SCARBOROUGH – The Maine harness racing industry is keeping a wary eye on a New Hampshire racetrack that will feature harness racing next summer with more prize money than the Scarborough Downs track.

Rockingham Park, located in Salem, N.H., plans to have harness racing next year instead of thoroughbred racing. The announcement this week followed an impasse in contract negotiations between the track and thoroughbred owners.

The New Hampshire track will have daily purses of $60,000, nearly four times the $16,000 that are typical at Scarborough Downs.

The development could hurt Scarborough Downs if many of Maine’s horsemen and horsewomen are lured by the larger purses of Rockingham, which is less than two hours from Scarborough.

“I have very mixed emotions,” said Rick Simonds, chairman of the Maine Harness Racing Board. “I think it’s beneficial for horsemen. They deserve an opportunity to race for good purses. But my love is harness racing in Maine.”

The New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission this week approved Rockingham’s request to feature harness racing next year.

For at least the next year or two, Rockingham will compete directly with Scarborough Downs as both tracks plan to run their seasons from mid-May to September.

Scarborough Downs owner Sharon Terry said she wasn’t overly concerned by Rockingham’s decision. She believes some high-caliber Maine horses will defect to Rockingham, but that only a small number of horses that compete at Scarborough Downs are in that class.

“If (people left) we’d have to deal with that, it’s certainly nothing we have any control over,” she said. But, she added, the Rockingham track could have a greater impact on a track in Plainville, Mass., than on Scarborough Downs.

Kevin Switzer, a trainer and driver, believes Rockingham’s move will hurt Scarborough. He plans to race at Rockingham, despite feeling loyalty toward Maine.

“You’re going to race your best horse for the most money,” he said. “That’s what makes the game go round. It’s not that I’m disloyal to Maine racing, but when it comes to the end of the month you have to pay the bills.”