Penn National

Penn National Gaming is in the entertainment industry, so perhaps the company is going for laughs of late. Its latest claim — that a state commission's concerns over Penn National's efforts to quash slots machines at Arundel Mills Mall is a violation of their First Amendment rights — can't be serious. Company officials must believe they can play Maryland taxpayers for chumps. On the one hand, Penn National holds a profitable license to operate a 1,500-machine slots parlor in Cecil County.

Hollywood Casino offers multiple entertainment options, like slots, table games, live racing and simulcasting, as well a gift shop and museum. This destination is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming, Inc., which one of the largest gaming companies in the nation. Casino hours: 24 hours a day. Games to play: Live table games include blackjack, craps, roulette, card games and baccarat, along with a 16-table poker room. The casino has 2,450 slots, including reel, video slot and video poker machines.

When Penn National Gaming bought the bankrupt Rosecroft Raceway this year, it promised to resume live harness racing there for the first time in nearly three years. To be sure, the giant national gambling conglomerate made clear its intent to also seek slot machines or other kinds of expanded gambling there. But the commitment to resuming racing sounded unconditional: "As the largest operator of pari-mutuel facilities in the country, and the host to an industry high 1,300 live racing events annually, we are uniquely qualified and look forward to working with Rosecroft stakeholders to attempt to restore live racing," the company's CEO, Peter M. Carlino, said in a news release after the purchase was finalized.

Rapid Redux started 2012 the way he finished last year — winning. The victory in the sixth race at Laurel Park Wednesday was the 22nd straight for the horse, who held off Awesome Rhythm. Rapid Redux paid $2.80 as the 2-5 betting favorite. Earlier in the day it was announced that Rapid Redux had earned a Special Eclipse Award and his owner, Robert Cole, will receive it later this month in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Being a local it is fun winning in front of the home crowd," said Cole, a 1981 graduate of Loch Raven High School.

The Maryland Racing Commission and the horse community are right: The Maryland Jockey Club, MI Development and Penn National have no commitment to racing ( "Preakness at risk," Dec. 1). MID, a real estate firm, just wants to commercially develop Laurel Park. Penn National just wants to protect its casino at Charles Town and maybe get another casino by threatening to end Maryland racing. Success at Laurel would threaten these interests, so no wonder it is failing. Racing dates belong to the state.

Because of poor track conditions, Penn National canceled its racing card last night.

Penn National Gaming, the owner of the Hollywood Casino Perryville, said Thursday that it would consider selling the Cecil County facility so it could develop a slots parlor at Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County. Executives at the Pennsylvania-based gaming company are counting on voters in Anne Arundel to defeat the Cordish Cos.' plans to build a casino at Arundel Mills in next month's referendum. They are also counting on Maryland to reopen the bidding process for the slots license there.

A jilted bidder is objecting to casino operator Penn National Gaming's $10.25 million purchase of bankrupt Rosecroft Raceway, arguing it had the higher and better offer at last week's auction. Landow Partners, whose principals include former state Democratic Party Chairman Nathan Landow, said the trustee overseeing Rosecroft's bankruptcy "did not exercise the appropriate business judgment and failed to obtain the maximum value" for the Prince George's County harness track, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Penn National Gaming, which operates the slot machine casino that opened last week in Cecil County, is free to support a campaign against construction of a similar parlor in Anne Arundel County, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler said in an opinion issued Tuesday. The Cordish Cos., which cannot build at Arundel Mills unless county voters approve the plan in a referendum next month, had asked the Maryland Lottery Commission to levy "substantial fines" against Penn National for helping to fund a group that opposes the project.

Penn National canceled live racing last night because of the icy weather. Penn National is dark today, but is scheduled to race tomorrow night at 7:30.

Racing history could be made at Laurel Park as Rapid Redux, who has won 18 consecutive starts, looks to tie the all-time North American record of 19 straight victories held by Zenyatta and Peppers Pride, when he starts in Thursday afternoon's 6 th race, a $20,000 starter allowance. The seven-furlong test drew seven runners, including Maryland Million Starter Handicap winner Shordzwatyadrink. Rapid Redux will start from post position six. Post time will be approximately 3:30 p.m. “It looks good,” owner Robert Cole said.

It's difficult to know whether to be more insulted or admiring of Penn National Gaming's latest effort to milk the residents of Maryland (and perhaps some surrounding states) for all they are worth. For sheer chutzpah, it's hard to beat a company that releases not one but two consultants' studies revealing that turning Rosecroft Raceway into a massive casino could be extremely profitable for - drum roll, please - - Penn National Gaming. Well, duh. Was there some doubt lingering in the public's mind that installing thousands of slot machines as well as possible table games in a brand-new facility in the Washington suburbs might generate much in the way of jobs or revenue?

Renewed jostling to expand gambling in the state began Wednesday as a national casino operator painted its proposal to build a casino in Prince George's County as good for taxpayers and as Frederick County lawmakers asked constituents if they want slots there. Penn National Gaming, which owns a slots parlor in Cecil County, released economic impact studies that found that slots at its Rosecroft Raceway horse-racing track in Prince George's would generate at least $346 million in tax revenue in the first year of operation.

Rosecroft Raceway will resume horse racing in three weeks after state regulators came to an agreement Friday with the facility's owner over operating losses. The Maryland Racing Commission voted unanimously to accept a proposal by Penn National Gaming to take out a $1.4 million line of credit to cover projected operating losses at Rosecroft for 2011 and 2012. This will allow the track that closed last year to begin simulcasting races next month and live harness racing in October.

When Penn National Gaming bought the bankrupt Rosecroft Raceway this year, it promised to resume live harness racing there for the first time in nearly three years. To be sure, the giant national gambling conglomerate made clear its intent to also seek slot machines or other kinds of expanded gambling there. But the commitment to resuming racing sounded unconditional: "As the largest operator of pari-mutuel facilities in the country, and the host to an industry high 1,300 live racing events annually, we are uniquely qualified and look forward to working with Rosecroft stakeholders to attempt to restore live racing," the company's CEO, Peter M. Carlino, said in a news release after the purchase was finalized.

The co-owners of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course have ended their tumultuous one-year partnership, leaving Maryland's thoroughbred racetrack operator with a single owner. Penn National Gaming said Thursday it had agreed to sell its minority stake in the Maryland Jockey Club to horse owner and breeder Frank Stronach. The breakup comes as the struggling racing industry works on a long-term plan to secure the future of a sport that has seen attendance and betting decline for at least a decade, especially as neighboring states opened casinos years before Maryland.

We on the editorial page have been strongly critical of Penn National since its entree into Maryland horse racing last year on the grounds that we believed they were interested solely in finding a way to bring slots to the tracks -- or block competition for their existing casinos nearby -- rather than actually making a go of horse racing. Fairness dictates, then, that we make note of the company's application this week for a license to resume harness racing at Rosecroft Raceway, which Penn National bought at auction in January for $11 million.