Despite the trophy presentations and champagne toasts, the Maryland Million last year provided a sobering glimpse of the state of Maryland breeding.

Of the 11 races for offspring of Maryland stallions, only four were won by Maryland-breds. Winners of the other seven, including the Maryland Million Classic, were sired by Maryland stallions but born in other states.

"There's no excitement in Maryland," said Richard Golden, president of the prestigious Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City in Cecil County. "It's a feeling like we're being left behind."

Golden and others are concerned that trends especially evident this year will result in fewer horses being born in Maryland -- and more horses born outside the state winning Maryland Million races. That probably won't happen tomorrow, when the 17th Maryland Million takes place at Pimlico, because 91 of the 116 horses entered are Maryland-breds.

All those horses, however, were born in 2000 or earlier. In the past year or two, more horse owners have looked outside Maryland for birthing stalls and homes for their mares, local breeders say. That's because owners can make more money breeding, selling or racing horses in states that have matched or surpassed Maryland in financial incentives.

Horses are considered "bred" where they are born, not conceived. For example, the winner of last year's Classic, Sumerset -- back to defend his crown -- was sired by Allen's Prospect but born in Pennsylvania.

Golden said that his 11 stallions bred 10 percent fewer mares this year than last. This was the first year, he said, business at Northview had declined since its establishment in 1988.

"All the reasons why Northview located in Maryland have disappeared," Golden said. "Every year there's less of a reason for people to breed to our stallions. More than that, there's less reason to foal their mares here. If people stop coming to Maryland to foal their mares, these farms will turn into housing projects."

Maryland's breeding is tied to the health of the state's racing industry, which is stagnant. Racing in states such as Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and even West Virginia has become more lucrative. The reasons vary depending on the state, but center on proceeds from slot machines, modern off-track-betting centers or successful telephone-betting networks.

In those states, purses and/or breeder rewards have soared. Purses are the money paid to top-finishing horses. Breeder rewards are bonuses paid over and above purses to the owners of racehorses bred in a given state and the owners of mares and stallions that produced those racehorses.

Maryland's program of breeder rewards, instituted in 1962, was the first in the country. As would happen in the late 1980s with the Maryland Million, other states emulated Maryland's "bred-fund" program. It is funded by a percentage of the handle, or money bet on Maryland races.

Since the mid-1990s, the Maryland fund has stalled at about $4.8 million per year. Last year, meanwhile, Pennsylvania's rose to $9.5 million and New York's to nearly $12 million.

Drastic change -- and dramatic growth -- might be on the horizon for Maryland racing. But for now, a growing number of mares from Maryland are being sent out of state, and fewer mares from out of state are coming to Maryland for matings with Maryland stallions and for foaling and boarding here.

The owners of horse farms say the trend was particularly strong this year and will worsen unless Maryland's racing and breeding programs improve.

"It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out what's happening these past three or four years," said Bill Boniface, a founder of the Maryland Million and owner with his family of Bonita Farm in Darlington. "The Maryland breeding industry is going down the tubes quick."

Last week, Boniface sold one of his stallions, Valley Crossing, to a Minnesota breeder because the sire didn't receive enough mares to support himself, Boniface said. All told, he said, his five stallions bred 110 mares this year, about half as many as they bred four years ago.

Dale Capuano, one of the state's leading trainers, has not only begun breeding mares to out-of-state sires but also started buying potential racehorses bred in other states.

"Nobody goes to the sales looking for Maryland-breds," Capuano said.

He paid $25,000 for a New Jersey-bred yearling filly last year because her earning potential is so great in New Jersey, which offers daily races restricted to New Jersey-breds.

Likewise, Capuano paid $31,000 for a West Virginia-bred yearling colt that would have been worth $10,000 to $12,000 as a Maryland-bred, he said. Because of rising purses and breeder incentives in West Virginia, Capuano raced about 100 horses last year at Charles Town, a once-decrepit track in West Virginia resurrected by slots.

"Now I'm buying West Virginia-breds and breeding to West Virginia stallions," Capuano said. "I wouldn't in a zillion years have even thought about that before."

Of the nine mares Capuano owns or manages, he bred eight to out-of-state stallions. One mare he sent to New York year-round, and a second mare he will probably send to live in West Virginia.

"Those are two mares that won't get fed in Maryland," Capuano said. "The farms that kept them will have one less horse. The blacksmith, the vet, the van driver, the feed supplier, all the people who make a living off horses will have one less horse. ... And that's just my mares. The same thing's happening at farms all over the state."

For the breeders and owners of standardbreds, which race at harness tracks such as Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County, the situation is gloomier. Maryland's standardbred segment is smaller with less margin for loss than its thoroughbred counterpart.

"We're just as important as the other breed [thoroughbred] when it comes to open space, the economy and the quality of life people are trying to preserve in Maryland," said Joe Thomson, owner of Winbak Farm, which breeds primarily standardbreds on 2,000 acres in Chesapeake City. "But breeders are like anybody else. They've got to go where they can make money."

The standardbred breeding industry in Maryland has dwindled from 75 stallions in 1990 to 24 this year, and from 1,015 mares bred to those stallions in 1990 to 211 this year, according to the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, the horsemen's group that owns Rosecroft.

"Harness racing in Maryland is almost extinct," said a disgruntled Dr. William Solomon, a veterinarian who owns Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Pa.

Pin Oak, which produces thoroughbreds and standardbreds, leased farmland in Freeland in northern Baltimore County for 15 years. When the lease expired in 2001, Solomon did not renew. Instead, he boards horses at a farm in Glyndon.

"Our operation in Maryland has decreased dramatically over the last five years," Solomon said. "Unless something happens, we'll move altogether."

Something is happening -- in politics and with track ownership.

The race for governor has pushed the debate about slot machines into the open and produced a candidate, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who advocates their placement at racetracks. Ehrlich, a Republican, has advanced in the polls in his bid against Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the Democratic lieutenant governor who opposes slots.

Most Maryland horsemen have concluded that only slot machines and their infusion of cash can reinvigorate the industry. Some came to that conclusion reluctantly, fearful that slots would become so profitable that they would overwhelm racing, eventually causing its demise.

The glitzy, profitable machines have revitalized the racing industries in Delaware and West Virginia by boosting purses and funding incentives for breeding or raising horses in those states. The machines have been approved for tracks in New York, and both candidates for governor in Pennsylvania have said they favor slots at tracks.

Earlier this year, the racing conglomerate Magna Entertainment Corp., headed by outspoken Frank Stronach, has signed a deal to buy a majority share of Pimlico and Laurel Park from the Maryland Jockey Club.

Although the deal must still be approved by the Maryland Racing Commission, Stronach has announced plans to tear down Pimlico and replace it with a new track at the site. He has said he'd welcome slots but doesn't need them to be successful.

Stronach, who has announced but not completed major plans for his tracks in Florida and California, has gained a reputation as a man with vision but not follow-through. Although his company owns 10 tracks and has deals pending for 14 more, including Pimlico and Laurel Park, he has pledged to make Maryland racing his top priority.

Also, Magna is one of three suitors for Rosecroft. The horsemen's group that owns the year-round harness track voted Wednesday to sell it by Oct. 17, ensuring that the face of harness racing in the state could also change dramatically.

Said Tom Bowman, president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association: "I'm reasonably optimistic that something positive will happen. But we're dealing with so many what-ifs now.

"What are the two most significant factors that affect racing in this state? The administration in Annapolis and the owners of the racetracks," he said. "And both are unknown entities."

Mike Pons, past president of the breeders' association and owner with his family of Country Life Farm near Bel Air, said he believes changes will occur that could hoist Maryland racing and breeding back into its pre-eminent position in the region.

"What's new? So much is new," Pons said. "We have so many possibilities we didn't have a few months ago. What we do with them will determine our fate."

Facts, figures

What:17th Maryland Million, 10 races for horses sired by Maryland stallions

When:Tomorrow. Gates open at 11 a.m. First race 1:05 p.m.

Where:Pimlico Race Course

Purses:$1 million

Highlight:$200,000 Classic, post time 5:44 p.m.

TV:Ch. 54, 4-6 p.m. (last four races live, first six races tape)

Also:Bands, children's activ- ities, trick riding exhibition

Breeding decline

Maryland's breeding industry has declined at a greater rate than the national average. Nationally, horse breeding has shrunk for economic reasons. In Maryland, the industry has also suffered because of lucrative and progressive racing/breeding programs in surrounding states.

Thoroughbreds born

.............'91.....'01 Change

Md. 1,709 1,055 -38%

U.S. 38,149 31,851 -16.5%

Note: Figures denote horses registered with the Jockey Club and are 95 percent complete for 2001.

Stallions

Md. 198 102 -48%

U.S. 6,697 3,986 -40%

Mares bred to stallions

Md. 2,782 1,843 -34%

U.S. 63,528 58,746 -7%

Source: The Jockey Club