A representative of the new owners of Rosecroft Raceway said yesterday that they hope to build a hotel and offer thousands of slot machines at the racetrack, a plan likely to prompt fierce opposition from Maryland lawmakers and Prince George's County leaders opposed to legalizing slots.
Gerard E. Evans, a lobbyist for the family of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, which has agreed to purchase the racetrack in Oxon Hill, said he was "very confident" that Angelos's long-standing political ties would make lawmakers more likely to support slots legislation.
Under the sales plan, Peter Angelos would be an unpaid adviser to the track owners: his wife and a son.
(File Photo)
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"There's a whole well of untapped support in the House for slots," Evans said. "The question has been the right location and the right owner. Rosecroft and the Angelos group answer both those questions."
Yet the Angelos family is sure to face opposition from leaders in Prince George's. Offering slots at the racetrack could have ramifications for National Harbor, the proposed 500-acre hotel and convention project along the Potomac River, five miles from Rosecroft.
Michael Herman, a spokesman for Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), said that Johnson's position "continues to be that he's 100 percent opposed to slots in Prince George's, and we'll be working with our [Annapolis] delegation to accomplish this objective."
Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.), who has lobbied for casino gambling in Prince George's, said he remains opposed to slots "anywhere" in the county. "I believe that that is true for the overwhelming majority of the elected officials in the delegation," he added.
Wynn said that introducing slots at Rosecroft could lure patrons from National Harbor, a prospect that he said would rankle Prince George's officials. County leaders view National Harbor as a new home for the kinds of quality retail and dining establishments that residents have long sought.
"Given the huge investment that's being made by National Harbor in the county, I cannot imagine any elected officials supporting a scenario in which National Harbor's interests are undermined," Wynn said.
Evans said that the National Harbor project should not influence how lawmakers view the plan for Rosecroft. National Harbor, he said, "is a project that was never about gambling, and, therefore, why should it be on a collision course?"
Andre Gingles, an attorney for National Harbor, would not comment on the Angelos family's slots plan. Gingles said that Milton Peterson and Gaylord Entertainment, the developers of National Harbor, are focused on a long-awaited Dec. 2 groundbreaking at the Oxon Hill property, a celebration that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) is slated to attend.
"We have a lot invested here, and we're going to make sure that that investment does well," Gingles said.
In an interview several years ago, Peterson rejected the prospect of slots or casinos at National Harbor when then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening opposed gambling. "This guy ain't now or ever will be in gambling. I don't know if I have to put it in blood," Peterson said then.
After the 2002 election of Ehrlich, who supports slots machines, Peterson declined to state his position, saying he would leave the gambling debate to Maryland lawmakers.
Angelos's wife and a son signed an agreement Saturday to pay $13 million for Rosecroft, a sale that requires approval from the Maryland Racing Commission.
