simulcast

Cloverleaf files $20M suit against MD Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Assn.

LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
July 6, 2009 8:04 PM

The bankrupt owner of Rosecroft Raceway filed a $20 million suit Monday against the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Maryland Jockey Club and 15 other defendants, and is promising more suits to come against others in the industry.

“Somebody finally had to stand up to these people,” said Kelley Rogers, president of Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc. He added there will be “many more still to come in the days ahead,” including an antitrust action and a possible suit against the Maryland Racing Commission.

Monday’s complaint claims that defendant TrackNet Media Group LLC, co-owned by Churchill Downs Inc. and jockey club parent Magna Entertainment Corp., is interfering with Rosecroft’s simulcast agreement with tracks owned and operated by Churchill and Magna.

Rosecroft, a harness racing track in Prince George’s County, stopped live racing last year, and simulcast betting is its only form of gambling revenue.

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.