Sagamore in the running to become a training center?
Frank Vesp- November 18, 2025
The historic Sagamore Farm site is a better location for training centers than Shamrock Farm for several reasons, a Sagamore representative asserted in an August email presentation to Governor Wes Moore’s assistant chief of staff.
The presentation is part of more than 100 pages of documents produced in response to a public records request initiated by the Baltimore banner. The Banner’s story on Sagamore’s efforts is here.
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The email was part of a flurry of activity in an effort by Brendan Tizard, vice president of Sagamore Ventures, to pitch the state of Maryland for purchasing the 500-acre property. which is listed for $18.5 million.
A planned visit by Governor Moore’s Deputy Chief of Staff Manny Welsh, Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) Chairman Craig Thompson, and MSA Vice President Gary McGuigan did not materialize in August after scheduling conflicts arose. But the Banner The story confirmed that such a visit took place in mid-October.
Notably, the August outreach and each subsequent visit came more than three months after Maryland’s Board of Public Works signed off on spending $4.5 million to purchase Shamrock Farm in Woodbine to serve as a training center to support racing at Pimlico as part of the so-called Pimlico Plus plan.
The Maryland Stadium Authority’s purchase of the Shamrock property for $4.48 million was completed on October 6.
Tizard’s presentation focuses on the perceived question marks surrounding the Shamrock site and lists 10 reasons why “we believe Sagamore deserves another look,” he said in an email.
These include the ‘ideal rail development location’ with ‘naturally flat, well-drained’ land and the ‘on-site water infrastructure’, which is seen as ‘a major cost and advantage over undeveloped land’. Both have been raised as possible problems with the Shamrock site.
Additionally, the presentation adds, “Sagamore has what Shamrock does not have: barns, paddocks, staff housing, utilities and operational training facilities already in place.”
Owned by Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour, Sagamore was originally part of the Vanderbilt family and has long been a crown jewel of Maryland racing. The barn and grave of Native Dancer, considered one of the greatest racing stars of all time, are located on the property. In more recent years, Plank’s operation campaigned the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Shared Account winner.
But Plank has lost properties lately as Under Armor’s performance has lagged. Sagamore Farm left horse racing in 2020.
The original selection of Shamrock was made by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority as part of the Pimlico Plus plan they developed. However, the Authority was abruptly disbanded by the state Legislature during its most recent session, and a legislative audit of the Authority in October condemned what it called “significant instances of noncompliance with applicable laws, rules or regulations.”
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