In its March 1967 edition, the Maryland Horse magazine included a 14-page insert devoted to the concept of a statewide Thoroughbred training center run by a quasi-public corporation.
You can look it up. It’s right there, 33 pages into a publication featuring a winter pasture scene from Windmill Hill Farm on the cover.
The plan proposed new legislation for Maryland with the full support of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Maryland Racing Commission. The legislation called for an increase in wagering takeout from 13 percent to 13.5 percent, with the expected annual contribution of $1 million devoted to the training center’s design, creation (in stages) and maintenance. Trainers would be charged nominal stall rent, with Marylanders given priority.
Supporters said the idea was motivated by a need for: adequate year-round training facilities; improved living accommodations for stable help; facilities for the education and development of yearlings and 2-year-olds; and adequate accommodations for Maryland horsemen with small stables.
The magazine included a detailed two-page drawing of the concept showing 35 barns, a 1-mile training track, turf gallops, sand gallops, horse trails, turnout paddocks, a three-eighths of a mile indoor track, steeplechase schooling fences, a veterinary center, staff dormitories and more. Complete with two lakes, two ponds, a reception center, a show ring, a turf library, a museum and loads of space for expansion, it no doubt would have been a showplace.
Though a potential location was never mentioned, the idea stayed in the news.
An April article covered a 90-minute House Ways and Means Committee hearing (Hal C.B. Clagett spoke for 45), which ended with a referral to the Maryland Legislative Council. More than 100 people attended. A May editorial by Snowden Carter stressed the need to push the council and state racing appointee Clarence Miles. A June letter from Peter Vischer called the handle increase a mistake – emphatically.
The proposed legislation, officially House Bill 614, fizzled from there and – of course – never happened, but it does sound familiar. Fifty-seven years later, Maryland’s Thoroughbred industry stares at an uncertain future and the potential of a new model including a training center in a location to be named later.
The 2024 concept (see page 44 of this edition and the February edition for more) shows more progress than the 1967 version, though the legislative session will again play a massive part. Based on scoring devised by a consulting and construction firms Populous, RKK, Crossroads Consulting and RLB, three finalists were named and ranked – Shamrock Farm in Woodbine, the Mitchell Farm property in Aberdeen (37 points each) and the former racetrack/training center property in Bowie (35 points). One, or presumably some even better-suited property not previously considered, would combine with Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course to be the future of Thoroughbred racing in the state.
Founded in 1948 by the late Art Rooney and still owned by his family, Shamrock has at various times in its history been a spot for layups from the track, stallions, mares, foals, yearlings, a sales consignment and even a Standardbred division. While far removed from its heyday of standing the likes of Maryland-bred champion Christopher R., Shamrock is still an active Thoroughbred farm with the stallion Barbados on the 2024 roster.
Could the Carroll County property become a state-owned training center?
“On one hand, it would be great for Shamrock to stay in racing,” said Tom Rooney, Art Rooney’s grandson and a Thoroughbred owner and breeder. “From that perspective it’s easy. The neighborhood already knows it’s a horse operation and it wouldn’t be that big of a change even though there would be a lot of work to be done. On the other hand, it would be the end of an era with regard to our family and that operation. That makes me sad, but such is life I guess. I think my grandfather would appreciate it. It would be a good legacy for our family and for Maryland racing.”
Rooney is a member of the body created to make the training center decision, but has recused himself from all discussion and was not involved with putting forward Shamrock as a potential location.
“Up until somebody raised this with me, I hadn’t considered it, and since then I haven’t been a part of any discussions whenever the training center comes up,” Rooney said. “I had several horsemen tell me Shamrock would be an interesting choice.”
On the report comparing eight potential locations, Shamrock scored highest for its location, regulatory approvals, size (308 acres with a potential for expansion) and acquisition cost. Rooney will wait and see.
“We are going to a third generation of Rooneys and everybody who owns a farm like this knows how that goes,” he said. “The timing is probably not unreasonable. Obviously, it’s a legacy property for our family. When I’m there I definitely feel the presence of my grandfather. It’s a special place to me.”
And perhaps to Maryland racing as well.
