When Magna Entertainment Corp. purchased Pimlico Race Course last year, it promised to renovate the aging facility with or without the legalization of slot machines.
The company says it is standing by that pledge. But, facing the growing prospect of casinos and other competitors in the state, Magna is stressing its need for slots to swiftly restore Pimlico to its past grandeur.
"If we get slot machines we'll get a much quicker build of the facilities at both Pimlico and Laurel," Sue Floyd, a spokeswoman for Magna said yesterday. "If we don't get slot machines, it's still a longer term process. But MEC is still committed to the new facilities."
During a presentation of Magna's plans to the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, company President Jim McAlpine said the Maryland racetracks face intense, competitive pressures from Delaware and West Virginia, which allow slots at their tracks, and said the situation will grow more critical if Pennsylvania approves slots at tracks this year, as expected.
In an interview after his remarks, McAlpine said that the future of the Preakness at Pimlico depends upon "the economic viability of horse racing in Maryland." But when asked directly if he was saying that the Preakness will leave Pimlico if lawmakers don't approve slots, he said that wasn't the case.
"We don't intend on moving it," McAlpine said. "Our goal is to make it here."
Magna, which is based in Canada, bought a majority stake in the Maryland Jockey Club, owner of the tracks, for $117.5 million in a deal that was completed in November. Magna, the largest owner of racetracks in North America, vowed to revitalize Maryland racing by transforming Pimlico and Laurel into entertainment centers, upgrading stable areas and providing friendly service.
Maryland Jockey Club President Joseph A. De Francis said yesterday that keeping the Preakness, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, at a "viable and successful" Pimlico was one of Magna's "top corporate priorities."
"From a personal perspective, as I've said many times, the very last thing that I would ever want to see happen would be to see the demise of the only rightful home for the Preakness, which is Pimlico," he added.
"And I want to make it very clear, that is as strong and unequivocal a statement as can possibly be made without any qualifiers or caveats or weasel wording.
