NEWS
Karwacki, former head of Bowie and SCOTWINC, dies at 78
Posted: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 5:08 PM
Al Karwacki, a Maryland racetrack executive who later organized and ran Southern California Off-Track Wagering Inc., died on Sunday in Brunswick, Georgia. He was 78.
Karwacki worked at Bowie Race Course for 26 years as controller, treasurer, and finally as general manager. He was there when the Maryland Jockey Club purchased Bowie in 1983 and when the track was shuttered two years later.
“The major thing I’ll remember about Bowie is battling the elements,” Karwacki told the Associated Press in 1985 as the track that pioneered winter racing in the East prepared to close. “I guess you might call us the track of adversity. But we got great satisfaction out of operating, even after big snowstorms.”
Also during his stint at Bowie, four jockeys were convicted of fixing a race there on Valentine’s Day in 1975.
Karwacki served on board of directors of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations in 1987, when the Southern California racetracks were putting together an off-track betting network. He accepted the job and worked out of Los Alamitos Race Course for the next 14 years in overseeing the network called SCOTWINC. He retired to Georgia in 2002.
Karwacki, a Korean War veteran, died of pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lorraine.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Hospice of the Golden Isles, 1692 Glynco Parkway, Brunswick, Georgia, 31525.
