Slot machine opponents pushed the track sale to the edge
A recent sale of the Rosecroft racetracks has had fiasco as a result of Prince George County's poll, including 23 delegates who've cast their vote against the slot machine legislation. Just 12 hours later, the family of baseball mogul Peter G. Angelos retreated from the $13 million deal of purchasing the harness track, which cost them their deposit on $500,000.
In the past two General Assembly sessions, the issue of the gambling bill allowing for 15,500 slot machines at horse race tracks and other locations across Maryland was hovering in the air, when Gov. Robert L.Ehrlich's enthusiasm about its passage appeared to be a bit constrained though still optimistic. The governor's associates ratified that sharp slots opposition in Prince George's County could cede the venue for achieving a gambling bill support. Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director said that conflicting signals from the Prince George's delegation and senators are taken as a yes sign which the governor definitely welcomes. A hearing on the governor's bill is scheduled to take place these days and the Senate has drafted a pre-vote on its version of the legislation.
Some believed that it was the family's stake in Rosecroft that induced Senate slot supporters to forward the bill that would have planted machines at two locations in the county, in spite of the heavy opposition in Prince George's. The only disappointed individuals who did not welcome the decision were the directors of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners' Association with whom the Angelos group has terminated the deal.
