Laurel Park

Critics of proposals to build a park and community center in North Laurel and playing fields at Blandair Park in Columbia continue to try to derail both projects as the County Council prepares to discuss County Executive Ken Ulman's capital budget this week. Ulman's budget contains $1.9 million for the $19.5 million North Laurel Park Community Center and $1.4 million for planning Blandair's development. In addition, the General Assembly approved $375,000 for Blandair and $200,000 for North Laurel Park.

Bad winter weather that caused Laurel Park to cancel four of its scheduled 75 race days during its winter meet contributed to disappointing meet-ending numbers released yesterday by Magna Entertainment Corp. "We saw it coming as the meet progressed," said Lou Raffetto, president and chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club, as he watched a race during Pimlico Race Course's opening yesterday. "The weather was pretty brutal ... during February, and March and we had to cancel closing day."

OCEANPORT, N.J. -- The Maryland Jockey Club has closed its doors for rallies in Annapolis before. But yesterday, when the MJC said it would close next Friday so its employees, horsemen and racing fans could attend a rally in support of slot machines, the situation seemed more desperate. "We're trying to make sure we can save Maryland racing and keep the Preakness in Maryland," said MJC president and chief operating officer Lou Raffetto, who is at Monmouth Park for racing's showcase event, the Breeders' Cup, this weekend.

Looking forward to gaining clearance from her doctor April 18 to return to riding, jockey Anna "Rosie" Napravnik said she has major changes planned for when she gets back in the saddle. The Eclipse Award runner-up for apprentice jockey last season, Napravnik said she has come upon an opportunity too good to pass up and will move her riding base from Maryland to Delaware Park. As part of that arrangement, she will also begin working with agent Steve Rushing, recognized as the top jockey agent in the Mid-Atlantic.

Slip inside a stable door in the Laurel Park barn area early on a cold morning, and you will find a smell as sweet as a childhood memory. It is the smell of a long-ago winter's day on a country farm, filled with hay, straw and feed made with molasses. Outside the barn doors, Laurel Park's stable areas are nearly deserted. Trainer Robin Graham is one of the few who have allowed any of her horses outside. At this moment, her lead pony is the last of five horses to have the pleasure of romping in the outdoor pen. The pony is kicking up his heels, enjoying what the humans would call miserable weather.

Trainer Ben Feliciano, who stables his horses at Laurel Park, is happy to see racing return to the track today, despite what anybody says. "I've raced horses at just about every track in surrounding states this summer," Feliciano said. "And I'm glad to be back where the grooms can just walk the horses out of the stalls and be at the racetrack. "But people have been laughing at me a lot. `How do you stay there?' they say. `You're in a dying state.'" Feliciano sighs. The way things are at the moment, with the horse racing industry bolstered at most tracks near Maryland by slots revenue, he can't argue.

With Maryland's simulcasting signal challenged by those of nearly a dozen other tracks around the country, Maryland Jockey Club president and chief operating officer Lou Raffetto wants to improve the odds of getting bettors interested in playing the state's horses when Laurel Park opens Aug. 10 for 10 days of racing. Billed as "Ten Days at 10 Percent - Racing's Best Bet," Laurel ownership's takeout on Maryland's live races will be cut by about half, with the money going directly into the bettors' pockets.

Jockey Mario Pino went 0-for-5 yesterday at Laurel Park and remains two wins away from becoming only the 15th rider to reach 6,000. "On paper, it didn't look like any of the horses I rode should have won," Pino said. "But I was really hoping to get lucky on a horse or two. It does happen. But they ran true to form today." He will now try to reach 6,000 at Delaware Park tomorrow or Sunday. Pino has nine mounts over the two days, but said they are much like the horses he rode here yesterday.

Stellar Brush heads a field of 12 in the $250,000 West Virginia Derby tomorrow at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Chester, W. Va. Post time is 10: 35 p.m.Trained by Richard W. Small at Pimlico, Stellar Brush is one of five Maryland horses entered in the 1 1/8-mile Derby, the richest horse race ever in West Virginia. Racing officials raised the purse with revenue from their slot machines.At yesterday's post-position draw, Stellar Brush drew No. 5 and was named the 9-5 favorite.

Nimble is, his trainer says, a little crazy, an awesome animal, a monster. Take your pick.Yesterday, Nimble displayed his finest qualities and tied the Laurel Park seven-furlong record of 1 minute, 21 2/5 seconds set by Tappiano in 1989. Stabled at Philadelphia Park, Nimble devoured three foes in the $50,000 E. William Furey Memorial Stakes, a race honoring the late chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission.Nimble won his fifth race in a row for the trainer Scott A. Lake, who tried to talk his clients, the brothers Eric and Gregg Frahl, out of claiming the 7-year-old gelding for $32,000 in February.

The bankrupt owner of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course wants to terminate a profit-sharing agreement to split any potential slots proceeds with the tracks' former owners, including Joseph De Francis, before the two racetracks go on the auction block early next year. Although the tracks' owner, Magna Entertainment Corp., was disqualified in its bid to bring slot machine gambling to Laurel Park, the state license to operate a casino in Anne Arundel County could be up for grabs. The only recognized bidder, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., has run into problems obtaining zoning approval for a proposed 4,750-machine slots facility near Arundel Mills mall.

Nowhere in sight coming around the turn for home, Vineyard Haven, the youngest horse in the Grade I, $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, found space along the rail and charged for the wire under the urging of jockey Alan Garcia. Coming down the sloppy front straight, the 3-year-old passed Fleet Valid and then nosed ahead of Laurel Park-based Ravalo for a half-length victory. "Midway round that turn, I didn't think we had any horse left," said Vineyard Haven's assistant trainer, Rick Mettee, who was handling the Godolphin Racing-owned horse for trainer Saeed bin Suroor.

Laurel Park Fabulous Strike among 37 De Francis Dash pre-entries Three of the nation's elite sprinters and the top two local speedsters are among the 37 pre-entries for the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash on Oct. 24 at Laurel Park. Among the pre-entries for the six-furlong sprint are Fabulous Strike, who has been first or second in five starts (all Grade I or Grade II sprints) in his 6-year-old campaign; Kodiak Kowboy, who has defeated Fabulous Strike in two Grade I stakes this year; Vineyard Haven, who was disqualified from first and placed second in the Grade I King's Bishop Stakes on Aug. 29 at Saratoga; and Laurel Park-based Ravalo and Ah Day, who each have won 10 stakes races.

Preliminary design plans were revealed last week for a complex of mixed-use buildings that could be up to 10 stories high on a 64-acre property wedged between U.S. 1 and the Laurel Park racetrack in southern Howard County. The plans for the North Laurel parcel were presented at a public information meeting Wednesday by Jeff Hayes, development manager at Walter Lynch AIA, a Washington-based consulting firm. The property owners intend to submit a site plan to the county by year's end that tentatively calls for 775 residential units and 650,000 square feet of office space to be built above 120,000 square feet of first-floor retail shops, Hayes told an audience of 20 people.

Preliminary design plans were revealed last week for a complex of mixed-use buildings that could be up to 10 stories high on a 64-acre property wedged between U.S. 1 and the Laurel Park racetrack in southern Howard County. The plans for the North Laurel parcel were presented at a public information meeting Wednesday by Jeff Hayes, development manager at Walter Lynch AIA, a Washington-based consulting firm. The property owners intend to submit a site plan to the county by year's end that tentatively calls for 775 residential units and 650,000 square feet of office space to be built above 120,000 square feet of first-floor retail shops, Hayes told an audience of 20 people.

Maryland's highest court ruled that a dispute over Laurel Park's disqualified bid to open a slot-machine casino should be decided by a state contracting board before being litigated in court. Laurel Park sued the state commission charged with awarding slot-machine licenses at five locations around the state after voters ratified a constitutional amendment to allow that kind of gambling. The commission had tossed out a bid to put slots at Laurel Park because the horse-racing track's owner, Magna Entertainment Corp.

Lawyers for the Laurel Park racetrack asked Maryland's highest court Tuesday to restore its disqualified proposal for a slots casino license, suggesting the state would be better off restarting a bidding process that has fallen short of expectations. A slots license selection commission tossed out a bid from Laurel Racing Association in February because the company didn't submit the $28.5 million in mandatory licensing fees. A legal team for the track argued in the Court of Appeals that the company was concerned that there was no guarantee it would get the money back if it didn't win a license.

When the Preakness Stakes runs its 134th race Saturday, it could be the last one under its bankrupt owner. While Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park are no longer among assets that Magna Entertainment Corp. will auction off in September, state and industry leaders believe it is a real possibility that Maryland's thoroughbred tracks will have a new owner when bankruptcy proceedings end. So far, the state has had discussions with at least a dozen potential buyers, including local, national and international parties, who know of Maryland's interest in keeping the second leg of racing's Triple Crown here.

The Maryland Jockey Club, the corporate parent of Pimlico Race Course, was first chartered in 1743 and is the oldest organization in all of sports in North America. The MJC and the Maryland racing industry have never before faced challenges that are as daunting and formidable as those they now face. The MJC and Maryland racing enjoyed record years in the mid-1990s by virtually every statistic. Unfortunately, 1995, the high-water-mark year for Maryland, also marked the beginning of slots at Delaware Park.

Another potential buyer has emerged for Maryland's thoroughbred tracks up for sale by its bankrupt owner, a day after state officials criticized a Pikesville developer's plans to buy Pimlico Race Course and replace it with a shopping center. Technology entrepreneur Halsey Minor, who had expressed interest in bidding for a slots license in Anne Arundel County, said Friday that he submitted a bid to buy all but one of Magna's U.S. tracks, including Pimlico and Laurel Park. Gulfstream Park in southern Florida was the one venue excluded from the bid. Several other bidders have expressed interest in Pimlico and Laurel Park since last month's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Magna Entertainment Corp.