Penn National

With the talented Meadow Monster scratched, the $72,875 Housebuster Handicap became a wide-open affair yesterday at Laurel Park.It was Wise Dusty who closed the door.On a lightning-fast track, the chestnut gelding dominated five rivals and scored a three-length victory, perhaps gaining himself a shot at the big boys in the $300,000 De Francis Dash July 19.Wise Dusty finished the six furlongs in 1: 08 4/5, only three-fifths of a second off Fighting Notion's track record."We were looking at it [the De Francis]

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. -- From the coins he traded to the dollars he bet on the ponies to the cash he allegedly pocketed as a Soviet-paid spy, money mattered to Robert S. Lipka.For 30 years, he parlayed his interest in foreign currency into a business. For nearly as long, Mr. Lipka gambled -- he had a personal account at an off-track betting parlor not far from his home in the Pennsylvania countryside. And it was cash, not Communist ideology, that moved Mr. Lipka to spy, federal investigators say.Government officials say they don't know how much Mr. Lipka allegedly earned selling national defense secrets to Soviet agents from 1964 to 1974.

The owner didn't make the race. Nor did the trainer.Shoop, however, arrived ready for action and she scored a lTC length victory over local favorite Miss Slewpy yesterday in the $100,000 Snow Goose Handicap at Laurel Park.The victory in the Grade III event pushed the 5-year-old mare's lifetime earnings above $220,000. She has not finished worse than second in her last seven outings. Shoop ran the 1 1/8 miles in a solid 1: 49 2/5."I've ridden this mare and won on her and believe me, she has a ton of heart," said jockey Julio Pezua.

The Double Triple is gone. The Bonanza is on the horizon.Beginning Saturday at Laurel Park, Maryland tracks will introduce a new exotic bet that will be offered on weekend cards to fans throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.The Bonanza will be a regional pick six affair that features two races each from Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, usually overnight events.Races will be the fourth and fifth on each track's card with post times set so that Bonanza races are run eight minutes apart."We're all excited about creating a unique wagering opportunity for fans throughout the Mid-Atlantic area as a first step in regional cooperation," said Joe De Francis, president of the Maryland Jockey Club.

YORK, Pa.-- A lavish off-track betting parlor, one of the most well-appointed pari-mutuel facilities in the mid-Atlantic region, opened here last week and is spurring Maryland racetrack operators to accelerate efforts to open an upscale facility at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.Laurel/Pimlico president Joe De Francis said he is fielding telephone calls from local fans who are discovering the York facility.Towson attorney Mo Balser, a horse owner as well as a fan, said that after one trip to the York OTB, he is considering changing his race-going habits.

One-thousand slot machines are likely to be installed and in use at Delaware Park by midsummer, says Steve Kallens, the track's newly re-hired director of marketing.Rules and regulations governing management of the machines have just about been completed by Delaware's lottery commission, which will oversee their use, and renovations have begun at the track for their installation.The slots are the first of two tests of increased competition that the Maryland tracks will face this year.The other is Penn National's new off-track betting parlor in York, Pa., a plush, 25,000-square-foot facility expected to open in mid-March.

GRANTVILLE, Pa. -- The Penn National Races canceled last night's scheduled 10-race card because of severe wind chill and icy weather conditions.Live racing is to resume today at 1:30 p.m. with a 10-race program.

Charles Town canceled yesterday's scheduled races because of the severe cold. The weather also forced Penn National to call off its scheduled 10-race program after the second race.

The Baltimore Sun is offering expanded horse racing results and entries through Sundial, our telephone information service, and Sunfax, our fax service. Both services are free.Entries and results from Maryland racetracks will continue to run in the newspaper and also will be available via Sundial and Sunfax. Entries and results from selected racetracks outside the state, including the addition of those tracks simulcast in Maryland, can be obtained on Sundial and Sunfax. Entries and results from out-of-state tracks will not be printed in the newspaper.

Penn National, Rosecroft and Charles Town canceled last night's racing cards because of severe winter weather and heavy snow.

Maryland's slots commission on Wednesday approved expanding a proposed Cecil County gaming facility from 500 to 1,500 machines and is poised to award the state's second license there later this month. Penn National Gaming, which would build and run a facility in Perryville, is financially sound and "clearly satisfies the standards" for a Maryland slots parlor operator, said Buddy Roogow, director of the state lottery, which regulates gambling and is conducting background checks on the licensing applicants.

Cordish Co. sells stake in Kansas casino project Baltimore developer the Cordish Co. has agreed to sell its share of a proposed Hard Rock casino/entertainment project at a Kansas racetrack to Penn National Gaming Inc. to focus efforts on a proposed slots casino in Anne Arundel County. Cordish announced Thursday it is selling its 50 percent interest in Kansas Entertainment LLC, a partnership with the owner of Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, to Penn National for an undisclosed amount. A subsidiary of Penn National had been competing with Cordish for a Kansas gaming license at another location.

A major national gambling company is exploring a bid to operate a slot machine casino at Laurel Park, officials said this week, as uncertainty mounts over a contentious proposal to erect a mega-casino at Arundel Mills mall. "We have been having some early discussion" with potential partners, said D. Eric Schippers, a spokesman for Penn National Gaming Inc. of Wyomissing, Pa., near Reading. He said the company's interest was fueled by reports that the Anne Arundel County Council was deadlocked on a zoning bill needed for the mall-side casino and entertainment resort proposed by Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. Penn National owns West Virginia's Charles Town Races and Slots.

The chairman of a commission charged with awarding Maryland's five casino licenses said Tuesday that "there's more optimism" these days for a gambling-related windfall to state coffers despite a recession and lackluster initial interest from the private sector. Donald C. Fry, a former Harford County delegate who heads the politically appointed panel, said he based his hopeful prognosis on new expectations that a full-scale casino will come to downtown Baltimore and on preliminary feedback from consultants hired to advise the commission.

A national casino operator has secured a deal with one of Cecil County's largest landowners that could pave the way for a slots parlor just across the Interstate 95 tolls in Perryville if voters approve November's gambling referendum. Penn National Gaming Inc. announced this week that it secured an option to buy 36 acres to operate a slots venue on the grounds of a proposed 150-acre tourism complex being developed by Stewart Associates, a major property owner in the county. Penn National, which owns Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia, among other venues, has also vowed to use its financial muscle to push for the slots referendum.

A deal to sell Rosecroft Raceway to Penn National Gaming was announced by both parties yesterday after a full vote of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association approved the deal that had been tentatively accepted two weeks ago. "I think this is a very definite positive for the harness industry," said Tom Chuckas Jr., Rosecroft's chief executive officer. "I see it stabilizing racing here at Rosecroft for an extended period of time for the harness horsemen in purses and days of racing.

The confrontational tone of recent Maryland Racing Commission meetings gave way yesterday to one of conciliation. Meeting at Laurel Park, commissioners commended Magna Entertainment Corp. for progress in meeting its commitment to upgrade the barn areas at Pimlico, Laurel and the Bowie Training Center. Jim McAlpine, president of Magna, parent company of the Maryland Jockey Club, told commissioners his company had spent $2.8 million on backstretch upgrades as of Aug. 31 and had deposited $2.2 million into an escrow account to pay for ongoing improvements.

Five jockeys and two thoroughbred owners have agreed to plead guilty to fixing races earlier this year at Penn National race track, federal prosecutors said yesterday. Under the plea agreements, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, each of the owners and jockeys could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined $250,000. David M. Barasch, United States attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said he does not expect any of the defendants to receive the maximum sentence.

GRANTVILLE, Pa. - Fortyeight Braves broke from the gate as the favorite in the ninth race at Penn National. But the horse - or, at least, his rider - didn't get far. "Even a novice could see there was something suspect there," said the thoroughbred's owner, Bradley Rowe, recalling his disbelief at seeing jockey Lazaro Vives tumble from the horse just a step or two into the race. "It looked too fake." Vives' unlikely fall on that evening last February was more than worthy of suspicion, according to racing officials.

With the talented Meadow Monster scratched, the $72,875 Housebuster Handicap became a wide-open affair yesterday at Laurel Park.It was Wise Dusty who closed the door.On a lightning-fast track, the chestnut gelding dominated five rivals and scored a three-length victory, perhaps gaining himself a shot at the big boys in the $300,000 De Francis Dash July 19.Wise Dusty finished the six furlongs in 1: 08 4/5, only three-fifths of a second off Fighting Notion's track record."We were looking at it [the De Francis]