Rosecroft Raceway

A bankruptcy judge this morning approved the sale of Rosecroft Raceway for later this month. The approval means that potential buyers can try to outbid Baltimore Orioles owner and lawyer Peter G. Angelos, who is the "stalking horse," or lead bidder, in the auction set for Jan. 28. Angelos agreed to buy the Prince George's County harness track for $9 million in cash, plus $5 million if a referendum to expand gambling is approved and slots are...

Penn National Gaming Inc.and the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association have agreed to a two-year contract extension that would keep live harness racing at Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County only if the General Assembly denies a casino license for nearby National Harbor, the company announced Tuesday. Penn National would like to see Rosecroft chosen as the site for a sixth gambling location in Maryland, but the site faces stiff competition from backers of the National Harbor location.

Rosecroft Raceway, founded in 1949 and closed in 2008, will reopen its doors on a new harness racing season Friday night. "We're ecstatic," Tom Cooke, president of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, told the Maryland Racing Commission at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday. " We're back to live racing, something a lot of people didn't think would ever happen. " Rosecroft is opening for 20 days of live racing on Friday and Saturday nights. It will feature a 10-race card with post time at 6:45 p.m. Cooke also told the Commission that Penn National, the track's new owner, is increasing the total nightly purse from $16,000 to $25,000.

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Maryland Secretary of State John P. McDonough, who is spearheading efforts to keep Rosecroft Raceway open, said Wednesday that there are two or three potential parties who have expressed interest in buying the harness track that closed in June. McDonough said the unidentified potential purchasers would be willing to step up if real estate developer Mark Vogel, a former owner of the track, is not successful in re-acquiring it. A Delaware bankruptcy judge earlier this year rejected Vogel's deal to purchase the track, which filed for bankruptcy in June 2009.

The Maryland Racing Commission extended Rosecroft Raceway's racing license on Tuesday for 45 days through April 14 after a hearing at its regular monthly meeting at Laurel Park. The extension was 15 days shorter than Rosecroft had requested, and the MRC also asked the track to submit by March 31 qualified accounting information for January and February through its current accounting firm or through another firm that would have to be approved by the commission. The commission had expected the financial information before Tuesday's board meeting and even though Rosecroft president and acting CEO Kelly Rogers said he thought he had provided enough to meet the commission's request, MRC chairman John Franzone noted the commission's displeasure at not having received a full report.

Rosecroft Raceway, the bankrupt racetrack in Prince George's County, will close July 1 after running out of money to operate — in yet another setback for the ailing horse racing industry in Maryland. Rosecroft had been struggling for years as it saw a revolving door of owners, stopped running live racing and then lost the right to broadcast simulcast thoroughbred races. Earlier this year, the state legislature rejected a bill sought by the track to legalize poker and table games there.

Casino operator Penn National Gaming emerged Friday as the new owner of bankrupt Rosecroft Raceway and made clear its intentions to push for slot machines at the Prince George's County track and to restart racing there. Penn National agreed to pay $10.25 million in cash for the harness track in an auction, outbidding Baltimore lawyer and Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos and one other unidentified bidder, said Michael J. Lichtenstein, the attorney representing the bankruptcy trustee, who oversaw the private sale.

The owners of Rosecroft Raceway said yesterday that they have settled a debt with a former business partner - clearing the way for the sale of the harness track to the family of Baltimore trial lawyer Peter G. Angelos. The track, located just off the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County, has been eyed as a potential site for a lucrative slot machine gambling license if the General Assembly decides to allow slots in Maryland. Rosecroft's former business partner, Northwind Racing LLC, was holding a mortgage on the track, which has struggled financially in recent years.

The state is expected to mediate negotiations on a new simulcasting agreement between Rosecroft Raceway and representatives of Maryland's thoroughbred racing. A state law aimed at helping the ailing industry calls for state-led mediation if Rosecroft and the Maryland Jockey Club, along with thoroughbred horse owners and breeders, fail to reach a deal to broadcast thoroughbred races at the Prince George's County harness track by Friday. The parties have not made progress. Eric Schippers, a spokesman for Penn National Gaming, which owns Rosecroft, said Thursday that the company expects the talks to go into mediation.

Rosecroft Raceway, founded in 1949 and closed in 2008, will reopen its doors on a new harness racing season Friday night. "We're ecstatic," Tom Cooke, president of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, told the Maryland Racing Commission at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday. " We're back to live racing, something a lot of people didn't think would ever happen. " Rosecroft is opening for 20 days of live racing on Friday and Saturday nights. It will feature a 10-race card with post time at 6:45 p.m. Cooke also told the Commission that Penn National, the track's new owner, is increasing the total nightly purse from $16,000 to $25,000.

A Prince George's County Council member, hoping to keep slots out of the county, introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban the gambling devices. The proposal comes just weeks after Rosecroft Raceway was reopened by its new owner, Penn National Gaming, which wants to offer slots and perhaps poker and other table games at the Fort Washington track. Proponents say Rosecroft, which went bankrupt and closed in 2010, cannot survive on horse racing alone. But many local leaders opposed bringing slots to Prince George's when they were authorized in other Maryland counties in 2008.

Rosecroft Raceway, which had been shuttered since last year, will re-open for simulcast races on Thursday. Under a new ownership, the Prince George's County harness track will open seven days a week to accept bets on harness and quarterhorse races from across the country. The track will resume live racing on Oct. 21 after a nearly three-year absence. Casino operator Penn National Gaming bought Rosecroft for $11 million earlier this year in a bankruptcy auction. Hanah.cho@baltsun.com An earlier version of this article misstated the amount of money for which Rosecroft sold at auction.

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.

We are disappointed to read the latest editorial attack against Penn National Gaming by The Sun ("Penn National's bluff," July 8). How can The Sun advocate that Penn be expected to write a blank check to cover years of potential future operating losses at the track as a condition of our racing license? The Sun readily acknowledges the challenges in running a failing business whose viability as a stand-alone racing enterprise is doubtful absent a long-term alternative revenue stream.

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.

Four Prince George's County firefighters were injured last night in a three-alarm fire that heavily damaged the grandstand of the Rosecroft Raceway in Oxon Hill.A parking lot attendant saw the fire and reported it at 6:02 p.m. -- just an hour before harness racing fans were scheduled to file into the grandstand for the night's races, said Peter Piringer, a fire department spokesman.Post time was 7:30 p.m. Horses were starting to make their way from the paddock to the track when the fire broke out, Mr. Piringer said.

A dozen companies and individuals, including a group led by the son of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, have submitted bids to buy Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County. The harness track, which is just off the Capital Beltway close to Washington and its Virginia and Maryland suburbs, is regarded by gambling experts as potentially the most lucrative site in Maryland for slot machines. Thomas Chuckas Jr., chief executive of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which owns the track, said Rosecroft had received 12 bids by a 5 p.m. deadline yesterday.

State racing regulators agreed Wednesday to grant a license for Rosecroft Raceway to resume live racing after a three-year hiatus, but placed financial conditions on the owner that some say will keep the facility's operations in limbo. Expressing concerns about the harness track's financial viability, the Maryland Racing Commission voted 7-1 to order parent Penn National Gaming to cover projected operating losses for 2011 and 2012. The decision means live racing won't necessarily resume any time soon at the Prince George's County track.

Maryland labor secretary Alexander Sanchez will begin leading mediation next week on a new simulcasting agreement between Rosecroft Raceway and representatives of Maryland's thoroughbred racing industry. The state-led mediation comes after Penn National Gaming, Rosecroft's owner, and the Maryland Jockey Club, along with thoroughbred owners and breeders, failed to reach a deal Friday. A state law aimed at helping the struggling racing industry called for mediation if an agreement is not struck.