Off-Track Betting Gets OK'd At Timonium Fairgrounds

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—After months of controversy and debate  off track betting gets the go ahead at the Timonium Fairgrounds.

Ava-Joye Burnett reports, several groups had to win over the community's approval before racing forward.

Off track betting at the Timonium fairgrounds is now racing full speed ahead.

"This is a win for everyone," said Del. Chris West.

Lawmakers signed an agreement Friday for off track betting, also referred to as OTB.

The only reason residents like Shawn Blair supported this is because there's now a guarantee that casinos will never come to the Timonium Fairgrounds.

"It's a good agreement when nobody gets everything they wanted," said Shawn Blair, with the Stratford Community Association. "We don't want OTB, but we really don't want a casino."

Now it's projected that off track betting here at the Timonium Fairgrounds could bring in hundreds of thousands in revenue every year.

People who pushed for off track betting at Timonium say the Maryland Jockey Club, the horsemen and the fairgrounds could pull in $400 to $600 thousand every year.

And with betting rocketing from just a few days a year to year round more jobs are expected.

"But I do have some responsibility to the community, because the one thing I did tell them is I want to be an asset to them," said Sal Sinatra, president of the Maryland Jockey Club. "I don't want to be more traffic, another aggravation to them."

So when can you go out and start betting?

People are able to start off track betting at Timonium Fairgrounds right away.

Organizers believe this change will bring more than 50 jobs to the fairgrounds.