After spending millions lobbying for slot machine gambling, Maryland horse racing interests found themselves struggling yesterday just to keep a seat at the table as another study recommended putting the machines at locations other than racetracks.
The latest setback for racetrack owners occurred as an independent researcher advised a legislative panel that the state should explore putting slots along Maryland's borders - not at racetracks.
The report by Robert E. Carpenter, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, is the second study in a week to conclude that slots at sites other than racetracks would pump far more money into the state's treasury and offer a better deal for taxpayers if the state decides to legalize slots.
"You should consider decoupling the plan from the racetracks to maximize the state's financial return from slots," Carpenter advised members of the House Ways and Means Committee.
He said state ownership of a slots casino - which would be run by casino industry experts in exchange for a management fee - is also an idea worth exploring.
But racetrack executives told panel members that they need slot machines to compete with racetracks in Delaware, West Virginia and elsewhere that use money from slots to subsidize the purses that are paid to the owners of top-finishing horses.
And they argued that racetracks are the best sites for slots because gambling occurs there and because they have the infrastructure in place to handle large crowds.
But even they seemed resigned to accept that any slots bill offered next year is likely to include proposals for slots casinos outside racetracks.
Jim McAlpine, chief executive of Magna Entertainment Corp., majority owner of Pimlico and Laurel Park race courses, said the tracks want to ensure they are included in any slots bill.
"If slot machines come to Maryland, we need to be on a level playing field," McAlpine told committee members.
The horse racing industry is in a markedly different position from the one it occupied when slots were considered during this year's legislative session.
At that time, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller were pushing a slots-at-tracks-only measure.
That bill was criticized for being overly generous to a small group of racetrack owners who would have been allowed to build huge slots casinos. It failed, largely because of strong opposition from House Speaker Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel Democrat.
