kyle2227
10-24-2007, 01:19 AM
Laurel Park to cancel Sunday racing
Maryland Jockey Club officials have applied for 60 days of live racing -- 15 fewer racing dates than normal -- for the Laurel Park winter meeting, which begins January 1. As a result, Sunday racing will be eliminated with live racing taking place four days a week on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule (with holiday exceptions) during the 15-week stand that concludes on April 12.
This is the latest reduction in an industry that has suffered as neighboring states have embraced slot machines to increase purses. In June, the Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) agreed to reduce purses and slash the stakes schedule for the second half of the 2007 racing campaign as the industry faced a $3 million shortfall in the purse account. In January, the Maryland Jockey Club saved another $500,000 by canceling the historic Pimlico Special (G1).
"We have been saying all year that if nothing was done to help the industry we would have to reduce dates beginning in January," Maryland Jockey Club President and Chief Operating Officer Lou Raffetto said. "We continue to hold out hope that the legislature will assist during the special session, but at what point does racing not become a full-time business? We are quickly approaching that status."
A July study by secretary of labor, licensing and regulation Thomas Perez reports the horse racing and breeding industries in Maryland account for more than 9,000 jobs with an economic impact of $600 million.
http://www.tsnhorse.com/cgi-bin/editorial/article.cgi?id=9608
Maryland Jockey Club officials have applied for 60 days of live racing -- 15 fewer racing dates than normal -- for the Laurel Park winter meeting, which begins January 1. As a result, Sunday racing will be eliminated with live racing taking place four days a week on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule (with holiday exceptions) during the 15-week stand that concludes on April 12.
This is the latest reduction in an industry that has suffered as neighboring states have embraced slot machines to increase purses. In June, the Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) agreed to reduce purses and slash the stakes schedule for the second half of the 2007 racing campaign as the industry faced a $3 million shortfall in the purse account. In January, the Maryland Jockey Club saved another $500,000 by canceling the historic Pimlico Special (G1).
"We have been saying all year that if nothing was done to help the industry we would have to reduce dates beginning in January," Maryland Jockey Club President and Chief Operating Officer Lou Raffetto said. "We continue to hold out hope that the legislature will assist during the special session, but at what point does racing not become a full-time business? We are quickly approaching that status."
A July study by secretary of labor, licensing and regulation Thomas Perez reports the horse racing and breeding industries in Maryland account for more than 9,000 jobs with an economic impact of $600 million.
http://www.tsnhorse.com/cgi-bin/editorial/article.cgi?id=9608