Live Racing

In its haste to put together a plan to legalize slot machines, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration appears to have left serious gaps that could delay the start of gambling at Maryland's racetracks and leave the state's budget short hundreds of millions of dollars. Ehrlich's staff acknowledges the administration has not studied how creating Wal-Mart-size slots emporiums would affect local neighborhoods. The plan also appears not to have considered the local planning and zoning hurdles such construction would have to clear, which local officials say could take a year or more in some areas - potentially throwing off the state's budget projections for the next two years.

Ramon Dominguez - the nation's leading rider last year and currently second in the standings - will be sidelined an estimated three months after breaking his left wrist in a spill at Delaware Park on Wednesday. Dominguez underwent surgery yesterday at Christiana Medical Center near Newark, Del. "He called this morning urging me to get another client because he'll be out for an extended period," said Dominguez's agent, Steve Rushing. "I told him to worry about getting better." Dominguez had 431 victories in 2001, including 297 at Maryland tracks, and trailed only Northern California fixture Russell Baze with his 217 this year, including 107 in Maryland.

Despite fierce competition from slots-driven tracks in neighboring states, the Maryland Jockey Club's signature meeting more than held its own this spring. Estimated final figures released for the Pimlico Race Course meet, which includes the Preakness, showed an overall increase of 2 percent in total wagering, although the live handle continued to decline. "That's a nationwide trend," said Lou Raffetto, chief operating officer for Pimlico and Laurel Park. "It's nothing any track is happy about, but we all have to live with.

NBC Sports' national broadcast of the Preakness tomorrow afternoon will last but an hour and a half. For producer David Michaels, though, it's guaranteed to be an ulcer-inducing 90 minutes of his television life. "It's a 90-minute show around the two-minute race," Michaels said of the telecast, which begins at 5 p.m. for the 6:09 post. "Sometimes, it's like driving down a hill with no brakes in a school bus -- it can be scary. We just do the best we can to get out the information in an entertaining way."

Maryland's major thoroughbred racetracks doubled their combined profit last year, thanks to a record Preakness Stakes, according to financial statements released yesterday. Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore posted a profit of $3.9 million, double that of the year before, because of strong Preakness attendance and wagering, as well as troubles at sister track Laurel Park. Pimlico's gain was, however, Laurel's loss: the Anne Arundel County track reported a loss of $2.4 million, nearly twice the $1.3 million loss posted the year before.

For one day, the sun shone on Maryland racing. Yesterday, closing day at Pimlico, kids frolicked in the infield, nearly 6,500 patrons risked their dollars on the horses, and Joe De Francis, president and CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club, got dunked in the dunking booth. A bright summer sun bathed Pimlico in warmth and, in some cases, good cheer as the historic track in Baltimore ended its spring meet of 71 live racing days. As part of Jockeys Across America Day, De Francis spent 32 minutes in the infield dunking booth raising money for injured and disabled riders.

Pickupspeed is a son of Broad Brush who always has reminded his connections that he likes plenty of ground. That's exactly what he got yesterday in the $75,000 Fort McHenry Handicap at Pimlico, a 1 1/2 -mile test on the grass that provided ample opportunity for the gelding, who went off at 15-to-1, to pick up speed as he went along. In his first turf race, Pickupspeed lagged along next to last in an eight-horse field for half-a-mile, was second to last after a mile, then shifted into gear under jockey Juan Umana to outlast another late runner and long shot, Blue Goblin, by three-quarters of a length.

Colonial Downs begins its experiment with summer racing today, as the Virginia horse track attempts at long last to establish itself as a viable enterprise. The track between Richmond and Williamsburg opens for its fifth season with nine races, of which eight are on its renowned turf course. For the first time, Colonial Downs, managed by the Maryland Jockey Club, will race thoroughbreds in the summer. Four seasons of fall thoroughbred racing proved unsuccessful. However, a drawn out battle with Maryland horsemen over scheduling set back Colonial Downs' planning and marketing.

Gin Talking, the only filly in the field, blew past Tempest Fugit and six other 3-year-old colts yesterday in the $75,000 Broad Brush Stakes at Laurel Park. Gin Talking, a daughter of Allen's Prospect who was coming off back-to-back wins in the Maryland Million Oaks and the Anne Arundel Stakes, stalked the pace set by jockey Edgar Prado and Tempest Fugit, then slipped through traffic and outside the leader to win the nine-furlong stakes by two lengths in 1 minute, 52 4/5 seconds. Tempest Fugit finished second.

CUMBERLAND -- The two-horse race to see who builds a track/betting parlor in Western Maryland reached the first turn last week at a public hearing in a packed Holiday Inn ballroom. Most of the speakers in this mountain city of 24,000 said they didn't want either entrant to win. The naysayers have it right. This is a race course that should not be built. If it is, you can chalk it up to unseemly insider politics. What's wrong with putting a horse-racing oval in Allegany County? Just about everything.