The Maryland Racing Commission is the official governing body that oversees the
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
and off-track betting in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. Based in
Towson, Maryland
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...
, it was formed on 1920. The commission is a division of the
Maryland Department of Labor.
The commission operates under Title 11, Business Regulation, Annotated Code of Maryland, Horse Racing. and operated the following sub-committees; Maryland-Bred Race Fund Advisory Committee, Maryland Standardbred Race Fund Advisory Committee and the Maryland Jockey Injury Compensation Fund.
History
In 1967
Kathryn Kusner
Kathryn Hallowell "Kathy" Kusner (born March 21, 1940) is an American equestrian and Olympic medalist in show jumping. She was one of the first woman who rode for the United States Equestrian Team (USET), the first licensed female jockey, and th ...
applied for a jockey license through the commission but was denied because she was a woman.
However, in 1968 Judge Ernest A. Loveless of the Circuit Court of Prince Georges County ordered her to be granted the license. Kusner thus became the first licensed female jockey in the United States.
In 1992, the commission introduced off-track betting.
Directors and Members
The current head of the racing commission is Bruce Quade.
The commission is required to have five board members without a financial interest and four members with a financial interest in racing who serve four year terms.
Mike Hopkins (Executive Director 2003–present) Bruce Quade (Director 2011-), Tom Winebrener, John Franzone, David Hayden, Charles Tildon, Ernest Grecco, Mary Louise Preis, Louis Ulman, John McDaniel, Bruce C. Spizler (Senior Assistant Attorney General)
*2001 - Lewis J. Ulman (Director)
*Frank F. Favazza Jr.(-2010)
*
Frank Small, Jr. (Chairman 1951–1952, member 1937–1950)
See also
*
Maryland Horse Industry Board
*
Laurel Park
*
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...
*
Timonium Race Course
*
Fair Hill Races
*
Rosecroft Raceway
Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosec ...
*
Ocean Downs
Ocean Downs is a casino and harness racing track in Berlin, Maryland, near Ocean City. It is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc.
Construction started in 1947 as a harness racetrack, and it opened in 1949 with Ocean Downs Racing Associat ...
References
External links
Maryland Racing Commission web site
1920 establishments in Maryland
Government agencies established in 1920
Gambling regulators in the United States
Horse racing organizations in the United States
Racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
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