Winter 2023-2024 Issue

Page 26 Winter 2023/2024 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN guaranteed! bale Every available. trailers Drop 315-794-3909 Ed Text or Call delivery! Fast broker. a not producer - a are We ry! Drop traile Saving Maryland Racing: Becoming Not-For-Profit is One Possibility By Amy Worden The parent company of Maryland’s premier racetracks and the group representing own- ers and trainers made dueling proposals before a state race- track authority on how to save the nearly $600 million racing industry, including creating a non-for-profit entity to oversee racing. Executives with 1/ST Racing, parent company of track operator Maryland Jockey Club, told the Maryland Thorough- bred Racetrack Authority at a September meeting that changes are needed to reverse downward trends in the industry. Craig Fravel and Kevin Gilmore detailed the company’s $10 million in annual losses and years long disputes over how to renovate Pimlico Race Course and whether to preserve Laurel Park, the number of racing days and how the racetrack operations should be structured. 1/ST wants to reduce the number of racing days to 80 or 90 from a recent high of 187, which would increase purses in Maryland, pointing to higher purses in states that subsidize racing such as New York and Virginia. “Day-to-day racing in Maryland has to be reimagined, and it needs to be reimagined on an economically sustainable basis for all the participants,” Fravel told the authority. “Not just for us but for the horsemen and for the communities where we operate.” The 1/ST proposal would preserve and restore the his- toric Pimlico racetrack, home to the Preakness Stakes, while establishing a training center elsewhere, possibly at Laurel Racetrack, which would no longer host racing. Perilous track conditions and a spate of horse deaths this spring led horsemen to boycott the track, calling the situation a “catastrophic emer- gency.” Under that scenario Mary- land, once home to at least five thoroughbred tracks, would have only one premier track, Pimlico, with limited racing at Timonium. And 1/ST proposed “realign- ing” the racing schedule, moving summer seasonal racing to Colo- nial Downs in Virginia. That idea did not sit well with horsemen who favor more racing days and smaller purses. Maryland Thorough- bred Horsemen’s Association (MTHA), which made its presen- tation to the authority in Octo- ber, said it is seeking financial stability, predictability and an “engaged” track ownership. Horsemen’s Association President Tim O’Keefe painted a dire picture of the future of Mary- land racing without significant structural change in the system. He said he was attending a recent yearling sale at Timonium with a fellow trainer, where prices were down, wondering why they would buy a Maryland bred thor- oughbred. “The current model is not sustainable,” he said. “It’s the constant not knowing what’s going to happen in the future. It prevents people from coming to Maryland… and for people here, it doesn’t make sense to invest in young horses.” The horsemen, who have put up some $80 million in recent years to cover shortfalls in revenue, floated the idea of creating a nonprofit organization as the racing licensee under lease agreements with the authori- ty, that would own the racing facilities. “Why not look at a not- for-profit model for Maryland racing?” MTHA general counsel Alan Foreman asked the author- ity. “We suggested the idea of a Racetrack Operating Authority, which is what we have now. And then that would flow down to the not-for-profit entity that can operate our tracks with innovative management, good management, no subsidies, and is dedicated to Maryland racing… But that's the model, and that's the one that we think needs to be carefully studied as an alternative to private opera- tion.” The arrangement would be similar to the model at Del Mar racetrack in California, where the state owns the fairgrounds, which is leased to the Del Mar Thor- oughbred Club. Said Foreman of Maryland: “Let the industry operate it in partnership with the state.” For its part, 1/ST Stronach said it will continue to seek a solution with the horsemen, breeders and others who are part of the racing industry. “The Maryland Jockey Club remains committed to working with the State and all stakeholders on a sustainable solution that will strengthen the Thoroughbred racing industry in Maryland for the benefit of all stakeholders and the long-term success of the legendary Preak- ness Stakes,” the company said in a statement to East Coast Equestrian . Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority must submit its report with rec- ommendations to the Maryland legislature by December 1. Please submit your events to steph@eastcoastequestrian.net . Please provide event name, location, city, state and contact information for inclusion at no cost in East Coast Equestrian's calendar of events. Attention Event Organizers!