Maryland Horse Racing

Maryland's pro-slots forces are planning an eight-month campaign for a referendum on expanded gambling that they say would fix the state's budget problems and save horse racing. But those who stand to benefit most - the state's racetrack owners - are balking at the effort and saying that they might not participate in the push for the ballot measure. Scott Borgemenke, executive vice president for racing at Magna Entertainment Corp., the Canadian company that owns the Laurel and Pimlico tracks, said yesterday that the company has not decided whether to contribute to the pro-slots campaign being led by former Maryland Budget Secretary Frederick W. Puddester.

Trainer Marilyn Goldman roars with laughter when someone describes her and her jockey, Mary Wiley, as the "Thelma and Louise" of Maryland horse racing.Goldman, after all, admits she was so nervous she broke out with a fever blister just thinking about working her filly, Miss Claratius, perhaps the best of her generation among Maryland-breds, on a muddy track Sunday at the Bowie Training Center.But there's no question that this hard-hitting team of women professionals has displayed as much true grit as the horse Goldman trains and Wiley will ride on Sunday in Laurel's %J $100,000 Selima Stakes.

HAVRE DE GRACE -- An uncharitable person might say it's only a case of the proverbial blind pig stumbling at last upon an acorn, but there's not much doubt that in standing strong against the big-time gambling interests, Governor Glendening has finally come down on the winning side of a major issue.This has done him some good already, and may do him some more. In the short run, it helped to give him a much-needed boost in the polls, for most Marylanders don't like the prospect of their state becoming another Nevada.

If the Kentucky Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports, the most exciting minute and eight seconds might be today's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.Seven electrifying speedballs -- some with dazzling early foot, others with heart-thumping late speed -- clash in the six-furlong, $300,000, Grade II race that could serve as a prep for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint this fall at Woodbine.The seven-horse De Francis field is so stacked that the country's champion sprinter, Not Surprising, is fifth in the morning line at 6-1. Created in memory of Frank J. De Francis, who was credited with reviving Maryland horse racing in the 1980s, the race is the nation's richest sprint of the summer.

Social calendarOct. 25: The St. Joseph Medical Center Auxiliary's October Party and Fashion Show. Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn. $40. 3 p.m. Cocktails, dinner, auction and the show. Call 410-654-0000.Nov. 1: First annual FANS Follies, a musical revue to benefit the Baltimore School for the Arts Scholarship Fund. Baltimore School for the Arts, 712 Cathedral St. 1 p.m. performance, 2 p.m. dessert reception. Adults $20, children under 12 $5. Call 410-225-2020.Around townAccording to Mary Ann Cricchio, co-owner of Da Mimmo's in Little Italy, it didn't take long for that "drop dead" handsome actor Richard Gere to discover her eatery.

Keep costs low. Take full advantage of innovations in telephone and Internet betting. Make your racetrack welcoming and pack it with the latest in "virtual reality" games, batting cages and other amusements. Most important: Think outside the box.That is William M. Rickman's prescription for the ailing Maryland horse racing industry, one he hopes to fill in the form of a new two-breed track to be built in Western Maryland.At the encouragement of Maryland House Speaker and Western Maryland Democrat Casper R. Taylor Jr., Rickman has begun circulating a brief written description of his plans for the track and scouting for a site in Allegany County.

Beginning today, thousands and thousands of dollars in simulcast revenue will be forfeited by the Maryland horse racing industry.All parties involved in a disagreement over the division of that revenue will lose. If the schism lasts indefinitely, thoroughbred and harness racing in the state could be battling for survival.But after two years of negotiations, their positions have hardened and no one seems willing to budge.When the Maryland Racing Commission meets today at Pimlico Race Course, it will cast a jaundiced eye at the situation.

Maryland horse racing produces its share of depressing headlines as the political stalemate over slots continues, the future of the Preakness Stakes is debated, and more of the state's breeders and horsemen contemplate leaving. But there is a positive development amid the negativity, and it is on display today at Pimlico Race Course: The Preakness is booming like never before. The Maryland Jockey Club, which oversees the state's racing franchise, might struggle the rest of the year, but it excels on the third Saturday in May. "They do a hell of a job here.

When he presents the winner's trophy at tomorrow's Preakness, Parris N. Glendening will be serving not only as governor but as unofficial chairman of Maryland horse racing's board of directors.The industry accords governors such status -- and moments of televised glory -- in exchange for good will and occasional financial bailouts. Governors may be racing fans, but they're also the industry's No. 1 regulator.Maryland's chief executives have played this role happily because the voters have wanted them to -- not just to monitor gambling but to protect a year-round business that produces jobs and millions of dollars.

Lexington, Ky. -- Heading the list of questions facing the Maryland horse racing industry is the doomsday one: Could the equine herpes outbreak linger long enough to affect Pimlico Race Course's spring meeting, which includes the Preakness? Then there are the other questions. How long will the horses at Pimlico be under quarantine? How many might die? How adversely will the current Laurel Park meeting be affected? Veterinarians and racing officials in Kentucky, America's premier racing state, don't claim to have answers to all questions, especially the last one. But having dealt with two herpes outbreaks in the past nine months, including one still active at Turfway Park in Florence, they say there's no reason to panic as long as veterinarians and those who work with the horses are taking proper precautions.