Delaware Park

STANTON, Del. -- Contrast the two worlds of Delaware Park, where playing slot machines indoors has become exceptionally enticing and perhaps more profitable than walking out the door, a mere 90 feet away, to avail oneself of the pleasure of watching horse racing under the cloudless sky on a comfortable midsummer afternoon.Yes, horse racing, its popularity draining because its main constituency represents an aging America, claims to be up against it financially. In need of a lift, it has climbed on the shoulders of the slot machines and is going for a merry ride.

- With the pro football playoffs approaching, Jim Nielsen could think of nothing more appealing than a drive to Delaware. No, his beloved Philadelphia Eagles had not moved across the state line. Nielsen and his son just wanted to add a little spice to their football watching, by betting on the games. Before this season, that would've required a search for offshore bookmakers or a flight to Las Vegas. But now, eager NFL wagerers from Maryland, Pennsylvania and other states can simply visit one of Delaware's three slots parlors to take advantage of the nation's newest state-licensed sports book.

As the field dashed for home in the Conniver Stakes yesterday at Laurel Park, the jockey Mark Johnston hugged the rail on Case of the Blues, searching for running room. He found it, but it wasn't enough. Case of the Blues fell a half-length short of A Lot of Mary, who won the $60,000 stakes of seven furlongs for older Maryland-bred fillies and mares. It was her 18th victory in 38 races. For Johnston, a leading rider in Maryland for more than a decade, the search for running room will take him to Delaware Park when that track opens April 7. For the first time since late 1989, Johnston will be based somewhere other than Maryland.

BY A 7-0 VOTE, the Tydings commission last week rejected the notion of casinos for Maryland. But that has hardly slowed down the lobbyists looking for a way to expand gambling here.As we have noted before, there's virtually no interest in casinos ,, among the general populace or among elected officials. Thus, the 7-0 commission vote came as no surprise. More surprising was the immediate push among legislative leaders to endorse a first step toward casinos: slot machines at the state's race tracks.

The Maryland racing scene shifts to the state fairgrounds in Timonium today for an abbreviated, eight-card session that will conclude on Labor Day. It marks the second consecutive year that Timonium has sliced its schedule by two racing days because of cutbacks in state subsidies to the sport. "There was a little more money around this year, but not nearly enough," said Howard "Max" Mosner, general manager at Timonium. "Doing that enabled us to keep purse levels where they were previously, and we actually ended up doing more business in eight days than we had in 10."

Maryland racing shifts to the quaint Timonium track today for the annual meeting held in conjunction with the state fair. For the third straight year, the stand will be limited to eight programs, the outgrowth of cutbacks in purse subsidies, and will feature only two stakes offering $50,000 each to Maryland-bred horses. Live racing will not be conducted Monday or Tuesday at a meet that concludes on Labor Day, but simulcast betting will be available at the track. Post time is 1 p.m. daily.

STANTON, Del. -- No big-name horses or jockeys were attracted to this year's Delaware Handicap.But there was still enough of a mystique connected to the grand old race at Delaware Park yesterday to lure Maryland's best older filly or mare into the lineup.Brilliant Brass, second choice to Midwest invader Bungalow, merely galloped along behind a slow pace set by long shot Train Robbery in the 10-furlong stakes.Then, when called on in the stretch by Edgar Prado, she scored a 1 3/4 -length win over Train Robbery, a D. Wayne Lukas-trained daughter of Alydar who had not won a stakes in more than a year.

Sindy With an S took her time yesterday coming down the backstretch, but when it came time to go, the 3-year-old Broken Vow filly listened to jockey Jeremy Rose and made her move in midstretch before pulling away to win the Grade III $200,000 Safely Kept Stakes. The Safely Kept is for 3-year-old fillies and run over six furlongs on Laurel Park's main, dirt track. The race is named for the first sprinter to have earned more than $2 million and the first Maryland-bred to win a Breeders' Cup race, the Sprint-G1 in 1990.

One year and one day after winning the Belmont Stakes, Lemon Drop Kid entered the top ranks of older horses with an authoritative victory yesterday in the $250,000 Brooklyn Handicap, a Grade II 1 1/8 -mile stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Racing for the first time with blinkers, Lemon Drop Kid remained focused down the lane and drew away from six overmatched opponents. He won by 7 1/4 lengths, bringing tears to the eyes of his trainer and unrestrained joy to the faces of his owners.

The thoroughbred and standardbred industries have moved closer to agreement on the distribution of proposed slot machines and the revenue they would produce in Maryland.Under legislation introduced in the House of Delegates yesterday, some 9,500 such gaming devices would be installed at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course, Rosecroft Raceway and three facilities to be determined.Rosecroft objected to the original proposal, which called for an 80-20 percentage split in favor of the thoroughbred tracks and 3,000 fewer machines for the harness track (Laurel was to get 3,000, Pimlico 1,000 and Rosecroft 1,000)