MUDGE ISSUE 24_Jerkins feature.qxd 15/04/2012 23:09 Page 2
TED MUDGE
TED MUDGE
Helping to bring back Maryland’s glory days Ted Mudge was one of the founders of Instant Racing – the slots that turned round the fortunes of Oakland Park. Now the Vice President of Operations at Maryland Jockey Club hopes his ideas, driving ambition and passion for racing can do the same for the sport in his home state. WORDS: K.T. DONOVAN PHOTOS: HORSEPHOTOS.COM, JiM MCCuE
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HEN Frank Stronach purchased the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) back from his Magna Entertainment Company (MEC) in mid-2011, the years of mismanagement associated with Magna did not convince anyone that Stronach would be its savior. Changing this impression is foremost in the mind of Ted Mudge, whose assignment to Vice President of Operations under President Tom Chuckas was one of Stronach’s first moves, and perhaps his shrewdest. One of the founders of Instant Racing, which turned a floundering Oaklawn Park around ten years ago (see sidebar), Mudge is a Maryland guy whose passion for racing in his home state drives his ambition to also change the game at Pimlico and Laurel Park. His joint purchase of AmTote in 1986 and subsequent sale of much of it to Frank Stronach began a fruitful association. After his success with Instant Racing, Mudge’s business mindset propelled him to put AmeriTab
“Broadbent was a marketing genius, and I learned more from him in a year than I have in 40 years” Mudge on Dick Broadbent
President Charlie Ruma and Bloodstock Research Information Services President Dick Broadbent together in 2001 to create AmericaTab. “Broadbent was a marketing genius, and I learned more from him in a year than I have in 40 years,” Mudge says with admiration. In 2003, between his time at AmTote and becoming President of BRISbet in 2004, Mudge had joined MEC in a similar position to the one he holds now, but “it didn’t work out, car guys were running the company” Mudge said of the much-maligned Magna management of Stronach’s tracks. “I was VP of Development and was trying to find ways to make them better. You can’t shrink your way to greatness. All they cared about was cutting costs.” He left after two years of frustration. Now, mostly racing people, and not manufacturing or casino people, operate Stronach’s racetracks. At the MJC, Mike Rogers – who runs Stronach’s highly successful breeding operation Adena Springs – acts as liaison to Stronach in Canada. Working alongside Rogers and Chuckas, Mudge has thrown himself into help bringing Maryland racing back to her glory days,
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