Minutes of Public Meeting - May 14, 2025

DATE: May 14, 2025

TIME: 12:30 PM

PLACE: At Pimlico Race Course, Triple Crown Room and Virtual

In accordance with §3-302, General Provisions Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Maryland Racing Commission (“Commission” or “MRC”) met in person and by the Google Meets platform in open session at 12:30 p.m. at Pimlico Race Course in the Triple Crown Room. Chairman George Mahoney took a roll call of the Commission members and confirmed that all were present, except Commissioner Shawn Wright and Commissioner Dr. Jennifer Wright. A quorum was present for the meeting.

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Mahoney called the Commission to order at roughly 12:30 PM.

APPROVAL OF April 9, 2025, MINUTES

The Commission waived a reading of the open minutes of its meeting on April 9, 2025. Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT

Executive Director Merz started his report by giving a recap of the farm tour that took place at Country Life Farm. He said he was joined on the tour by Maryland Secretary of Labor Portia Wu, Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks and Executive Director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board Anne Litz. The farm tour served the purpose of promoting farm tours for Preakness Festival and to foster collaboration between the Department of Labor and Agriculture in support of the Maryland breeding ecosystem and the broader horse industry. Mr. Merz thanked Josh Pons, Christy Holden and the rest of the team at Country Life Farm. He said conversations included the vital role breeding farms play in Maryland, transparency, aftercare and attracting a large animal veterinarian to practice in Maryland.

Mr. Merz continued the report by updating the Commission about the ongoing audit happening at the Towson office. He said the MRC has graduated to phase 2 of the audit, where the auditors will test the controls of the office’s processes. A final report will be given at the end of June.

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that a partnership with the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) has been formed. The MRC will be working with them to have veterinary students come to the track to shadow MRC veterinarians. The hope is that this partnership will lead to hiring veterinarians in the future.

Mr. Merz continued with his report by giving the Commission an update on the veterinarian search. He said a job posting has been made in numerous areas online and a paid advertisement will start the week of May 19th. He said the search has been a struggle and that the rest of the Mid-Atlantic tracks are also searching for regulatory veterinarians.

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that the Cecil County Breeder’s Fair will not be running a meet at Fair Hill on Saturday, May 25. Their hope is to have racing on August 30th. He said over the past few weeks horses have been galloping over the track and the reports have been encouraging. Approvals are still needed to run. He said he would update the Commission as more information became available.

He ended his report by telling the Commission that the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission approved a merged wallet request by Caesars and NYRA Bets. He explained that a merged wallet would allow customers to not have to switch back and forth from betting racing to sports wagering.

OCEAN DOWNS – RACING FACILITY REDEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that Ocean Downs was seeking Racetrack Facility Renewal Account reimbursement for 2024 Capital Improvements consistent with its Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Merz told the Commission that the plan was approved in February of 2024 and the work had been completed and confirmed by an outside auditor contracted by the MRC. Per a request by Chairman Mahoney in the April Commission Meeting, pictures of the work and upgrades were provided to gain approval. Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to approve the Ocean Downs RFRA reimbursement. Commissioner Lafferty made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

MARYLAND STANDARDBRED RACE FUND ADVISORY COMMITTEE NEW MEMBERS

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that Standardbred Fund Administrator, Cheri Stambaugh, retired on May 1. He thanked Ms. Stambaugh for her service. He then introduced the new Fund Administrator, Scott Warren, and talked about his experience in the Standardbred industry and that he will be a great addition.

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that Mike Hall had resigned from the Maryland Standardbred Race Fund Advisory Committee. The Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners’ Association, in a meeting on April 14th, elected Bob Cacamese to replace Mike Hall. Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to approve Mr. Cacamese to the Standardbred Fund Advisory Committee. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lafferty seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Merz continued and said Gary White, who represents the Standardbred Breeders on the Committee, finished out a term that a previous member vacated. Mr. White was voted onto the committee to serve his own term. Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to approve Mr. White to the Standardbred Fund Advisory Committee. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Zavian seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

MARYLAND FUND YEARLING SHOW ANNUAL REPORT

Executive Director Merz told the Commission the Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling show would be held on Sunday, June 29. A request was made by the MHBA to take money out of the Maryland Bred fund account to pay for purses of the winning yearlings at the show. He continued and said that the request was consistent of what has been asked in previous years. Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to approve Maryland Bred Fund money to be used for the yearling show. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner West seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

THE MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB CLAIM RULE REQUEST

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that The Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC) had made a request to change the current claiming rule. He went on to describe the current rule, where a horse that is claimed must run for a price 25% greater than it was claimed for 30 days. On day 31, the horse can be in for any claiming price.

The new rule would have the claimed horse run for a claiming price of 25% or greater for 20 days. On days 21-30 the horse would be able to run for the same claiming price it was claimed for or higher. On day 31 the horse can run for any claiming price. Mr. Merz went on to say that the rule is identical to New York and similar to what is being done in Delaware. He also said that this will fit better with the way the condition book is written. He said the rule has to go through the state process of getting approved and the process will start in the next few weeks.

THE MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB FIXED ODD SIGNAL REQUEST

Executive Director Merz said he had received a request from TMJC to send out their signal to New Jersey, West Virginia and Colorado to be bet on as a fixed odd wager. He explained that a fixed odds bet is when you place a wager on a horse and get the odds of the horse at that time. If the horses odds go up or down, that bettor retains the odds they got at the time they made the wager. Commissioner Lillis said he thought this was a great idea and asked the audience if they had any insight.

Frank Vespe of The Racing Biz commented that it was a good idea and makes betting easy for newer people betting on horse racing. He went on to say this is being done around the world and is slowly making its way to the United States. Hearing no further comments, Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to approve the fixed odds signal request. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner Earle seconded. The motion passed unanimously, with Commissioner Zavian abstaining.

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE KEVIN ATTICKS

Secretary Atticks started his talk by thanking the Racing Commission for their work. He stressed that the Commission will be part of a historic transition into a new chapter of Maryland Racing. He said that in order for the entire horse industry to succeed in Maryland, that racing must succeed. If racing does not succeed, then the rest of the horse industry will not succeed. He emphasized that there needs to be a stronger effort to educate the public about horses and called on the Department of Labor and Agriculture to work closely together to make the industry better. He ended his remarks by saying this revitalization of Maryland Racing cannot fail. For it not to fail, everyone in the horse industry must support racing for a better, healthier horse industry.

Secretary Atticks thanked the Commission for letting him speak.

ROSECROFT RACEWAY UPDATE

Executive Director Merz called on Lisa Watts for an update on Rosecroft Raceway. Ms. Watts told the Commission that wagering handle had under performed this year. She said their final day of racing will be on Sunday, May 18. Ms. Watts said her team was gearing up for a summer full of events that included Big Bounce America, a wine festival and various other activities to keep the public engaged with Rosecroft. She ended her remarks by congratulating Cheri Stambaugh on her retirement and was excited to be working with Scott Warren.

THE MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB UPDATE

Executive Director Merz read a statement from Bill Knauf who could not attend the meeting. He said that April had been a good month of business outhandling the previous April of 2024. Field size was up and turf racing had returned. TMJC had an incredible Preakness Preview Day, which handled $5.5 million compared to only $2.7 million from the previous day last year. The handicapping tournament they put on was a success. They had a total of 240 participants onsite and online. TMJC noted they were working with 1/ST Racing on the Preakness and that they were looking forward to working with the new directors of their Board.

EQUINE MEDICAL DIRECTOR REPORT

Executive Director Merz gave the equine medical director report. He spoke about the safety protocols that were in place for Preakness week. He said that 10 vets would be onsite watching horses during racing, doing exams, watching morning workouts and keeping an eye on horses throughout the week. He talked about the additional vet records that accompanied each horse and other protocols they had in place for the weekend of racing.

PUBLIC COMMENT

April Smith- Ms. Smith of Friends of Pimlico said the Stake Barn at Pimlico need to be saved in the rebuild. She said more positive news needs to be reported in response to the articles written in the Baltimore Banner, which was critical of horse racing. She said the Pimlico Sunrise tours has been a hit and they had gotten a lot of school kids to partake on the tours.

Marilynn Bobbi, also from Friends of Pimlico, said the vibe around Pimlico and the horsemen was very positive. She said it feels like things have turned for the better and was glad things were finally getting done to fix racing in Maryland.

Anne Litz (Executive Director, MHIB)- Ms. Litz talked about the farm tour that happened on May 11. They had over 2,000 people signed-up for the tour and received a lot of positive feedback.

Having no other public comment, Chairman Mahoney asked for a motion to end the meeting. Commissioner West made the motion, Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting came to an end at approximately 1:02 PM

/s/ George Mahoney