The Maryland legislature on Monday approved a bill that will result in state ownership of Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore and the creation of a non-profit company to run Thoroughbred racing in the state. The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 41-6 before sending it back to the House, where it had passed last week, due to the addition of several amendments on Monday morning that protected harness racing interests and added local representation to the non-profit’s board. It passed in the House 105-32. Gov. Wes Moore, whose staff worked to build support for the bill, is expected to sign it. For Thoroughbred racing, the bill will bring an end to more than a hundred years of private ownership of Maryland’s racetracks and lead to consolidation of racing at a single track, Pimlico, the host track of the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. Under the legislation, Maryland will issue $400 million in bonds to tear down and rebuild Pimlico and construct a training center to support a year-round population of horses. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Pimlico and its sister track, Laurel Park, are both currently owned by 1/ST Racing, which was formerly known as The Stronach Group. 1/ST has agreed to deed Pimlico to the state, but it will retain ownership of Laurel Park, where racing will be held while Pimlico is being rebuilt. 1/ST is expected to sell the Laurel property once racing is transferred to Pimlico, expected to be some time in 2026. The legislation was crafted on the recommendations of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, an agency created in early 2023 to examine the long-term future of racing in the state. The authority held meetings throughout 2023 with the state’s racing and breeding constituencies and issued a report of its recommendations to the legislature early this year The plan will also put an end to squabbling between the state’s horsemen and 1/ST, whose predecessor company notoriously passed on an opportunity to apply for a gambling license for Laurel after the state authorized casinos in 2008. As a result, Maryland’s Thoroughbred industry has been unable to benefit from the types of gambling subsidies enjoyed in most major racing states, though horsemen were able to secure purse subsidies through a separate legislative effort. Under the bill, approximately $300 million of the funding will be used to rebuild Pimlico, including the construction of an amphitheater and an on-site hotel. Supporters of the bill have said that the racetrack property will be a “365-day” economic engine for the surrounding community. The facility is currently in disrepair, and its grandstand has been condemned by the city of Baltimore. Though 1/ST will retain ownership of the Laurel property, control over the racetrack’s operations will be taken over by the non-profit operating company as of July 1. That company will be responsible for running the racing operations in the state and is expected to work closely with horsemen, who agreed in the bill to make up for any operational shortfalls through transfers from their purse account. As part of the transfer agreement between 1/ST and the state, 1/ST will receive $3 million each year from the operating company for the rights to the Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan stakes, along with 2.5 percent of the gross wagering on the two days of racing supporting the races. Those payments came under criticism from some quarters in the final debates over the bill, but supporters of the transfer agreement said that 1/ST would have been unlikely to support the plan without the annual payments. Among the amendments added to the bill on Monday was a provision requiring 10 percent of the operating company’s annual profits to be distributed to local organizations around the Pimlico property. In addition, a provision was attached to the bill requiring the addition of voting members to the operating company’s board who represent the Park Heights Renaissance organization and the local community where the training center is built. The MTROA has evaluated three potential sites for a training center. The authority is expected to close a deal on one of the sites within the next six months and begin construction on the center shortly thereafter. Amendments added to the bill on Monday also included new language that would replenish a capital-improvements fund for Rosecroft Raceway, a harness track that is also owned by 1/ST. Under the initial version of the bill, unused money in the fund was going to be used to pay for improvements to Laurel while racing is being held at the track over the next several years. The new language will still allow the operating company to use the funds for improvements, but the state has agreed to replenish the fund in 2026.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.