With Maryland's racing industry still on shaky ground, longtime racing commission member John Franzone is spearheading efforts to bring various stakeholders together and craft legislative proposals that would help revitalize the sport's future in the state.
Franzone, who proposed his plan at a Maryland Racing Commission meeting Tuesday, said it would involve representatives from thoroughbred and harness racing — two groups that have not always gotten along — as well as track management. Joining Franzone will be racing commission members David Hayden, Tom Winebrener and Ernest Grecco.
"If we don't come together with a unified plan, we're toast," Franzone said.
A deal struck last month guaranteed that live thoroughbred racing and the Preakness Stakes would continue at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in 2011. But track management, horse owners, breeders and trainers said they need to resolve lingering problems to ensure the sport's long-term survival.
The state's harness industry is not faring well either. Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County has been in bankruptcy, and a judge approved Tuesday putting the track up for auction Jan. 28. Potential buyers can try to outbid Baltimore lawyer and Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, the "stalking horse," or lead bidder.
Angelos agreed to buy the harness track for $9 million in cash, plus $5 million if a referendum to expand gambling is approved and slots are operational at the racetrack by December 2012. The sale won't be resolved until at least Feb. 2, when the bankruptcy judge considers the winning bid.
The Franzone-led group wants to include Rosecroft's new owner in discussions. They hope to have proposals ready before the General Assembly session ends in April.
Rosecroft filed for bankruptcy in June 2009, and the track closed a year later, leaving Ocean Downs near Ocean City as the state's sole harness track. Ocean Downs will resume its 40-day live racing season in the summer after being suspended last year as a casino was built.
Ocean Downs owner William M. Rickman, who opened the casino at the track this month, said he would participate in Franzone's group.
"It's hard to believe we're the only one standing" and the only Maryland racetrack with a slots license, Rickman said. He said he has ideas for bolstering the ailing racing industry but declined to make them public at the commission meeting.
Franzone said the group would open at least one of its meetings to the public after Cynthia McGinnes, owner of Thornmar Farm in Chestertown on the Eastern Shore, said she doesn't always agree with the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, which represents owners and trainers.