FORT WASHINGTON, Md. | Bankrupt Rosecroft Raceway will close July 1 after struggling for years to keep the harness track open, the track owner announced in a memo. Kelley Rogers, president of track owner Cloverleaf Enterprises Inc., made the announcement in a memo posted on the Cloverleaf website on Tuesday night, blaming ongoing negotiations over payments for simulcasting of thoroughbred races. “Our long struggle is finally over and we have come to an end,” Rogers said in the memo. Rogers also said the track could not escape the unreasonable demands of the thoroughbred industry, which he said had succeeded in putting Rosecroft out of business. The harness track had been haggling with the Maryland Jockey Club, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association over an agreement that required Rosecroft to pay millions annual to receive simulcast signals for thoroughbred racing. Cloverleaf, a Fort Washington, Md.-based company, filed for bankruptcy in Maryland last year. Simulcast wagering was Rosecroft’s sole source of betting income since it has not been able to afford live harness racing.
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