Maryland Racing Commission

The Maryland Racing Commission has approved the requested dates of all the state's tracks for 1994 and will ratify them at its next meeting Dec. 13.All that is required to finalize the schedule is a hearing regarding Rosecroft Raceway's desire to operate live racing for 260 nights, an increase of 22 from this year.No opposition is expected to surface to the harness track's request, and the hearing will probably be a formality.It can be held at any time next year up to the date of the 238th racing day that Rosecroft used in 1993, according to Ken Schertle, the commission's executive secretary.

Magna Entertainment Corp. executive vice president of racing Scott Borgemenke, who during the Preakness voiced his concern about the nonstop travel required for the job he took earlier last spring, has left the company. Borgemenke's departure became official July 18, though it was not announced until late Monday. "Unfortunately," Borgemenke said in a statement explaining his decision, "... my corporate and family responsibilities conflict." MEC chairman Frank Stronach, who is in Austria, praised Borgemenke's work at MEC in a release, saying, "We very much appreciate his efforts, and we wish him well."

LAUREL -- Despite official racing dates that show few days off between meetings, most transfers between Maryland tracks next year will have at least a one-day break in the action.The Maryland Racing Commission approved the 1991 schedule at its monthly meeting Wednesday. The lineup followed the general pattern of dates disclosed several weeks ago by Joe De Francis, president of Laurel and Pimlico Race courses.The main difference between the 1990 and 1991 racing calendar is one fewer meeting at Pimlico.

The Maryland Racing Commission gathered at David Hayden's Safely Home Farm, a division of Dark Hollow Farm, in Baltimore County yesterday and announced its new initiative, "KIM," as in "Keep It in Maryland." The "It" is the horse industry, everything from the breeders and owners to the farms and the good environment the industry creates with its commitment to open space. Commission chairman John McDaniel, secretary James Fielder and KIM task force chairman John Franzone stressed the importance of educating the legislature and the public about the impact the industry has with its 20,200 horse farms that provide jobs for more than 20,000 workers and cover 685,000 acres - nearly 10 percent of the land in Maryland.

Pimlico Race Course was given a stamp of approval Monday by an industry group after taking steps to conform with the group's standards related to drug testing and other procedures. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association said Pimlico has been fully accredited by its Safety and Integrity Alliance. NTRA — which promotes safety at tracks around the nation — said Pimlico, the site of Saturday's Preakness, is the 17th course to be accredited. Others include Churchill Downs and Belmont Park, home of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, respectively.

In a pair of low-slung green stables manned by security guards and watched by 24-hour surveillance cameras, a pack of brawny young horses will be monitored, poked and assessed down to the blood in their veins. The horses set to race in the 138th Preakness are to be kept under a microscope from their arrival at Pimlico Race Course until they burst from their starting gates Saturday — not only to avoid injury but also scandal. "It's become more sophisticated," said David Zipf, 72, the Maryland Racing Commission's longtime chief veterinarian for thoroughbred racing.

LAUREL -- Laurel Race Course opens its long fall/winter session today with a 10-race program featuring the $60,000 Challedon Handicap.Programs and grandstand admission are free today.The Laurel Turf Festival, featuring the 40th running of the International, highlights the 62-day session. Five Festival races will be spaced over the Oct. 19-20 weekend.Saturday, the track initiates a $100,000 Double Triple guarantee, a gimmick wager that will require a $5 minimum bet, up from $3. There is no Double Triple wagering today or tomorrow.

The Maryland Racing Commission is holding not one, but two, public hearings in Frederick County today to listen to public comment concerning the proposed opening of the state's first off-track betting outlet at the Cracked Claw restaurant in Urbana.The first hearing is at the restaurant at 10 a.m. "But a number of people wrote or called their county delegate [Tom Hattery-D, Frederick] and said they couldn't make it at that time," said commission chairman John H. "Jack" Mosner Jr. "So, in order to accommodate everyone and to make sure that all their feelings and concerns are heard, we will hold another meeting later in the day which will be chaired by [commission member]

Maryland's major thoroughbred racetracks will report today a profit of $1.2 million for 1994, the first profit for the tracks since 1988 and a dramatic reversal of the previous year's loss of $7.2 million.The annual report to the Maryland Racing Commission will show record wagering on live and simulcast races of $461 million left Pimlico Race Course with a profit of $1.8 million, enough to overcome a loss of $609,894 at Laurel Park, said Joe De Francis, president of the Maryland Jockey Club, corporate parent of the tracks.

A detailed update of the Virginia racing situation was featured at yesterday's lengthy meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission at Laurel Park.Maryland Jockey Club president Joe De Francis said the "reason word hadn't gone out to employees is that things were becoming more certain" in Virginia, according to Ken Schertle, executive secretary of the commission.De Francis said Colonial Downs -- between Richmond and Norfolk -- will start to operate Sept. 1 as scheduled and that some track employees will work there while others will stay behind to handle simulcasting outlets in Maryland.