By John Scheinman
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, September 4, 2008

Because of relentless financial pressures on the Maryland racing industry, every weekend stakes race has been cut from the calendar, except those for horses bred in Maryland. Therefore, the lone on-track highlight of the Laurel Park fall meet, which begins today, will be Maryland Million Day on Oct. 4.

The most important day of the 17-week meet, however, will be Nov. 4, when Maryland voters decide whether to legalize slot machines. A vote in favor would pump millions of dollars into the industry, which has fallen steadily from its leadership position in the mid-Atlantic as tracks in neighboring states revitalized their business by installing slots.

While Maryland horsemen have been preparing their stables for the upcoming meet, they count down the days until the vote, knowing their livelihoods and the future of Maryland racing are at stake.

"All of us are talking with everyone we come into contact with," Laurel-based trainer John Alecci said. "Everybody is excited going into the meet because we're back racing. We're cautiously optimistic about the referendum. People realize it's the best thing to keep money in Maryland. Put us on an even keel with [racing states] around us and see if we're going down and actually worth saving.

"If this referendum passes, we won't have what Pennsylvania has, but you will see once again Maryland on top with Delaware and West Virginia below."

Laurel will race four days a week this fall, offering eight live races Wednesdays and Thursdays and nine or 10 on Fridays and Saturdays. Gone from the schedule, however, is the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, one of the most important sprint races in the country, as well as the Grade III Safely Kept Stakes and the track's historic races for 2-year-olds, the Laurel Futurity and Selima Stakes.

"We've lost what was left of our best races this upcoming fall," said trainer Michael Trombetta, whose stable features a mix of high-quality and cheaper horses. "These are graded races. You lose the Futurity for 2-year-olds. Important names in racing history have passed through that race."

The cost-cutting by the Maryland Jockey Club and horsemen extended to the closing of Pimlico for stabling and training, a move that forced trainers based at the Baltimore track to relocate to Laurel or the Bowie Training Center. The final horses, grooms and hot-walkers are expected to be out within a week, said Tom Chuckas, president of the tracks.

"The move has been smooth," Chuckas said. "The Maryland Jockey Club has done everything possible to facilitate the move and accommodate their needs. We've done the best we can."

Chuckas acknowledged most of the stall space at Laurel and Bowie is taken. Many trainers from Pimlico were allotted fewer stalls than they had before, and there is little room for outfits from Canada and Massachusetts, who in the past have made Maryland their fall and winter home.

"There is still some available space," Chuckas said. But it is "limited, very limited."

The stakes program in Maryland is being kept alive by the Maryland Horse Breeders' Association, which has maintained the $1.7 million in Maryland Million Day prize money while also funding 11 $50,000 state-bred stakes races this fall.

"The [MHBA] felt it was time to step up to the plate and provide for the Maryland breeders," said Cricket Goodall, executive director of the association and the Maryland Million. "We made every effort not to cut the stakes program. We understand the economics of the industry are tight, but we believed strongly there needed to be a stakes program for the rest of the year. We know the money that goes through those stakes and the Maryland-bred fund bonuses stay in the state. We believe it's critically important to keep people here and have those opportunities."