Race Track

If the Black Eyed Susan were a race horse, it would be a sprinter. It makes one strong move, then fades quickly. The strong move occurs this weekend when the cocktail will be in demand at Pamlico Race Track, during both the running of the Black Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Over these two days, about 25,000 servings of the libation, poured into commemorative glasses, will be sold at $8 apiece, track officials say. But as soon as Preakness weekend ends, so does the does the local thirst for the Susan.

Maryland, and specifically the Baltimore region, has a long and storied history as a major player in horse racing. Thoroughbred owners, trainers and the horses live and work in our valleys, and every year the Preakness Stakes brings tens of thousands of people to Charm City. As told in the Jan. 27 article "Next steps for MD. racing," the profitability of the sport has been in major decline over the last several decades. If the horse-racing industry is to be saved, it must learn from other sports and venues in order to reinvent itself as a 21st century form of entertainment.

State legislators will decide in the coming days whether to pass Gov. Martin O'Malley's horse racing bill (HB1039/SB848). The legislation creates a process whereby thoroughbred and harness track owners can apply to the state for operating subsidies from slots revenue — if they can demonstrate that the funds are needed to run races. To be approved for these funds, track owners must get business and marketing plans approved by our Maryland Racing Commission. That gives the state and the public input and influence.

Kudos to The Sun's sports staff and their recent coverage of the grand old Maryland tradition of horse racing ("Digest: Maryland horse wagering rose 7.5 percent in 2012," Jan. 6). Several important stakes races attracting national and international racing stars are being run at Laurel, and it is great that they are getting some coverage. The 15,000 Maryland race track employees, hay growers, vets, farriers and countless fans thank you for this much-needed support. April I. Smith Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

After nearly a year of acrimonious debate and various conflicting or incomplete studies, the heads of Harford County and Havre de Grace governments have declared their opposition to a 550-acre motorsports race track proposed for west of the city.Their rejection came even before the track developer purchased the land or applied for rezoning or annexation by Havre de Grace, which (for water and sewage facilities) is essential to his plans.While neither County Executive Eileen Rehrmann nor Mayor Gunther Hirsch has power to veto the speedway plan -- the decision will be up to the city and county councils -- their opposition aims to stop the project dead in its tracks.

THE latest skirmish in the Battle of Western Maryland ended in a standoff, and a temporary withdrawal of forces. But fear not: The troops seeking to march into Allegany County to build a "little country race track" will be back, armed with more ammunition. So will the foot soldiers opposing this incursion, whose aim is to protect their own tracks in the Baltimore-Washington region. It's a curious conflict. For starters, there's no economic justification for placing a race track in rural Little Orleans.

A counterfeit $100 bill turned up Sunday at the Laurel Race Track -- passed to a pari-mutuel clerk by a Virginia bettor who insisted that another track clerk had given it to him, authorities said.Western District Officer Jeffrey Little retrieved the bogus bill from the pari-mutuel clerk and turned it over to the Secret Service, which investigates incidents involving counterfeit money.The teller identified a 52-year-old Virginia man as the one who gave her the money, but he in turn said that the bill had been given to him earlier in the day by another clerk.

On Feb. 2, 1961, at 1 p.m., a train carrying fans to Bowie Race Course derailed near the race track, killing six and injuring more than 200. Undaunted, a number of passengers scrambled over the dead and wounded, smashed windows and hurried on foot to Bowie, in 15-degree cold, to place their bets before the first race. One man walked to the track with a broken collarbone. Another limped out of the woods nearby carrying a bag of money and one of his shoes. "I saw people with blood all over them, standing there (at the mutual windows)

Kudos to The Sun's sports staff and their recent coverage of the grand old Maryland tradition of horse racing ("Digest: Maryland horse wagering rose 7.5 percent in 2012," Jan. 6). Several important stakes races attracting national and international racing stars are being run at Laurel, and it is great that they are getting some coverage. The 15,000 Maryland race track employees, hay growers, vets, farriers and countless fans thank you for this much-needed support. April I. Smith Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Long before there was a Patuxent Greens Golf Course or Stewart Towers high rise building, a mammoth oval race track occupied that area of land off Route 197, near Route 198. Horse racing at Laurel Park racetrack had been ongoing since 1911, but in 1924 an idea was pitched to the public to construct the Baltimore-Washington Speedway, a new wooden track for auto racing. Promoters issued a slick brochure for potential investors, extolling the benefits of the enterprise and describing the proposed track and how investing in it worked.

Long before there was a Patuxent Greens Golf Course or Stewart Towers high rise building, a mammoth oval race track occupied that area of land off Route 197, near Route 198. Horse racing at Laurel Park racetrack had been ongoing since 1911, but in 1924 an idea was pitched to the public to construct the Baltimore-Washington Speedway, a new wooden track for auto racing. Promoters issued a slick brochure for potential investors, extolling the benefits of the enterprise and describing the proposed track and how investing in it worked.

Regarding your report that Sparrows Point is again up for sale, due to past uses of the land there's not much that can be done with now. However, it could make an excellent site for a race track. With the Baltimore Grand Prix IndyCar race supposedly a success, maybe it is time to try finding interested parties to operate a track. Sparrows Point can never be turned into housing, but a huge track with bleachers would be perfect. There are many racing enthusiasts in Maryland and many actually race their own vehicles.

The Grand Prix of Baltimore was IndyCar points leader Will Power's chance to wrap up his first title on a street course, the kind of race track that is his forte. He couldn't do it. Now he has to go to Fontana, Calif., to a 500-mile race on an oval. The mere thought of it is enough to make Michael Andretti, who owns the car driven by Power's main foe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, just a little bit cocky. "We're going to win this thing," Andretti said as soon as Sunday's Grand Prix was over and his driver, Hunter-Reay, had won the Baltimore race and closed within 17 points of Power.

Dyslexia slowed driver Justin Wilson in his pursuit of an education and his auto racing career, but it also was part of the reason he initially spent as much time as he could with the sport and it prepared him for his future. Auto racing provided Wilson a place where his athleticism and coordination took precedence over his ability to make out the meaning of words. "I found out at 13 I had dyslexia," Wilson said between practices for a recent race. "To that point I had struggled at school.

Many years ago, longtime NASCAR crew chief Harry Hyde said a stock car is "like an egg. You have to handle it gently or it will break. " Though at its heart it was true, it was a shocking statement. Who compares a stock car — a big, brute of a car — to such a thin-shelled egg? That philosophy may have found its match during a Grand Prix of Baltimore interview with Helio Castroneves when he compared driving an Indy car to dancing. "There are no secrets," Castroneves said, when asked how competitors on Dancing with the Stars are able to perform intricate moves so quickly.

Scott Dixon had been in this position before - out front in the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It was a very familiar place to be. But it wasn't comfortable. At one point, he was so far ahead, he thought he'd done something wrong. But it was just Dixon's dominance. Still, he said, he never thought he had the race won until he took the checkered flag. "Until it's over you never know," said Dixon, who won Sunday at the track for the fourth time in six years.

Guard hit by truck while directing trafficA Baltimore man was in critical condition yesterday at Prince George's Hospital Center after being hit by a truck in front of the Laurel Race Track Sunday.According to the police report, Charles Dixon, 68, a race track security guard was directing traffic at Race Track Road and Route 198. Mr. Dixon waved the truck through the intersection, but then stepped in front of the truck and was hit.Mr. Dixon, of the first block of Arkla Court, was taken to the Prince George's County hospital's Shock Trauma Center by helicopter.

In another time, Maryland was a hotbed for horse racing, its history rich and its purses comparable to other states. It was a place where jockeys could make a career and not have to contemplate leaving for New York or California. Since the late 1980s, and maybe longer, being an up-and-coming rider at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park has been akin to being a burgeoning major league star at Camden Yards. Bigger markets — with longer racing seasons and more lucrative purses — beckon.

Organizers of the Grand Prix of Baltimore are working hard to avoid traffic delays as they begin the construction of the street course for the Labor Day weekend racing event in the city. A year ago, a series of road closures snarled traffic, disrupted downtown business operations and ignited tempers of residents and workers in Baltimore. Monday, at the official placing of the first ceremonial concrete block at the intersection of Pratt and Light streets, general manager Tim Mayer said the organization is planning the construction in order to avoid a repeat this year.

Before trainer Michael Matz can find out if Union Rags will get the clean trip he failed to get at the Kentucky Derby, the promising colt must hope for some luck with traffic. Union Rags, like all of the horses set to run in the 144th Belmont on Saturday, is due to check in at a newly established stakes barn at the Elmont, N.Y., race track by noon Wednesday. Matz, one of several trainers who questioned the announcement last week of stiff new rules for Belmont hopefuls, is intent on galloping his colt at his Elkton, Md., base before shipping.