Alyse Cohen has been around OTBs her whole life. Now she's fighting for a gambling expansion to save hers.
Growing up on a horse farm in rural Maryland meant riding to a hang-out spot was more than just hopping on your bike or in someone’s car to go have fun. You could saddle up and head down to the Wilcom’s Inn, a historic roadhouse at the end of a drag strip near Frederick, Maryland and hitch your horse up right outside.
Alyse Cohen’s memories of that sort of place, where everyone wanted to be on Friday and Saturday nights, started her on her current path. Her father Randy used to take her to another Frederick staple called the Cracked Claw, a seafood restaurant turned off-track betting parlour that was legendary in the area.
When the family that owned the Cracked Claw closed the business in 2011, the OTB licence for Frederick County was available. Cohen, 36, who along with her family had a hotel and conference centre in Frederick, felt an opportunity to come full circle wit..
