In a close vote, therefore, voter misgivings about track subsidies could affect the outcome, said Scott Arceneaux, senior adviser to Marylanders United to Stop Slots.
Hooke's analysis "shows that folks don't have enough information yet about what the cost of the amendment is," Arceneaux said. "This is a multimillion-dollar giveaway to out-of-state gambling executives" from companies like Canada-based Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns the Pimlico and Laurel tracks, and Penn National Gaming, which is interested in bidding for the Cecil slots license.
"The study is just pointing out that it involves out-of-state interests in the horse racing industry as well," Arceneaux said.
The amount of money that would go to out-of-state racing interests could be affected by changes under way in the Maryland horse industry. The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has decided to cancel several high-dollar open stakes races at Laurel Park through the end of the year. Those races allow out-of-state horses to compete.
Frederick W. Puddester, chairman of For Maryland, For Our Future, the pro-slots ballot committee, said Hooke's report skirts a key question for voters, which is whether to vote for a proposal that would generate hundreds of millions in additional education and health care funds, or risk plunging the state back into huge budget shortfalls. Slots proponents have not emphasized horseracing in their pitch to voters so far.
Puddester noted that last November, Hooke told The Sun he believed Maryland's slots legislation was "by far the most innovative and taxpayer-friendly proposal set forth in the 50 states."
Steele, the horse breeding association official, said the voting public should also consider that any expansion of gambling will cut into track betting, just as the state lottery has since its introduction in the 1970s.
State assistance to offset that impact is only fair, he said.
Horse breeders say subsidies are essential to stem a continued deterioration of Maryland's horse farms and harm to the thousands of workers and small businesses they maintain.
"Right now, I can't attract a quality stallion to the state until the issue of the referendum is resolved," said Billy Boniface, whose family farm in Darlington has seen a sharp decline in breeding operations in recent years. If the referendum fails, Boniface said, he would likely move his prize stallion, Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin, to Pennsylvania. "It's a do or die for us."
