Maryland Nixes Authority Charged With Pimlico Rebuild

[Wandering Eyes]

The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), which was created in 2023 by the state to oversee the rebuilding of the 'Home of the Preakness' at Pimlico, will be terminated as of June 30, according to an article published in the Maryland Daily Record Apr. 4 .

The piece says that a provision tucked into the state budget bills during final negotiations put the authority on ice and shifts its responsibilities to the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Maryland Economic Development Corporation.

As previously reported by the TDN, the MTROA was tasked with overseeing the transition of the industry from a heavily-subsidized but privately run sport into an entity that was intended to be managed by the state.

The Stronach Group that owned Pimlico agreed to turn over the property to the state, which will soon embark on a massive, taxpayer-financed renovation once next month's Preakness is run. A state-created nonprofit that adopted the historic name Maryland Jockey Club took over the responsibility of running races in the state beginning in January, though no board was serving in an oversight capacity.

The Daily Record article goes on to state that the MTROA–a volunteer panel led by attorney Greg Cross from the Venable law firm–was expected to officiate racing until 2029. However, it will end operations this summer, which the piece says will remove nearly $3.5 million in annual salary and operating costs from the state budget.

The article relates that the change is not expected to have any impact on the state's renovation plans at Pimlico.

Maryland House Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary was quoted in the Daily Record as saying, “We just wanted some more oversight to be able to understand and know what's going on in real time, which wasn't happening.”

Neither top lawmakers nor Gov. Wes Moore's office explained how–or why–the provision was inserted into the budget.

In an Apr. 6 article published by The Baltimore Banner, State Senator Guy Guzzone, a Howard County Democrat who is chair of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, said, “There is a belief that we will get a lot better results and more accomplished by shifting some of the authority to some known entities, and that's what we're doing,”

As for Greg Cross, he told The Banner that the timing was right because the MTROA had “almost totally completed” the tasks it had to accomplish.

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