Moving to greener pastures

by David Grand
September 16, 2004

Now that the last-ditch effort to reach an agreement on holding a referendum in November on legalizing slots has collapsed like a house of cards (with Gov. Ehrlich and House Speaker Mike Busch trading charges of bad-faith negotiating), the next legislative sessions stands to be but another replay of last year's stalemate, with the racing industry once again the biggest loser, not to mention the same dire effect it'll have on state funding for the counties as it did in the 2004 session.

About the only way I can see for ending that impasse is by Busch being defeated in his reelection bid in 2006, which is not out of the question if the Republican Party in Anne Arundel County continues to gain strength there. But having to wait that long could plunge the state into a deeper, financial abyss.

The only other possibility, remote as it may be, is that he could be ousted as House Speaker, if at least 28 Democrats were to break rank and align themselves with the 43 Republicans to come up with the 71 votes needed to dethrone him. Aware as a growing number of Democrats must surely be that their continuing to follow his lead may cost them dearly at the next election, they may be willing to stage a revolt against his failed leadership and replace him with a more open-minded and less intransigent leader.

And if the recent announcement that many of Maryland's horsemen and breeders have begun an exodus to the "greener pastures" of Pennsylvania, (where up to 61,000 slots will be placed at 14 locations-seven of which at the racetracks) doesn't jolt them into reality, then I give up. 

Among the top notch trainers who have or are in the process of taking their high-quality horses there for the opportunity of reaping fatter purses are: Tony Dutrow, who has bought a home near Philadelphia Park and who's taking 50 of his best horse with him; John Scanlon, who has trained some of the best bred horses in the state has relocated his 25 horses to that same track; John Salzman, who trained the world renown filly Xtra Heat has sold his Carroll County farm and is heading north with his string of 40 horses; Scott Lake, who led the nation's trainers in wins three out of the last four years has cut his Maryland operation to 20 horses from 50 in the past year; and Dale Capuano, the leading trainer in Maryland six of the past seven years, has requested 44 stalls at Philadelphia Park for his best horses, leaving his cheaper ones here.   

Here's some stats that illustrate the advantages of racing their horses in surrounding states: purses at Philadelphia Park, currently at $135,000 a day, are projected to rise possibly to $400,000 to $500,000 a day following the introduction of slots; on Sept. 9, Pimlico had a purse total of $133,000 for nine races, while Delaware Park (DP) had a purse total of $204,600 for 10 races; a race at DP for horses who have never won an allowance race pays $36,000 and a comparable race at Pimlico pays $25,000; a race at DP for top maidens pays $34,000, compared to $24,000 paid at Pimlico in a similar race; and at Charles Town in West Virginia, a claiming race for horses worth $10,000 pays $27,000, with a comparable race at Pimlico paying $12,000.  In addition, the breeding industry is also on a downward spiral, with the number of thoroughbred foals born in the state next year expected to show a decrease of one-third to one-half of the 1,076 foals born in 2003.

So whose to fault horsemen and breeders for pulling up stakes and heading north? Not me, that's for certain. But who knows, perhaps somewhere down the road we may be able to lure them back here if and when the powers that be in Annapolis finally get off their rocking horses and focus on improving the lot of the real ones and that of the horsemen. And in so doing, preserving Maryland's long-standing, cherished ties with the sport of kings.