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Agreement ensures Preakness stays in Maryland

BALTIMORE - A disagreement that threatened to cost Maryland its biggest sporting event, Triple Crown racing’s Preakness Stakes, has been resolved, the state’s governor said on Wednesday.

“Industry representatives, track owners, horsemen and breeders were able to come together to reach a consensus that will allow for a full season of racing in 2011,” Governor Martin O’Malley said in a statement.

“Today’s agreement not only keeps Maryland’s treasured Preakness Stakes where it belongs, but it helps protect the thousands of jobs,” O’Malley added on his website (www.governor.maryland.gov).

The state’s racing commission on Tuesday had rejected a proposed thoroughbred racing calendar for next year, throwing into limbo the running of the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course.

But the commission a day later approved the O’Malley-brokered plan to keep Pimlico and the Laurel Park open and the Preakness on course.

More than 28,000 people work in Maryland’s horse industry with an annual economic impact of more than $1.5 billion, O’Malley’s statement said.

The Preakness, run at Pimlico since 1873, is the second leg of the Triple Crown that includes the Kentucky Derby and New York’s Belmont Stakes.

Wednesday’s agreement calls for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association to contribute $1.7 million and the state to transfer $3.5 million to $4 million to help pay for the Maryland Jockey Club’s operations, the Baltimore Sun reported on its website (www.baltimoresun.com).

“This discussion provides a foundation for continuing efforts to create a long-term solution to restoring Maryland racing to prominence,” Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said in a statement.

The club operates the Pimlico and Laurel Park tracks.