Board approves Pimlico contracts in what might be last handout for Maryland racing

Yahoo

08-05-2025

The three-member Board of Public Works approved contracts that some say will lead a generational opportunity to reinvigorate Pimlico Race Course and the surrounding Park Heights community. (File photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.)
The Board of Public Works gave the green light Wednesday to 'a once-in-a-generation opportunity' to reinvigorate horse racing in Maryland, even as one member questioned if this would be the last chance for the industry.
The three-member board approved contracts for the demolition and rebuild of Pimlico Race Course and the purchase of a Carroll County farm that will become a horse training center. The effort is not only another state attempt to save the industry, but is also seen as a way of revitalizing the Park Heights community in northwest Baltimore.
'Almost a year ago today, this board approved the transfer of ownership of the Pimlico race course to the state of Maryland, seizing a once in a generation opportunity to reimagine thoroughbred racing in the entire state with the celebration of the 150th Preakness states that is taking place next week,' said Gov. Wes Moore, who chairs the board.
Moore said the new track, once completed, will 'become a year-round hub for economic activity within Park Heights' and 'serve to revitalize Maryland's horsing industry,' an industry he said accounts for 28,000 jobs and $3 billion in economic activity.
But it's an industry that has struggled for decades, and one that some have questioned the value of using state taxpayer dollars to save. Treasurer Dereck Davis questioned whether this latest effort represents the state's final attempt to steady a struggling industry.
'The state, with the implementation and subsequent completion of this project, we will have done everything we could do to make racing successful, other than the third weekend in May every year' when the Preakness is run, Davis said. 'Is there anything left that I guess we can do or — this has to be successful, I guess is what I'm getting at. The state's invested a lot of money over the years. This has been an issue since I first came to Annapolis, literally 30 years ago.'
Davis said he did not question efforts to revitalize Park Heights but wondered aloud if remaking Pimlico and consolidating thoroughbred racing at the track would save the industry.
'I guess what I'm asking, is this just a pipe dream, quite frankly, … can provide racing, or is it just sort of a niche thing that we enjoy every third weekend in May, and then it's just sort of out there waiting for the next May to come?' Davis asked.
Craig Thompson, board chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority Board, which will have a hand in the redevelopment, agreed that the state 'has done everything that it can to make sure that we lay the foundation for the success of not only the 150th running of the Preakness, but the racing industry, as it grows and expands and races to come in Baltimore.'
Continued success will hinge on what he called the 'participation and spread the word' theory.
'It's going to be very important for each and every one of us to participate in the Preakness and in the non-racing … days in Park Heights,' Thompson said. 'Support the community. Make sure that on those non-racing days you come to the Park Heights community. You're going to see a wonderful evolution and revolution in that area. So, when there's not a race, still come. Participate in that area.'
The plan approved Wednesday includes a $15.2 million contract with Baltimore-based Clark Construction Group related to the demolition and redevelopment of Pimlico Race Course.
Demolition of the storied but deteriorating track could begin later this year. The 2026 Preakness Stakes will be run at Laurel Park, but is scheduled to return to a new Pimlico in 2027.
Thompson showed renderings of what the new facility would look like. In addition to the Preakness, the plan calls for consolidating all thoroughbred racing in the state at Pimlico, expanding race days.
'This is more than just about a racetrack, as historic and important as it is,' Thompson said. 'This is about bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments to Park Heights. The Pimlico Plus plan that the state is implementing will transform Pimlico into the home of Maryland thoroughbred racing, going from hosting about 15 racing days per year to well over 100.'
The board voted unanimously to approve the contract with Clark Construction and voted 2-0 — Comptroller Brooke Lierman recused herself from the vote — to buy a 328-acre Carroll County farm for nearly $4.5 million. The property known as Shamrock Farm will become a new training facility to support expanded racing at Pimlico.
The purchase price was the highest of three appraisals conducted for the racing authority. The General Assembly in 2024 set aside $110 million for construction of a new, state-of-the art training facility as part of a thoroughbred racing centralization plan. The planned state-of-the-art facility will house 800 horses.
Davis was not the only board member to question the effort: Lierman raised concerns about who would have ultimate oversight as the state invests hundreds of millions into the project.
Currently, the project includes the Maryland Thoroughbred Race Track Operating Authority, the Maryland Stadium Authority, and the Maryland Economic Development Corp., as well as the reconstituted Maryland Jockey Club.
In July, the race track authority will be disbanded. The stadium authority will oversee construction while MEDCO handles economic development around the track and the possibility of a hotel and parking garage.
'It's a lot of cooks in the kitchen on what's already a very complicated project,' Lierman said. 'Sometimes when there are multiple cooks in the kitchen, it's hard to determine where the buck stops.'
Lierman asked Thompson to 'help us understand how there is going to be oversight when there are so many different bodies who are involved, to be sure that there are loopholes, to be sure that we know where these bonded dollars are going, that … we are spending them efficiently. Because there is a limited amount of dollars, and I think the General Assembly has been pretty clear that there's not going to be any more.'
Lierman recused herself from the Shamrock Farm purchase request and left the room for the discussion and vote. The comptroller said during the meeting that she recused herself 'on the advice from the state ethics commission.' She did not elaborate.
A spokesperson for Lierman cited state ethics law that requires recusal ' because of a qualifying relative's employment with a business entity that is a party to this matter.'
'As is the practice of members of the Board of Public Works, Comptroller Lierman notified both her colleagues on the board and made the appropriate disclosures to Ethics ahead of today's meeting,' Robyne McCullough said in an email response to questions. 'She did not participate in any discussions on this item and left the room prior to BPW consideration.'
McCullough declined to answer questions regarding the identity of the relative in question or the connection to the farm purchase.
'I don't think we're going to go into that,' McCullough said.
She said the decision to not elaborate on any recusal 'is a practice for us and we're just being consistent.'
The board also unanimously approved a payment of more than $1.2 million to Tyrone Jones and two law firms as compensation for time Jones spent behind bars on an erroneous conviction on charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
Moore, as he has done in the past with others who were erroneously convicted, apologized directly to Jones.
'Mr. Jones as the governor of this state, but also, more importantly, as a father and a husband and a son and a fellow Marylander, I want to share words that you deserve to hear, because I'm not just speaking on behalf of myself and the treasurer and the comptroller, I'm speaking on behalf of this entire state: I'm sorry. It should have never happened, and I know there are no words that can undo the injustice and what was taken away from you and your family,' Moore said.
Jones, now 48, was convicted in Baltimore City of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in 1999 related to the shooting death of Tyree Wright. In that trial he was found not guilty of first- and second-degree murder.
He spent the next 10 years in prison as part of a life sentence. In 2009, Jones filed a petition for post-conviction relief and a judge vacated his verdict. City prosecutors, who initially said Jones should get a new trial, declined to retry Jones, and dropped the case.
Jones applied for compensation under the Lomax Act but was initially denied. A hearing officer ruled that the charge of conspiracy to commit murder did not qualify for compensation. The General Assembly in 2024 passed legislation that changed the eligibility standards.
Jones was confined for 3,611 days. As a result, he was awarded $976,233.85 in compensation by the Office of Administrative Hearings. The money will be paid out in five installments. The first payment of $98,678 was due May 2. He will receive four additional payments of more than $219,000 each between December 2025 and July 2027.
The state hearing officer also awarded payments to two law firms related to the case. Brown Goldstein Levy will receive nearly $137,000. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel will receive more than $110,000 in legal fees.
The money paid to Jones and his attorneys comes entirely from the state. In two months, that will change.
Starting in July, payments made to individuals who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned will be split equally between the state and the jurisdiction where the individual was convicted. That change is part of a compromise budget agreement reached by the House and Senate earlier this year.