Wagering

After 13 weather-related cancellations and a recent audit that showed the Maryland mile thoroughbred tracks posted record-breaking losses in 1993, the 52-day live racing meet at Laurel Race Course ended yesterday on a positive note.Betting figures for the first quarter of 1994 showed that total wagering increased 39 percent over a similar period last year and average daily handle on live racing days climbed 24.4 percent.The reason for the turnaround -- which began during the last half of 1993 -- is the addition of multiple signal simulcasting, the opening of six more off-track and inter-track betting outlets and simulcast-only cards presented on Wednesdays.

A Wall Street investment firm says Magna Entertainment Corp. - the company negotiating to buy Maryland's thoroughbred racetracks - has paid too much for low-quality tracks and that competitors will beat it in the race to attract bettors through computer and television wagering. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein recommended in a unusually comprehensive report to clients that they "reduce" their Magna holdings, signaling it expects the stock to fall 5 percent to 10 percent in the next year.

Maryland racing cards will become part of the daily diet in New Jersey and Delaware when Laurel Race Course's summer meeting begins July 2.Under arrangements between Laurel and Pimlico management and officials at Atlantic City Race Course, Garden State Park and Delaware Park, the Maryland signal will be transmitted to those out-of-state sites.In addition, wagers from those three tracks and from casinos in the Las Vegas Pari-Mutuel Association will be "commingled" with the on-track pools in Maryland to create a common betting pool and determine final payoffs.

The countdown began yesterday with the opening of Pimlico Race Course's spring meet. It's 44 days until the Preakness. The $1 million Preakness will take place May 15, two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont. The races make up the Triple Crown, the most popular series in American racing. On opening day at Pimlico, the Maryland Jockey Club released betting figures for Laurel Park's winter meet, which ended Sunday. Betting increased 2.3 percent compared with the same period last year ($245.

Reflecting a trend at horse tracks across the country, Laurel Park parlayed a successful fall into a successful 1998. Despite six fewer wagering days, betting at Pimlico, Laurel Park and their off-track betting sites increased 2.4 percent over 1997. "Considering the Preakness debacle and all that's happening around us, we've managed to hold our own pretty well," said Joe De Francis, majority owner of Pimlico and Laurel Park. Despite losing an estimated $2 million in wagers because of the power outage on Preakness day, the Maryland Jockey Club reported an increase in Maryland betting from $449,242,798 in 1997 to $459,826,969 in 1998.

Reflecting a trend at horse tracks across the country, Laurel Park parlayed a successful fall into a successful 1998. Despite six fewer wagering days, betting at Pimlico, Laurel Park and their off-track betting sites increased 2.4 percent over 1997.``Considering the Preakness debacle and all that's happening around us, we've managed to hold our own pretty well,'' said Joe De Francis, majority owner of Pimlico and Laurel Park.Despite losing an estimated $2 million in wagers because of the power outage on Preakness day, the Maryland Jockey Club reported an increase in Maryland betting from $449,242,798 in 1997 to $459,826,969 in 1998.

College basketball Report: Memphis responding to alleged NCAA violations The University of Memphis is responding to an NCAA notice of allegations accusing the men's basketball program of major violations during the 2007-08 season under John Calipari, a newspaper reported Wednesday. The allegations include "knowing fraudulence or misconduct" on an SAT exam by a player on that season's team, which finished runner-up in the NCAA tournament, The Commercial Appeal reported on its Web site.

With their team at 3-2 in the AFC North, Ravens fans have reason to be hopeful, if not overly confident, that the playoffs are still very much within reach. However, the Ravens' performance as measured in a slightly different way might portend more trouble than the team's won-lost record would indicate. Against the point spread - the odds that are set each week to determine by how many points one team needs to beat another for wagering purposes - the Ravens are 0-5. Only two other teams, the Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints, are winless against the oddsmakers' line this season.

New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez's apparent recent foray to a Manhattan poker den is hardly the first time a sports celebrity has publicly rubbed shoulders with gamblers, but he can thank changing mores for the relatively mild reaction the affair has gotten from baseball's overlords. Rodriguez reportedly was spotted in one of New York's underground poker clubs with card pro Phil Hellmuth in September. In New York, even if such a poker room is being operated illegally, it is not illegal to play in one. Still, when the A-Rod/Hellmuth sighting hit the New York papers last month, the Yankees front office's response reportedly was to suggest to the third baseman that he should re-examine his off-field pursuits - but there were no sanctions.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Greg Avioli, deputy commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, was talking about the Breeders' Cup, about the record wagering of $116 million, about the double-digit increase in TV ratings. "Everybody felt really good about the whole day," Avioli said. "And then came the next day." The next day, of course, produced the news of suspected fraud in wagering in the Breeders' Cup Pick Six. That scandal has dominated the racing industry ever since, and it dominated the 29th annual Symposium on Racing held here Tuesday through Friday.