Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority

Dan Illman has been named Director of Communications of the new Maryland Jockey Club. Previously a writer, correspondent, analyst and handicapper at Daily Racing Form, Illman will lead the organization's media relations department when the new TMJC, a non-profit entity under the auspices of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, assumes control of Maryland's day-to-day racing operations Jan. 1. "We are incredibly pleased to welcome Dan to the team at the new TMJC," said President and General Manager Bill Knauf. "He is a proven leader in the field of communications...

A license transfer that is needed for a new, non-profit group to take over the running of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course starting on the first of the year got pushed off the agenda at Tuesday's Maryland Racing Commission meeting because of concerns over the lack of documentation for how the incoming entity will meet an estimated $6-million budget shortfall for 2025. But executives from the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), which is facilitating the state-approved change of control of the two tracks from 1/ST Racing (The Stronach...

The Maryland Racing Commission has approved a 2025 racing schedule that calls for Laurel and Pimlico to race just 120 days in 2025. The dates were approved at an Oct. 28 racing commission meeting. The story was first reported by the website the racingbiz.com. The number of racing dates has fluctuated in recent years, but the new schedule will mark a new era for Maryland racing. As recently as 2019 there were 174 racing dates. The dates will be divided between the state's two tracks with 114 dates at Laurel,...

Operations have ceased at Pimlico Race Course as of Saturday, August 31, in order to allow the construction of the new Pimlico under the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority. Saturday, Maryland Jockey Club Acting president and General Manager Mike Rogers issued a statement marking the event. "On July 1, 2024, ownership of Pimlico Race Course was officially transferred from The Stronach Group to the State of Maryland as part of the plan to secure the Preakness Stakes's continued presence in Baltimore and establish Pimlico as the permanent hub for year-round...

Change is on the horizon for Maryland racing with legislation passed earlier this year that allowed 1/ST Racing to turn both Pimlico and Laurel over to the state of Maryland. Once that bill was signed, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) was born. Soon after, Corey Johnsen, a former racetrack executive for Lone Star Park and Kentucky Downs, came on as the MTROA's interim CEO. He joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, to discuss the future of racing in Maryland. Johnsen, who was this week's...

Change is on the horizon for Maryland racing with legislation passed earlier this year that allowed 1/ST Racing to turn both Pimlico and Laurel over to the state of Maryland. Corey Johnsen the interim CEO of the newly formed Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to discuss the future of racing in Maryland.

With the 2024 GI Preakness S. now in the past, Maryland racing is ready to move toward a future that will include a new Pimlico and a new administration operating the track. Legislation was passed earlier this year that will allow the track's current owners, 1/ST Racing, to turn over Pimlico to the state of Maryland on July 1 and Laurel on Jan. 1. Five months after the Pimlico transfer, on Jan. 1, 2025, a new non-profit operating company, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), will take over the...

As expected, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed a bill Thursday that calls for Pimlico to be rebuilt and for the track to be donated to the state. Under the law, $400 million in state bonds will be used to tear down and rebuild the dilapidated grandstand. While Pimlico is being rebuilt, racing will move to Laurel. Once the new Pimlico is up and running, Laurel will be closed for racing. Because of the eventual closing of Laurel, there will be a need to open a training center since Pimlico alone...

A bill to radically reform Maryland's racing industry has passed both chambers of the state legislature, with the House voting 105-32 Monday night to approve a project that will see among other things ownership of Pimlico Race Course transferred from 1/ST Racing and Gaming to the state and the establishment of a year-round training facility for Maryland's horsemen and women. After the Maryland House of Delegates initially passed the legislation unanimously, the bill was subsequently amended by the Senate. This amended bill was then sent back to the House for...

These are busy times for Alan Foreman, who is the general counsel to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, a member of Maryland's Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) and serves as an ombudsman for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU). He took time out of his schedule to join the TDN Writers' Room Podcast, sponsored by The Green Group. It is his work with the MTROA that has received the most attention of late as the Authority recently issued a plan that...

To avoid any potential conflict-of-interest issues, Tom Rooney, an appointed voting member of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), has recused himself from any further decision making in the selection of a year-round training center, said Alan Foreman, another voting member of the non-profit. The new organization is positioning itself to assume control of day-to-day racing operations in Maryland, pending legislative approval. In a proposed plan, The Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico Race Course, would turn over ownership and daily operations of the track to the state and to...

'The Week in Review', by T.D. Thornton A few items that stand out after sifting through Friday's "Pimlico Plus" report issued by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA). The ambitious $400-million plan, which is subject to legislative approval, re-imagines the state's racing consolidated at one publicly funded track in Baltimore, the closure of Laurel Park, the construction of a new training facility in the state, and 1/ST Racing and Gaming ceding control of day-to-day Maryland racing to a non-profit entity. Triple Crown traditionalists who are already in a tizzy...