Maryland racing has taken another hit. Nearly a month after the 132nd Preakness ran at Pimlico, the Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association announced that purses will be reduced and the stakes schedule will be slashed for the remainder of the year.

The move was made as the horse-racing industry faces a shortfall of $3 million in its purse account by the end of 2007.

“We have been saying for a number of months that we were going to run into a problem with purses and we had to react to the situation at hand,” said Lou Raffetto, the MJC’s president and chief operating officer.

The three changes that will be enacted for the final 78 days of live racing in Maryland this year will be a $2,000 reduction in purses, a reduced number of races in the fall and a stakes schedule that will be reduced by approximately $1 million. Details on which races will be eliminated are yet to be determined. The stakes reduction announcement will come after the Maryland Racing Commission meeting on July 17.

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“There were four ways to handle it, and we dealt with three of them,” Raffetto said. “The fourth and final move that we avoided was to cut dates, but that is something we will no doubt have to do come the first of the year unless the legislature holds a special session to deal with slots and a purse subsidy.”

Placing slots at tracks in Maryland has been a hot-button issue for a decade. The reductions made by the MJC and the MTHA this week are another sign of the challenges the Maryland racing industry faces with slot-filled tracks in Delaware and West Virginia.

“Slots are not the greatest answer but are a partial answer in the state’s racing problems,” said Maryland Senate President Thomas Mike Miller. “The state is being hurt immensely by personal disposable income going to Delaware and West Virginia.”

The action has not come as a surprise to those involved in the Maryland horse industry, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for owners, trainers and jockeys to keep racing in Maryland.

Maryland native Michael Trombetta, 41, has had a trainers’ license since he was 18. Last year was his first time Trombetta had horses in Delaware, and in 2007 he had horses at Gulf Stream Park in Florida for the first time.

“We were counting on good news out of Annapolis and did not get any other than they will revisit [slots] next session,” Trombetta said. “They are forcing my hand. I have a healthy, strong stable in Maryland, but the people who invest the money in the horses want to go where the money is.”

Even with the reductions, there is still a sense of optimism that the state legislature will act to help the racing industry, but unless a special session is called, that help will not come until the regular session Jan. 10 next year.

“We have been down this road before,” Trombetta said. “I can’t help but to feel we are being ignored a bit.”

THE FINAL COUNT

» The Maryland Jockey Club’s spring meet ended last weekend. Live racing in Maryland will take an eight-week break and return Aug. 10 for a 10-day summer meet at Laurel.

» The total wagering features for the meet were 7 percent lower than 2006, and the handle totaled $236.9 million, down from $254.2 million in 2006.

» The 2007 Preakness Stakes set a record for the largest crowd to witness a sporting event in Maryland with 121,263 spectators at Pimlico. Wagering that day was at $87 million, with $57 million bet on Preakness itself.