Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The family of Peter Angelos backed out of a deal to purchase Rosecroft Raceway Tuesday, citing concern about what is happening in Annapolis with slot machines and the racing industry.
The struggling Prince George's County harness track would be in line to get as many as 3,500 slot machines if Gov. Robert Ehrlich's slot machine bill is approved by the legislature, and slots supporters had hoped that Angelos' money and influence would help overcome opposition in the House of Delegates.
The closing of the sale was to have taken place Tuesday, and Thomas Chuckas, Rosecroft's chief executive officer, said he did not know until he walked into the room that Rosecroft Holdings LLC was backing out of the purchase. The company -- owned by Angelos' wife, Georgia, and son, Louis -- got permission from the Maryland Racing Commission Jan. 15 to buy the track for _$13 million.
"Even as late as yesterday morning when had a pre-closing meeting, everything appeared to be set and ready to be settled today," Chuckas said.
Theodore Hirsh, Angelos' lawyer, said the family was concerned about "more than just slot machines. It's the whole racing picture in Maryland." He would not elaborate, referring other questions to Angelos, who did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press.
The cancellation of the sale came on the day that the Senate began debating the governor's slots bill and after a majority of the members of the House of Delegates from Prince George's County voted to oppose putting slot machines in their county. The House Ways and Means Committee, which killed slots legislation the last two years, scheduled a hearing on gambling bills for Wednesday.
Paul Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director, said the governor did not know until Tuesday that the sale had fallen through.
"The governor does not believe that today's news is going to hurt or help" passage of his slots bill, Schurick said.
"Rosecroft is a troubled institution and has been for a number of years," Schurick said. "Without the Angelos family investment, then I think Rosecroft's future becomes tenuous again."
Chuckas said Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., owner of Rosecroft, is "disappointed with these developments, but will continue to move forward with both live racing and simulcasting and to move Rosecroft into the future ..."
He said he believed the Angelos family wanted "an extended period of time to stay in play. From the CEI perspective,that just wasn't an option."
The Senate on Tuesday approved changes in the governor's bill that slots supporters hoped would make it a little more acceptable to the House of Delegates.
The governor's bill designated Rosecroft, Laurel and Pimlico tracks, along with a track authorized to be built in Allegany County, as locations for slot machines. The Senate took out those specific sites and provided that exact sites -- four racetracks and three off-track locations -- would be chosen later through competitive bidding.
But that change would have only limited practical effect since there are only two tracks not mentioned in the bill -- Ocean Downs and Timonium -- that could be added to the mix for the four racetrack locations.
Sen. Edward Kasemeyer, floor manager for the bill in the Senate, said the change is intended to send a signal to the House that the Senate is trying to reach a compromise on the issue, but House Speaker Michael Busch was not impressed.
"I don't think you're going to sneak up on anybody by taking out the locations," Busch said.
The Senate also agreed to increase the state's share of gambling receipts by reducing the amount that would be kept by owners of slots facilities from 39 percent to 36 percent.
Another amendment accepted by the Senate would guarantee that for eight years, at least $150 million a year from slots revenues would be used to build public schools.
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