Magna’s “Plan for Maryland Racing” is
a non-starter.
Magna Entertainment Corp.’s “Plan for Maryland Thoroughbred
Racing” has stirred up a frenzy within the industry, as
well as in the media, since it was announced on September 7.
And for good reason.
As sketched out in a four-page document, the plan is basically
a blueprint for the controlled demolition of Maryland racing
and breeding.
It calls for Maryland’s live racing program to be reduced
to 112 days per year (from approximately 200), and eliminates
year-round training at Maryland’s tracks. The stable areas
at Laurel Park and Pimlico would remain open only about eight
and a half months a year, and Bowie Training Center would be
permanently closed.
Magna’s plan is supposedly designed to keep Maryland competitive
with surrounding states, in the event that Maryland does not
receive slots. The daily average purse distribution would increase
dramatically, because the available purse money would be spread
over considerably fewer days. Business could indeed prosper for
several months of the year, translating into an improved bottom
line for Magna, as well as for owners and trainers equipped to
take advantage of the situation.
But fewer days also means fewer opportunities to race—and
fewer horses racing. And that, of course, bodes poorly for the
vast majority of people whose livelihood is connected to racing.
Picture backstretch workers laid-off from their jobs, farriers
and veterinarians put out of business or forced to move elsewhere,
a rush of precious farmland sold for development and the eventual
slipping away of an industry that has taken centuries to develop.
Maryland Million Day, boosted this year to $1.5 million and the
single brightest spot in Maryland’s current gloomy racing
scene, would lose much of its luster, since the additional funds
come from in-state wagering on Maryland races.
It’s probable that many Maryland-based stables would leave
the state during the planned racing hiatus (late May to early
November), never to return.
Over the past several decades, track management has announced
numerous plans for improvements that never took place.
The best hope is that Magna’s current plan will be filed
away next to those long-forgotten architectural diagrams and—with
or without slots—all segments of the industry will have
the opportunity to work toward a program that provides a real
future for Maryland racing.
