A new year-round racehorse training facility planned for Carroll County will undoubtedly change the landscape of the quiet, rural countryside.

Shamrock Farm in Woodbine, near the unincorporated area of Winfield, is slated to be the site of Maryland’s new thoroughbred training center, where up to 800 horses will be housed.

The 640-acre farm is about 20 miles from the Pimlico Race Course, the thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes, and the site’s strategic proximity aligns with Pimlico’s highly anticipated major redevelopment set to begin later this year.

The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority announced in December that it had chosen Shamrock Farm for the new training center, in which it plans to invest $110 million. In May, the state Board of Public Works approved the purchase of Shamrock Farm.

“The future development of the Shamrock Farms represents a significant change for Winfield and surrounding areas,” Carroll County Commissioner Michael Guerin stated in an email. “My priority is to advocate for the best possible outcomes for the local residents who will be impacted by the proposed facility.”

Guerin, who represents District 4 in Carroll County, which includes Shamrock Farm, held an open forum on the project last month, attended by more than 120 residents.

Many were opposed to the idea of a large training facility at 4926 Woodbine Road.

“This meeting provided a valuable opportunity to discuss aspects of the proposed facility, and I was able to gather important feedback,” he said. “The key issues raised included potential impacts on traffic flow and the capacity of our local road network, the Route 26/Woodbine Road intersection, environmental considerations, particularly concerning existing wells and septic systems, and the anticipated broader effect of the facility on the character of the surrounding area.”

Residents voiced concerns about the design of the training center, the capacity of the area’s electrical grid, and fire service to the site.

They also want to ensure that Carroll County government has an effective channel for communicating local input throughout all phases of the development process, Guerin said.

“I have already been in direct contact with both the MSA Project Team and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association and greatly appreciate their willingness to discuss these important issues,” he said.

For 33 years, James Geary Jr. has lived next to Shamrock Farm.

Geary said his family enjoyed having a horse farm behind his house.

“They bred horses there,” he said. “It was beautiful.”

But when Geary learned that a large training center will be built behind his house, worry set in. Geary thinks that housing 800 horses and building a 75-room dormitory on the farm will have a detrimental impact on the surrounding area.

“Virtually all homes in the vast area around Shamrock Farm are on wells and sewage systems,” he said. “We are concerned with a loss or reduction in capacity of our wells and/or contamination of our wells from a large influx of sewage from the site. Everybody here is on a well.”

Geary worries drainage from the center will also impact Gillis Falls, a local stream that sits partially on Shamrock Farm.

“It ultimately drains into the Patapsco River, Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay,” he said. “Anything they do will affect the Gillis Falls. That is significant.”

Marsha Herbert, owner and operator of Country Hill Farm, a full-service equestrian facility in Westminster, is one Carroll Countian voicing support for the facility. Herbert, a Republican, is running for the District 3 seat on Carroll’s Board of County Commissioners next year.

She’s also a former president of the Carroll County Board of Education.

Herbert said as a horse lover, she’s thrilled that Shamrock Farm was chosen to become a state-of-the-art horse training facility. “I’m really tickled about that,” she said.

Have a news tip? Contact Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@baltsun.com or 240-315-7029.