Cloverleaf

Despite predictions of a bleak future for Maryland's harness ++ industry, the Maryland Racing Commission voted unanimously yesterday to allow Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc. to operate the financially troubled Rosecroft Raceway.The commission voted to issue Cloverleaf a license, but ordered its leaders to submit quarterly financial reports beginning April 15. Cloverleaf's financial prospects are less than golden, its own leaders acknowledged. But those leaders and members of the commission agreed that they're brighter since last week's deal with Bally's Maryland Inc., a subsidiary of the casino and hotel giant.

The new managers of Rosecroft Raceway, the harness track in Prince George's County, will appear before the Maryland Racing Commission today to answer questions about the track's fiscal soundness.A three-person team from Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., owners of Rosecroft, took over management of the track last week.In an agreement reached Friday with Bally's Maryland Inc., a subsidiary of the casino and hotel giant, Cloverleaf gave up ownership of Ocean Downs, Maryland's other harness track on the Eastern Shore, but retained Rosecroft and replaced Bally's management team with its own.Gerald Brittingham, president of both Cloverleaf Enterprises and the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, is leader of the new management team.

Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc. reached an agreement yesterday with casino giant Bally's Inc. that includes the sale of Ocean Downs and a change of management at Rosecroft Raceway.Just 24 hours earlier, Cloverleaf, an organization of harness horsemen, had rejected a scheduled deposit from William Rickman Jr., owner of Delaware Park, to purchase both tracks after its board had voted unanimously to accept Rickman's buyout.The agreement with Bally's removes the threat of possible legal action by the casino firm had the horsemen sold to Rickman.

The Rosecroft and Ocean Downs harness racetracks appear ready to change hands. But who is going to end up with them is unclear.Representatives of Cloverleaf Enterprises, the horsemen who own Rosecroft Raceway and Ocean Downs, met yesterday with the Rickman family, owners of Delaware Park, about an impending purchase.The tracks' directors have voted to accept Rickman's offer.However, Bally's Entertainment, which has been managing the tracks since last year, says it has a deal to purchase them from Cloverleaf.

The board of directors of Cloverleaf Enterprises, Inc., has rejected a counteroffer by casino company Bally's to bail out Rosecroft Raceway and Ocean Downs."

FORT WASHINGTON -- The owners of the state's two harness racetracks rejected a proposed bailout last night from casino operator Bally Entertainment Co., but voted to keep talking to the company to try to strike a better deal.The stockholders of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., the owner of Rosecroft and Ocean Downs racetracks, dismissed the unanimous advice of the board of directors and voted 23-5 against the proposed settlement.Cloverleaf is a unit of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, which represents harness horse owners and trainers in the Mid-Atlantic.

A major casino operator hoping gambling is expanded in Maryland is negotiating a deal that would give it control of two strategically located harness tracks -- and a head start on competitors -- should the state ever legalize slot machines at racetracks.If the deal is approved, Bally Entertainment Inc. would buy the money-losing Ocean Downs near Ocean City, and probably would shut down live racing and run it as a training center. It would also have the option of purchasing a controlling share of Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County if electronic wagering materializes.

The owners of Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County are suing Brink's Inc., alleging that $104,134 the armored car company picked up last year from the harness track never made it to the bank.The lawsuit, which was originally filed in Prince George's County Circuit Court, was moved Monday to U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which owns Rosecroft Raceway, is alleging breach of contract and gross negligence and is seeking compensation for the missing money, as well as $500,000 in punitive damages.

Echoing widespread community anger over a proposal for unconventional intersections on Route 175, the Columbia Council is asking Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker not to spend any funds on the project until the issue is settled.Meanwhile, Ecker and other county officials plan to meet this week to determine the feasibility of adding as much as $12 million to the capital budget for fiscal 1997 for possible funding of a costlier cloverleaf at one of the intersections, Route 175 and Snowden River Parkway, if the unusual design is rejected.

Not so fast, Howard County.You promised us a cloverleaf.That's the rallying cry of community activists near the clogged intersection of Route 175 and Snowden River Parkway. They are asking the Howard County Planning Board to reconsider its approval of a shopping center under construction, which will draw even more traffic to the congested area.The Planning Board may take up the request tomorrow night, Chairman Ted Mariani said.The controversy goes back to last summer, when the board approved the Columbia Crossing shopping center near the intersection.