Maryland’s horse racing industry losing ground, facing big challenges

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Maryland’s horse breeders are once again looking to slots to reverse years of decline, driven by the same kind of operations in other states, that have eroded the once-mighty racing industry.

“I’d say it’s pretty sick,” said Mike Hopkins, chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission. “I don’t think it’s beyond coming back, but it’s going to take a lot of time.”

The racing industry in Maryland generates about $800 million annually, including $72 million in taxes, said Rob Burk, executive director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, a division of the state Department of Agriculture.

A Maryland Equine Census, conducted in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, showed 20,200 horse farms in Maryland — from large stables to small backyard pastures — totaling 87,000 horses. About 40 percent of those horses are used for racing.

Maryland also has more horses per square mile, eight, than any other state, including Kentucky, according to the department’s census. Burk hopes to complete an updated study by 2009.

The Maryland Jockey Club has reported at least a 50 percent decline in operating horse farms in the state in the last several years. Most of that business seems to be going to nearby states, Burk said.

“We haven’t done an exact study to find out why they’re leaving,” he said. “But at the same time the numbers in Maryland have declined by half, the numbers in Pennsylvania have doubled.”

A key factor in the shift is incentives attached to purses — the extra money awarded to a breeder if a winning horse was raised in that state. Maryland spends about $3 million on the incentives, but neighboring states offer as much as $50 million total, Burk said.

The actual amount of thoroughbred racing taking place has decreased as well.

A decade ago, Maryland’s tracks operated 306 racing days, Hopkins said. This year, that number is down to 190 — and next year, only 135 to 140 racing days are scheduled, he said.

“You’re basically transforming a business that’s been a year-round employment base to a part-time [job],” Hopkins said. “They’re running four days a week now. Most of those people at the race track are paid per diem, so going to four days from five, you cut their paycheck 20 percent.”

For all the industry’s financial woes, Burk said Maryland’s thoroughbred horse breed is still respectable. If slots do come to the tracks, he added, the state will be back on equal footing with its neighbors, and the playing field will once again be level.

“From a racing perspective and a breeding perspective, Maryland has been king,” Burk said. “If the money is put into the state’s racing industry, hopefully once again our infrastructure ... will win out against our competitors, like it used to.”

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com

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