Horse Track

As Joe De Francis' standing in Annapolis has plummeted because of his unrestrained support of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's opponents in last year's gubernatorial campaign, his stock has plunged within the horse-racing community.Frustrations with De Francis' decade-long stewardship of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park have become so pronounced that many who had stuck by him are now saying Maryland might be better off if his tracks were in someone else's hands or if the state built a new track and let someone else run it.The first tentative steps toward that end -- what could become a sweeping reconfiguration of the state's racing landscape -- have been taken.

There is horsepower, and then there is horsepower. And Charles Bidwell III is feeling the heartbeat of both.Bidwell is a man who wears many hats. He's a businessman, involved in telecommunications, and president of the National Jockey Club.And this weekend, he has put on another one as he and partner Chip Ganassi open the new Chicago Motor Speedway. The one-mile oval racetrack has been built within Sportsman's Park horse track in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, Ill.The design is only the second of its kind in the country.

A top representative of the Maryland Jockey Club yesterday threatened to wage an aggressive fight against any new horse track or track operators that would compete with Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park.During a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee on racing issues, members inquired about the need for a new horse track in Maryland. Alan M. Rifkin, the main lobbyist for the Maryland Jockey Club, paused, lowered his voice and spoke with firm, measured words."We have heard the discussions, cloaked to some degree, about whether the state needs a new racetrack, and whether or not the licensee, my client, ought to be penalized ," said Rifkin, whose client is Joe De Francis, president and CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club and majority owner of Pimlico and Laurel Park.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening came under heavy criticism from both political flanks yesterday, a day after he floated the notion that the state consider using tax dollars to help build a new horse track in Maryland.Two of his opponents for re-election, Democrat Eileen M. Rehrmann and Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey, accusedGlendening of misplaced priorities, saying state funds should be used to improve education, not construct racetracks."We could use that money to build schools," Rehrmann said.

EVERY time our governor goes near a horse track, he seems to step in it. He's done so again.By blurting out sweet thoughts he believed would win him bonus points with Sun editorial writers, Gov. Parris N. Glendening kicked off a storm of controversy that his foes eagerly embraced.In the process, though, Mr. Glendening seems to have laid the groundwork for addressing Maryland's horse-racing quandary after the November election -- regardless of who wins.All three of the major candidates -- Mr. Glendening, his Democratic opponent Eileen M. Rehrmann and Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey -- have now gone on record acknowledging the need to come up with ways to bolster horse racing in this state.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- In his 34 years at Charles Town Races, the horse track 10 minutes from Maryland, Dickie Moore has seen nothing like it.People around the racetrack are smiling. They're looking forward to the future. Why? Video-lottery terminals, a.k.a. slot machines.Since September last year, when Charles Town opened its glitzy casino, the machines have sucked up money like a vacuum cleaner. Into the track's 798 machines, patrons have wagered $437 million.Proceeds have elevated racing purses to record levels, financed $50 million in renovations and rejuvenated a failing, 65-year-old track.

Even as he holds firm against slot machines sought by Maryland racing, Gov. Parris N. Glendening said yesterday that the state should consider using public funds to help build a state-of-the-art horse track.Saying he had been "brainstorming" with horse owners, Glendening said he could support a "public-private partnership" that would build a new track to invigorate the state's struggling racing industry.The governor made clear that the idea would need further study, and he offered almost no specifics.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Diane Elsbree pushes the buttons. Norm handles the money. And for hours yesterday, this husband-and-wife gambling team from Frederick County shoved dollars into slot machines at the horse track here.Until last month, Charles Town was just a homely country race course where horses that couldn't make it anywhere else were welcome.Now, it's a little slice of Las Vegas in the West Virginia mountains JTC where the Elsbrees can spend a day, and maybe win a few bucks."We try not to lose more than $100 a day," said Norm Elsbree, a 58-year-old federal retiree, as he peered intently over his wife's shoulder at revolving images of lemons and plums.

The horse industry in the United States is roughly the same size -- in terms of value of goods and services produced -- as the clothes-manufacturing and motion-picture industries, according to a yearlong study by a Washington research firm.Conducted by the Barents Group, an economics and fiscal consulting firm in Washington with no ties to the horse industry, the study determined that 7.1 million Americans are involved to varying degrees with the 6.9 million horses in this country.The study "validates what we in the horse industry have long known," said James J. Hickey Jr., president of the American Horse Council.

"I love horse racing," says country singer Neal McCoy. "I'm from Longview, Texas, which is only 60 miles from Shreveport/Bossier City, and that was the closest racetrack to me, over at Louisiana Downs. So I used to spend almost every weekend over at the horse track."Consequently, McCoy is really looking forward to playing at this year's Preakness Celebration. "This is going to be terrific," he enthuses, over the phone from his record company's Nashville offices. "Just to get a chance to maybe get down to the paddocks and look around is going to be a big thrill.

Imagine if they tore down the venerable Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes and 139 years of horse racing tradition in Northwest Baltimore. Park Heights shopkeeper Marcus Melvin has pondered the possibility. He'd support a shopping complex as a way to bring needed jobs to the "devastated" neighborhood near the track. No thanks, say Larry and Vicki Kloze, who live a block north of Pimlico. A shopping mall would probably fail, they argue. Far better would be a sedate office park with lots of green space.

When the Washington Redskins tried to build a football stadium in Laurel in the early 1990s, nearby residents pummeled them worse than the Raiders did in Super Bowl XVIII. When NASCAR wanted to build a race facility in 1998, residents ran the plan off the track. But as Maryland lawmakers debate a divisive proposal that would allow 3,500 slot machines each at three horse tracks, including Laurel Park, many residents of this community southwest of Baltimore seem to be shrugging their shoulders.

The Maryland Racing Commission cut off testimony yesterday on building a horse track in Western Maryland so that opposing sides could work on an agreement to expedite the tedious process. William Rickman Jr., who wants to build the track in Allegany County, offered to write a letter of credit guaranteeing its financial viability and stability. Rickman, who owns Ocean Downs and Delaware Park, is the only applicant for the license to construct the track. "We don't have much of a case to present," Rickman said.

The battle for control of horse racing in Western Maryland did not die when one side dropped plans this week for building a racetrack. The battle lines became clearer, their arguments sharper. The warriors, Joe De Francis and William Rickman Jr., have begun criticizing each other's plans and motivations. Their conflict reaches beyond Western Maryland into the issue of what's best for racing in the state as a whole. Rickman, who owns Delaware Park and wants to build a horse track in Allegany County, says the horse-racing industry would benefit from competition.

An alliance led by the Maryland Jockey Club has dropped plans to build a horse track in Western Maryland and will instead propose to construct off-track-betting parlors in or near Cumberland and Hagerstown. This shift in strategy would leave William Rickman Jr. as the lone applicant to build a track in Allegany County. But it would not end the battle for control of horse racing in Western Maryland. The two sides would merely fight with different weapons: Rickman with a racetrack, the jockey club-led alliance with two OTBs.

CUMBERLAND - Residents of Allegany County jammed a ballroom at the Holiday Inn here yesterday to speak their piece about a horse track proposed in their slice of Western Maryland heaven. During a three-hour hearing before the Maryland Racing Commission, 38 residents from one end of the county to the other voiced opinions about the proposed track. The final tally was 24 against, 14 in favor. That was closer than many had anticipated. "I didn't think it went that badly," William Rickman Jr. said.

It won't be Liston vs. Clay, but it should provide Maryland racing fans some entertainment as thoroughbreds continue racing in other states. On Wednesday, the Maryland Racing Commission will conduct a public hearing in Cumberland on the proposed horse track in Western Maryland. So many people want to speak that the hearing, which will start at 3 p.m., will probably run into the evening. Said John Franzone, chairman of the racing commission: "We're getting quite a reaction. Hopefully, it won't be hostile."

For her husband's 43rd birth day, Kay Jacobson suggested going to the horse track. After Ron Jacobson blew out the candles on his birthday cake -- 42 of them actually, he had to blow a second time for the 43rd -- the Jacobson family navigated the short drive from their Pikesville home to Pimlico. With their two children, Jessica, 12, and Ben, 8, they joined nearly 5,000 others yesterday as Pimlico, the old track in the city, opened its spring meet. "It's close. It's convenient. It's pretty," said Mrs. Jacobson, 47, a former registered nurse.

The competition between two prominent racetrack owners to build a horse track in Western Maryland begins today as each is expected to submit plans to the Maryland Racing Commission. Joe De Francis, head of the company that operates Pimlico and Laurel Park, and Bill Rickman Jr., president and CEO of Delaware Park, said yesterday that they will meet today's deadline to apply for the license to operate a track in Allegany County. Commission officials were expecting no other applications.

Two titans of the region's horse-racing industry, William Rickman Jr. and Joseph A. De Francis, will clash over the license to build a horse track in Western Maryland. Rickman, a Montgomery County developer and owner of the Delaware Park horse track and slots emporium near Wilmington, Del., has said for months he wants to build a track in Allegany County. He said he will complete a deal tomorrow to buy 112 acres midway between Hagerstown and Cumberland -- without an option in case his bid for the license fails.