Maryland officials have selected an executive from New Jersey’s Monmouth Park Racetrack to oversee the transition to a new era for local thoroughbred horse racing that will include state government ownership and major renovations to Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course.

Bill Knauf, who has worked in the horse racing industry for more than 25 years, will be the first president and general manager of a new state nonprofit that will soon run day-to-day racing and training operations in Maryland.

As vice president of business development at Monmouth Park, he’s overseen all track operations and sports betting at the facility.

“Maryland racing has a storied history, and the passion of everyone from horsemen to fans runs deep. I look forward to helping drive the evolution of Pimlico Racecourse and the Preakness,” Knauf said in a recent statement.

The Stronach Group, the Canadian company that for more than two decades has owned Pimlico and operated the annual Preakness Stakes through a subsidiary called the Maryland Jockey Club, officially transferred ownership of the race course to the state government after negotiators closed the deal in July.

The state’s nonprofit will assume the Maryland Jockey Club name. It is expected to run the Preakness beginning in 2027 and eventually provide year-round racing at Pimlico.

Greg Cross, an attorney who was the state’s lead negotiator in acquiring Pimlico, said Knauf is “the perfect person” for the role, which will include overseeing restructured racing operations in Maryland as part of a $400 million investment from the state.

“Bill not only has operating experience, but the knowledge to embrace and deploy cutting-edge technology to increase wagering and profitability,” Cross said in a statement.

Knauf will also manage gambling on races, plans for catering, entertainment, events and more at Pimlico, and will support plans to establish the Park Heights community, which borders Pimlico, as an economic hub for the city.

Knauf will take over the Maryland Jockey Club on Jan. 1, 2025. Until then, he will be a consultant to the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, which legislators established in 2023 to reimagine the state’s horse racing industry and to oversee its historic equine industry, which accounts for 25% of the state’s agricultural base.

Racing, training and betting at Pimlico temporarily stopped on Sept. 1 to prepare the aging track for demolition.

The 150th running of the Preakness Stakes — one of three annual events comprising thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown — will remain at Pimlico next May, but the race will leave Baltimore in 2026 while the track is upgraded. It will instead be at Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County.

Under the latest ownership agreement, The Stronach Group gifted Pimlico Race Course to the state for $1 and will receive $3 million per year (escalating 2.5% annually) plus 2% of money wagered as a fee for the state to run the Preakness.

Gov. Wes Moore has enacted legislation allowing $400 million in state bonds to pay for track upgrades and to construct a separate, yet-to-be-announced training site.

If the state’s new operating authority loses money, it will have to cover the losses with casino-funded purse money typically paid to horse owners, likely lowering potential winnings and costing Pimlico an edge in the competitive national year-round racing circuit.