turn 6 furlong sprint.:D :D

I don't think its so much the people of Maryland as it is its legislators. PA gets slots, and from what i hear WV is getting closer to getting table games. If slots don't get passed in the next 2 years i predict that Laurel will have to close up shop (and the only reason why is say that is b/c they have that preakness thing at pimlico), and that would be a shame b/c of all that money Franky and his crew just dumped into the laurel facility. I thought/ think they would have to cut dates now or in the near future as appose to slashing purses. As far as VA goes, slots will not be allowed in the neck of the woods. Can't say this helps VA's casue considering they pretty much have the same horses competing in MD down in VA for their meet, and they have already slashed purses like the VA debry, etc.

either way, Maryland is in trouble.......

-bt-

Maryland racing and breeding were at the top of the heap in Colonial days, still a major force earlier in the 20th Century, producing horses like Challedon and Gallorette. Sagamore Farm's stallions Discovery and Native Dancer were the equal of any in Kentucky. Then Windfields located its US branch in Md, and they had the best stallion in the world, Northern Dancer, and a roster of other top ones.

I went racing at Bowie, a charming little track, never understood why they closed it. Good horses came up from Florida for the Campbell when it was run there. And the name Havre de Grace shows up in the PPs of many a great one of the past. My 1942 AMerican Racing Manual shows 9 tracks in Maryland -Pimlico, Laurel, Bowie, Malrboro, Timonium, Bel Air, Havre de Grace, Hagerstown, and Cumberland. Some were fairs, of course, but racing was more distributed geographically in those days; only the Eastern Shore had no recognized TB track.

I don't think it has anything to do with bible thumpers. I think it has everything to do with politics.

No..there were a number of articles in local newspapers and on local TV about religious groups from all over the nation targeting Maryland to make a stand against the Devil's toys (slots). Gotta make a stand somewhere against folks going astray...today slots, tomorrow, mass murder or worst yet, sex.

it's politics and legislators. the big city counties control the votes. they want to pass slots for the 2 races track only. the other counties vote against it because they want thier cuts and jobs. cumberland and frostburg in far western md, could desperately use the jobs. i'm sure the eastern shore could use the jobs too. the only OTB west of the 2 tracks is frederick they want slots. so on one can agree on who gets slots and who doesn't. there is to much "if i don't get them you don't either".

the counties with the big cities, their legislators don't come to western md so they don't grasp the idea that i can be in pa or wv in 10 minutes.
baltimore county should understand, everyone that lives down there goes to delaware on a regular basis. you just can't make the knuckleheads in annapolis understand.:mad:

Isn't there a way to bypass the legislature by doing a ballot initiative? If the people of Maryland could get a slots proposal on the ballot, wouldn't it take all the "annapolis knuckleheads" out of the equation?

Who really cares if Maryland racing crashes and burns? It can only help the industry to eliminate tracks.

the wv table games bill passed sunday....construction has already begun

it's just not a big enough issue here until it's gone. no one pays any attention to it until there is some type of vote in annapolis. both tracks are in the baltimore county area and most the big horse farms to the northeast of Baltimore county going towards delaware have been sold off and developed. even carrol county and most of southern md farms are gone. the land is worth just sick amounts of money.
i live 1 minute from the old hagerstown track. it's been turned into a recreation area with softball and soccer fields.

it failed in jefferson county, thats where CT is. was it passed in the mountaineer area?

I believe it failed at Charlestown but passed at Wheeling.

--Dunbar

It's got everything to do with Bible thumping and "family values".

I live in MD. Trust me, the knee-jerk reaction is that slots means gambling makes for sinners in the hands of an angry god. This state is run by soccer moms and dads. Period. They are so freaked out by the notion of slots/gambling that they're willing to forego roughly 50% of the revenue slated for education.

Here's the latest accounting by the Baltimore Sun:
Joined by their highest-ranking advocate, Comptroller Peter Franchot, Stop Slots Maryland advocates gathered at an Annapolis-area church yesterday to resume their push to block gambling. Leaders said they were bankrupt and that supporters had scattered, but that they would turn to religious groups across the state, and even Republican lawmakers, for help.

They would turn to religious groups, sure, but for the last five years, religious groups have nothing to do with why there aren't slots in Maryland. Former Governor Ehrlich - a Republican - was the world's biggest proponent of slots, and the state legislature refused to go along with any plan that came from the governor.

Religious groups may be a factor now, but they certainly weren't a factor at any point in the last five years.

Paris Glendenning!

-bt-

I would like to see racing on national tv.
I can't see how a sport "needs" slots and they aren't using the mass media. It's ass backwards to me, but I am probably just wrong and ill informed.

I think the NBA or NFL would fail if they had racing's use of mass media. I think mass media is how they prospered.