In PA several of the racetracks used temporary slots parlors to bring in the revenue. Including one racetrack that built a temporary casino while completely tearing down and rebuilding the grandstands. Sadly if MD just had the slots at racetracks we would already be getting revenue and the racetracks would be getting much needed upgrades. Now it appears horse racing is doomed in this state.

Haha....love how he called there bluff and they responded that the tracks weren't for sale....awesome

Hooooray for the Horses. I hope they shut down racing in Maryland. Its abuse !!!

WHERE WAS THE SMARTS FOR THIS SPOT???

I cannot understand WHY people voted for slots in the mall area. DONT they already have a traffic problem at the mall entrance nearest to Rt. 100?? DONT they already have problems with fights and troubles with "Dave & Busters"?? AND so the state starts with slots and NONE are at the horse tracks, where they asked for years to get slots to keep the tracks open?? I hope that Laurel Park, and Pimlico both close for good! and Preakness move to Deleware!! The people of MD. DIDNT learn, so now they will pay!!

Well, the vote wasn't for slots at the Mall. It was for slots in the County. Owners at Laurel Park did not win the license because they didn't put in a viable bid. The State did what they were supposed to do, give the license the better bid (and the only viable one). Cordish won it fair and square.

I agree the slots should've been at Laurel Park, but they waited too long to get a partner to bring them out of their financial mess to put in a bid. It's the owners fault, not the citizens of Maryland.

So the horse racing industry is going to take its ball and go home? Good riddance.

The people against slots were blatantly lying in their campaigns. If the referendum had lost, there would have been no slots at all in Anne Arundel County. Maybe if Laurel racetrack had been on the ball in the beginning they could have gotten a bid in on time and had slots at the race track. This state needs slots (and table games) to stay viable. It's sad for the horse racing industry to close, but if it needed slots at the tracks to stay alive, then how popular is it in maryland anyways (other than the preakness)?

Business is business and Cordish is a better businessman. Supply and Demand tells it all - Horse racing has been on the way out in MD for years. Let it go somewhere else and the horse junkies will follow. Security and roads at the mall will improve because the "slots dollars" will finally start flowing to the State. The losers are the home owners who bought overpriced home near the mall. They just learned another lesson in real estate. It's not always about location, location, sometimes who your neighbors are is more important.

I'm a racing fan who attends Timonium most of the 6 or 7 days it's in session during the State Fair. (But I haven't gone to Pimlico or Laurel in over 15 years because when attending races, I want to watch them from a grandstand WITHOUT having to look through glass and window panes!) The MJC has lost my benefit of doubt. If they could pump all that money in a No-Slots-At-The-Mall campaign, they certainly could have and should have had their house in order when their initial slots bid was due.

I'm really not sure what to make of Cordish, but if MJC is gonna say in one breath "our industry will perish" and then say in the next breath "our property isn't for sale", then I think they have zero credibility when they say they're concerned about horse breeding and horse farms and things like that.

The racing industry in Maryland has gone steadily downhill since Del & WV opened slots at the tracks. Their purses are higher and many if not most Maryland trainers are taking their horses out of state now for bigger paydays. I may have supported the slots at the tracks here but I'll continue to take my gambling money up the road to Del or WV because I can play the horses there too and I know most of them because they all used to run at Laurel and Pimlico. Just wait until this casino flops just like the one Cordish ran or should I say ran into the ground in Indiana.

First DeFrancis ran racing into the ground, then he sold to a East European Canadian, who failed to follow through on his promises to up-grade racing, then they failed to bid on slots, then we found out that was because they were bankrupt. Now they are basically quitting racing. Gee, how good a job do you think these guys would have done running slots? The state racing commission should take away their racing days and reissue them.

The Mills couldn't be a better place for the slots. The place is always full of people and it seems none of them are carrying packages or bags. It's like no one shops they just walk around. The only exceptions are movies, Outdoor World and the food court.
Isn't it great that Ehrlich lost and O' Malley won now I call that getting 7 7 7

Yes I know Magna dropped the ball with the original bids, but what people dont understand is that now it looks like racing in Md is coming to a close there are 10,000 people who are going to lose their jobs or be forced to relocate to other states and hundreds of backstretch employee's are going to be homeless. Many of these people have spent their entire lives living and working with thoroughbreds and THIS is all they can do. Those of us who CHOOSE racing as our jobs are totally heartbroken as we love the sport, the horses and the people who devote their whole lives to the industry. Within a year of racing closure, many feed and tack company's will close their doors (more unemployment) and as a result many farms and even riding stables might be forced to close (even more unemployment) People don't understand that Maryland is horses, all horses. There are over 150,000 people who are involved in the horse industry in Maryland AT LEAST. The WHOLE industry is going to suffer. I am one of those people ... who will now be collecting unemployment, by the end of the year. Someone better step up and do something for all of us who are going to lose our jobs or be forced to move. Im sure you will not lose any sleep over the fact that my family of four is about to lose a steady paycheck.

What's interesting is that the people who actually live near Arundel Mills mall did NOT vote for the slots while those that live elsewhere in AA County voted FOR the slots. I do not live in AA county but I do go to the mall...looks like I may not be going back...the traffic and crime is bad enough without gambling....and I love Las Vegas and Atlantic City so it's not that I'm against gambling I'm not...I just think it does not belong at a mall like Arundel Mills.

It is going to be a sad sad day for maryland. Once the live racing finally comes to an end, and I have to agree with the some of the comments up above, when Stronach first bought the racetracks I felt it was going to be a good thing. Maryland racing needed help in a positive way. But, obviously now as a Monday quarterback it has come back to bite us in the rear. Several severe mistakes in our bid for slots in Maryland at the racetracks were made. As a maryland horsemen my heart has been ripped out just at the thought of not only me and my family, but all the other people family involved with horses in Maryland that will be out of jobs very soon. And now that Magna has done the damage that they have done they are the only ones that have a shot of giving Maryland racing a new breath of life by selling and would rather see it die than to sell. I'm sorry to have to say this about Magna, while I know selling the tracks at this point is probably a losing proposition, they are soley responsible for the mistakes they made and I don't feel that all of Maryland horsemen should bare the responsibility for the mistakes they made.
And this goes out to all the PETA types, like Don Tabor, who believe it should be illigal to swat at flies who have no idea to what extremes people in horseracing go to to care for their horses. Racehorses are better taken care of than a normal household family pet. The love and passion put aside, the investment put into a racehorse is enormous. You think you spend money on your family pet when you take it to the vet, it doesn't even compare to what a horse owner will spend in one month for their racehorse. And it's not about the money. It goes back to the love and passion for these horses. They are more like our children playing on a team, and we want to do everything we can do to help them be who they are. These racehorses are born to run and they love what they do. From time to time, we come across horses that absolutely do not want to do this and we find them other jobs. They become outriding ponies, kids pets, show horses, and theraputic riding horses. They have other careers once they are done with racing. It just makes me sick to hear people say "horray for the horses, it's abuse." It's obviously someone who is clueless about the game. Horses have personalities just as humans, if you listen to them they'll tell you what they feel. I'm a 5th generation horsemen and the future of Maryland horsemen and the industry as a whole to be put down by people who have opinions with no understanding of this industry and can force judgement is truly truly upsetting.

As a race horse owner for 30+ years in Maryland I think it's too bad, but in honesty it's DESERVED. Laurel is a run down WHITE ELEPHANT. Have you seen the main building and how big and tall it is ? Do you know how much it costs just to heat and cool it. For what, an average of 200 people in it during the week betting an average of $4 a race for half the card ?? The numbers get worse every year and the entire joint is falling apart. Not to mention the costs to an owner have gone up three times in every category to train a horse over the last 15 years and the purses remain the same as they were 20 years ago ! You expect new owners to get into the game in Maryland ? It ain't going happen. Bulldoze all of it, 6am tomorrow !!!

I realize a lot of people may lose their jobs, but that happens with progress. When the auto replaced the horse and buggy, many employed in buggy building/selling lost their livelihood also, but they adapted. Horse racing has been dying in MD for years. If it was really popular, it would not need slots to subsidize it. People are just changing their mode of gambling and few really care about which horse wins a race.

Can you imagine? A foolish tent or tin barn out in that parking lot for who knows how long before they break ground? And how many parking spaces will it itake up? Tell me that isn't simply pure unadulterated greed talking. I thought he said that he could start construction "right away." Oh yeah, that is one of those "technical issues" we will be hearing about when the goods are not delivered as expected.

Everyone is focusing on the state of the racing industry. I am disappointed that no one seemed to care about those of us who live in the community immediately near the mall. Who puts slots in a neighborhood where people have paid upwards of $400 - $700k for their homes. Who does that?

Sorry, those $700K homes are between 295 and a mall. Not much of a family-friendly community. I looked there at a $700K townhouse and ran away as fast as I could.

Without upgrading the tracks, slots won't help. Slots + rundown tracks will just get your gambler, but nice tracks (e.g. Saratoga, Churchill Downs, Santa Anita) attract lots of people.

will they have table games?