Shamrock Farm

According a report published Thursday by Maryland Matters, the sale of Laurel Park to the Maryland Stadium Authority may not be a done deal. The website is reporting that a legislative panel is delaying the proposed purchase of Laurel by the Maryland Stadium Authority, asking for a cost-benefit review of the $48.5-million deal that was announced suddenly just over two weeks ago. While the development will not affect the May 16 running of the GI Preakness Stakes at Laurel, it could cause considerable problems for Maryland racing going forward. Once...

In an abrupt switch of plans that had seemed cemented for the past year as part of the $400-million "Pimlico Plus" rebuild of Maryland's Thoroughbred racing infrastructure, the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) is abandoning plans to convert its recently purchased Shamrock Farm in Carroll County into an 800-horse training center, and will instead buy Laurel Park from The Stronach Group (TSG) with the intention of turning it into an 1,100-horse training facility. With Pimlico Race Course now demolished and projected to be rebuilt in time for the 2027 GI Preakness...

Bill Knauf is the president and general manager of the non-profit Maryland Jockey Club Inc., (MJC), which took over the management of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course this year. It's a time of tremendous transition in that state, with Pimlico currently being demolished and rebuilt with the goal of all commercial-track Thoroughbred racing in Maryland moving to the new Baltimore venue by 2027. Laurel will then close for racing and training, and a new training facility at Shamrock Farm in Carroll County will be built. Knauf updated TDN on...

With new plans unveiled for a redesigned Pimlico Race Course by the Maryland Stadium Authority, Governor Wes Moore and the Board of Public Works approved a demolition package for the track after next week's GI Preakness Stakes and also the acquisition of Shamrock Farm in Carroll County as the state's new training center hub, according a Wednesday press release from the governor's office. "Today we take another step toward a new, reimagined Pimlico," said Gov. Moore. "I thank my colleagues on the Board of Public Works, the Maryland General Assembly,...

Shamrock Farm near Woodbine in Carroll County has been selected as the home of Maryland's new Thoroughbred training center, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority announced Monday. Designed to accommodate more than 800 horses with room for future expansion, the new facility is located just 20 miles from Pimlico Race Course. "Our goal is to design and build one of the great equine training centers in the world," said Gregory A. Cross, chairman of the MTROA. "A rigorous examination of many locations in the region showed that this site provides...

To avoid any potential conflict-of-interest issues, Tom Rooney, an appointed voting member of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), has recused himself from any further decision making in the selection of a year-round training center, said Alan Foreman, another voting member of the non-profit. The new organization is positioning itself to assume control of day-to-day racing operations in Maryland, pending legislative approval. In a proposed plan, The Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico Race Course, would turn over ownership and daily operations of the track to the state and to...

   This story is a deeper dive into the joint press release issued earlier Jan. 5 by The Stronach Group, the Maryland Jockey Club, and the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority. The latest recommendation in a years-long attempt by multiple stakeholders to consolidate Maryland racing at a single, reimagined racetrack now calls for a project dubbed "Pimlico Plus," with racing centered in Baltimore and supported by the construction of a new training facility elsewhere in the state, according to a report issued by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA)...

Maryland stallion Outflanker (Danzig--Lassie's Lady, by Alydar) was euthanized due to complications of old age, Shamrock Farm announced on its Facebook page Tuesday. He was 29. The bay stallion sired three graded winners, 22 stakes winners and his progeny have earned over $30 million. He is the broodmare sire of 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter).

Canadian Classic winner Coltimus Prime (Milwaukee Brew--Certainly Special, by Distorted Humor), who has a small crop of Canadian-bred yearlings on the ground from his time at Beau Valley Stable in Alberta, will stand at Shamrock Farm in Maryland for the upcoming breeding season. His fee will be $1,500, with "special arrangements offered to qualifying mares," per Jim Steele, Shamrock's farm manager. Coltimus Prime won the 2014 Prince of Wales S. and was continuing to win or place in black-type events in the US. and Panama through the 2018 season. He...

Thomas J. (Tom) Rooney, a former U.S. Congressman, has been named to succeed Alex Waldrop as the president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). As has been previously announced, Waldrop will retire at the end of this year. Rooney is an owner and breeder and has been part of his family's Shamrock Farm, a Thoroughbred breeding and lay-up operation in Maryland. The farm was founded by his grandfather, Art Rooney, Sr. He has also served on the board of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association for the past...