Wagering

Horse racing Without 'Rachel' buzz, Pimlico spring meet wagering down Average wagering figures at the Pimlico Race Course spring meeting were 8.7 percent lower than comparable 2009 dates. The average daily handle went from $6.854 million to $6.257million. The meet featured 20 live racing dates and 21 simulcast days. "We expected the numbers to be down based on the Preakness figures, which dictate whether the numbers will be up or down for the meet," said Tom Chuckas, Maryland Jockey Club president and chief operating officer.

In November, voters approved a major expansion of Maryland's gambling program on the promise that allowing table games and eventually building a sixth casino would ensure that the gambling dollars state residents spend would go toward funding education here and not in states like West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This week, we got the first preliminary snapshot of how that bargain is working out, and it should give us some pause. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission reported its first set of figures since the Maryland Live Casino in Anne Arundel County added table games.

Et cetera Pimlico wagering up 9 percent from 2011 The Maryland Jockey Club concluded its spring meeting at Pimlico Race Course last weekend, posting average wagering figures that were 9 percent higher than those at the 2011 spring meet. The average daily handle went from $4.72 million to $5.17 million. The stand featured 29 live racing dates and 21 simulcast days. "We finished strong as betting was up in May on nine of 11 days of live racing," Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said.

Annapolis may be located on the banks of the Severn River, but during the first three months of the year it often seems to be an island - so isolated are members of the General Assembly from real life. The gyrations of lawmakers over the high-stakes issues of gambling and transportation have produced many such only-in-the-State-House moments in recent years. So, naturally, it makes sense that when the two are combined - as in an absurd proposal to install 2,500 slot machines at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport - the result is the kind of empty, pandering legislation that does the institution no credit.

Aided by a record attendance at the Preakness and strong export numbers, total wagering improved last year for the tracks operated by the Maryland Jockey Club. All-sources handle totaled $960.2 million, an increase of more than $64 million (or 7.2 percent) over 2005 figures, and the average daily handle from all sources rose more than 15 percent to $4.1 million despite 11 fewer days of live racing at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park. Lou Raffetto, president and chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club, found the results "encouraging.

While a picture-perfect afternoon greeted an announced 5,253 on the opening day of the 2008 Pimlico spring meeting yesterday - 600 more than last year's opener - the climate wasn't nearly as friendly for the recently concluded winter meet at Laurel Park. Total wagering at Laurel this winter was down 17.3 percent from last year, dropping from $3.56 million per day to $2.943 million, according to figures released yesterday.

The management of Laurel and Pimlico race courses was involved deeply in talks involving intertrack wagering last week.The track operators are asking for more help from members of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association concerning the current ITW between Laurel and Pimlico.Nowadays, the horsemen (owners and trainers) give up $1,000 per day toward expenses of having the video signal sent to Pimlico so customers there can bet on live races run at Laurel.But Tuesday evening, the MTHA board of directors will meet to consider a request for them to relinquish $2,500 more from the purse fund to make the ITW venture profitable.

Beginning today, Maryland's six wagering outlets will take bets on full-card simulcasts from Saratoga and Del Mar, two of the nation's great resort racetracks that open this afternoon.Maryland's two newest stakes stars are expected to compete in rich events during the two meets. Jacody, owned by Arnold Mekiliesky of Randallstown and Donna Donovan of Baltimore, is expected to take on leading 3-year-old filly Sky Beauty in the $500,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 14.A week later, Bob and Jane Meyerhoff's Valley Crossing will run in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21. Both horses won important races at Monmouth Park last weekend.

Despite a year of turmoil over slots issues and racing dates, wagering at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park increased in 2005, according to figures released by the Maryland Jockey Club yesterday. Fueled by a record-setting Preakness, a new turf course at Laurel and two stakes-heavy cards on the Laurel fall calendar, the total handle climbed from $868.1 million in 2004 to $896.1 million in 2005. The daily average handle increased by nearly 4 percent to $3.54 million. And wagering during the Laurel fall meeting was up nearly 30 percent, while export numbers were up more than 60 percent from the previous autumn.

Laurel Park registered a total wagering increase of 6 percent at its 22-day summer meeting that concluded last week. All-sources handle was $71.8 million - compared to $67.7 million in 2002 - and the export handle (betting at other tracks on Maryland racing) increased from $21.7 million to $26.1 million, a whopping 20.4 percent rise. Lou Raffetto, chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club, said the most encouraging aspect was the stability of in-state business. "We were not able to use the turf course nearly as much as in 2002, and the fact that our in-state business was still relatively on par with last year is a good sign," he said.

In a departure from the usual wager of Maryland blue crabs, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced Friday they are betting a day of service on Sunday's Super Bowl. The mayor representing the winning city will host the losing city's mayor for a day of volunteerism organized through AmeriCorps. "The Baltimore Ravens reached the Super Bowl this year with a combination of devastating defense and flawless offence," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement announcing the wager.

Victoria Hopkins-Rheubottom - sporting a purple wig and team gear from head to toe - played the part of unofficial Ravens cheerleader Friday at the Inner Harbor for a visit from the "Today Show," part of the countdown to Super Bowl Sunday. The Southwest Baltimore woman, a retired federal government worker, said she's proud of the team and excited for Baltimore's turn in the national spotlight. The waterfront rally, the second this week, brought hundreds together. "When you're a Ravens fan, it doesn't matter - you're a Ravens fan," Hopkins-Rheubottom said.

Et cetera Md. horse wagering rose 7.5 percent in 2012 The Maryland Jockey Club ended its 2012 racing season last week, posting average wagering figures that were 7.5 percent higher than in 2011. The average daily handle went from $2.27 million to $2.44million. The year had 145 live racing dates and 206 simulcast days. Live handle figures increased nearly 6 percent from $176,300 to $186,700, while the export numbers grew almost 17 percent from $1.7 million to $1.975 million per day. "It is significant news that the live and export numbers increased from a year ago. We finished strong at Pimlico in the spring and kept the momentum going during the Laurel Park fall meeting," Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said.

The absence of Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another opens up the 2012 Belmont Stakes from a wagering perspective. Dullahan and Union Rags are likely to be co-favorites, with Dullahan possibly taking slightly more wagering. The Union Rags faithful still believe he is one of the top horses in the country despite back-to-back disappointments in the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. He did take one of the worst trips in the Derby and ran very well once he found room. Dullahan was moving the best at the end of the Derby, finishing a strong third.

Et cetera Pimlico wagering up 9 percent from 2011 The Maryland Jockey Club concluded its spring meeting at Pimlico Race Course last weekend, posting average wagering figures that were 9 percent higher than those at the 2011 spring meet. The average daily handle went from $4.72 million to $5.17 million. The stand featured 29 live racing dates and 21 simulcast days. "We finished strong as betting was up in May on nine of 11 days of live racing," Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said.

The computer program came up with Hansen, and he certainly has a shot. However, Hansen's last prep race was very telling, and not in ways that suggest he can win. Many observers felt his Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory last fall demonstrated some distance limitations, and those concerns seem to have been validated in the Blue Grass Stakes, where he gave up the lead in the stretch. Additionally, his owner suggested that he would not go to the lead in the Blue Grass, but he surged to the lead and carved out fairly solid fractions.

Pimlico officials are reminding bettors to wager early today, one of the biggest betting days of the year at the track.With a large crowd anticipated for the Kentucky Derby and full-card, multi-signal wagering in use, lines are expected to be long at the windows."

Inter-track wagering has not reached the finish line yet.Pimlico-Laurel president Joe De Francis said yesterday that an interim agreement has been struck with the harness racing industry to continue the inter-track wagering experiment until a long-term solution can be negotiated.De Francis emphasized that the interim deal was made to take care of the betting customers instead of halting the six-week experiment.Last week, Alan Foreman, attorney for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, announced that talks had come to an impasse and the inter-track experiment would end with the beginning of racing at Laurel tomorrow.

Here's another $10,000 wager for which Mitt Romney won't find many takers: We bet the public is disappointed with the choices for president of the United States in 2012. That's a pretty remarkable circumstance given that the general election is still nearly a year away. For those who missed Saturday's Republican debate, the moment observers were left talking about was the size of Mr. Romney's proposed bet to Rick Perry if the Texas governor could prove that he rewrote his book to reflect a changed position on Massachusetts health care reform.

Maryland's oldest and largest off-track betting facility will shut down next month, its owners said Tuesday, because it can no longer sustain losses. The closure of the Cracked Claw restaurant and sports palace in Frederick County on Oct. 9 is the latest blow to the state's ailing racing industry as it struggles to reinvent itself amid declining betting and popularity. The closure leaves three OTB facilities in Maryland. "It's another hit," said Mike Hopkins, executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission, which regulates the sport.