Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Maryland Officials Seek Subsidy

December 19, 2007

The Maryland racing industry will seek as much as $30-million to subsidize race purses in the next year during the General Assembly’s next legislative session, Maryland Racing Commission Chairman John Franzone said on Tuesday.

During a special session that ended last month, the legislature passed a bill sending the legalization of slot machines to a public referendum that will be held next November. In the meantime, Franzone said, both the Thoroughbred and harness industries in the state need help to support their purse accounts or risk further cutting days from the racing schedule.

“We’re not going to get to the promised land if we don’t get [help],” Franzone said. “By the time we get the referendum, the patient will be dead.”

The racing industry will target revenue from a Maryland State Lottery game called Racetrax, an animated virtual reality game that offers chance wagering on simulated horse races.

Racetrax was rolled out to 1,500 lottery outlets in the state beginning in August 2006 and can be played in bars, clubs and convenience stores. It is widely considered by many in the racing industry a direct competitor to business since its inception.

Maryland's legislature has not provided a substantial purse subsidy for racing since 2001, when it discontinued a $6.2-million yearly supplement because of industry infighting.

That discord has largely ceased as racing stakeholders signed long-term contractual agreements in the past year and presented a unified front to the General Assembly in bidding for the legalization of slot machines.

If the referendum passes next fall, it is expected to bring approximately $80-million a year into the purse funds for Thoroughbred and harness racing. The Maryland racing industry has not been able to compete equally with racetracks in neighboring Delaware, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania that have slot machines.

In other Maryland racing news, the commission passed a motion to ban the race day presence of anabolic steroids in horses in the state by the opening of the Pimlico spring meeting on April 19.

The Delaware Racing Commission made a similar announcement last week. Delaware Park opens for live racing the same day.

The Maryland commission has not adopted rules for the ban, including whether the state should test for the presence of steroids in samples of urine or blood plasma.

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association announced an increase in state-bred fund awards. Breeders’ bonuses will be raised from 10% to 15% of the value of a winner’s share of a purse, while the owner’s bonus rises to 12%. A bonus for the owner of the winning horse’s stallion rises to 7.5%.