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Berlin, Maryland is home to Ocean Downs, a racino close to Ocean City. August 1949 saw the opening of Ocean Downs Racetrack, and in 2011 the brand-new, 45 million dollar Ocean Downs Casino debuted. The harness racing track is half a mile long, with a 440-foot stretch length and a 70-foot breadth.
Ocean Downs History
Berlin, Maryland’s Ocean Downs is a premier harness racing track and simulcast betting destination. Ocean Downs Raceway is especially well-liked by east coast visitors since it provides a full schedule of live racing throughout the season. Ocean Downs Racetrack is conveniently located just 6 miles from Ocean City and boasts superb facilities, exceptional harness racing, and simulcasting.
When Ocean Downs first opened in August 1949, it held 20 racing evenings. 1981 saw the construction of a Clubhouse next to the grandstand. For the half-mile open trot, Mr. Bonebreaker and his rider Jim Porter set a world record in 1995. Sanabelle Island’s first-year accomplishments in 1996 left a lot of people impressed. She became a legendary top-pacing mare by winning two Maryland Sire Stakes in addition to fifteen other events. 2001 saw renovations to the Ocean Downs clubhouse that included the addition of a video wall and the Pacers Restaurant.
July through August is when Ocean Downs hosts live harness racing. A half-mile harness racing track with a stretch length of 440 feet and a width of 70 feet is located on the 170 acres that make up the property. The speed rating for Ocean Downs Racetrack is 2:01. The raceway’s turns have 6 to 8 degrees of banking. There are forty nights of thrilling racing action during each live harness racing season. These include the Robbert Cotton Jr. Memorial, Miss Conna Adios, Isle of Wight Bay, Hal Belote Memorial, C’mon Tuff Guy, Austin Thomas Memorial, The Bay Bridge Pacing Series, Alan Myer Memorial, and Ocean City Pacing Series. The daily post time for Ocean Downs is 7:20 p.m.
Superb amenities enhance the exceptional harness racing at Ocean Downs. The clubhouse and grandstand can accommodate approximately 5,000 enthusiastic racegoers. There are twenty self-service wagering machines and forty mutuel windows. Two ATMs are available for racegoers’ convenience at the site. The most recent upgrades at Ocean Downs Raceway are an improved track surface and pedestrian lighting. Every day of the year, from 12:00 noon to midnight, Ocean Downs offers simulcasting. Offering numerous options for simulcast wagering, Ocean Downs broadcasts from sixty harness and thoroughbred racetracks across the United States and Canada. Hockey, baseball, football, and basketball are some of the other live sports that are aired. Apart from these facilities, Pacers Restaurant, Clubhouse Turn, Winners Circle Lounge, and four concession stands at Ocean Downs provide fine eating experiences.
Excavation of Ocean Downs started in November 1947 with plans to open the following summer, but building issues caused a delay. After $650,000 of construction, Ocean Downs opened for business on July 25, 1949. The track’s isolation from the other three harness tracks caused it to struggle at early, losing $85,000 in its first two seasons. In an effort to assist, the MGA raised the takeout three times in a ten-year period. There were rumors that Ocean Downs may convert to thoroughbred racing, and in 1957, half of the board of directors resigned due to what appeared to be a disagreement over the notion.
Over the years, the harness racetrack, including Ocean Downs, have extended their racing seasons to remain competitive with other mid-Atlantic tracks. Ocean Downs hosted harness racing from May through September, making it a year-round activity in Maryland by 1984. The MRC had serious concerns in 1986 regarding Ocean Downs’ upkeep and threatened to revoke the track’s management’s license. John Howard Burbage, the track’s president, gave Rosecroft Raceway $2 million in exchange for his 68 percent interest after under pressure. The following year, the song became Delmarva Downs. Mark Vogel, a real estate developer, acquired Delmarva Downs and Rosecroft Raceway in 1987. Vogel declared bankruptcy following his arrest on drug-related charges, allegedly using money taken from the tracks to finance unsuccessful real estate endeavors. In 1991, Frederick Weisman, a Californian philanthropist, purchased the two tracks to save them from bankruptcy.
The two racetracks under Weisman’s company, Colt Enterprises, performed badly even after Weisman put them up for sale in 1993, losing $4 million in two years. When Weisman passed away the following year, the trustees handling his estate showed little interest in continuing to fund the tracks, which made a buyer even more necessary. With the help of 1,400 mid-Atlantic horsemen, the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, an initial sale deal was achieved for a sum of $11 million, subject to financing. For the 1995 season, Delmarva did not open in May because the transaction was still pending. Bally Entertainment, a casino operator, made a $12 million offer for a majority ownership in the two races, with Cloverleaf purchasing a smaller share, in the hopes that Maryland would authorize slot machines at racetracks.
A frightened of outside control over the state’s racing sector, Joe De Francis, president of Pimlico and Laurel Park, made a competing offer of a $1 million loan to assist Cloverleaf in finalizing its purchase. The horsemen turned down both offers because they were concerned that if a casino built, Bally might not need to race anymore. Rather, an agreement was made whereby Bally lent Cloverleaf $10.8 million to purchase the tracks and committed to running them for seven years, with the possibility to buy a fifty percent stake should slots become legal. In July, Delmarva reopened under new ownership.
In 1996, the management decided to rename the property Ocean Downs since “nobody related to the name of Delmarva” and because Del Mar Racetrack was occasionally confused with it. By late 1996, the horsemen were not happy with Bally’s handling of Rosecroft, and Cloverleaf was losing $1.2 million a year, largely at Ocean Downs. Cloverleaf and Bally negotiated for two months to restructure Cloverleaf’s finances and transfer ownership of Rosecroft to Cloverleaf. Delaware Park’s William Rickman made a rival offer for the two tracks, and De Francis also voiced interest. Ultimately, an agreement was reached whereby Bally paid $2 million for Ocean Downs and promised to keep holding live races there in exchange for specific legislative relief. May 1997 saw the completion of the deal.
Bally promptly “launched a war” against the state’s thoroughbred racetracks, seeking to open an off-track betting parlor in Hagerstown without sharing income with the other tracks and stopping its simulcasting of thoroughbred races. The Racing Commission rejected that plan, and in April 1998, a new simulcast agreement was established, leading De Francis to say that at last the two parties were “working in a peacful and cooperative manner”.
In 2000, Rickman and Bally reached an agreement to purchase Ocean Downs for $5.1 million, with $2.5 million going into escrow to fund the track’s operational expenses. Initially, as part of the sale to Bally, Cloverleaf asserted a right of first refusal that would be funded by a loan from the Maryland Jockey Club. After conducting due diligence, Cloverleaf and MJC concluded the track was losing too much money and required too many capital renovations, despite having entered into a statewide revenue sharing agreement with the intention of preserving their monopoly on Maryland racing. They moved aside so Rickman could finish the transaction.
2008 saw the approval of a referendum by Maryland voters that authorized slot machines at five casinos, Worcester County receiving one license. With its approval for 800 machines, Ocean Downs was the only contender for the position. In January 2011, the casino opened with 750 machines.
In the center of a beach resort community in Maryland, The Casino at Ocean Downs provides top-notch entertainment, including 750 slot machines and live seasonal harness racing. As it approaches its 65th year of thrilling night racing, Ocean Downs Racetrack continues to attract some of the largest harness racing crowds in the United States.
Off Track Betting Guides
Get your off track betting action at Ocean Downs, one of the many available horse racing tracks at YouWager.lv’s racebook.