Simulcasts

The Maryland Racing Commission met for a second straight day yesterday but adjourned without resolving the ownership issue at Rosecroft Raceway or the simulcast dispute between the standardbred and thoroughbred factions. The commission won't decide until it meets again in May whether Northwind Racing is an acceptable buyer for Rosecroft, the struggling harness track in Prince George's County. Commissioners heard more testimony yesterday at Pimlico - after opening the hearing Tuesday at the North East Racing and Sports Club in North East - but adjourned with more witnesses still to testify.

In Los Angeles, a screaming sold-out crowd that included the comedian Eddie Murphy and teen pop star Hilary Duff shrieked even louder when the musician Prince, wrapped in a pink-and-fuchsia suit, moaned "Dearly beloved" -- the first words of his 1985 gold record, "Let's Go Crazy." Nearly 3,000 miles away, a few hundred Prince fans -- although no celebrities in sight -- crammed two movie theaters in Columbia to react with their own hoots and hollers to a simulcast of Prince's show on the West Coast.

The owners of Pimlico and Laurel Park averted a showdown with horsemen over the possible shutdown of simulcasting by agreeing yesterday to keep the Pimlico stables open for the winter. On the second day of negotiations, representatives of the Maryland Jockey Club and its parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp., reached agreement with the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association over an issue that divided the racing industry and threatened to cripple it financially. The horsemen had threatened to try to stop the tracks from accepting bets on out-of-state races if track management proceeded with plans to close the Pimlico barn area for three months beginning Nov. 29. Betting on out-of-state races shown on television monitors amounts to about 70 percent of wagering at Pimlico, Laurel Park and off-track-betting sites.

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, which represents state racing trainers and owners, has voted to try to stop the Maryland Jockey Club from simulcasting out-of-state races. MTHA directors took the 11-1 vote Wednesday night and informed the MJC about it yesterday in a letter. The cessation in simulcasting would begin Nov. 30, the day after the MJC plans to close the Pimlico stables for the winter. If the horsemen's association is successful in stopping the simulcasting, then it would cripple the racing industry in the state.

Live racing at Pimlico Race Course was canceled yesterday, and the track will not conduct a live card today because of Hurricane Isabel. Simulcast action will be available at both Pimlico and Laurel Park today. Pimlico originally planned to run yesterday, but increasing wind and weather reports that strong rains would arrive sooner in the day than first forecast caused the change. Eight races yesterday and nine scheduled for today were affected. "We had anticipated some winds this afternoon, but once the forecast called for heavy rain moving in earlier than expected, we had to make this decision," said Lou Raffetto, chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club.

Races from Churchill Downs, Calder Race Course and Hollywood Park will be shown at mid-Atlantic racetracks today after the simulcast dispute between MidAtlantic Cooperative and Churchill Downs Simulcast Network was resolved last night. MidAtlantic Cooperative, a group of 17 tracks that includes Pimlico and Laurel Park, had rejected Churchill Downs' proposal for higher fees and pulled the plug on simulcast races from Churchill and its five sister tracks. The one-year deal ensures that mid-Atlantic tracks and betting outlets will receive races from Churchill Downs (including next Saturday's Kentucky Derby)

Tracks and betting outlets throughout the mid-Atlantic region have pulled the plug on races from Churchill Downs and its sister tracks over a dispute involving the split of betting proceeds. If the dispute is not resolved, the Kentucky Derby will not be shown at mid-Atlantic tracks and off-track-betting sites. MidAtlantic Cooperative, a group of 17 tracks that includes Pimlico and Laurel Park, broke off negotiations yesterday with Churchill Downs Simulcast Network, which controls the outgoing signal of races at Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park, Calder Race Course, Hoosier Park, Ellis Park and Arlington Park.

Valora Testerman grew up in Lutherville, about a five-minute drive from Timonium. That was her racetrack, her beloved Timonium. Two weeks ago, during her first trip to everyone else's beloved Saratoga, she was asked what she thought of the festive track in upstate New York. "It's like Timonium without the fair," said Testerman, a trainer based at Pimlico. Now that we've established that Saratoga falls a fair short of Timonium, let's look ahead to Saturday and the opening of Testerman's track at the state fairgrounds north of Baltimore.

An appeals court has ruled against an effort by Rosecroft Raceway, a harness racing track near Washington, to simulcast thoroughbred racing independent of the state's thoroughbred tracks.For several years, thoroughbred and harness tracks have telecast and accepted bets on each other's races and those coming from out of state through a complicated agreement in which they shared tracks and revenue. Last year, Rosecroft withdrew from the agreement with the thoroughbred tracks -- owned by the Maryland Jockey Club -- and sought permission from the Maryland Racing Commission to simulcast out-of-town thoroughbred races in competition with the Jockey Club.

Frank Stronach's Magna International Inc. announced yesterday the purchase of Gulfstream Park, adding the premier southern Florida horse track to its budding racing empire.Last fall, Stronach's Ontario-based company, one of the world's largest manufacturers of auto parts, bought Santa Anita Park in southern California for $126 million. The price tag for Gulfstream Park was $87 million.Stronach, a prominent horse owner and breeder, has said he plans to acquire more tracks.He was quoted in the Daily Racing Form as saying he will now pursue Monmouth Park, a summer track on the Jersey shore that is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.