Legislation that would loosen access to capital improvement funds and in turn strengthen live racing guarantees was the subject of a March 11 hearing in the Maryland Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. A companion bill has been filed in the House of Delegates.
The bill deals with the Racetrack Facility Renewal Account, which is funded by 1% of the revenue generated by video lottery terminals at five of the casinos in the state. Under current statute, the applicant must provide matching funds to get the capital improvement money. Senate Bill 762 would allow a racing licensee to receive funding without a match if it agrees to conduct live racing in the state for at least 10 years after the required construction is completed.
The bill deals specifically with Rosecroft Raceway and Ocean Downs Casino. For any year that funding is provided, Rosecroft must conduct a minimum of 60 live racing programs and Ocean Downs 40 programs unless otherwise agreed to by the racing licensee and the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association.
If a racing licensee elects to expend RFRA matching funds, it must spend at least $300,000, which can include the matching funds. If a racing licensee receives a grant for capital construction without expending matching funds and fails to conduct live racing for at least 10 years, the Maryland Racing Commission can recapture the RFRA funds.
At the hearing, Standardbred representatives spoke in support for the legislation and requested a favorable report from the committee.
Lisa Watts, director of operations at Rosecroft, said the track like many others in the country is aging and requires investment. She noted the bill can protect jobs and protect live racing.
“These funds are already dedicated to Standardbred racing,” Watts said. “This is not new money.”
“The bill represents a measure of stability for horsemen in our state,” said Jonathan Roberts, president of the CSOA. “We absolutely support this.”
Ocean Downs, the only racetrack in Maryland with a casino, has regularly used RFRA funds over the years for various capital improvements related to racing. RFRA funds were used at Rosecroft for a few projects after the old Maryland Jockey Club purchased the track in 2016 from Penn National Gaming Inc., now known as PENN Entertainment.
1/ST Racing (The Stronach Group) continues to own Rosecroft as it did before The Maryland Jockey Club became a state-owned not-for-profit in conjunction with the Pimlico Race Course redevelopment plan.
In calendar 2025, RFRA accumulated $13.5 million. The revenue is split 80% for the Thoroughbred industry and 20% for the Standardbred industry. Those same splits are used for the 6% of VLT revenue that goes to the Purse Dedication Account, which last year received $81.1 million according to Maryland Lottery and Gaming.