Horse Industry

State officials are looking for a site to build a first-class venue for national and international equestrian events, a place they envision as a major tourist destination for horse lovers. The Maryland Horse Park would sit on at least 500 acres. The complex would include a 5,000-seat arena, an outdoor amphitheater for competitions, up to 1,200 horse stalls, even a museum celebrating the history and traditions of horses in the state and perhaps a retirement home for famous racehorses. "Essentially it's a Disneyland for horses," said Rob Burk, executive director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, part of the Department of Agriculture.

Snowden "Nick" Carter, a nationally known racing writer and longtime editor of The Maryland Horse Magazine, died of heart failure Thursday at his Owings Mills home. He was 83. Born Wilton Snowden Carter in Baltimore, he was raised in the city's Pimlico section. A lifelong horseman, he began riding in his youth and participated in local horse shows. Mr. Carter was a 1939 graduate of McDonogh School, where he was an officer in the school's cavalry. After earning his bachelor's degree in 1943 from Duke University, he went to work that year as a police reporter for The Sun. "He was given the name of Nick Carter by Clarence Caulfield, an assistant city editor of The Sun, after the fictional detective of dime novel fame," said Joseph B. Kelly, a Sun racing reporter and former colleague.

Creating a unified front to show they could spend slot machine proceeds wisely, Maryland horse-racing industry leaders unveiled a plan yesterday that they said could revive the struggling sport if lawmakers authorize an expansion of gambling. The 15-page plan is less notable for what it contains than for who signed on to it, bringing together competing factions of the racing scene whose back-biting has contributed to the failure of slot machine legislation for the past two years. Signatories include James L. Gagliano, executive vice president of racing in Maryland for Magna Entertainment Corp.

Don Litz looked over the crowd and then looked over the valley. He took a deep breath. Finally, his dream was realized. Maryland Stallion Station opened yesterday with more than 400 visitors touring the grand barn, observing a parade of the five stallions and, like Litz, peering across the valley at historic Sagamore Farm. Litz, 58, long involved in the Maryland horse business, drew on the legend of Sagamore, home and burial place of the exalted Native Dancer, for inspiration in developing Maryland Stallion Station.

No slots means trouble for the Chesapeake Bay, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. claimed yesterday as he renewed his push for expanded gambling during a tour of a Cecil County horse farm. Hoping to win environmentalists' support for his crusade, Ehrlich warned that the state's rural landscape would be choked by sprawling suburban development unless slots are allowed to fatten racing purses and keep horse farms in business. "Without an investment in 20,200 horse farms, Maryland is going to look like that," Ehrlich said, pointing to a treeless cluster of vinyl-sided tract houses across the Delaware line.

As O's still flounder, give thanks for Ravens Two straight years and Orioles management forces perennial .300 hitter B.J. Surhoff to sign a minor league contract to earn a spot on the big league team. What do these also-ran general managers - Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan - know about big league stars? At best, they were both mediocre pitchers. On Sept. 5 and Sept. 7, so-called Orioles relief pitcher Jorge Julio cost the Orioles victories, and the manager is either blind or doesn't care where the team winds up for the 2004 season.

When Anne Bennof retired from a 39-year career with the Association of American Railroads, the nearly lifelong Silver Spring resident knew that she wanted to move to Carroll County for one reason: so she could keep a horse in her back yard. Bennof and her husband, Marvin, have lived in Woodbine for eight years now. There, she rides and cares for her horse, Jesse, a retired harness racer, with easy access to wooded trails through Gillis Falls Reservoir. "My bottom-line wish was always to do exactly what I'm doing right now -- sit here and look out the back window and see my horse and take care of him myself," the 69-year-old Bennof said from a sunroom with sweeping views of the countryside and the paddock.

IF THE $10.6 BILLION Maryland horse industry loses the race to have slots installed at racetracks, the state will lose jobs, tax revenue, recreational and tourist opportunities, beautiful open space and a big part of its heritage. Maryland horse farms are viable agricultural businesses. Agriculture is Maryland's No. 1 industry, and it includes: $5.2 billion worth of equine-related assets in Maryland. $3.9 billion worth of land, fencing and facilities owned by Maryland horse people. It comprises more than 685,000 acres, 10 percent of the state's land.

City students, staff will pay for poor oversight The Sun's article "1,000 layoffs at city schools" (Nov. 13) causes one to question the validity of the city-state schools partnership that began in 1997. The state and the mayor have appointed every member of the Baltimore school system's New Board of School Commissioners. I assumed that state involvement included state oversight. But who has been minding the store? The school system submits an extensive master plan to the Maryland State Department of Education.

WHEN PEOPLE think of Harford County, the horse industry might not immediately come to mind. But large commercial thoroughbred operations, as well as an influx of people into the county over the past 10 years, has built this segment of the area's agriculture. Growth in the horse industry is something John Sullivan, the county's agriculture director, likes to point out. "Equine and horticulture are on the upward trend. They are the fastest-growing agricultural industries in the county," Sullivan said.