Preakness Illuminates Troubles of Horse Race Gambling

But the prominent race also falls when much of horse racing is at a crossroads, and host state Maryland is already worried about revenue from expanded gambling before the slots are even installed.

Today's Preakness will most likely capture a strong television audience, as the regular horse race gambling fans are joined by casual viewers drawn by the stories of Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra, and jockey Calvin Borel. But the prominent race also falls when much of horse racing is at a crossroads, and host state Maryland is already worried about revenue from expanded gambling before the slots are even installed.

As many as 100,000 people will crowd the grandstands and infield at Pimlico today. But crowds the rest of the year are often counted in hundreds, not thousands. Changing gaming tastes and a need for quicker gratification have caused gambling patrons to drift away from tracks across the country.

Racing experts say tracks without slots cannot compete with those that have the extra gambling draw. Revenue from slots and video gambling feeds bigger purses, drawing the best horses and bigger audiences.

Even hallowed Churchill Downs has announced it's cutting back live racing, as neighboring states with slot racinos pull horses away from Kentucky.

"It's never a good thing when Churchill Downs announces it has to cut race days," says Downs VP Kevin Flanery. "This is Kentucky, and Kentucky is the horse capital of the world. But the industry in Kentucky is at a critical point in its history."

Maryland passed a ballot issue authorizing slots to be placed at state tracks last fall, in an attempt to shore up horse racing. But last week, Delaware countered by adding sports betting to its race track menu, leaving Maryland uncertain how much help the slots will bring.

"The situation that states like Kentucky and Maryland are in at this point, the racing has to compete with other tracks that are able to supplement their purses with alternative gaming revenue,"  Flanery told ESPN.

In the meantime, Maryland lawmakers have cleared the way to use eminent domain powers over Pimlico and the Preakness Stakes, as the track's owner, Magna Entertainment, has struggled in and out of bankruptcy.

Unless lawmakers accept tracks as casino-style locations offering a variety of gambling, says analyst Sherman Bradley, the romantic tradition of horse racing may go the way of playing the numbers and back alley dice games.