Prince George's County

Rosecroft’s supporters point fingers at Annapolis

In the wake of Rosecroft Raceway’s announcement that it will be closing July 1, supporters of the Fort Washington harness racing track are pointing fingers at Annapolis.

“They talk about ‘jobs, jobs, jobs,’ and when the Preakness and Pimlico were in trouble, the governor and others ran downstairs to save them,” Sen. C. Anthony Muse, D-Prince George’s, said Wednesday, referring to swift legislative action last year that protected the property and the state’s first right of refusal to the race.

“Here we have 200 jobs on the line and they have done absolutely nothing,” he said.

Kelley Rogers, president of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which owns the race track that declared bankruptcy a year ago, said it was no longer financially viable to keep Rosecroft open.

“It just makes me sick. It really does,” he said. “The Legislature sat on their butt and didn’t do anything to save these jobs.”

Vogel wants to bring poker to struggling Rosecroft Raceway

By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer 

Rosecroft Raceway’s owner-in-waiting wants to bring table games to the Prince George’s County harness racing track next year but — as with slots legalization – he could be in for a long struggle.

Greenbelt-based developer Mark Vogel, who is expected to become the new owner of the raceway next month pending a bankruptcy judge’s approval of the approximately $10 million sale, said Tuesday the track is ideal for poker rooms.

He said he plans on running a “full court press” in next year’s legislative session to push legalization.

“I think the momentum has turned in the state, especially in Prince George’s County, because they need the revenues,” Vogel said after a Maryland Racing Commission meeting in Laurel.

Vogel reaches agreement to buy Rosecroft

LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
July 9, 2009 12:48 PM

Mark Vogel and Rosecroft Raceway have agreed that the Greenbelt-based developer will buy the harness racing track for more than $10 million.

The board of directors for Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., which owns the Prince George’s County track, approved the sale Wednesday night in a unanimous vote, according to Cloverleaf President Kelley Rogers.

“We are thrilled,” said Rogers. “It’s going to allow for a long-term future here at Rosecroft. I think Mark’s going to be a good owner with great ideas.”

Vogel said Thursday he was not ready to reveal more specifics, including the exact price for the track, because he was still ironing out an agreement with a lender. But he said a portion of the deal included money for subsidizing live racing.

Although Vogel, who has been in talks with Cloverleaf for months, said he was excited to move forward, he also said he is anxious to reach an agreement with Maryland’s thoroughbred industry on Rosecroft’s right to simulcast and take bets on thoroughbred races.

“The truth is none of that really matters until we have a simulcast agreement,” Vogel said. “And without simulcast, Rosecroft goes nowhere.”

Former owner says he has tentative Rosecroft deal

LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
June 24, 2009 2:55 PM

The former owner of Rosecroft Raceway says he has reached a deal to buy back the bankrupt harness racing track in Prince George’s County — but the Greenbelt developer is still far from clearing another hurdle in bringing live racing back to the track.

Mark R. Vogel, who owned the track in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said Rosecroft parent Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc. has agreed to a deal to sell the track. Vogel declined to reveal the terms and referred all questions to Cloverleaf President Kelley Rogers, who did not return calls Wednesday.

The sale would need to be approved by the Cloverleaf board of directors, which Vogel expects, and the judge overseeing Cloverleaf’s bankruptcy case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt. Vogel’s race track license would also have to be approved by the Maryland Racing Commission.

Rosecroft Raceway’s simulcast signal is pulled

LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
April 28, 2009 7:19 PM

Four days before the Kentucky Derby, the Maryland Racing Commission has voted to cut off Rosecroft Raceway’s simulcast signal of thoroughbred races in response to the track owner’s refusal to pay a $5.9 million fee for the signal rights.

The 6-2 vote came during a contentious commission meeting held at Pimlico Race Course Tuesday. One member was absent from the meeting.

Kelley Rogers, president of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., the horsemen-owned parent company of Rosecroft, said after the meeting he intends to file a motion in Price George’s County Circuit Court Wednesday requesting a stay order on the commission’s action.

If granted, the order would allow Rosecroft, which has suspended live racing and functions solely as a simulcast betting site, to take bets on the Kentucky Derby this Saturday.

PG officials, team officials guarantee DC United will move to Maryland

LIZ FARMER
February 16, 2009 3:24 PM

LARGO — Prince George’s County and D.C. United officials guaranteed Monday that not only would the Major League Soccer team move to Maryland, but a new stadium would not cost county residents more Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson holding a DC United jersey.in taxes.

“I emphatically want to repeat this again,” said United Executive Chairman Victor B. MacFarlane, who alluded last week to the team’s commitment. “We want to be in Prince George’s County and we will be in Prince George’s County.”

About 100 people, including several United players, attended a news conference Monday at Prince George’s County Community College to hear officials detail how that was going to happen.

“We understand that we cannot ask for one dollar from this tax base,” said MacFarlane. “We cannot and we will not — I promise that.”

Del. Melanie Griffith, D-Prince George’s, said she wanted to dispel rumors that new taxes would pay for the stadium.

“That is not the case,” she said.