It involves a partner at Venable, the Pittsburgh Steelers, a Florida Republican, Gov. Wes Moore and a state authority that no longer exists.
When Greg Cross came before Gov. Wes Moore and the Board of Public Works last May, it was a big day for Maryland horse racing.
As chairman of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority board, Cross sought approval for the state to purchase Shamrock Farm, a bucolic, 328-acre site in Carroll County, for $4.5 million.
Owned by the family that owns the Pittsburgh Steelers, Shamrock was to be the site of a state-of-the-art horse training center, a key part of a $530 million investment to revitalize Maryland horse racing. Located just over 20 miles northwest of Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Shamrock would house 800 horses and employ 500 people.
“It’s the perfect site,” Cross said.
As it turns out, Shamrock, which was purchased from a member of the racetrack operating authority board, was not the perfect site.
Engineers had not fully evaluated Shamrock before the vote approving its purchase, and have since determined the terrain is too hilly to be developed on budget. Environmental regulators found major issues. Carroll County’s local government, once supportive of the development, chilled to it.
Now estimated to cost north of $210 million, the Shamrock Farm project is dead, state officials say.
Instead, the state is prepared to spend about $50 million to purchase the dilapidated Laurel Park, a racetrack in Anne Arundel County, and turn it into the training center. Approximately $70 million more will get spent to renovate and upgrade it.
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