Kelley Rogers, president of Cloverleaf Enterprises, Inc., has notified Employees and Standardbred Horsemen that Rosecroft Raceway will cease operations
on April 19, 2010 - without the help of the Maryland legislature.
“The Cloverleaf Enterprises Board of Directors felt that it was important to notify our employees and horsemen that Rosecroft would close on April 19,” Rogers said. “It is very sad when you consider the loss of the jobs and the demise of an entire industry.”
“All of our faith and hope now rests in the hands of the Maryland Legislature. We need a miracle from our legislators. They have the ability to save us,” Rogers concluded.
Rosecroft has a current employee roster of 200 employees, many of which have more than 20 years of service to the track. Additionally, the Standardbred industry has more than 600 horsemen and breeders throughout Maryland. The Standardbred industry employs more than 1,000 people throughout the state.
Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners’ Association President Thomas Cooke said, “This is a very sad day for everyone involved with Standardbred racing in the state of Maryland. I can’t help but wonder how so many of our career horsemen will survive. It is obvious they will have to move from the state of Maryland and that is a tremendous loss.”
Both Rogers and Cooke extended their thanks to Prince Georges County businessman Mark Vogel and his efforts to save Rosecroft.
“Mark Vogel has been deeply involved in the community of Prince Georges County and we appreciate his willingness to try to save this historic landmark and the jobs for this community,” Rogers said. “Mr. Vogel has stepped up with his own money and energy to try to save us and we thank him,” Cooke added.
(Cloverleaf Enterprises, Inc., photo courtesy James Calder)
Well written Mr Carter:
Well written Mr Carter:
Track closures is something
Track closures is something that those in the industry had better get used to because in the next twenty years there will be a fraction of the tracks that now exist that will still be operating in the not so distant future. They will slowly close one by one. Those that are in positions of power through out the industry seem to be clueless as how to reverse the course that the race game is on.
They are stuck in the 60's and 70's the good old days when people who wanted to gamble basically had two choices, the races or bingo. You kind of get the feeling that because they have been around for 100 years or so that there is some sense of entitlement and they should continue to get bailed out instead of looking for there own solutions. I will offer one solution, the tracks need to take a long hard look at what excessive track takeouts is doing to the wager. It is chasing away gamblers that have supported them for years and the young people of today's generation when they see what the takeout is when compared to other forms of gambling such as sports or poker will not even darken the door.