Off Track

WASHINGTON - Poor Albert. For 89 years, Albert has been lost - in space. The 2-mile-wide asteroid was discovered in 1911, but when later generations of astronomers looked for it, it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Of the 14,788 asteroids that have been found, numbered and plotted for two centuries, a handful have gotten lost. All were rediscovered, except for Albert 719."Let's say it would have been in the cold-case file by now," said Gareth Williams, the camera-shy astronomer who helped track down Albert.

The president of Maryland's major thoroughbred racetracks says his multi-million-dollar plan to rejuvenate racing can be accomplished with a mix of track money, state loans and a diversion from the winnings paid to bettors."

"Atomic Train" was supposed to be this real scary NBC miniseries about a train carrying nuclear weapons and deadly nuclear waste careening out of control in the Rocky Mountains and heading straight for Denver.But, just as the network promotional campaign telling us "it could happen in your backyard" was launched, people who actually knew something about nuclear weapons and nuclear waste informed the network that such waste matter is not carried on trains. It is shipped by truck.Worse, one of the parties giving NBC the information was General Electric, which owns NBC and other businesses which actually dispose of nuclear waste.

A bill pledging $10 million in state money to boost racing purses and authorizing a third thoroughbred track in Maryland was passed unanimously by a House committee yesterday, beginning a late-session stretch run.The legislation is part of a deal announced last week between track owners and Gov. Parris N. Glendening for the state to continue supplementing racing purses in exchange for improvements to track facilities.The agreement gives the issue powerful momentum, but with the session due to end Monday, time is running out."

In a move that could bring peace to the politically fractious horse racing industry, Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced yesterday he will commit $10 million in state funds to increase racing purses in exchange for new promises of improved track facilities."

This page belongs to you.We asked Feb. 28 for your comments about key issues surrounding horse racing in Maryland: slot machines, management of Pimlico and Laurel Park and the possible construction of a new horse track.You responded in torrents -- more than 150 of you -- by e-mail, telephone and letter. You were nothing if not passionate.What follows are excerpts of responses from readers who gave us permission to publish their names and opinions. Listed alphabetically, these excerpts are representative of the responses we received.

The Virginia Racing Commission yesterday ordered the management of Colonial Downs to conduct a 30-day harness meet this summer along with the 25-day thoroughbred meet in September and October.Commission head Robin Traywick Williams said the panel ordered the harness meet over the objections of Colonial Downs officials, who wanted to drop harness racing for a year at the southern Virginia track. They argued that harness racing lost too much money during last year's inaugural season."We all felt that the harness people deserved another chance," Williams said.

THE SMOKE-FILLED dive in Cecil County called Poor Jimmy's is a reflection of how the Maryland racing industry has failed to keep up with competition from neighboring states. The Maryland Racing Commission last month yanked the off-track betting parlor's license, claiming its decrepit facilities give the state industry a poor image.Set up as a temporary OTB site by Maryland racetrack operators in 1993, Poor Jimmy's has provoked patron complaints since it opened, the second of seven state-licensed, off-track betting parlors.

About 60 miles from the track and $700 ahead in winnings, Ernest Bailey wagers $40 on a long-shot for the one-two-three showing in yesterday's fourth race at Laurel.As he watches the horses head to the finish line on an overhead television screen, Bailey calls out, "Come on baby!" only to see his picks flip-flop near the end."You win some, you lose some," he says, pushing his losing ticket aside on a wooden table at Poor Jimmy's in Cecil County -- an off-track betting facility whose future was put in question last week.

Now that Bally's at Ocean Downs has concluded what its president calls a highly successful summer harness meet, track management is preparing for fall and winter duties.They include working to open an off-track betting facility on the Eastern Shore, advancing the concept of telephone wagering and preparing to lobby state legislators for continued help in sustaining purses."We realize the slots issue will rise again," said Dennis Dowd, president of the harness track near Ocean City. "But slots or no, we still have to do something about purses."