2005 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.
Transcription
2005 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.
HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 3, 2005 CAN THINGS GET WORSE? HOW TO HANDLE SUCCESS At least in Maryland, the answer seems to be yes. After calling an extraordinary holiday season special session to consider medical malpractice reform and engendering the ill well of legislators with that move, Republican governor Robert Ehrlich Jr. and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly were at it again. Ehrlich said he would veto the legislation produced at the session, and some lawmakers were saying they would attempt to override his veto. With the regular 90-day session just two weeks away, a former state senator who now teaches political science, John N. Bambacus, told the Baltimore Sun, “Never in the past three decades have I seen this kind of rancor in the two branches of government. I really believe the citizens of this state, while they may in one way admire the governor’s resolve, on the other hand are saying, ‘Look, folks, we expect you to act on this issue.’” They also presumably would like the legislature to act on slots at tracks, but given the present hard feelings, and the continued objections of House Speaker Michael E. Busch, odds seem slim there will be agreement on that issue. The House Democratic leader, Kumar P. Barve, said of the governor, “He called us into town at a very inconvenient time, to solve a genuine problem, and he is not willing to give an inch. He seems to be almost genetically incapable of compromise, which is astounding.” Ehrlich saw it differently. “One person’s dysfunctionality is another person’s healthy philosophical debate,” he told the Sun. “There’s a different view of the world here. It’s a view of the world that is asking people downstairs (in the Assembly) to do things they don’t want to do.” The House minority whip, Anthony J. O’Donnell, agreed, saying media criticism is focused unfairly on the governor rather than legislative leaders. “The legislative leadership has demonstrated a continued pattern of obstructionism,” he said. HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway has completed a hugely successful year, with purses tripling from $2.9 million in 2003 to almost $9 million in 2004. Track management does not intend to sit on its laurels. General manager Skip Carlson announced that “I don’t think you can ever take your customers for granted,” so Saratoga is planning to spend $750,000 to renovate its pleasant dining room, with new design and an improved menu, and another $30,000 to upgrade the video camera system to provide split screen viewing. That move is not designed just for local consumption. Carlson thinks it will help Saratoga sell its simulcasting to other tracks and venues. One pending project on which no immediate action is likely to be taken is increasing the track size from half-mile to five-eighths, as has been discussed for several years. The cost of the project has gone from a projected $2 million to $4 million, and, successful or not, Carlson says “You have to think about return on investment.” In a very positive story on the success and improvements, Paul Post of The Saratogian wrote, “In 2003, only nine drivers had purse earnings of $100,000 or more, compared to 19 in 2004. Leading driver Dan Capello Jr. has seen his purses increase from $491,397 to $867,383. Only three trainers had purses of more than $100,000 in 2003, versus 16 in 2004. Leading trainer John Stark Jr.’s purses went from $165,248 to $375,721.” Saratoga also increased its race dates from 129 10-race cards in 2003 to 165 13-race cards in 2004. “That’s a 30% increase in total races,” Carlson noted. “No other track can say that. I really think we’ve delivered on most of our promises to the horsemen.” TOM RIDGE COULD RACE IN 05 Tom Ridge, the world’s fastest trotter, has had disappointing fertility tests and could possibly race again in 2005. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 4, 2005 WHO’S ON FIRST IN CATSKILLS ALL’S CLEAR FOR MTR IN ERIE There’s a tempest in the teepee in the Catskills, as conflicting signals pour forth from the mountains. The Oneidas, who have the money from Turning Stone, are supporting and advising the Cayugas, telling them to keep the so-called Seneca-Cayugas out of New York and back in Oklahoma. The spokesman for the Cayugas, at least until now, Clint Halftown, made headlines today by announcing that the tribe was “walking away” from its deal with Empire Resorts, which owns Monticello Raceway, and would not renew its contract with them to build a $500 million casino there. Charles Degliomini, speaking for Empire, said Halftown didn’t know what he was talking about, that the Cayugas already had sent a letter saying they intended to renew their contract, which expired Dec. 31, for another six months. Halftown is not just some supernumerary. He was the one who arranged the deal to settle a nearly $258 million land claim in return for the casino deal, and it appears Ray Halbritter, the Harvard grad who runs the Oneidas, has his ear. Degliomini called Halftown’s actions “bizarre” and not to be taken seriously. “We have every confidence the Cayuga nation is going to move forward and build a casino at Monticello,” Degliomini says, noting that a tribal council member, Gary Wheeler, not Halftown, signed the letter of intent to renew. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s exciting half-hour of “As the Catskills Turn.” The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has cleared the way for MTR Gaming to build a thoroughbred racetrack in Erie, and MTR CEO Ted Arneault says construction will begin on the track, to be known as Presque Isle Downs, in April. Arneault had earlier announced he would not build at the site of the old International Paper Mill, a 200acre property he bought earlier but abandoned after the mayor of Erie became involved in a messy conflict of interest proceeding. MTR may develop that property into a retail, residential or light industrial project, but will build its track in Summit Township along highway I-90, a few miles south of Erie’s downtown. Arneault is planning a $100 million project, a track, a racino with 1,500 or 2,000 slots, and perhaps a hotel. The Supreme Court, in rejecting the appeal of Pittsburgh developer Charles Betters in a one sentence decision, ended objections that had been expressed not only by Betters, who wanted to develop a complex with slots in Pittsburgh, but also by Magna Racing Pennsylvania, owner of The Meadows. SLOTS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE? The president of the New Hampshire Senate, Tom Eaton, says he supports legalizing video poker at the state’s four racetracks, and that a bill is in the works to legalize the machines. Eaton and senator Lou D’Allesandro, who is introducing the legislation, think it can raise $200 million a year for the state. The governor-elect, John Lynch, faces a $300 million budget shortfall, but is concerned about slots changing “the quality of life.” FRINZI HITS HIGH C IN OPERA Fra Noi, an Italian newspaper, conducts an annual opera quiz -- a tough one with 40 questions - and no one has ever had a perfect score in answering it. Until now, when the president of Harness Horsemen International, opera buff Dominic Frinzi, aced the test in winning the competition for the third time. The operatic score was not Frinzi’s only recent triumph, however. He also was presented with the Ray Cannon Justice Award, presented by the Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin. The award noted Frinzi’s “lifetime dedication to the cause of justice,” and mentioned the qualities that those in harness racing know so well: fairness, intelligence, forcefulness, a consensus seeker, and a peacemaker. HTA concurs, and congratulates its good friend. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor OFFERS FOR TRACKS, SORT OF In New York, Jeff Gural, one of New York City’s biggest real estate executives and a major player in harness racing, says he is interested in buying Vernon Downs, but with a condition that may be very hard to meet. Gural, who bought abandoned Tioga Park last year and is preparing it for a harness meeting, is willing to buy Vernon, as he has tried to do in the past, but only if the racino proceeds are doubled from 20% to 40%. Getting that done may be difficult in a legislature that can’t even come up with a state budget on time. Gural told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “You can’t possibly make a go of it at 20%. The only way I’m interested would be if we’re able to get the legislation changed.” Gural also said he is talking with another bidder for Vernon, Casinopartners Management Group, but Eddie Lynn, the COO of that company, declined to comment on a possible deal with Gural. Lynn was general manager of Fort Erie Racetrack and Slots in Ontario for five years. Lee Woodward, bankruptcy lawyer for Mid-State Raceway, which owns Vernon Downs, confirmed talks with both potential buyers. In Windsor, Ontario, columnist Bob Duff of the Windsor Star quoted seven-time Canadian training champion Bob McIntosh of nearby LaSalle, as saying a group of Michigan owners have contacted him offering to buy Windsor Raceway. Windsor currently is closed for racing in a dispute with the Ontario Racing Commission and Ontario Harness Horse Association over number of racing dates. McIntosh said he understood that Tandem Entertainment, part of the Windsorbased Toldo Group of companies, had bought the track by assuming $36 million of debt last year, and said the potential Michigan investors -- owners in his stable who wished to remain anonymous -- were not fazed by that number. “They’ve got that kind of money,” McIntosh said of the group. January 5, 2005 Duff noted in his story that there is no indication, despite the current dates controversy, that Windsor Raceway is for sale. In regards to the dates issue, the Ontario Racing Commission says it has no new application for dates from Windsor Raceway as of today. The commission also advises HTA that our report in this newsletter that the commission had proposed a 153-date schedule was erroneous, and that at no time did the commission propose such a schedule for Windsor for 2005. INDIANA TRACKS GET BOOST It remains to be seen how far it goes, but a key Republican lawmaker in Indiana -- Luke Messer of Shelbyville -- says he will introduce legislation that calls for 2,500 slots at both HTA tracks in the state, Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs. Messer says his bill will not include a casino in downtown Indianapolis, but acknowledged that while it limits the expansion of gambling “it won’t be the last version. In the end, it will likely look much different,” since he is open to compromise on a casino in Indianapolis. Messer says the legislation is intended to help keep the Indianapolis Colts in that city by building a new stadium, a move proposed by the mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson, who also wants the stadium paid for by slots at the state’s two tracks and a casino in the heart of the city. HANOVER ACTS ON OWNERS Hanover Shoe Farms has announced it will sponsor six of the USTA-staffed seminars for new owners. Run by Harness Racing Communications’ Ellen Harvey, the seminars have produced some 140 new owners in the sport, and 60% of them have bought more than one horse. More than 600 people in 11 states have attended the seminars. Hanover president Jim Simpson said the farm wants to help give new owners tools for success in the sport. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor FALLOUT IN WINDSOR STRIFE The impasse between Windsor Raceway and its horsemen and the Ontario Racing Commission over number of racing dates for 2005 is resulting in shock waves beyond the immediate dispute. With live racing cancelled, 478 holders of Woodbine HorsePlayer Interactive accounts in the Windsor home-market area have been disenfranchised by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Association. The CPMA told Woodbine it could not allow the Windsor-area bettors to use their accounts until Windsor has a betting permit. With the track closed and their Woodbine accounts deactivated, those bettors have no legal access to live or simulcast betting, according to Standardbred Canada. SC’s report on the situation concluded with this: “It is clear that HorsePlayer Interactive customers are frustrated with the inability to access legally operated track-run betting pools when offshore and illegal bet providers operate freely and unregulated.” CALIFORNIA CUTS OFF GUILD Saying he doesn’t understand the arrogance of the Jockeys’ Guild, California racing commissioner Richard Shapiro, leading a committee looking into the Guild’s finances, announced yesterday that the Guild will not receive its annual $1 million payment from uncashed tickets in California until it answers “very specific” questions about its finances. Shapiro convened the first meeting of his investigating committee this week, and a committee document will be sent tomorrow to the Guild demanding information before any further payments are made to it from the California fund. Chris McCarron, a member of Shapiro’s committee and the man mainly responsible for the hiring of Gertmenian, said in a recent radio interview that “things began to unravel” after Gertmenian refused his request to provide information to former Guild members Jerry Bailey and Pat Day. January 6, 2005 In a story on Bloodhorse.com, Tom LaMarra wrote that although McCarron had originally backed Gertmenian -- whom he had known for 10 or 12 years -- for the Guild leadership, his position on Gertmenian’s credentials and background had changed in the last three years. “I don’t know what he is and what he isn’t, to this day,” McCarron was quoted. “I think it matters. Earlier on it didn’t matter that much to me, but now it matters not just to me but to all the jockeys, and it matters to the strength of the organization and future of the organization. It all comes down to credibility and integrity. I hope and pray he’s able to prove us all wrong.” SHAWN SCOTT IS BACK Shawn Scott is back, and in controversy as usual. He resurfaced from his Virgin Island retreat, startling District of Columbia election officials with a pre-Christmas invasion of Washington with 75 paid circulators who asked registered voters to sign petitions in support of a slots initiative Scott is backing there. The workers were paid as much as $20 a valid signature, according to the Washington Post. Scott and his associates now have delivered 6,000 signatures to the election board, asking that they be added to some 14,700 previously collected and validated during a contentious drive last summer. The election board, which ruled then that there were not enough valid signatures to qualify, now must decide whether DC law allows the 2004 signatures to be transferred to qualify for a vote in 2006. According to the Post, the December effort surprised not only election officials but Scott’s local allies in Washington, who quickly distanced themselves from the effort, the chairman of a PAC formed to support the measure resigning. One of Scott’s lawyers told the paper that even if the board does not accept the signatures, Scott is prepared to vigorously renew pursuit of the referendum process. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. Estok, Editor BAD READ ON PLAINRIDGE CASE Yesterday’s Boston Herald ran a story under the headline “Ex-partner is back in the race” that purported to report on a Massachusetts appeals court decision involving litigation between Plainridge Racecourse President and CEO Gary Piontkowski and Rhode Island developer and former horsemen’s association officer Lou Giuliano. But the story that followed was so full of inaccuracies that by the end of the day, lawyers for Piontkowski had sent the Herald a three-page letter detailing the errors and demanding a retraction and correction. The story stated that “a state Appeals Court judge has cleared the way for a possible ownership change at Plainridge Racecourse by confirming that an original investor cut out of the business is entitled to stock shares.” The article also contained the statement that “the Appeals Court denied an appeal by track boss Gary Piontkowski that claimed Giuliano wasn’t entitled to stock in the company.” As a final insult, the story ended with a paragraph saying that “Plainridge has long been mired in scandal....” As Piontkowski’s lawyers noted in their letter to the Herald, the story’s author, David Wedge, seems not to have even read the court’s decision. In fact, as Piontkowski’s attorneys point out, the decision, issued on December 30, 2004, “simply found that the minority shareholders in Plainville Racing Company were not permitted to intervene in an underlying piece of litigation which was tried...last year. A decision in that underlying litigation has not been rendered. The Appeals Court decision contains no statement, implicit or otherwise, that Mr. Giuliano is entitled to purchase anything.... The decision decided no substantive rights of any kind.” All of which would have been perfectly clear if reporter Wedge had bothered to read the first three sentences of the decision. As for the reporter’s claim that Plainridge has been “mired in scandal,” the list of supposed “scandals” featured an allegation of “wiretapping” that turned out to be a wiring problem and a “money-room heist tied to a January 7, 2005 Providence murder,” which involved the track being robbed and the perpetrator being found dead two years later after an unrelated drug deal. No word yet on whether the Herald has responded to Piontkowski’s letter. NYRA ’04 LOSS WILL TOP $10M Despite a reported $12 million worth of operating cost reductions, losses by the New York Racing Association will top $10 million for 2004. Spending reductions involved everything from payroll cuts to outsourcing jobs previously done by NYRA employees. NYRA CFO William Byrne said some of the aggressive cost-saving measures NYRA has taken include hiring an all-new fiscal staff, eliminating consultants hired to assist departments such as human resources, and trimming the payroll by 150-200 people. “Over the years, a certain amount of waste was built up in all departments,” said Byrne. “There are still opportunities to reduce costs. There’s a lot more to go.” A $3 million federal fine and the high cost of paying for a courtappointed monitor offset some of NYRA’s financial gains. GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS In the good news category comes word that Don Fuller, who retired from United Tote in 2002, has been named executive vice president of AmTote International. In other news, Standardbred Canada has announced that Armstrong Bros. Farms of Inglewood, Ontario, is the 2004 winner of the Cam Fella Award. The award, established in 1997 in honor of the legendary pacer Cam Fella, recognizes meritorious service to the Canadian harness racing industry. The bad news is the report of the death of Bertram Sarafan, formerly chairman of the New York Racing and Wagering Board. Sarafan, who spent 40 years as a public servant and who served on the New York racing board from 1975 to 1976, died at the age of 91 on December 5. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 10, 2005 56% FAVOR SLOTS IN MD JOE NAMATH LEAVES VESTIN The Baltimore Sun, which doesn’t care for gambling but usually presents a fairly balanced picture of it, reports this morning that 56% of voters in a Sun poll say they favor expanded gambling to help deal with the state’s budget shortfall. The paper says the number is the highest ever in the state, up from 52% a year ago. The poll surveyed 800 voters last week, and support was highest in the suburban counties around Baltimore. One interviewee said, “The money is being spent on slot machines in other states, and why should we send our money to other states when the state so desperately needs money?” That has been the argument, of course, of governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., but there is no sign his nemesis, House speaker Michael E. Busch, has softened his opposition as Maryland’s new legislative session gets underway. “I would hate to follow the road map of the last couple of years,” Ehrlich said, “which is to have a strong bill come out of the Senate and go nowhere in the House.” He might hate that map, but that’s what’s showing on the screen. Yes, that Joe Namath, and that Vestin Mortage, Shawn Scott’s mortgage broker pals in Las Vegas. You say you weren’t aware that Namath was associated with Vestin? Neither were we, until we read in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he had been their spokesman and had decided to return his 400,000 shares. take $1.6 million for them, and terminate a warrant to purchase another 200,000 shares. The paper said the agreement ended a yearlong dispute over Namath’s contract as spokesman, in which he appeared in several ads and commercials, and that Shustek Investments, a company privately owned by Vestin chairman and CEO Mike Shustek, would loan Vestin the $1.6 million at 8% yearly. It turns out Paul Hornung, former Notre Dame and Green Bay Packers great, also did a little commercial work for Vestin, but no longer is a company spokesman. Two days after what Vestin’s PR man called “welcome closure” to the Namath matter, the Review-Journal carried another Vestin story, saying the mortgage brokerage firm was being formally investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which had been conducting an informal inquiry into its operation for a year. NO ACTION IN ILLINOIS, EITHER In a story in today’s Chicago Sun-Times by staffer Mary Laney, the lead reads, “What’s going on with the Illinois Gaming Board? What’s happening with the 10th casino license? What’s with Gov. Blagojevich?” The story goes on to say that Blagojevich has done nothing about appointing new members to the gaming board, which is down to two members who meet once a week, call a meeting to order, and then adjourn their meeting for lack of a quorum. The two can’t renew licenses, so two casinos are operating without them. They can’t hire investigators. They can’t let the Rock Island casino expand. They can’t act on the Isle of Capri, who they selected to receive the final license before that matter got mired down in politics. In short, the governor has assigned gambling to limbo in Illinois. U.S. APPEALS WTO DECISION The United States last week formally appealed a World Trade Organization ruling against it in Geneva on barring Internet betting to other countries, and apparently accompanied the appeal with a veiled threat to change its commitment to the world organization. Antigua, a little Caribbean island nation with less than 68,000 residents, won its WTO case in November, successfully arguing that U.S. prohibition on using its online betting services was inconsistent with WTO rules. The U.S. appeal says the WTO panel decision “is in error and is based on erroneous findings,” according to Bloomberg News. The WTO has 90 days to rule on the U.S. appeal. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 11, 2005 TRACK, OHHA SEEK SOLUTION SEE IF YOU CAN MATCH THIS The impasse at HTA member Windsor Raceway continues, with the track and Ontario Harness Horse Association seeking possible solutions. Windsor issued a press release saying Ontario Racing Commission vice chair Larry Todd had denied a request for a meeting, saying he did not feel the proposed forum was appropriate, and the track had expanded its efforts by seeking meetings with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming corporation, members of the provincial parliament, Windsor’s mayor, and Susan Whelan, the attorney representing the OHHA. Windsor asked the lottery corporation to work with it on benchmarks, noting that its racino ranks 14th out of 15 in Ontario. The slot program, Windsor’s release said, “has left the impression that all tracks benefit equally when they do not. Slot revenue to the horsepeople and to tracks in the Toronto area is approximately 800% higher than in Windsor. Windsor Raceway has requested the OLGC establish benchmarks on slot revenue performance which will allow Windsor Raceway to establish a business model that works for all stakeholders. If the OLGC improved the performance of Windsor Raceway slots to the provincial average, Windsor Raceway could introduce a plan to expand live racing and improve the livelihood of OHHA’s members.” Slots at Ontario tracks are operated by the OLGC, not the tracks. The OHHA, meanwhile, contacted the racing commission and requested immediate action to resume racing at Windsor under its mandate to govern, control and regulate horse racing. Whether that mandate includes power to demand that private enterprises operate remains to be seen, but the OHHA also says it requested a meeting with Windsor Raceway to try and resolve its concerns, and also contacted the OLGC concerning its operations at Windsor. The OHHA will hold a meeting of members Wednesday evening. We don’t like to make you envious, but last weekend’s 9th annual Delaware Standardbred Owners Association awards dinner not only attested to the health of the sport in Delaware but set an example for the industry. A record crowd of some 480 turned out, and it included the governor of the state, Ruth Ann Minner; the lieutenant governor, John Carney; the secretary of agriculture, Michael Scuse; state senators Nancy Cook, Thurman Adams and Anthony DeLuca; eight members of the state’s House of Representatives; chairwoman Beth Steele and administrator John Wayne of the racing commission; and Fred Noe, executive VP of the USTA. The crowd would have been even bigger, but fire marshals said enough as the count neared 500. Congratulations to all concerned. THE LONG SHADOW OF DONALD Indiana’s new governor, Mitch Daniels, sworn in yesterday, wasted no time in wielding power. He vented his displeasure with his Gaming Commission, saying he hoped all seven voting members would offer to resign. Daniels’ comments came hours after a Fort Wayne representative, Robert Alderman, angrily quizzed the outgoing executive director of the commission as to why it licensed Donald Trump’s casino company to operate a casino in French Lick. Alderman called it “extraordinary” that the state chose the company, given its financial situation. Daniels said yesterday he wanted to review the deal before a final contract with the Trump organization was signed. In New Mexico, Brett Woods, the director of the state Gaming Control Board, which has some 60 employees and overseas slot machine gambling at racetracks, fraternal clubs and non-Indian casinos, resigned his $85,000 a year job. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 12, 2005 ROSECROFT SALE GETS OK GOOD NEWS FOR POMPANO The Maryland Racing Commission yesterday unanimously approved the sale of Rosecroft Raceway to Georgia K. Angelos, wife of Peter G. Angelos, the majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Mrs. Angelos is expected to close the sale within 30 to 60 days. The chairman of the racing commission, Tom McDonough, acknowledging the family tie, said frankly, “We all know who’s the power behind this. Having Peter Angelos in the corner of the people trying to get slots to help racing and breeding is a good thing. We’ve got to get some help from the legislature. I think Peter helps in that respect. He gets things done. With his enthusiasm and hard work, we’re confident he can bring racing to new heights in the state of Maryland.” Neither Peter Angelos nor his wife attended the commission meeting, but they were represented by Louis F. Angelos, their son, representing Rosecroft Holdings as its attorney. He told the commission he pledged to work with thoroughbred interests as a “supportive society,” not only to pursue slots but to help resolve long-running disputes in Maryland racing and promote the product. Alan Foreman, attorney for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and a major player in thoroughbred racing nationally, told the commission he was absolutely certain thoroughbred interests could work with the Angelos family. “We’ll be able to deal with them,” he said. “The Angelos family comes from a thoroughbred background. They understand our issues and concerns.” Rosecroft Holdings will pay $13 million for the track. It already has advanced $7.2 million to pay off the mortgage held by Dr. Mark Ricigliano’s Northwind Racing and loaned the track an additional $500,000 as a deposit, with the remaining $5.3 million to be paid at closing. The agreement calls for 150 days of racing with purses of some $43,000 a day, as compared to 117 days and $41,000 last year. A circuit judge in Florida yesterday threw out the lawsuit challenging the validity of the slot machine referendum, writing that courts can overturn the results of an election only where there is evidence of fraud in the election itself, not in events leading up to the election, such as petition drives. The judge, Nikki Ann Clark, said that “to invalidate the amendment after the fact on the grounds asserted would thwart the will of the people who voted for it and would improperly inject this court into the political process.” Floridians voted 51% to 49% in November to change the state constitution to permit local elections on slots in south Florida. An appeal of the decision is promised by opponents, but Clark said in her opinion that “any improper signature gathering which may have occurred on the petitions was cured by the election in which the voters approved the slot machine amendment.” She also said the complaint about procedures in verifying signatures was a matter for the executive branch of government, not the judicial branch. Negotiations continue between Broward county officials and their counterparts in Miami-Dade county hoping for special March 8 elections in both counties on the issue. WEST VIRGINIA GOV SAYS NO There will be no special session of the West Virginia legislature to vote on table games at tracks. Gov. Bob Wise, entering his final week in office, says he is too busy with other matters, including flooding, and time has run out. In New Jersey, despite federal law that says it is illegal, an Assembly committee ploughed ahead on a bill to allow sports betting in Atlantic City casinos. The vote now goes to the full Assembly, even though the Office of Legislative Services says a challenge to federal law “most likely” would fail. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 13, 2005 ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO U.S. BREAK IN WINDSOR IMPASSE Apparently emboldened by the World Trade Organization’s rebuff to the United States in siding with Antigua on the issue of Internet betting, the Isle of Man has reversed its policy and announced it will accept bets from American residents. The Isle of Man, located between England and Ireland, is a so-called Crown Dependency, able to fashion its own laws separate from Great Britain. It first welcomed Internet betting sites four years ago, with prohibitions against accepting American bets, but its Council of Ministers now has voted to reverse that policy. Tim Craine, head of e-business for the Isle, said, “There’s a lot of business looking to relocate to a reputable, regulated jurisdiction. We’re hoping to capitalize on that business.” The move represents another challenge to American racetracks, given the Justice Department’s position on the issue. The Ontario Racing Commission will meet in emergency session today to consider a revised date application from Windsor Raceway that could end the shutdown of racing there that began Jan. 1. Windsor has submitted a new request for 124 days of racing starting January 19, taking into account seven days lost since Jan. 1, which would have provided a 131-day calendar. PROS KNOW A GOOD THING NHL hockey players in Canada have recognized harness racing’s potential for enjoyment and profit for years, and have participated widely in the sport, from John Ferguson years ago to Tie Domi and Mats Sundin today. Pros have dabbled in the sport in this country, Wilt Chamberlain and Sam Bowie and former Kentucky All-American Cotton Nash being prime examples. Now baseball and pro football stars are getting involved big time. Curt Schilling of the Red Sox has his pacer Thunder Storm N in tonight’s 12th race at the Meadowlands trained by Johnny Podres Jr., son of Schilling’s former pitching coach with the Phillies, John Podres Sr., a Brooklyn Dodgers’s ace and MVP in the 1955 World Series. Sam Bowie is represented tonight too, with Boo’s Boy in the second race, a Clyde Hirt event. New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet now is an enthusiastic owner, and of course pitcher Dan Plesac is a serious harness horse trainer in Indiana. NEW SALES LINEUP IN KY Tattersalls and the Kentucky Standardbred Sales Company have announced that the two companies will conduct a joint, merged yearling sale next fall, to be held in the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion, where Kentucky Standardbred has sold for years, during the fall Grand Circuit meeting. George Segal, speaking for Tattersalls, said, “A unified sale enables us to meet the demands of our customers, both buyers and sellers, and at the same time allows us to more efficiently utilize the facilities at The Red Mile for racing. Our desire is to make the Lexington experience convenient and enjoyable for everyone.” The name of the new venture will be the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, presented by Tattersalls and the Kentucky Standardbred Sales Company. HTA’s art auction will be held as usual in conjunction with the sales, on a date to be announced when the new consolidated yearling sales dates are revealed. HRTV TO CARRY BIG M REPLAYS Magna Entertainment’s HorseRacing TV has expanded its coverage to include replays of Meadowlands racing on its daily “morning after” replay lineup. The Meadowlands replays will kick off HRTV’s two-hour expanded block of replays starting at 10 a.m. eastern time, 7 a.m. Pacific, followed by replays from Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, and Santa Anita, all MEC tracks. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor PLENTY OF NEWS..MOSTLY BAD Racing was in the news today, coast to coast, and the headlines and stories were not pleasant reading. In New York, a successful thoroughbred trainer, Greg Martin, and a longtime harness driver, Rene Poulin, were included in those charged with milkshaking at Aqueduct in a race more than a year ago. The front page of the New York Post read, “Race Fix: Gambler doping scandal shocks Big A, Belmont.” The Daily News covered its entire front page with “Mob Day At The Races.” Not surprisingly, the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case also made bold type, saying, “This is not a one-time deal. This is something that was happening regularly.” He also said the mixture was “impossible to detect in Aqueduct’s postrace drug tests.” Milkshakes are successfully tested for all over the nation, and if they are not tested for at Aqueduct, New York racing should be ashamed. According to the New York Daily News Poulin and Martin, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Frank (Pancho) Martin, face up to 20 years behind bars on federal gambling, race-doping and fraud charges. It has long been predicted here that one of these days racing figures would wind up behind bars as a result of the medication mess. This may or may not be the case that results in that. Either way, the news arrived on the same day prominent thoroughbred owner Cot Campbell, defending the toothless Code of Ethics on horse auctions presented last month by a committee he chaired, said in a letter to the Blood-Horse that “developing a practical, legally feasible organization for accomplishing this is close to impossible.....Start with an industry that has no central power for punishing anyone in respect to criminal issues. Add the legal ramifications arising from matters of libel, and throw in the complications of 50 states, with each having its own set of unique laws.” The January 14, 2005 headline over Campbell’s letter read, “Integrity No Easy Task.” Of course it’s not. But if it is an impossible task, we had better all pack our bags and head out. As New York headlines were hammering racing, those in California and elsewhere were indicting it as well. Jockey Pat Valenzuela, with one of California’s smartest and best known lawyers, Neil Papiano, leading the way, was back in racing. Bill Christine, the Los Angeles Times’ awardwinning racing writer, wrote that Papiano “painted witnesses into a corner and left them there.” The California racing board, with what Christine called “little choice” after an administrative law judge’s ruling, relicensed Valenzuela, who has had 11 drug-related suspensions from riding since first testing positive for cocaine in 1988. Gary West, the star racing writer of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, led his story with, “After several drug-related suspensions, jockey Pat Valenzuela is set to resume riding, and horse racing is set to resume its role as an enabler.” The headline on West’s story read, “Jockey’s return taking the sport for a ride.” BAD NEWS IN ONTARIO, TOO There was bad news in Ontario as well, although not a scandal. The Ontario Harness Horse Association, with some 200 members meeting in Windsor, “strongly rejected” Windsor Raceway’s latest date application offering to race 124 days. The OHHA is insisting that Windsor be made to race 153 days. The Ontario Racing Commission announced it would consider the Windsor application at a meeting in Toronto next Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m. ONE LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE Ohio governor Bob Taft has appointed Norm Barron as interim chairman of the Ohio State Racing Commission. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 17, 2005 GURAL SIGNS TO BUY VERNON FALLOUT WIDE AND FAR Jeff Gural, one of New York City’s most important real estate magnates and a major owner and breeder in harness racing, has signed a deal to buy Vernon Downs. Gural, who bought Tioga Park earlier this year, agreed to invest $8.5 million in Vernon and assume its mortgage held by Vestin of Las Vegas, but he put a large conditional stamp on the purchase. Gural says he will buy the track only if the state of New York increases the amount racetracks keep from video gaming machines, and he has helped get a bill introduced in Albany that would double the amount that tracks receive, from 20% to 40%. Paul Noyes, chairman of the board of directors of Vernon’s parent Mid-State Raceway, called Gural’s agreement “a new dawn for Vernon Downs,” saying Gural would give the track instant credibility because he is so well known in the harness racing industry. Noyes said Gural would invest $1.2 million into Vernon immediately to get the track up and operating. The sale has to receive approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy court, since Mid-State filed for bankruptcy August 11. A Syracuse lawyer representing Vestin Mortgage said he had not yet seen terms of the agreement as yet, so he could not comment. Published reports have put the value of that mortgage at $26 million, but a major stockholder of Mid-State disputes that amount and said Vestin could be owed half that amount. Repercussions from the federal indictments in New York in the Aqueduct milkshaking case and betting ring surrounding it have been felt across the country. In Manchester, New Hampshire, two executives of Lakes Region Greyhound Park -general manager Richard Hart and assistant GM Jonathan Broome -- were indicted in connection with the case involving alleged associates of the Gambino organized crime family. Both were charged with money laundering and participating in a gambling conspiracy, but Allan Hart, general partner in the operation and uncle of Richard Hart, said both men were “100% legitimate guys” and tried to distance the track, which has pursued outside bettors vigorously, from International Players Association, the organization directly involved, but would not discuss his personal involvement with it. He called the indictments “a totally separate issue” that have nothing to do with Lakes Region Greyhound. SIMULCAST OF THE PRIX The Meadowlands and Hippodrome de Montreal will simulcast Europe’s greatest trotting race, the Prix d’Amerique from Vincennes in Paris, on Sunday morning, Jan. 30. Post time for the 84th renewal of the classic will be 9:40 a.m. eastern time. For a contract or more information, contact Yvon Giguere, simulcast manager, at 514-739-2741, ext. 2361, fax 514-3402025, email [email protected]. In Fargo, North Dakota, where Susan Bala’s defunct Racing Services was named as part of the New York betting scheme, and where a trial on an earlier indictment on running an illegal gambling operation is to start tomorrow, there was a startling development. Raymundo Diaz Jr., a vice president of Racing Services and a close confidante of Bala’s and fellow defendant in the 12felony count case, reportedly will change his plea to guilty on some counts and testify for the government. When asked if his testimony will hurt the case, Bala told the Associated Press that “the truth will carry the day.” In Lexington, KY, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association urged its member tracks to cut off rebate betting shops unless they disclose their ownership and allow review of their wagering data. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 18, 2005 BALA GOES ON TRIAL TODAY HONKYTONK WITH MOUNTAINS Thirteen months after their indictment, Susan Bala and her chief lieutenant Raymundo Diaz Jr., go on trial in Fargo, North Dakota, today, facing 12 federal felony counts. The charges include running an illegal gambling operation, moneylaundering, illegal wire transmission and conspiracy. Their Racing Services and Global Contact Inc., owned by Diaz, also are on trial. The weather may be cold in Fargo, but this trial could be hot, and the fallout from it could be far reaching and include big names before it ends in the next two weeks or so. That was what the Concord, NH, Monitor said would happen to New Hampshire if gambling is expanded there. “Opening the state to gambling will permanently change its image from a beautiful place for family vacations to a honky-tonk with mountains,” the paper editorialized. It called tracks “dying industries with waning political power,” and said that if the four in New Hampshire got video slot and poker machines, “you can bet that some of the state’s resorts and hotels will too.” Gov. John Lynch yesterday called for a full investigation of last week’s indictment of two Lakes Region Greyhound Park officials, saying if anyone is found to have violated the law, they should be prosecuted fully. The governor also says he wants “clear and convincing evidence” that gaming could be expanded “without harming the state’s quality of life” before he would approve any such legislation. BROWARD GOES ON TRIAL TOO Well, not really on trial. But Broward county commissioners meet this afternoon to consider whether to approve a March 8 election that would put the issue of slots at tracks before Broward county voters. The commissioners are expected to approve the election, and Miami-Dade county commissioners meet Thursday to consider holding an election on the same issue on the same day. Since the measure won resoundingly in November, it would seem chances are good of it winning again, but state senator Steve Geller, president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, warned that the real battle may come not at the polls but in Tallahassee. Legislators will have to consider the rules, including operating hours, tax rates and the split in revenues, and Geller says anti-gambling Jeb Bush may “only pass a bill that is so restrictive that the pari-mutuels will reject it. For example, limiting it to the same hours as the card rooms -only 12 to 12 and only days tracks run live. Or he’ll ask for a 70% tax rate.” Jim McAlpine of Magna Entertainment, who spoke at Geller’s NCLGS meeting last week, said tracks must be able to operate freely and without burdens placed upon them by legislators and outdated statutes. Ah, but who bells the cat. PENNSY DECISION DELAYED Don’t expect a decision on who gets the last harness racing (and racino) license in Pennsylvania until the birds chirp and the flowers bloom. The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, now at full three-man strength, has postponed a decision until then as a result of Ambrosia Enterprises, one of the two applicants, dropping Isle of Capri as a financial backer and switching to Innovation Capital Holdings of El Segundo, California. HTA president Jeff Smith, who represents the second applicant, Centaur Racing, said of the development, “Once again, we are ready to proceed and Bedford Downs is not. The lack of an operator and secure financing are central matters for Commission consideration.” THIS COULD HELP American Airlines has eliminated Saturday night stay requirements in many markets. Check to see about Palm Springs or Ontario, California. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor ORC OKS WINDSOR DATE After four hours of discussion, debate and differences, the Ontario Racing Commission unanimously accepted a date application from Windsor Raceway, with conditions and over the objections of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, thus opening the way for a quick resumption of racing at the HTA member track in Windsor, Ontario. The commission approved Windsor’s 124-day proposal, providing the track will make up seven missed days, bringing the total racing schedule to 131 days, and average 15 races a card over the entire 131 days. The commission gave Windsor until noon tomorrow to accept the proposal, or it will again reject the entire application. REBATERS OUT, TESTING IN In the aftermath of last week’s milkshaking and betting scandal at Aqueduct, two positive and overdue steps have been introduced. The New York Racing Association has ended its relationship with four off-track betting sites with which it had been doing business -- Euro Off-Track, operations on the Isle of Man off Great Britain, the International Racing Group and Elite Turf Club in Curacao, and the Tonkawa Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. In addition, NYRA announced it was introducing milkshake testing at its tracks, and was “aggressively” reviewing its relations with other secondary pari-mutuel organizations (SPMOs) with which it has been doing business. This action has been urged by the Thoroughbred Racing and Protective Bureau and Standardbred Investigative Services for years. In a related move, the Meadowlands announced it also was cutting off simulcast servicing to the four sites banned by NYRA. Officials are hoping for expedited legislation in Albany to permit sodium bicarbonate testing to begin as soon as possible, perhaps as early as March. January 19, 2005 Elsewhere in New York, Gov. George Pataki presented a highly controversial and hotly disputed budget that includes a provision for eight nontrack VLT casinos throughout the state. Given New York’s dismal legislative record -- it has not met an April 1 budget deadline in 20 years -- it is not likely that there will be any rapid action on Pataki’s proposals, particularly in the Democratic Assembly. Included in Pataki’s proposals is a reorganization plan, passed in the Senate but ignored in the Assembly last year, to abolish the New York Racing and Wagering Board and merge its duties into one State Gaming Commission that would control racing, the Capital Investment Fund, and slots in the state. Speculation also arose about the renewal of NYRA’s license, which expires in 2007 after 50 years. A committee could be appointed by December of this year to solicit requests for proposals to operate NYRA tracks for 10 years starting in 2008. ELSEWHERE IN RACING..... In FARGO, ND, an hour before the trial of Susan Bala and her Racing Services got underway, Bala’s partner and co-defendant in the proceeding, Raymundo Diaz Jr., pleaded guilty to three counts and agreed to testify against Bala.....In BROWARD COUNTY, Florida, county commissioners approved a special election March 8 in which residents will vote to approve slots at tracks there. If the referendum passes and legislation does not amend it too drastically, slots could start at HTA’s Pompano Park as early as July 1, although hours, number of machines, revenue splits and taxes still are under discussion......In THE POCONOS in Pennsylvania, the owner of Pocono Auto Raceway unveiled a plan for a $300 million casino complex, which he hopes to build if awarded one of two resort licenses...At the MEADOWLANDS, profit from the Presidential Series Saturday night will go to Red Cross tsunami relief. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 20, 2005 MINNESOTA OKS HARNESS NEW MICHIGAN COMMISSIONER The Minnesota Racing Commission yesterday voted, 5-3, to approve a combined harness track and card room that it previously denied. The approval on reconsideration, after an earlier turndown because of concerns of competition with Canterbury Downs, apparently clears the way for the North Metro Initiative, a group headed by CEO James B. Druck, to move forward with plans to build its proposed $47 million complex starting next spring, with racing in 2006. A 7day, 24-hour cardroom could open during the first full year of racing. The license was granted after a memo to the commission from the Minnesota HBPA saying it had “a basis for agreement” with Southwest Casino, one of North Metro’s partners, for a fail-safe provision on thoroughbred and quarter horse purses at Canterbury, to be backed by a percentage of gross card club revenues against any purse losses at the running track. Thoroughbred Times.com reported this morning that Christine C. White, currently director of agriculture policy at the Michigan Department of Agriculture, was to be announced today as interim Racing Commissioner in Michigan by governor Jennifer Granholm. Ms. White would succeed Robert Geake, whose term expired Dec. 31. White is a Notre Dame graduate in political science, and a daughter of former Michigan congressman Donald Albosta. The Times story, by Greg Forde, was unconfirmed at press time, but rumors of White’s appointment had been heard in Michigan. The story said no details were known on how long White will serve. VERNON SAYS NO TO SCOTT Vernon Downs parent, Mid-State Raceway, yesterday said “No thanks” to its former “savior,” Shawn Scott, and his partner Vestin Mortgage of Las Vegas. Scott and Vestin had offered to invest another $9 million to get the track up and running, as opposed to the $8.5 million offered by harness horse owner and breeder and real estate magnate Jeff Gural, but Vernon said it preferred to deal with Gural, who should have no problems getting licensed in New York State, where Scott already has been denied a license. Gural’s bid is contingent on getting legislation changed in New York to increase track share from VLTs, while Scott’s is not, but Scott’s ability to get licensed was a major consideration, according to Mid-State chairman Paul Noyes. Vernon is hoping to be able to reopen in April for live harness racing, and get its racino open as soon as possible. WINDSOR ISSUES STATEMENT HTA member Windsor Raceway resumes racing Sunday with a 6 p.m. post time, and will race 131 days in 2005 with 1,965 live races. In announcing the schedule, track president John Millson said the model validation “clearly establishes” the commitment of track owner Tandem Entertainment to live horse racing through innovation. Millson said he believed the understanding will lead to “a new decision process whereby race dates can be determined on benchmarked data and not on unsubstantiated claims.” TRACKS SHARE FLORIDA COSTS It is illegal in Florida for special interests to pay for an election, but it is perfectly legal to pay for expenses that may be incurred by the result. Florida tracks in Broward and Miami-Dade apparently have agreed to pay a total of $6.5 million for expenses such as added security and road improvements that may be necessary as a result of the March 8 elections in both counties that could open the way for slots at tracks in those counties. State legislation can impact the outcome regardless of the vote. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 21, 2005 GOOD NEWS ON MEDICATION $250 MILLION UP FRONT? With the approval of model rules of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium by seven major racing states, and California moving to legalize milkshake testing, the sky is brightening on uniform medication policies. Six mid-Atlantic consortium states -- Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia -adopted the RMTC rules yesterday, along with Ohio, and in California the racing board approved TC02 testing subject to a legislative change allowing such testing without split samples. It took California almost a year to get to this point, according to the board’s vice chairman, but at least they are there. They don’t have any penalties yet for offenses, other than loss of purse, but commissioner Richard Shapiro is campaigning for minimum penalties, including exclusion for a second offense. Arkansas, which has been testing for milkshakes after racing, now is discussing a change to test for them before racing. The noose is tightening. That’s the number kicked around this morning by James Odato, the Capitol bureau correspondent for the Albany Times Union, as the up-front franchise fee for the New York Racing Association’s license, which expires Dec. 31, 2007. Odato says governor George Pataki plans to bid out the NYRA franchise as early as this year, and wants bidders to come up with a one-time franchise fee on or before March 31, 2007, with annual payments after that. A Pataki spokesman said the $250 million is not set, and could be lower or higher, but any number of that magnitude could present serious problems for NYRA. NYRA’s CFO, William Byrne, said, “NYRA as it exists today certainly doesn’t have $250 million to write a check to the governor. I can’t come up with $250 million.” SPEAKER: NO INDY SLOTS The Speaker of the Indiana House, Brian Bosma, announced yesterday that there was no hope for Indianapolis mayor Bart Peterson’s plan for a casino in that city to finance a new football stadium for the Indianapolis Colts, and that the measure was dead on arrival. The House minority leader, Democrat Pat Bauer, said he thought there might be alternatives, saying, “We have to find another horse to ride.” Hopefully, the horse might be stabled at HTA’s Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs, both of which have expressed interest in helping fund a stadium if they were given pull-tab slots. The proposed stadium, planned to replace the RCA Dome, the smallest in the NFL, would seat 63,000, with a retractable roof and expansion capabilities to 70,000 for a Super Bowl, and would cost between $550 and $700 million. SUSAN SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW The Racing Services federal trial began yesterday in Fargo, ND, and Susan Bala’s defense attorney said Susan didn’t know about problems with more than $99 million in bets being unreported because none of her employees told her. “She didn’t see any of this unfold before her,” her attorney said. A REALLY TOP MAN AVAILABLE If you are looking for a really experienced and skilled general manager or mutuel manager, one of the very best in the business is available for work immediately. He has worked at top levels in both areas, and is an indefatigble worker. For further information, contact Stan Bergstein at the HTA office. RESERVATION DEADLINE NEAR You have two weeks to make room reservations for the joint HTA/TRA meeting, after which it’s open season. Contact Cindy at HTA to assure a soft bed. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 24, 2005 TURNING OFF THE FAUCET WOLF TURNS SNOW TO GOLD After 10 years of feverish expansion of gambling in Ontario, the province has decided enough is enough. Economic Development Minister Joe Cordiano has said there will be no new installations of slots at tracks, no VLTs in bars and restaurants, no slot machines in bingo halls, and no provincial involvement in Internet gambling. Present installations, however, will be upgraded, and Cordiano did not rule out that some sites could get more slots. He said the new strategy is intended to preserve the economic viability of the gambling industry in Ontario, where 16 tracks currently have slots and two more -- Picov Downs in Ajax and Quinte Exhibition and Raceway in Belleville -- will be permitted to complete plans already underway. “Our strategy,” Cordiano said, “will not only keep the industry competitive, it will ensure social responsibility is front and center in the way we manage Ontario’s gaming industry.” Cordiano acted after a consultant reported that the gambling market in Ontario is nearing the saturation point, and that management of current operations and not creation of new ones was the most prudent course. The study was commissioned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, which manages slots at all tracks in Ontario. Racing was flattened over the weekend by the driving blizzard that covered the country from the midwest to the east coast, but it was grist for Steve Wolf’s mill in Florida. After sending out bulletins all day Saturday that it was in the 70s and Pompano was racing, the innovative Wolf filed this lead on the track’s Saturday night card: “Pompano Park was one of the few tracks in North America that did not have to cancel racing Saturday due to snow. In fact, the closest thing to snow at the track came in the form of the pure white gelding Forever Laag ($55.20, 12.00, 6.80) a 26-1 shot that swept four-wide in the final turn and posted a 1:54.4 three and onequarter length romp in the sixth race pace.” BLOOMBERG NIXES SLOT IDEA The governor of New York, George Pataki, wants casinos all over the state, including five in New York City, to help raise money for schools, but the mayor of New York does not like the idea. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he has never been a great fan of gambling and that “the big problem that I have with it is that it is a very variable income source, when most of the city’s expenses are fixed and longterm.” Bloomberg has allies in Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who also dislikes the idea, and City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, but the all-powerful Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno supports Pataki. GETTING RACY IN THE AIR The giant Airbus A380 is still three years from flying commercially, but it hasn’t slowed down publicity-wise Richard Branson, part owner of the quaintly named Virgin Atlantic airline. Branson was in France preparing for last Tuesday’s roll-out of the first giant doubledecker, to seat 555, in Toulouse, and as usual he was in rare form with the press. He told reporters that the Virgin form of the huge plane would contain a gym and casino offering blackjack and roulette in both economy and business class, and by the way it would have double beds as well. Never one to miss an opportunity, Branson said, “Since you have gaming and you have private double beds, maybe there are two ways of getting lucky on a Virgin plane.” APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! Messages from all over the place congratulating HTA on its naming Dean Hoffman, executive editor of Hoof Beats and the sport’s most prolific writer, as winner of the 2005 Messenger Award. The response was the largest of its kind ever received here on a Messenger recipient. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 25, 2005 THE VLT NUMBERS IN NY SHARBAUGH GETS USTA NOD The Albany Times Union yesterday published revenue figures for 2004 for New York’s four racinos, with Saratoga Gaming and Raceway leading the pack. The track’s racino produced revenues of $80.65 million from Jan. 28, 2004 to Jan. 15, 2005. That number will rise to some $83 million by the Jan. 28 anniversary date, a bit short of the $95.26 million projected three years ago in studies conducted at the time, but still formidable for a first-year operation that spent time working out inaugural problems, and is still improving its operation. According to the New York state Lottery Division, Finger Lakes Gaming and Race Track was second in revenue production during that period with $57.9 million, Mighty M Gaming at Monticello Raceway had $34.2 million, and Fairgrounds Gaming and Raceway near Buffalo produced $29 million in revenue. Eric M. Sharbaugh, 47, the son of former Pennsylvania harness racing executive Dick Sharbaugh and currently vice president and corporate secretary of Info-Matrix corporation, which specializes in providing custom Web and Internet solutions to the government, has been chosen by a USTA selection committee to succeed Fred Noe as executive vice president of USTA. Sharbaugh has had a lifetime interest in harness racing, owned horses, and says he funded much of his college education at Penn State, where he graduated with honors in 1980, by announcing races on the Pennsylvania fair circuit. He is expected to be confirmed for the job by the USTA board when it meets March 19-21. THE WILD TALE UNFOLDS As the trial of Racing Services and its principals Susan Bala and Raymundo Diaz Jr. moves forward in Fargo, ND, the scenario begins to take on the tone of a movie or television mystery show. The names of high rollers with code names like Boomer and Cigar have been invoked, and one teller told the court that after federal agents had raided Racing Service’s satellite gaming site in Fargo, company officials sent her several blocks away to set up operation with another betting machine in an office Diaz maintained there. The teller who testified worked for Global Contact Inc., another firm owned by Diaz. Yesterday’s session produced more explosive testimony, when another former teller said that Gerald Uvari, the alleged Gambino crime family member and one of 17 defendants named in the 88-count Aqueduct indictment earlier this month, visited Racing Services and posed with tellers and owner Susan Bala. In other industry employment news, president Joe Costa of HTA’s member Red Mile has announced the appointment of Kevin Mack, currently director of operations and racing at Hoosier Park, as the new general manager of the historic Lexington track. Tom Bannon, who has been with Hoosier Park since its opening 11 years ago and has served as vice president of communications since 2000, has been named vice president of operations and communications at the Anderson, Indiana, HTA member. TIOGA HOPES FOR JUNE DEBUT Weather problems in New York state are holding up work at Tioga Downs, the former quarter horse track that owner-breeder Jeff Gural bought last June for some $3 million and is converting to a harness operation. Mark Phifer, project manager for the facility, said that he hopes to have the track ready for an opening by Memorial Day. The track is being resurfaced, the 3,100-seat grandstand is being completely renovated, barns are being re-roofed and upgraded, and a buffetstyle restaurant is being installed. Grooms quarters also are being built. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 26, 2005 NYRA OUSTS 6 MORE OUTLETS UNUSUAL TWIST AT VERNON The fallout from the Aqueduct indictments continues, as the New York Racing Association announced it will terminate sending signals to six more simulcasting outlets. The six are Racing and Gaming Services of St. Kitts, West Indies; Lakes Region Greyhound Park in Belmont, NH; Capital Sports Limited, Canberra, Australia; Darwin All Sports Ltd., Darwin, Australia; Coeur d’Alene Casino, Worley, Idaho; and the Excelsior Casino in Aruba. NYRA’s senior vice president, Bill Nader, said of the suspensions, “We need to know more about the ownership, clientele and business practices of these simulcast sites.” Predicting that the action could result in a $10 million loss to NYRA, Nader said, “Hopefully we can recover some of that handle through other outlets, which will lessen the economic impact of the decision.” NYRA’s new president and CEO, Charles Hayward, said that NYRA has made great strides in improving the transparency of its operations, and added that it felt “those who do business with us should be held to these same high standards.” In an unusual arrangement in the dispute over Vernon Downs’ ownership, contending bidders Jeff Gural and a partnership of Vestin Mortgage and Shawn Scott have agreed to each put up $75,000 to tide the track over for a week until bankruptcy judge Stephen Gerling decides who will get to invest in the track. Vernon’s parent Mid-State Raceway accepted an $8.5 million offer from Gural and turned down a $9 million bid from Vestin. Under the agreement in bankruptcy court the party that wins Gerling’s decision will pay the loser’s $75,000 loan. The $150,000 is needed because Mid-State’s interim CEO, Justice Cheney, told the court Vernon would be completely out of money by the end of this week or Monday at the latest. In related developments in the Racing Services trial in Fargo, ND, the former vice president of the company, Raymundo Diaz Jr., claimed he did not know the operation was not properly licensed until three months after it opened. Diaz said he learned about it only after his CFO and controller showed him an account statement for a company called Brixcorp that was used to disguise the Fargo betting site of Racing Services. Diaz, who said he lived with co-defendant Susan Bala on two occasions, testified against her after pleading guilty to three counts of operating an illegal betting operation. He said he and Bala had dinner in New York with Gerald Uvari, one of Racing Services’ big bettors indicted in the Aqueduct betting ring scandal last week. Diaz will continue testifying today. HOOSIER TAB HEARINGS BEGIN State legislators in Indiana begin hearings today on proposed bills that could provide 2,500 pulltabs, similar to slot machines, at HTA members Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs. A Republican sponsor of one bill said putting the slots at the two tracks would provide enough funding to enable construction of a new stadium for the Indianapolis Colts. A casino in Indianapolis already has been ruled out by Indiana’s new governor, Mitch Daniels, who says that if the legislature passes a slots bill he prefers awarding the licenses by competitive bidding among all interested parties. In Iowa, meanwhile, the Racing and Gaming Commission yesterday approved a $60 million expansion of HTA member Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino. The expansion would add 500 slots to the 1,500 already at the racino, and would double the number of table games to 65. GM Bob Farinella says the expansion should be completed by April of 2007 and will boost revenue from $160 million a year to $200 million. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 27, 2005 SLOT HOPES DIM IN INDIANA ANOTHER FED TRIAL BEGINS Chances for slots at Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs dimmed yesterday, when the chairman of the House Public Policy Committee said he won’t allow a vote on the issue unless the proponents and opponents get together on a compromise, which seems unlikely. The chairman, Robert Alderman, said, “This is not my issue. I certainly don’t live or die on this issue. I will drop it in the trash can before I let it become political, I can tell you that right now.” Alderman also said that if he takes the bill off the table, it will not be revived this session. The issue at the moment has evolved into one between the Democratic mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson, and the new Republican governor, Mitch Daniels, over a new stadium for the Indianapolis Colts. Peterson apparently has abandoned his quest for a casino in downtown Indianapolis, realizing there is no chance of getting that accomplished, but he still hopes to raise $46 million a year for 30 years, which is what he says is needed. In another Indiana development, three of the seven members of the state gaming commission resigned in response to governor Daniels’ call for them to do so. So far, 17 members of various state boards have turned in their resignations, although Daniels is not expected to accept all of them. While the Racing Services trial droned on, another federal trial was getting underway in Providence, Rhode Island, where Dan Bucci, former CEO of Lincoln Park, and Nigel Potter, former CEO of Lincoln’s owner, Wembly Plc, are facing federal bribery charges. U.S. district judge Mary Lisi spent yesterday interviewing jurors, and in federal court, trials begin immediately after jury selection, which is expected to be completed this week. Bucci, Potter and Lincoln Park are under federal indictment for allegedly attempting to pay a bribe of millions of dollars to an attorney whose cousin and law partner was speaker of the House of Representatives in Rhode Island at the time, supposedly to stop a Narragansett Indian bid for a casino and to add slots at Lincoln Park. MORE DIAZ-BALA TESTIMONY The romance clearly is over between Raymundo Diaz Jr. and his former boss and buddy, Susan Bala. Yesterday, as the Racing Services trial continued in Fargo,ND, Diaz testified that he had shared concerns with Bala about state taxes not being paid a month before the outfit was raided, and that she had told him she would take care of the matter. The accountant who prepared Bala’s income tax returns said that as betting increased so did Bala’s salary, leaping from $120,716 in 2001 to $683,624 in 2002, then dropping back to $122,815 in 2003, after the golden goose was stricken. DOES THIS SURPRISE YOU? The governor of West Virginia, looking to privatize the state’s workers’ compensation program, has decided a good place to help finance it would be the state’s race tracks. He is proposing to get at least $20 million of the needed $230 million by splitting the slots’ contribution to purses between purses and the state, with the state’s share capped at $20 million. The tracks received $91.9 million in purse subsidies from slots in the 2004 fiscal year that ended June 30. HAVE A DRINK, WITH SLOTS The Oregon State Lottery Commission, urged by governor Ted Kulongoski, voted unanimously yesterday to allow slot machine-style games in as many as 2,200 bars and restaurants across the state. The establishments could have the electronic machines online as early as July 1. Bars and restaurants have had video poker in Oregon, but to get the new slots they will have to agree to a reduction in their share, which produced $164 million in profits on video poker last year. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor January 28, 2005 BIG PLANS FOR POCONO TRACKPOWER JOINS GURAL Robert Soper, the youthful new president and CEO of Pocono Downs, lost no time in telling of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority’s ambitious plans for the track after the group closed on its $280 million acquisition of the track and its five OTB parlors from Penn National Gaming. Soper said the Mohegans expect to spend $175 million on new construction, furnishings and equipment for the track and its racino, in addition to the $50 million upfront fee on receipt of the gaming license. Although the designs are not yet complete, Soper said they will include a racino for between 1,500 and 3,000 machines initially, along with some restaurant and retail facilities and a small entertainment area. TrackPower, Inc., and its CEO John Simmonds, partners with Jeff Gural in reopening Tioga Downs in Nichols, NY, near Binghamton, have announced that the company will be entering into a joint venture with Gural in his pursuit of Vernon Downs. Mid-State Raceway, the parent of Vernon Downs, accepted an offer two weeks ago from Gural to contribute $5.4 million on an interim basis for continuation of operations, and the TrackPower announcement says that on confirmation of Vernon Downs’ Chapter 11 plan, the loans will be converted to 80% of the issued publicly traded common stock of the reorganized debtor. It says that if approved by the Bankruptcy Court, TrackPower and Gural will each hold one-half of the 80% interest acquired on confirmation and each will contribute one-half of the funding required. In a related and bizarre development, Pennsylvania’s gaming law provision for challenging the sales price of tracks has been mentioned in press reports. Aside from the dangerous precedent of dictating the sale price of private property, what the Mohegans paid for Pocono has no relationship to the $47 million that Penn National paid for the track nine years ago. Slots were a far-off and far-from-certain dream at the time, and the present price also has little or no relationship to the $53 million that Magna Entertainment paid for The Meadows in 2001, also long before anyone knew whether Pennsylvania would pass a racino law. In typical press fashion, the Philadelphia Inquirer appeared to be making an issue of the price provision, but experts in the field made light of the non-issue. The Inquirer’s John Sullivan, who wrote the story, did quote William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, who said of the pricing question, “There is no sense to that. It’s rent control. We have a marketplace that tells us what the value of something is.” He’s right, and the gaming commission should make short work of dismissing the matter. BALA CATCHES MORE HEAT Leonard (Lenny) Del Genio, a Las Vegas handicapper who worked for Susan Bala for five years, testified yesterday at Ms. Bala’s federal trial on illegal gambling charges that “she knew everything that happened” at Racing Services, saying “Nothing ever was ordered without Susan’s full authority and permission.” His testimony contradicted the defense argument that she wasn’t aware that $99 million in bets were going unreported and untaxed at her Fargo operation. TIME RUNNING OUT FOR ROOMS A high-powered agenda for the upcoming HTA/ TRA meeting will be announced early next week, and if you plan to hear it and take part in it and have not yet made hotel reservations with Cindy Knox at the HTA office, you had better do so. HTA’s room block expires the end of next week for the March 8-12 meeting at the Hyatt Grand Champions resort in Indian Wells, California. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor NEWS FROM ALL FRONTS A very busy day in the world of racing. In New York, the state Racing and Wagering Board withdrew its approval for state racetracks to engage in simulcasting with 10 outlets previously singled out by individual tracks, thus barring all tracks in New York state from doing business with them. It also was announced that NYRA and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association were funding the freezing of urine samples at Dr. George Maylin’s laboratory at Cornell, keeping them on hand for use as new tests for performance enhancing substances are developed. At Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway announced it was eliminating its gift shop as part of an expansion of higher stakes slots for high rollers. Up to 20 new machines with bets ranging from $5 to $25 will be installed. Shawn Scott, suing again, now is seeking to have five directors who run Vernon Downs disqualified for incompetence. Justice Cheney, one of the five and the track’s interim CEO, said Scott was “grasping at straws.” In Kentucky, the Horse Racing Authority is expected to vote this week to recommend legislation to create a Kentucky Injury Compensation Fund for licensed jockeys, apprentice jockeys and exercise riders in the state. The action came at the request of governor Ernie Fletcher, and presumably was inspired in part by a blistering four-part article in the Lexington Herald-Leader by writer Janet Patton on conditions on backstretches in the state. We presume, although thoroughbred journals might not report it in any event, that the state fund would cover harness drivers and grooms as well as jockeys and thoroughbred employees. January 31, 2005 In Paris, France, trotting fans have a new national hero after Jag de Bellouet won the world’s richest trotting race, the Prix d’Amerique, with roughly $650,000 to the winner, just one week after winning the $900,000 Prix de Cornulier, the world’s richest race for trotters under saddle. No horse had been able to accomplish that double triumph in 30 years. The Hambletonian, scheduled to go for a purse of $1.5 million this year, will regain it status as the world’s premier trotting race. Jag de Bellouet’s owner, incidentally, expressed no interest in racing his champion in the U.S. this year, at least while basking in the glory of his double classic victory in France. In Iowa, Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino was forced to return an unsolicited $10,000 check to AmericaTab after the state attorney general ruled it is illegal for Prairie Meadows to take payments from sites that offer Internet or phone betting to Iowa residents. Jack Ketterer, executive director of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, said the thought was that it “would be taking fruit from a forbidden tree.” In Maine, Penn National Gaming is considering the possibility of building its $75 million racino at a location other than Bangor Raceway, the city’s historic downtown harness track. The state’s slot law allows the racino to be built within a roughly half-mile radius of the center of the racetrack. Asked if Penn National was engaged in negotiations with any particular landowner, spokesman Eric Schippers said, “That’s probably too strong a way to put it. We have had some discussions.” In Pennsylvania, the director of the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton airport thinks it should have 100 to 150 slots “to improve our bottom line, big time,” but legislators from both parties, who fought for a year over the slots bill, said in essence, “no dice.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 1, 2005 JOCKEYS’ GUILD RELENTS THE GOVERNOR’S PLEASURE Under pressure from a California Horse Racing Board committee chaired by commissioner Richard Shapiro, the Jockeys’ Guild has agreed to allow the racing board to examine its financial statements and conduct a limited audit of the organization. The Guild, through its attorney Barry Broad, assured Shapiro that he would be able to see anything he wanted to see, with one caveat. That exception is that the racing board limit its audit as to how the Guild spent the $1 million a year it has been receiving from California, but not delve into the expenses of Guild officials. Shapiro also was notified by Ron Warren, a northern California jockey, in a letter endorsed by 29 northern California riders, that they intended to form a California Jockeys Guild in the hopes of managing state funds to jockeys. State law, however, specifies that the monies, from uncashed tickets, be managed by a group representing a majority of California riders. Some 300 are licensed in the state. A second request to review the books of the Guild, from the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, has gone unanswered. An interesting situation has arisen in Indiana, where the new governor, Mitch Daniels, is seeking to gain control of 17 state boards and commissions by requesting the resignation of 120 people working in those departments. In Indiana, members of most state boards and commissions serve fixed terms, and of the 120 who Daniels asked to quit, only 33 resigned by his deadline of last Friday. One of those who did not, Christopher J. Murphy III, who serves on the Commission for Higher Education, wrote Daniels, “I do not serve in my capacity representing one political party or another, one educational institution or another, nor one Governor or another. My response is one of principle, not of confrontation.” Daniels is not seeking to fire or replace all of those who resign. He simply wants the freedom to do so. Four of seven members of the state’s Gaming Commission resigned, and all five members of the Horse Racing Commission did, but Daniels has not announced which resignations he will accept. If Indiana were to lose the executive secretary of the commission, Joe Gorajec, it would lose one of the most knowledgeable and effective racing administrators in the country. BALA CASE READY FOR JURY With the defense of Susan Bala and her Racing Services winding down, it appears the federal case may go to the jury as early as tomorrow, or possibly Thursday. Bala’s attorney noted that a bonus check for $359,444 she received at the end of 2002 was deposited in the Racing Services account rather than a personal account, but an assistant U.S. attorney made the point that “either way, personally or through the company, she was doing pretty well.” A former bookkeeper testified Monday that the pretax amount of Bala’s 2002 bonus check was around $500,000. An accountant testified that it was suggested Bala be paid the bonus to limit tax liability of Racing Services. HOW SARATOGA $$ WERE SPLIT Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, which celebrated its first anniversary as a racino last Friday, paid out more than $900 million to winning bettors. The state picked up $82 million, of which 61%, or $50 million, goes to support education in the state. The track received 29%, or $23.8 million, to be split on purses, and the Lottery commission got 10%, or $8.2 million, for administrative costs. CAMPBELL, YOUBET AGREE Harness racing’s money-winning champion, John Campbell, has renewed his contract as a spokesman for Youbet.com. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 2, 2005 IT AIN’T MUCH, BUT SUMPTIN BEATING AROUND THE BUSCH The word standardbred isn’t heard much in Kentucky, where thoroughbreds hold sway, so it is encouraging to learn that Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s new plan for breeders awards, drafted in part by state senator Damon Thayer, includes harness racing in a plan to establish a breeders’ award program from stud fees generated in Kentucky. Under the proposed plan, monies derived from a 6% tax on stud fees would go not to the state’s general fund, but to breeders, with thoroughbreds getting 80%, standardbreds 13%, and other breeds 7%. The 13% to harness horse breeders would amount to roughly $1.8 million. The tax law on the sales tax also is to be altered, providing that out of state residents who buy yearlings or 2-year-olds in Kentucky and keep them there no longer would have to pay sales tax. Currently they have to pay tax if the horse is left there more than 60 days. Michael Busch, speaker of the Maryland House and arch foe of slots at tracks, now is sponsoring a bill that would legalize them in Maryland, but only at six locations he favors. Busch says he has agreed to introduce a bill, with his name at the top of sponsorship, although he plans to vote against it. That’s what the man said, according to NBC. In another Kentucky development, Democratic representative Tom Burch of Louisville said he planned to file two separate gambling bills, one of which would provide for slots at Kentucky tracks and the other that would legalize them by local referendum. Burch says, “The money is there, people are going to gamble, so why not keep the money here in Kentucky?” PENNSYLVANIA WANTS MORE The first slots at tracks in Pennsylvania still are many months away, but the Democratic leader of the House and the House Democratic whip say they’re going after more revenue before the first slot jingles. Both House leader H. William DeWeese and whip Michael R. Veon say they plan to sponsor legislation that would allow table games at the 14 slot locations that are now authorized, but do not yet exist. In a joint statement, the two legislators say they see no difference between playing blackjack and poker and playing slots. OH OH, OHHA AT IT AGAIN The Ontario Harness Horse Association does not lose easily, or graciously. Still apparently seething over the award of dates to Windsor Raceway, the truculent horsemen now are filing a class action lawsuit against the track for $10 million for loss of income while the track was closed and for supposedly breaching an agreement with OHHA. John Walzak, the president of OHHA, called the action “absolutely a watershed moment for Ontario racing.” The suit claims, among other things, that Windsor has some $1 million in a trust fund that belongs to horse people. John Millson, Windsor Raceway’s president, said he believes the claims are without merit “and brought tactically to extract concessions from Windsor Raceway with respect to live race dates,” and he called them an attempt by OHHA to once again litigate the same race date issues that were before the Ontario Racing Commission and approved by that body. Millson said he is “hopeful the courts will expeditiously recognize this claim for the negotiating ploy it is.” PATAKI, MOHAWKS, SETTLE Governor George Pataki of New York gave the Mohawk tribe what it wanted yesterday, settling a land claim involving 12,000 acres in northern New York. Under the settlement, the Mohawks get $100 million and the right to add 13,400 acres to their reservation, but no specific casino compact, although the tribe still hopes to build one near Monticello. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 3, 2005 MAJOR EXECUTIVE CHANGES ELSEWHERE IN RACING Bruce Garland, a veteran of 14 years of service at the Meadowlands and the senior executive vice president of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, is retiring. Garland, an attorney who has been an industry leader during his entire tenure at the Meadowlands, served as president of Harness Tracks of America from 1998 to 2000, and played a major role in obtaining an $86 million purse agreement with Atlantic City casinos and bringing the Breeders Cup to Monmouth Park in 2007. Garland has spent nearly 30 years in public service, and in retiring he paid tribute to his colleagues, saying, “I’ve been privileged to work with the professional staff at the NJSEA; they are the best in racing.” The Maryland racing industry, turning proactive in its efforts to get slots, has submitted a 15page document to House Speaker Michael Busch, outlining a total revitalization of the important Maryland industry if slots legislation were passed. Busch remained non-committal, but did call the document “the most substantive thing we’ve received.” Magna Entertainment, which owns Laurel and Pimlico; William Rickman, the operator of Ocean Downs, and the Maryland State Fair signed the document, and Rosecroft Raceway will be included in the endorsement and program once its sale to the family of Peter Angelos is completed. In a related development, a Maryland delegate is filing a bill to close HTA member Ocean Downs and lay the foundation for William Rickman to open a new track in Pocomoke City. Rickman is reported to be in favor of the move. Dennis Dowd, former chairman of the New Jersey Racing Commission and a veteran executive who headed Freehold Raceway, Rosecroft Raceway, Ocean Downs and, briefly, Vernon Downs, will move up from his current post as vice president of off-track wagering to become senior vice president of racing. Chris McErlean, who started his racing career as executive assistant at HTA and has been general manager of the Meadowlands, now takes on new responsibilities as vice president of racing operations for both the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park. In another executive shift, Mark Loewe, former Operations and Racing Director at Pompano Park, is leaving Florida to become Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, Iowa. Vince Donlevie has been named senior vice president and general manager of Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack, now in development in Chester, PA, and Annie Allman has been named vice president of operations and assistant general manager. The defense rested in the Racing Services’ case in Fargo, ND, with defendant Susan Bala essentially telling the court she was unaware of the events for which the federal government is seeking her conviction. She said that when she found out wagers at Racing Services were four times the normal amount, “it was staggering to me.” In the Dan Bucci trial in Rhode Island, the government produced documents showing that Bucci had recommended “a $1 million retainer for four years, without strings,” to the law firm representing the track as “a clear message of gratitude and a willingness to share its success.” In Illinois, Ontario trainer Doug McIntosh is vigorously fighting a 180-day suspension levied by the Illinois Racing Board, saying “the level the horse tested at would not be a positive in any other jurisdiction.” McIntosh has not had a positive test in 37 years of racing, and noted that four recent cocaine tests in horses in Illinois resulted in $500 fines. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 4, 2005 NOE GETS HIGH HTA HONOR ELSEWHERE IN RACING Fred J. Noe, retiring executive vice president of the United States Trotting Association, has been named the 2005 recipient of Harness Tracks of America’s Distinguished Service Award. IN KENTUCKY, the turbulent medication issue continued to boil, with the state’s HBPA resisting adoption of the Racing Medication and Consortium recommendations. The state’s Equine Drug Research Council meets in Lexington today to consider standards, and Keeneland and Churchill Downs announced they will test for milkshakes at their meetings. Nick Nicholson, president of Keeneland, said that while a track or private solution was better than doing nothing, he wished the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority would take action of its own as soon as possible. The Authority had been waiting on today’s Drug Research Council recommendations. Noe, whose 12-year stewardship transformed USTA into a modernized, computerized and highly efficient service organization, leaves the stage as he entered. His first public appearance on assuming his USTA duties in 1993 was a speech at the HTA meeting held that year at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, and his public farewell will be at this year’s HTA joint meeting with the Thoroughbred Racing Associations at the Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells, California, March 11. Noe’s tenure has been marked by unprecedented goodwill and close cooperation between USTA and HTA and resulting progress in the industry. One of the most involved of all men to serve in the post, Noe emersed himself in harness racing after leaving as president and CEO of Stihl Inc., where he served for 15 years. He became an avid amateur driver and visited breeding farms and racetracks across the country and overseas, and won international respect for his involvement and dedication to the sport, and for his accomplishments in bringing USTA into the 21st century as an industry leader. FBI’S FABIAN NEW TRPB HEAD Franklin J. Fabian, a 20-year veteran of the FBI and most recently assistant section chief in the bureau’s counter-terrorism division, has been named successor to Paul Berube, who is retiring as president of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and Standardbred Investigative Services April 1. Fabian took over investigating and dismantling terrorist groups after Sept. 11, 2001, and he also was responsible for oversight of FBI undercover operations. IN PENNSYLVANIA, the contest between Centaur Inc. and Bedford Downs for the final harness racing license in the state could wind up in court. Bedford is challenging a hearing examiner’s decision not to amend or extend its application time to arrange financing, and either side can contest in Commonwealth Court the license award from the Pennslvania Harness Racing Commission, expected in two to three weeks. IN FARGO, ND, a 12-person jury is deciding the fate of Susan Bala on illegal gambling charges. The case went to the jury yesterday, after the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case ridiculed the argument that Bala did not know $99 million in wagers were being processed in a related operation just a few blocks from her Racing Services headquarters. IN WASHINGTON, a redrafted version of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was introduced in the House of Representatives. A strong supporter is Rep. Ed Whitfield, the Kentucky Republican whose wife Constance is a member of the Kentucky Racing Authority. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor BALA GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS A federal jury has convicted Susan Bala and her company, Racing Services, on all 12 counts of illegal gambling against each, after a trial that began on Jan. 18. The company also was mentioned in a federal indictment in New York involving three alleged members of the Gambino organized crime family who were running bets through four rebate shops, including Racing Services. Ms. Bala, smiling as she emerged from the federal courthouse in Fargo, ND, after the fivewoman, seven-man jury found her guilty after six hours of deliberation, told reporters “The case isn’t over.” She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for each of the eight convictions on money laundering and one on money laundering conspiracy, and up to five years and a $250,000 fine on single counts of illegal gambling and conspiracy to conduct it. The conviction on transmission of wagering information carries up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. No sentencing date was set, but jurors return today to hear evidence in forfeiture allegations against Bala, RSI, and her former boyfriend Raymundo Diaz Jr. and his company, Global Contact. As part of a plea agreement, Diaz, who testified against Bala, agreed to a $100,000 personal money judgment against him. His sentencing is set for April 1. ELSEWHERE, IN COURT NEWS The attorney for jockey Jose Santos, who lost a $48 million libel case against the Miami Herald in December when a U.S. judge ruled that a federal court in Louisville had no jurisdiction, says he probably will refile the case in south Florida. Jose sued the paper and its parent, KnightRidder, after it printed a story and photograph suggesting he was holding a device of some sort in his victorious ride of Funny Cide to victory in the 2003 Kentucky Derby. February 7, 2005 In federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, the former CFO of Wembley USA, read from handwritten notes of a company meeting on Jan. 24, 2001, stating that a proposed payment to the law partner of the then Speaker of the House would increase from $500,000 to $1 million a year if Wembley’s Lincoln Park got more slots. Defense lawyers for former Lincoln GM Daniel Bucci and former Wembley CEO Nigel Potter asked why the handwritten comments were not included in the official typed minutes of the meeting. Brent said company executives had not decided to include the payment in the company budget, but it appeared there when he received the budget in a spreadsheet sent from Wembley’s offices in Great Britain. HONORS, HONORS Members of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame have voted Beach Towel and CR Kay Suzie into the Living Horse Hall of Fame. In Canada, Luc Ouellette was named Driver of the Year, the brilliant 3-year-old pacing filly Rainbow Blue was named Horse of the Year, and Joe Stutzman was named Trainer of the Year as Canada’s prestigious O’Brien Awards, named for the late, great trainer-driver Joe O’Brien, were announced. Elsewhere in Canada, in a heated meeting of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, the membership approved most of the agenda, but voted down a proposal that would have allowed OHHA directors to remove fellow directors who twothirds of the board considered disruptive or not acting in the best interests of the association. YOUBET REACHES A BILLION Youbet.com announced a bet on Jan. 31 put it over the billion dollar mark since it took its first bet eight years ago. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 8, 2005 JURY THROWS BOOK AT BALA RACING CAN’T BEAT BUS(C)HES The jury that found Susan Bala guilty on 12 counts of illegal gambling in a federal court in Fargo, ND, threw its final punch yesterday, when after a 45-minute forfeiture hearing it ordered Bala to forfeit $19.7 million personally, which it said was the revenue remaining after $99 million in illegal bets had been paid to winners. Her company, Racing Services, was ordered to pay the remainder of the $99 million to the federal government. The Grand Forks Herald said the jury did not subtract about $12.8 million in rebates paid to high rollers from Bala’s total forfeiture, and the Fargo Forum reported that with the forfeiture verdicts in hand, the government now will further investigate Bala and RSI to see what assets can be recovered. The paper said that could include RSI’s international subsidiaries in Mexico and Venezuela. First it’s Michael Busch in Maryland, fiercely fighting slots at tracks for the third year in a row. Now it’s Jeb Bush in Florida, playing cute with an already passed slots bill for south Florida. That legislation -- Amendment 4, which allows residents of Broward and Miami-Dade counties to vote on slots at tracks -- is being used by the Miccosukee tribe to argue that they are covered too, and can operate slots at their casinos. Bush doesn’t want to get in the middle of this, but he is. Last week he said he isn’t ready to talk, begging off by saying, “This is very complicated stuff.” Of course it is, governor. That’s what governance is all about. Federal law specifies that Indian tribes can negotiate with a state to operate whatever gambling on their land that is legal within a state, and that the governor of a state must negotiate in good faith within 180 days after a tribe requests talks to begin. The Miccosukees made that request in November, just three days after Amendment 4 was approved narrowly statewide, and overwhelmingly in Broward and Miami-Dade. That gives Bush until May 5 to get started on negotiations. He clearly is not ready now, but the issue is not likely to help what kind of limitations on track slots come out of Tallahassee. Whatever they decide will be subject, of course, to a possible veto by Bush. Senator Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach, Florida’s foremost legislative authority on gambling, thinks Bush will push for very limited hours and very high taxes in an attempt to forestall tracks from installing machines by making them economically unfeasible. MASSACHUSETTS CUTS OFF NH The four horse and dog tracks in Massachusetts have joined others in the east in cutting off simulcasting signals to Lakes Region Greyhound Park in northern New Hampshire, where the general and assistant managers were named in the federal charges in New York involving alleged members of the Gambino crime family. BLB BUYING LINCOLN PARK BLB, the company that had proposed to buy Wembley USA for $554 million last summer and then backed out, now is reported to be buying Wembley and its Lincoln Park in Rhode Island for $435 million, and says it will spend another $125 million renovating it. That would be a $560 million package, and the mayor of Providence, Don Carcieri, says he wants three conditions met in the sale. He does not want a hotel or convention facilities built there, he wants the Narragansett Indians cut in on the deal, and that any growth in machines be dedicated to property tax relief. YOUBET GIVES RTIP $100,000 Youbet.com, which recently passed the one billion mark in bets, has contributed $100,000 to help endow a proposed faculty chair in racing research at the Race Track Industry Program of the University of Arizona. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor GENERAL SESSIONS AGENDA Here are the agendas of the general sessions of the HTA/TRA joint annual meeting Thursday and Friday, March 10 and 11. Business sessions will be held on Wednesday, March 9. THURSDAY, MARCH 10 8:10-9:10 Women Run the World...and These Help Run Racing. A Feminine View of Racing Administration Cheryl Buley, NY Racing & Wagering Board Ingrid Fermin, California Horse Racing Board Lynda Tanaka, Ontario Racing Commission Constance Whitfield, KY Racing Authority 9:10-10 New Approaches to Horse Racing Betting: Wagering Possibilities & Out-of-Box Thinking Lee Amaitis, Executive Managing Director, Cantor Fitzgerald and Vice Chairman, eSpeed February 9, 2005 9:40-10:30 Issues Faced by All Drug Testing Programs Dr. Don Catlin, Director, UCLA Testing Laboratories and Olympic testing consultant (depending on testifying schedule in court proceeding in Lausanne, Switzerland) 10:30-11:15 Racing in a Wireless World William Shanklin, Visiting Professor, University of Akron Nick Eaves, Senior VP, Marketing and Gaming, Woodbine Entertainment 11:15-Noon The Realities of Wireless Transmission: Where It Is, Where It Is Going, and What Racing Can Expect Bob Rapp, Group Product Manager, Strategic Enterprise Planning, Mobile and Embedded Devices, Microsoft Corporation NEW GROUP IN SACRAMENTO 10-10:45 Tote & other comments & responses 10:45-Noon. The Impact of Negative News On Legislation: Jay Hickey, President, American Horse Council On News Coverage: Bill Christine, Los Angeles Times On Marketing: Allen Gutterman, Hollywood Park FRIDAY, MARCH 11 8-8:50 Returning Fans to the Racetrack, and Solving Problems That Have Driven Them Away Richard Shapiro, California Horse Racing Board Bill Hoge, former California legislator and fulltime handicapper 8:50-9:40 Customer Relation Databases Atique Shah, VP, CRM & Technology Solutions, Churchill Downs David Norton, Senior VP, Relationship Marketing, Harrah’s Entertainment A new group will replace Alan Horowitz’s Capitol Racing this fall at the Cal Expo state fairgrounds in Sacramento, California. Sacramento Harness Association, headed by former California Racing Commission chairman Ralph Scurfield, will operate the harness meeting starting Sept. 1 as a non-profit corporation, ending 10 years of Capitol Racing tenure at the fairgrounds. Horowitz, who unexpectedly did not submit a formal bid for renewal, told the Sacramento Bee, “It wasn’t a matter of wanting to leave Sacramento, but frankly the conditions in the request for proposals were onerous. The rent was high and the terms were inflexible. In good faith, we felt we couldn’t meet those conditions.” Jack Coffey, another former California racing commissioner involved in the new operation, speaking for himself and his partners in the venture, said, “We want to plow any profits we may have made as a private entrepreneur back into the meet, the facility and the community.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. Estok, Editor SLOTS ROUND 3 IN MARYLAND Legislation providing for the legalization of slot machines in Maryland was put on a fast track yesterday, and Senate President Thomas “Mike” Miller predicted that his chamber would pass a bill within a week. After that, however, the legislation heads over to the House of Delegates, where similar legislation has died each of the last two years. Gov. Robert Ehrlich appeared at Miller’s side at a hearing of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and argued that his gaming legislation would not only assist the state’s struggling racing industry but also generate hundreds of millions of dollars for public school construction and other educational needs. The governor’s bill would allow 15,500 slot machines at six locations across the state, including 3,500 each at Pimlico, Laurel and Rosecroft racetracks, 1,000 in Allegany County (where Ocean Downs’ owner William Rickman plans to build a track), and 4,000 others to be placed at two additional sites. Legislative analysts in Maryland predict the machines would generate more than $1.5 billion a year by 2009, with about half that amount flowing to the state. YOUBET BUYS ‘RACING GROUP’ Online account wagering company Youbet.com announced on Tuesday that it has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire International Racing Group (“IRG”), the privately held account wagering company based in Curacao. The purchase of IRG is contingent upon certain events, including completion of due diligence, execution of definitive transaction documents and the approval of Youbet’s board of directors. IRG was recently in the news when it was named as one of four “rebate shops” through which the individuals indicted in New York for running an illegal gambling operation placed bets. Youbet’s release notes that IRG handled approximately $140 million in 2003 and $210 million in 2004, and that its clientele consists “predominantly” of “highvolume customers.” As a result of the news February 10, 2005 that it’s attempting to purchase a known off-shore rebate shop, Youbet announced that it has begun the formation of an independent committee that will review Youbet’s current gaming compliance policies to ensure that it continues to employ “best practices.” To better facilitate its review, Youbet has hired Gregg Schatzman, former chief of investigations for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, “to assist Youbet and the committee in crafting and implementing any necessary protocols to ensure that, among other items, the protocols and safeguards of acquisition targets are in line with the rigorous standards Youbet has established for its online and telephonic wagering businesses.” Schatzman will also conduct a review of IRG’s business operations. Youbet said it expects to add to the committee “representatives from the horse racing, U.S. law enforcement and financial services sectors” in the near future. MARLENE BROWN DIES Arrangements have been made for a memorial service for Marlene Brown, wife of Hanover Shoe Farms publicity manager Murray Brown. Brown, who was 59, died Feb. 8 of lung cancer. The service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11, at Temple Beth Israel, 2090 Hollywood Drive, York, PA 17403. In addition to her husband, Brown is survived by her son Andrew, two daughters, Jennifer Hodur and Stacey Zitto, and four grandchildren. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, 49 East Main Street, P.O. Box 763, Freehold, NJ 07728, or the American Cancer Society, 924 N. Colonial Avenue, York, PA 17403. KENTUCKY SLOTS BILL DEFEATED A bill to allow slot machines in every county in the State of Kentucky died in a House committee yesterday. The bill would have permitted 11,000 slots across the state, with local approval needed and local governments deciding where to put the machines. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 11, 2005 HERPES CLOSES NORTHVILLE SUPPORT FOR INDIANA SLOTS The fourth case of equine herpes at Northville Downs has forced cessation of live racing, but not simulcasting, at the track, at least until Monday and possibly for the remainder of the live racing season, scheduled to run until April 2. The Michigan Department of Agriculture placed the track under quarantine, preventing any horse from entering or leaving the grounds, after the fourth horse tested positive at the state’s diagnostic center at Michigan State university in Lansing. State regulators met with Northville officials yesterday, and an in-depth investigation is underway with an epidemiologist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services office. In December, a barn at Northville was quarantined after two horses were found to have equine herpes. Both were euthanized, and a third horse tested positive in January. The three horses were stabled in separate barns, and the second barn was quarantined until Feb. 4 when all horses were moved to a different location. Housekeepers, cooks, servers, limo drivers, bartenders and other hospitality industry members of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors’ Association were scheduled to rally at the state capitol today to show legislators their support for expanded gaming in the state to help build a new Indianapolis Colts stadium. Two bills currently in the Indiana legislature would authorize slots or slot-like pull tabs at HTA’s two Indiana members, Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs. DEMANDS THREATEN JACKSON Harness racing at Jackson Raceway in Jackson, Michigan also is in jeopardy, but for an entirely different reason. The Jackson County Fair Board has moved to evict the Raceway, which operates in exchange for at least $75,000 of its annual revenues from simulcasting. While the disagreement involves simulcasting, Rakietin said the track, which employs more than 100 people and produces substantial tax revenue for the city and state, is not likely to conduct live racing if the Fair Board does not relent on its demands for a 30% increase in rent. The mayor of Jackson called the Fair Board’s action “shameful,” saying, “Where they think they can get that much revenue from an old, dilapidated building is beyond me.” Rakietin said he will not meet the board’s terms and that negotiations continue with MTR. Gaming for purchase of 90% of the track. BUT HOPES IN TEXAS FADE A new slots bill has been introduced in the Texas House of Representatives, but governor Rick Perry, who supported an earlier bill, says a budget turnaround makes its chances dim. Although the Houston legislator who introduced the measure said it could generate as much as $1 billion a year for the state, Perry is distancing himself from the proposal in view of a projected budget surplus of some $400 million, telling the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the budget turnaround has reduced the need to raise money from slots. TOP TRAINER TRIPS ON SHAKE Jeff Mullins, second in wins at Santa Anita and ninth nationally in purses won, is the first big name trainer to pay for a high milkshake reading in California. Although the state legislature has not yet passed legislation exempting milkshakes from split sample testing, Santa Anita has a track rule that will require all of Mullins horses that race there in the next 30 days to do so out of a 24-hour detention barn. Two other trainers, unnamed, with high positives, are having their samples reviewed, and according to Dr. Rick Arthur of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium one of them “is not off the hook.” Mullins said he was being treated fairly, but was unhappy that his name was the only one revealed. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 14, 2005 HUGH MITCHELL LEAVES WEG VERNON GETS OK FOR $1.2 MIL Hugh Mitchell, senior vice president of racing at Woodbine Entertainment for the past seven years, has resigned to become chief operating officer of Western Fair Racing in London, Ontario, where he previously worked for 15 years in six different positions. Mitchell lives in Delaware, Ontario, nearby, and owns a farm near London. He said of his move, “I’m coming home. This is a lifestyle decision -- to be back home with my family and my roots. Commuting and living part-time in Oakville...has been fairly difficult.” Western Fair has changed since Mitchell left it to join Woodbine. It now has 750 slots, an arena, a new agricultural facility and $65 million in renovations. Mitchell said he was amazed at how the property had developed and evolved. As COO, reporting to general manager Gary McRae, Mitchell will oversee the daily operations of all aspects of Western Fair, including its Imax theater, facility rentals, and the fair itself. David Willmot, chairman and CEO of Woodbine, said Mitchell had made “enormous contributions” to WEG, adding, “In addition to his considerable and valuable management skills, his exceptional personal standards of integrity and fairness have left an indelible mark not just on the Woodbine organization but on racing in general. I will miss him as a friend and key member of our management team.” Woodbine executive vice president and COO Jim Ormiston will assume Mitchell’s operating responsibilities on an interim basis. A federal bankruptcy judge has given Vernon Downs approval to borrow $1.2 million from harness breeder and real estate executive Jeff Gural, presumably enabling the track to open with live racing in April. The judge’s decision enables Gural to appoint a new chief executive officer and two members of the board of Mid-State Raceway, Vernon Downs’ parent. The judge refused, however, to allow Gural to loan Mid-State another $7 million in return for gaining a controlling share of the company’s stock, saying that long term the matter will have to go through a separate bankruptcy proceeding. The Syracuse PostStandard reported that decision could open a bidding war for the track, since at least five other companies have made tentative offers to buy it. One of those, Shawn Scott, quickly issued a press release saying he was pleased that his offer had “forced Mr. Gural to step up to the plate and make further financial commitments.” Scott, who holds a large mortgage on Vernon with Vestin Mortgage of Las Vegas, said he still hopes “the debtor will ultimately conclude that my offer is better, because it provides more money for unsecured creditors, the horsemen and the track; and more certainty of success....If he (Gural) does not properly fund Vernon Downs, I am afraid we will find ourselves back to square one in the coming months.” Woodbine made other news Sunday when its Pick 7 pool was hit and returned $435,235.65, despite a 44-1 shot winning the opening leg third race. At the outset of Sunday’s card, the Pick 7 carryover was $259,697, and fans poured another $175,539 into the pool on the third through ninth races. The triactor on the third race, which got things started with the $90 winner, paid $6,582.30. GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS Southwest Casino corporation, which wants to build a $47.5 million harness track north of Minneapolis-St. Paul, isn’t the only one who thinks there is potential there. Gordon Graves, a Texas gaming magnate who made his fortune manufacturing slot machines, announced a $50 million investment in the company that gives him control. Graves and Jim Druck, CEO of Southwest Casino, said the deal does not change its harness plans, and Graves said he would not be involved in management. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 15, 2005 ANGELOS CANCELS CLOSING SLOTS DIE IN ROWDY INDY Rosecroft Raceway was left at the altar this morning when, assembling for a 10 a.m. closing by the family of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, they were told the deal had been cancelled because of Mr. Angelos’ concern over events in the state capitol in Annapolis over the legalization of slots. The development is doubly startling, since a sophisticated power broker like Mr. Angelos clearly had to be aware of the continuing impasse between House speaker Michael Busch and governor Robert Ehrlich Jr. Whether he thought he could resolve the impasse and discovered otherwise, or for whatever reasons, the decision not to go forward leaves Rosecroft, which opens tomorrow, faced with its agonizing search for a buyer. Thomas Chuckas Jr., Rosecroft’s HTA director and COO, said of the Angelos family backing away from a commitment, “The sale of the racetrack was never contingent on what may or may not occur in Annapolis. The Angelos family committed to an absolute closing date of Feb. 15, based upon the Maryland Racing Commission’s approval. We are disappointed with these developments but will continue to move forward with both live racing and simulcasting to move Rosecroft into the future, starting tomorrow, February 16th, when we reopen for business. Cloverleaf Enterprises will be reviewing their options as appropriate.” In a raucous session marked by heated debate, the Public Policy and Veterans Affairs committee of the Indiana legislature killed slot machine legislation last night, rejecting a bill to authorize 5,000 slots to be split between HTA members Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs by a vote of 7 to 4. The chairman of the committee said he now considers the issue dead for the session, “unless somebody walks up with a revelation that they made a huge mistake.” Mike Brown, a spokesman for Indiana breeders, said the vote could be a death blow for Indiana racing. OHHA CLEARED, BUT FINED The Ontario Racing Commission has issued the report of its inquiry and investigation into the Ontario Harness Horse Association’s management of purse accounts in Ontario. The commission found no evidence of corrupt or illegal activity by the OHHA board or senior management, no specific rule violations, but a lack of accountability and transparency within the organization in the past. OHHA was ordered to pay $100,000 to the Commission to cover cost of the inquiry. YOUBET TAKES TRIP TO CHINA Youbet.com, with an eye toward the 2 billion 300 million people living in China, has announced it will open a non-betting horse racing entertainment Web site in April, exclusively for access by customers in Mainland China. The site will feature live feeds from U.S. tracks, including HTA member The Meadowlands, whose racing is conducted at times that align with daylight time zones in China. Youbet said construction of its site will include architecture that will enable transmission of fully functional Chinese and Spanish language sites in the United States, and those will be operational by summer. Charles Champion, Youbet’s CEO, said, “We’re launching the China site to be in a position to capitalize on opportunities that could arise if Mainland Chinese government acts to legalize aspects of online gaming. Clearly, if gaming laws are liberalized, it will create a large potential market for horse racing and Youbet.” A $50 million track is now operating in Beijing and a $180 million complex is on the drawing boards for Hubei province in east central China, where 60 million people live. The new Youbet site will be accessible only from the Chinese mainland, will require free trial memberships, and will not provide for betting. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 16, 2005 MORE ON ROSECROFT WAS GOV. PATAKI JOKING? The Baltimore Sun reported more details on the surprising last minute cancellation of the Angelos family purchase of Rosecroft Raceway. According to the story, track officials were waiting at the settlement table yesterday morning when an attorney for the Angelos family arrived to say the family wanted a penalty-free extension of up to 60 days, which would expire just after the end of this year’s legislative session. Rosecroft CEO Tom Chuckas Jr. and his Cloverleaf colleagues took this to mean that the Angelos group was putting a condition on the sale contingent on whether a slot bill passed, a far thing from certain in the politically charged Maryland fight between the governor and speaker of the house. According to the story, the Angelos family will lose a $500,000 deposit, but retain a $7.2 million mortgage it had purchased. The governor of New York, George Pataki, has a sense of humor, and we can only imagine he was using it when he asked New York legislative leaders -- the same guys who have not met a budget deadline in what? -- 20 years -- to come up “with a quick resolution” of the slots delay that is costing New York nearly $3 million a day. Pataki wants to get going with opening slots at Yonkers Raceway on the Deegan Expressway and Aqueduct, and he told legislative leaders that he would like the issue resolved before the state’s fiscal year begins April 1. The delay in getting started is costing the state $1 billion a year. A state appeals court last year struck down one key provision of the VLT law. A number of bills have been introduced to correct the problem, but as usual they are languishing in Albany. Both Yonkers and Aqueduct need legislation to enable them to obtain funding to begin major construction on their racinos. Pataki wants the opposing parties to get together, and senate majority leader Joe Bruno said after the meeting, “I think we can reconcile those differences in half an hour.” Time’s up, Joe. In another development in the matter, a local Prince Georges county group of African-American investors who lost out to the Angelos family in bidding for the track announced it remained interested and was financially prepared to buy it. Thomas Taylor Jr., a Fort Washington businessman organizing the effort, said his group will buy Rosecroft irrespective of the slots debate. “We’re going to buy the racetrack,” he said. “If slots come, that’ll be an added benefit.” NORTHVILLE: DOWN TO 3-1 The Michigan Department of Agriculture and state racing commissioner announced yesterday that Northville Downs must remain closed until March 1, not Feb. 22 as previously indicated, because of the outbreak of equine herpes at the track. The state quarantine on horses entering or leaving the track was extended, and all horses entering any of Michigan’s seven tracks are required to be vaccinated against equine herpes immediately. State controllers in New York, who have been known to run for higher office, frequently turn to racing when they want sure fire front page issues. Current controller Alan Hevesi is no exception. He has launched charges against trustees of the Agriculture and Horse Breeding Development Fund, which administers New York’s Sires Stakes program, claiming inappropriate and ineffective handling of operation of the fund. Hevesi issued a bulky audit report with a host of shortcomings, including lack of written procedures for important financial matters and failing to validate receipts from tracks that support the program financially. Gov. Pataki has proposed eliminating the fund and the racing board and placing their duties under one agriculture department. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 17, 2005 MD SENATE OK, HOUSE NOT BALA WANTS VERDICT TOSSED Rosecroft Raceway’s agonizing fight to get slot machines took two new turns yesterday, one good and one bad. The Maryland Senate rejected attempts to strip Prince George’s county, where Rosecroft is located, out of the slots bill it is expected to pass. But the Prince George’s delegation in the House, where speaker Michael Busch has been able to kill the bill in the last two sessions, are determined to make sure any slots bill excludes the county. Senate budget and taxation committee chairman Ulysses Currie, who strongly supports slots, told the Prince George’s county Gazette that “the leadership of Prince George’s county has said quite clearly that they do not want slots in Prince George’s county,” and suggested that perhaps “we don’t do Prince George’s this year and revisit the issue in future years.” The Senate bill, expected to pass today or tomorrow, would allow 15,500 slots at four tracks, including Rosecroft, and three offtrack locations. The bill as proposed would provide more than $800 million a year for public schools, including $150 million for school construction. The president of the Senate, Mike Miller, said, “I’m fairly certain we’re going to get something this year. If you care about kids and you care about them going to school in quality facilities, you’re going to vote for this bill.” Susan Bala, found guilty on 12 counts of illegal gambling and money laundering charges in federal court, now says the government did not prove its case and wants the judge to throw out her conviction. Bala’s attorney filed an appeal, saying Bala should be acquitted on all counts, but the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case said, “These motions come as a matter of course.” Bala’s appeal said, “The only question that remains is whether Bala should be convicted of a criminal offense because of the manner of bookkeeping relating to her Racing Service’s parimutuel activities.” The jury ordered Racing Services to forfeit $99 million to the government, including $19.7 million from Bala individually. Each of the 9 money laundering charges carries a maximum charge of 20 years in prison, and the other three counts have a maximum penalty of 12 years. No date has been set for sentencing. SCOTT GETS LICENSE, FOR NOW A state Supreme Court judge in New York has reinstated the racing license of Vernon Downs’ majority owner, Shawn Scott, and has ordered the New York State Racing and Wagering Board to show cause at a March 11 hearing why Scott is unfit to hold such a license. Scott was issued a temporary license after he bought 52% control of Vernon in 2002, but it was revoked in December, 2003, when the board said he had lied on his application. Vernon Downs management recently opted to be bought by harness breeder Jeff Gural rather than Scott. CAL CONSIDERS TOUGH STEPS With three thoroughbred trainers already facing detention barns for their horses as a result of high milkshake readings, California’s racing board is considering tougher steps in regulation. The board’s medication committee, during a more than three-hour meeting, considered the illicit use of shock wave therapy; increased inspection of vehicles in the stable area; expanding the retention of frozen blood and/or urine samples for future testing as more sophisticated and sensitive tests are established; and clearer penalty guidelines, one of the prime goals of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. KY TRACKS BOOST INSURANCE Turfway Park and Keeneland have purchased policies from AIG covering jockeys for up to $1 million in medical bills for accidents. Churchill Downs is expected to follow, up from $100,000 limits at a 40% increase in premiums. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor JOHANSSON GROOM OF YEAR Emma Johansson, the first groom ever to care for two HTA champions in the same season, has been named Caretaker of the Year, the annual honor awarded jointly by Harness Tracks of America and Hanover Shoe Farms. Ms. Johansson, a native of Columbia but raised in Sweden, not only groomed the first Triple Crown of Trotting winner in 32 years, Windsong’s Legacy, but also cared for Housethatruthbuilt, HTA’s champion 3-year-old trotting filly of 2004, both racing in the remarkable trotting stable of trainer Trond Smedshammer. The Caretaker of the Year award is symbolic of the key role played by all grooms, the unsung heroes of the sport, in the success of their charges. It was first suggested in 1982 by the late Delvin Miller, winner of HTA’s Messenger Award that year, in his acceptance “State of the Sport” speech delivered by all Messenger winners, when he noted that harness racing did nothing to honor these stars of the backstretch. HTA responded that year by naming Odell Short, caretaker of Fan Hanover, which the previous year had become the first and only female pacer to win the Little Brown Jug. In nominating Ms. Johansson, Ted Gewertz, co-owner of both Windsong’s Legacy and Housethatruthbuilt, wrote, “While I am certain that each of the nominees has displayed the same hard work, dedication, care, attention and affection for the horse or horses in his or her care that Emma has exhibited, Emma’s credentials and achievements in 2004 go far beyond those admirable qualities. Neither of her two champions was in the forefront for divisional honors at the beginning of the racing season. The fact that both horses were able to remain sound and healthy for the entire season and achieve their remarkable results was due in substantial part to Emma’s efforts…..But her credentials do not end with the success of her February 18, 2005 charges. As a result of the success of her horses and the accompanying publicity, Emma has been placed in the public spotlight. Not only has she acquitted herself well in that role, but her cheerful demeanor and visible emotions and conduct have resulted in highly visible favorable publicity for both harness racing in general and the role of the caretaker in particular.” Ms. Johansson will receive an oil painting of herself and her two champions by renowned Pennsylvania artist James Ponter, and the blue and gold jacket awarded to all nominees by Hanover Shoe Farms. BACHRAD WINS DAN PATCH Marv Bachrad, who for the better part of four decades has been synonymous with the best in harness racing publicity, first at Brandywine Raceway and Garden State Park and for the last nine years at Dover Downs, has won Harness Tracks of America’s Dan Patch Award for exceptional media, publicity and public relations contributions to the sport. A former sportswriter and sportscaster known throughout the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area, Bachrad currently hosts a daily harness racing news program telecast to up to 500 off-track and simulcasting facilities in the United States and Canada. A member of the Communicators’ Corner of the Hall of Fame in Goshen and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, he also is a past winner of the harness writer’s coveted Proximity Award, the Publicists’ Golden Pen Award, the United States Trotting Association’s John Hervey award for writing, and the Harness Horse Youth Foundation’s Service to Youth Award. He is a past president of both the U.S. Harness Writers and North American Harness Publicists’ Associations. Bachrad will receive his Dan Patch award at HTA’s annual Nova Awards Dinner at Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells, California, Friday night, March 11. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor NOW FOR THE HARD PART The Maryland Senate, as expected, passed Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr.’s slots bill last Friday, 26-21, sending it to the House with 15,500 slots to be allocated at seven locations around the state. Although the language did not specify the locations, it did say four of the locations had to be at Maryland racetracks, so Pimlico, Laurel and Rosecroft are home as far as the Senate is concerned. But not the House. Although delegate Clarence Davis, who chairs the House subcommittee dealing with the bill, said, “I think we can come up with something. It’s going to be tightwire, but we’ll craft a bill that can go forward,” there is opposition from legislators in Prince George’s county, where HTA member Rosecroft is located. Anthony J. O’Donnell, the House minority whip from southern Maryland, said, “I think we’re going to keep an open mind. We’re willing to work on something that is mutually agreeable to this body, knowing if we do pass a bill it will be a matter of intense negotiations with the Senate.” One legislator said of the House deliberations, “It’s like the saying, ‘Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.’” VERNON GETS NEW CEO When Vernon Downs accepted Jeff Gural’s offer of a $1.2 million loan to keep it solvent, one of the conditions was that Gural, the New York City real estate magnate and harness horse ownerbreeder, got to appoint the track’s chief executive officer. He has, naming Edward Tracy, former president and CEO of Trump Hotel Casino Resorts in 1990 and 1991, when Trump filed bankruptcy on its Taj Mahal. Tracy, commenting on his appointment, pointed that out, saying, “So I know a little bit about bankruptcies.” Tracy also was president of the consulting company that helped the Oneida Indian Nation launch its Turning Stone casino near Vernon 12 years ago. February 21, 2005 In regard to his Tioga Park operation, which he bought last year, Gural says he will wait for a change in the VLT law, pending before the New York legislature, before he moves forward on completing renovation of the plant. “I’m very optimistic,” Gural told the Towanda Pennsylvania, Daily and Sunday Review. “I have spent a million and a half dollars and I’d be very disappointed if it didn’t work out.” POPULAR COAST TO COAST A national bench warrant, covering all 50 states, has been issued for the arrest of trainer Richard Chansky and his associate, Kevin Goodell, by a judge in New Jersey. Chansky and Goodell were indicted by a grand jury in Superior Court in New Jersey on Dec. 20, 2004, on charges including possession of a controlled dangerous substance, multiple counts of failure to file tax returns, and receiving stolen property. They were arrested in April of 2001 by New Jersey State Police and subsequently lost their New Jersey licenses. The national bench warrant was issued after they failed to appear for a scheduled arraignment and bail hearing in Ocean county, NJ, Superior Court Feb. 15. Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of either man can call their local, state, or federal (FBI) law enforcement authorities or the New Jersey police racetrack unit at 732-462-3788. DON’T FORGET NOVA DINNER If you’re going to attend the annual joint meeting of HTA and TRA at the Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells, CA, March 8-11, plan to make the Friday night March 11 Nova Awards dinner as well. HTA honors the owners of its seasonal champions, as selected by our racing secretaries, and nine of them will be on hand in California. Help let them know of HTA’s appreciation of their ownership. It is informal, and special entertainment is on tap as well. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 22, 2005 KY BITES THE BULLET TODAY PLAIN GIRL WITH RICH DADDY The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority meets this afternoon, and hopefully its members will act on the recommendation of the state Equine Drug Research Council and endorse the national policies of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, and ask for state legislation enabling penalties for milkshake positives with readings higher than 37 millimoles of carbon dioxide per liter of blood plasma. If the matter passes and the legislature concurs, Kentucky could join the growing number of states adopting the RMTC rules, moving the sport closer to the goal of uniform medication rules and penalties. That was the characterization by Tom Winebrener, president of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners’ Association, which owns Rosecroft Raceway, after losing its third promising suitor in two years. Winebrener was quoted by David Snyder in the Washington Post as saying, “We’ve had two broken engagements and we’ve been left at the altar once. We’re starting to feel like the plain girl with the rich daddy, and the rich daddy is slots. If Mr. Slots is home, we have a lot of suitors. When Mr. Slots leaves, we’re left in the dust.” If all sides in the Maryland political mess cared as much about racing in Maryland as Cloverleaf and Rosecroft do, the state’s racing industry, once a pride and joy, would be in far better shape than it is. Being a plain girl in today’s world -- or a political football -- is no fun. In another Kentucky development, the Kentucky House passed, 96-4, a bill that diverts taxes on stud fees paid in Kentucky from the state’s budget to breeding funds for horses. The bill has the support of governor Ernie Fletcher, and is expected to pass in the Senate as well. The amount involved is not insignificant: $14 million was generated by the sales tax on stud fees last year. The monies will be divided 80% to thoroughbred breeders, 13% to harness horse breeders, and 7% to other breeds. OHHA TACKLES MEMBER ISSUE The Ontario Harness Horse Association meets tonight to discuss its recently passed rule that its membership be limited to Ontario residents. The change triggered enough negative response -including one from John Campbell and apparently from Ottawa members -- that the well informed Harness Edge predicts tonight’s meeting will be “a contentious affair.” According to that publication, Ottawa horsemen signed a contract with Rideau Carleton Raceway to stage a winter meeting, a move not endorsed by OHHA. The issue led to formation of the National Capital Region Harness Horse Association, a further fractionalization of racing. BIG M CONTEST TURNING BIG The Meadowlands’ National Harness Handicapping Championship, scheduled for April 2, is turning out to be a big promotion. Five tracks already have qualified entrants, and 13 more are scheduled to hold qualifying events this month and next. The winner will receive a $50,000 guaranteed prize, a Continental airline voucher for two anywhere in the United States, a guest shot on Fox Sports New York’s Racing from the Meadowlands, and his or her handicapping picks and picture on the Meadowlands Web site every Saturday for the remainder of the year. Freehold, Northfield Park, Mohegan Sun, The Meadows and WinTicket.com already have qualified finalists. Qualifying contests are scheduled for Balmoral Park, Buffalo Raceway, Cal-Expo, Capital OTB, Flamboro Downs, The Harness Edge, Hazel Park, Maywood Park, the Meadowlands itself, Northville Downs, Saratoga Gaming and Racing, Woodbine Entertainment, Youbet.com and Xpressbet.com. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor “THRESHOLD DAY” FOR KY That was how veteran racing lawyer Ned Bonnie, as close to Kentucky racing as anyone in the country, reacted to yesterday’s Kentucky Racing Authority passage of new medication rules that bring the commonwealth into conformity with proposals of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. Bonnie said he felt “an enormous sense of relief” at Authority endorsement of the rules, and added, “This is really a threshold event for Kentucky.” Under the new rules, if they survive legislative oversight, nothing but Salix can be administered on race day, up to four hours before posttime; only one of three antiinflammatories -- Butazolidin, ketoprofen or flunixin -- as “adjuncts” to Salix but only up to 24 hours before the race; no steroids within 24 hours of a race; and milkshake testing for high carbon dioxide readings. As expected, the Kentucky HBPA opposed the changes and packed the meeting with members, and some veterinarians spoke against it, but one of the state’s most prominent trainers, John Ward, told them, “You’re worried that it’s going to hurt you. It isn’t going to hurt. It’s going to move you to the top.” SCOTT LOSES ANOTHER ROUND Shawn Scott lost another round in his quest for control of Vernon Downs yesterday, when a bankruptcy judge refused to grant his request to toss out Mid-State Raceway’s board of directors after a rancorous 90-minute hearing. One lawyer called the proceedings “a sideshow” and another called his opponents “locusts” before Judge Stephen Gerling said the directors had “acted out of a sense of urgency and they have acted from a sense of mistrust, rightly or wrongly, of Mr. Scott. I don’t think anything they have done rises to the level of, quote, ‘acting in bad faith or acting with fraudulent intent.’” February 23, 2005 Scott’s lawyer urged applicants other than Jeff Gural to quickly file bids for Vernon Downs, and Gural proposed bringing the track out of bankruptcy and awarding himself 91% of the track’s parent, Mid-State. Scott, who holds the mortgage on the track with Vestin Mortgage of Las Vegas, says he will fight that plan. Gural’s revised plan dropped the caveat that he would buy the track only if the legislature increased its share of revenues from slots. His new proposal substituted the 91% control provision instead of the legislative move. Gural still is sticking to his request for a higher share in connection with his project of rebuilding and reopening Tioga Park. Currently racing gets a 25% share of VLT revenues, but state senator William Larkin, chairman of the Senate Racing Committee, has introduced a bill calling for a 32% share of the first $50 million in revenues, 29% for the next $100 million, and 26% thereafter. Tracks would get another 8% of the first $50 million for marketing and 5% of those revenues above $50 million. THE PROF MAKES A POINT Allen Eberhart is a professor of finance and a dean’s fellow at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. In an article today in the Baltimore Sun on the slots controversy in Maryland, he wrote, in part, “It’s open season again on horse racing....the critics portray racinos as a last-gasp effort to prop up a dying sport. But in many ways, horse racing has never been healthier. More than 100,000 people regularly attend the Preakness, more than 2 1/2 times the number who saw Seabiscuit beat War Admiral at Pimlico in 1938” (although reading the book you would think half of America was there). Eberhart goes on to ask, “So why does horse racing need slots?” and answers by saying, “No business can survive in the long run if it’s prohibited from responding to its competitors.” HTA has the full Eberhart text. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor IN INDY, COLTS, NOT HORSES A key House committee in Indiana drove another nail in the coffin of slots at tracks yesterday, passing 17-4 a bill that provides for higher taxes on casinos and pro players salaries, rather than slots at Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs, as the way to finance a new stadium for the Indianapolis Colts. The bill now goes to the full House for consideration next week. Casinos tried to detour the tax, telling legislators that casino corporations made decisions about which properties to invest in by looking at states where tax rates are lower and stable, but the legislators didn’t buy it. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported, “There was little sympathy, though, for the plight of the casinos, which last year had $2.3 billion in combined gambling revenue and paid about $742 million in admissions and wagering taxes.” The casinos had opposed putting slots at Indiana’s tracks, claiming it would have caused dramatic cuts in casino business. SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT That was the message sent from Magna Entertainment, which ended greyhound racing in Oregon recently, to that state concerning horse racing there. Magna says that if legislators don’t provide some relief, horse racing in the state also will become history. Magna says competition from the Oregon lottery, tribal casinos and online betting is forcing the possibility of it closing its Portland Meadows thoroughbred and quarter horse operation. Magna has asked Oregon -- and has gotten a bill introduced -- that would allow it to capture revenue from simulcasting operations even when horse races aren’t being run at the track. Portland Meadows operates from October thru April, and presently state law requires that tracks must hold live racing when they are importing simulcast signals from elsewhere. Magna’s decision to close Multnomah Greyhound Park ended 71 years of dog racing in Oregon. February 24, 2005 In a separate development, Magna announced it is slashing costs, including executive pay, after reporting it lost $95.6 million on annual revenue of $731.5 million last year. The losses were down $10 million from 2003, but Jim McAlpine, Magna’s CEO, said the company no longer can strain its resources on initiatives that don’t produce significant immediate revenue. Magna cut its losses in the fourth quarter of 2004 from $103.1 million a year earlier to $40.9 million, and all executives, including McAlpine, took pay cuts in the stabilization move. McAlpine called Magna Entertainment a “classic example of a young company with ambitious goals for future growth.” ANOTHER DROWNS ON SHAKES A fourth Santa Anita trainer has wound up with a milkshake positive, and will have to race his horses out of a detention barn. Adam Kitchingman has joined Jeff Mullins, Vladimir Cerin and Julio Canani on the milkshake list at Santa Anita. Kitchingman, Mullins and Canani ranked among the top 15 trainers in the country during the year from Feb. 6, 2004 to the same date this year, according to Today’s Racing Digest, and each were winning at rates above 21%. Since racing out of a detention barn on Feb. 9, Mullins has won only one race in 18 starts. Kitchingman, responding to his positive, said, “It’s a competitive business out here. Everybody’s out there to win. We’re going to correct it (the milkshake issue) and it won’t happen again.” BIG PLANS AT PENN NATIONAL Penn National Gaming, gearing up for slots, is planning a $240 million expansion at its home course in Grantville, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, including a racino, a clubhouse, valet parking, restaurants, a five-story parking garage and 35 spaces for customers arriving in limousines. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor CODEY WANTS BIG M SLOTS Gov. Richard J. Codey of New Jersey says he will propose next week allowing video slot machines at the Meadowlands. Codey will present his budget next Tuesday, and some state officials say VLTs at the track could generate between $100 million and $150 million for the state in the first fiscal year, and probably more than $200 million after that. Atlantic City casinos are certain to oppose the move, but Assemblywoman Linda Stender, the Democratic chairwoman of the Assembly Tourism and Gaming Committee, said, “Since we’re facing a $4 billion deficit, any chance to provide new revenue will be seriously considered.” LEAHY GUILTY OF MAIL FRAUD John J. Leahy, a prominent harness horse owner and formerly a principal patron of the Joe Anderson stable, was found guilty of mail fraud yesterday by a federal jury in Chicago. The charges stemmed from an alleged scam involving $100 million in contracts with the city of Chicago held by the powerful Duff family, whose connections, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, “stretch from City Hall to organized crime.” Leahy, president of Leahy and Associates, an insurance brokerage in suburban Westchester, was found guilty of mail fraud and wire fraud involving defrauding insurance companies of as much as $3 million by inaccurately describing the type of work being performed by day laborers supplied by James Duff. The insurance brokers said that the work was largely clerical, greatly reducing the premiums Duff had to pay. Mayor Richard Daley, who severed his ties to the Duffs after the federal investigation began, defended them yesterday, according to the Sun-Times, which quoted him as saying, “I know them, sure...they’re hard working people. It’s an unfortunate incident.” When asked about the Duff’s alleged mob ties, Daley said, “Gee, I don’t know about that.” February 25, 2005 With the conviction, Leahy became persona non grata at all Illinois tracks, and no entries will be taken on horses owned by him. FEDEX CRACKDOWN ON DRUGS How many ads for online drugs appear on your computer each day? Ten? Twenty? More? According to the Associated Press, the problem of drug dealers and abusers doing online ordering from unlicensed Internet pharmacies has become so pervasive in some areas that legislatures are beginning to take notice. State legislators in Kentucky are pushing a bill to regulate such online sales of prescriptions drugs, which the attorney general has called a cancer. The practice has become so serious in eastern Kentucky that FedEx has stopped deliveries from online pharmacies there, saying, “We don’t tolerate the use of our system for illegal purposes.” One sheriff in eastern Kentucky said things have gotten so bad that FedEx and UPS drivers are in danger of being hijacked, and he called the situation “a monumental problem.” EQUINE HERPES GETS SERIOUS Confirmed cases of equine herpes, which have closed Northville Downs, are creating problems elsewhere. Northfield Park now requires proof of immunization with Pneumabort K vaccine, and a horse was destroyed at The Meadows after a positive there, with the barn in which it was stabled now quarantined for two weeks. Hardest hit of all was Truro Raceway in Nova Scotia, where nine cases have been discovered at or near the track. BEDFORD SELLS 30% SHARE Bedford Downs, hoping to get the final harness license in Pennsylvania but scuffling for financing, has agreed to sell a 30% equity interest to Merit Management Group, which opened the Empress casino in Joliet, Illinois. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor February 28, 2005 ‘UNCERTAIN’ OPTIMISTIC VIEW PROVINCIAL CUP DATE MOVED Yesterday’s Baltimore Sun ran a headline reading “Slots’ future still uncertain.” Bloodhorse.com ran one reading, “Despite Progress, Uncertainty Still Exists Over Maryland Slots.” Both are optimistic views. Although the House finally passed a slots bill last Friday, 7166 -- the very bare minimum votes needed to pass the measure -- it is so far from what the Senate proposed, and so antithetical to governor Robert Ehrlich’s views, that it seems more than an uncertainty that reconciliation will be possible. Racing attorney Alan Foreman, a keen observer of the Maryland and national scene, was on target as usual when he said, “Any number of issues could mean its downfall. There’s no way for anybody to feel one way or the other right now. There’s a long way to go yet.” The longest way to go still is Michael Busch, who says he will not tolerate a single change to the House bill, which would mean Busch-induced doom once again. If the House were to prevail with its 9,500 slots in four locations, only one racetrack -- Laurel -- would be eligible, with 30% going to the operator and 3% to a fund for the first five years to be divided by all tracks in the state for capital improvements. Under the Senate bill, there would be 15,500 slots with Laurel, Pimlico, Rosecroft and a still unbuilt Rickman family track in western Maryland sharing them. Windsor Raceway has announced its 40th Provincial Cup, the track’s showpiece pacing feature, has been rescheduled from its May 29 date to an unannounced date in the fall. Track president John Millson, discussing the move, said, “It takes time for an operation the size of Windsor to return to normal after a disruption of operations such as we experienced in January. We want to make sure that we are back to full steam and celebrate the 40th anniversary milestone with all the glamour and success that it deserves.” NORTHVILLE BACK TOMORROW HTA member Northville Downs, closed for three weeks by an outbreak of equine herpes, is scheduled to reopen tomorrow with the lifting of the quarantine on ship-ins. New procedures will be in effect for horsemen, who will hear them firsthand at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow by the office of the racing commissioner. A veterinarian will be on hand to answer questions on the procedures and the disease, which has threatned other midwest tracks. The postponement was met with displeasure by Canada’s most successful trainer, Bob McIntosh, who has patrons in his stable who want to build a new track in Windsor. McIntosh complained that he had nominated seven 3-year-old pacers to the race for $500 each and had another payment due March 15 without knowing when the event was going to be raced. SLOTS FINALISTS NAMED IN PA There were 10 in the race when it started, but last week the Pennsylvania Revenue Department, which is deciding who will provide the state’s 61,000 slot machines, sent 8 home and narrowed the race to 2. The survivors are, not surprisingly, Scientific Games Corporation, the favorite off 27 years of partial operation of the Pennsylvania lottery system, and international giant GTECH corporation. STILL TOUGH HURDLES IN FL Even if voters in Miami and Dade counties approve slots at tracks a week from tomorrow, substantial hurdles lie ahead. The legislature then would have to pass a law, which would cover tax rates, numbers of machines, and operating hours. The tracks are hoping for unrestricted hours and a tax rate of somewhere around 31 or 32%. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 1, 2005 ONE MISTAKE TOO MANY PUBLIC SPEAKS, IS HEARD It didn’t take long for the national warrant for Richard Chansky’s arrest to produce results. He was found and arrested by Union county sheriffs and local police at his father’s home in Jackson, Delaware, an address he had put on a license application some years ago. His accomplice in the drug cases in New Jersey four years ago, Kevin Goodell, is still at large. This corner has been arguing, for years, that tracks’ best defense against shrinking news coverage is public anger and response. The view has been vindicated in Cleveland, where dozens of emails and phone calls from irate Northfield Park patrons at the cutting of entries and reduction of results in the Cleveland Plain Dealer have brought a return of entries, and a reconsideration of how to present results in a mutually satisfactory format. GEORGE MILLER DIES AT 89 George Miller, who replaced the great Roy Shudt as track announcer at Saratoga Raceway in 1958 and called races there until his retirement in 1981, has died in Springfield, MO, at the age of 89. Miller also called at Vernon Downs from 1955 until taking the Saratoga job, and during that tenure got to call Adios Harry’s 1:55 world record, which led to Vernon being named the Miracle Mile. DR. SPEARS GETS TRIBUTE Dr. Paul Spears, the breeder of the Triple Crown of Trotting winner Windsong’s Legacy, has received a half-page feature in Mercersburg, the magazine of his prep school alma mater Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. Dr. Spears later attended Brown University and then the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his degree in gastroenterology, which he practiced until retiring to breed harness horses several years ago. When asked if he had a mid-life crisis in giving up a lucrative medical career for horse breeding, Dr. Spears said, with a chuckle, that he did not consider it such. “To me,” he said, “a mid-life crisis is running off to Vermont with a 20-year-old girl to sell costume jewelry at craft fairs. This is not anything resembling that kind of personal fiasco.” Dr. Spears, the son of Hanover Shoe Farms’ Paul Spears and his wife, started his career in the sport mowing lawns at Hanover when he was 12. ON THE SLOTS FRONT In New Jersey, Gov. Richard J. Codey faces fierce opposition today, as expected, from Atlantic City casinos and their legislative supporters after proposing VLTs for the Meadowlands. The state treasurer, John McCormac, told The Press of Atlantic City, “I want to stress we’re in continued negotiations with the industry. We believe we can have a plan that is attractive to them in terms of revenue.” In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush said he will make televised appeals to voters of Dade and Miami counties to reject slot machines at tracks in those counties. If the referendums pass, as expected, he says he will work with the legislature to spell out the number of machines allowed in each venue, the tax rate, and other regulations. It is not good news for Florida’s tracks. In Maryland, more Busch, but with a C. Slots for Rosecroft seem in their death throes. At least that is the reading of key Democrats in the Senate, who realize the unlikeness of their bill surviving a House conference, and now are suggesting “coming back in 2007 after the election and starting this effort all over again.” That was the plan suggested by Sen. Ulysses Currier, the powerful Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, from Rosecroft’s Prince George’s district. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 2, 2005 WINDSOR CAN’T CHANGE CUP THERE’S JOY IN CALIFORNIA The Ontario Racing Commission and Windsor Raceway are at odds again. The ORC yesterday ruled that Windsor, having taken nominations for its showpiece race for May 29, will have to race it then, and cannot arbitrarily move it to the fall. The commission cited its rule 16.14, which states in part, “The date and place where early and late-closing events will be raced must be announced before nominations are taken. The date and place where stakes and futurities will be raced must be announced as soon as determined but, in any event, such announcement must be made no later than March 30th of the year in which the event is to be raced.” John Millson told the Windsor Star that is not Windsor’s read on the regulation, but that the track was prepared to return all nominating fees if the date change for the race is approved. The race carries an estimated purse of $450,000, and $500 nominations closed Feb. 15, with a sustaining payment of $1,500 due on March 15 and a declaration fee of $2,500 due at time of entry. The U.S. equivalents are $400, $1,200 and $2,000, and supplementary entries are eligible on payment of $17,500 Canadian or $14,000 U.S. “We’re absolutely thrilled. This truly is a landmark.” That was the response of Kim Hankins, the old Illinois hand who now is executive director of the California Harness Horsemen’s Association, after the State Fair Board announced it will request that harness racing dates replace the traditional thoroughbred program this summer. Hankins’ elation may be a trifle premature, for the California Horse Racing Board must approve the move, which the Sacramento Bee calls “a dramatic attempt to help new operator Sacramento Harness Association get rolling.” The SHA takes over from former operator Alan Horowitz in operating harness racing at Cal-Expo in Sacramento. Ben Kenney, president of the California Harness Horsemen’s Association, has been negotiating the arrangement with Cal-Expo officials and says he is overjoyed at Cal-Expo’s commitment to harness racing. He thinks the move could provide a potential new audience of one million fairgoers who will be exposed to harness racing. Windsor, meanwhile, made offers to the Ontario Harness Horse Association, which is suing the track for $10 million, an issue not popular with all OHHA members, who questioned $450,000 in legal fees spent by OHHA in recent years. Windsor offered to pay OHHA dues held on deposit in the Windsor Purse Trust Account, in return for OHHA returning all Windsor Raceway Purse Trust Account funds held on deposit by OHHA that it was required to return last year when its license as purse account manager was suspended by the Ontario racing commission. The ORC at the time directed Windsor to withhold OHHA dues pending a decision, now made, and Windsor is offering to reconcile and pay the dues owed. There are, however, complications that need to be worked out. Horowitz and his group are seeking a harness meeting at Fairplex in Pomona. Horowitz’s time is up at Cal-Expo July 31, and Cal-Expo’s fair runs Aug. 12 thru Sept. 5. By racing its own meeting Cal-Expo can host live thoroughbred racing throughout its session, with the live harness raced on a twi-night card starting at 4:30 p.m. Local horsemen have seen purses cut 30% in the last year, and Cal-Expo racing director David Elliott said the board had decided to step in “and try to get this industry back on its feet.” The racing board dates committee will meet on the issue next Monday morning, with final approval up before the full board March 24. If Cal-Expo gets its harness request, it can lease its thoroughbred dates to another fair association, without any thoroughbred dates lost. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 3, 2005 ANOTHER HILL IN CATSKILLS AROUND THE CIRCUIT...... Maybe even a mountain. Richard Pombo, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House Resources Committee, which controls all Indianrelated legislation, is reportedly ready to introduce a bill next week that could be a lethal blow to Indian casinos planned in the Catskills. The bill is a reflection of growing concern in Congress over the proliferation of Indian gaming in the nation, and the chief of the St. Regis Mohawks says if the Pombo bill is passed “it would make it extremely difficult” for any tribe to open a casino in the Catskills. More hearings today in the Vernon Downs situation, this time to argue whether a judge should appoint an independent trustee to run Mid-State Raceway, parent of the track. Shawn Scott and Vestin Mortgage want a federal bankruptcy judge to appoint a trustee who would have broad powers to run the company. Edward Tracy, a former Trump casino executive who has been chosen by Jeff Gural as interim chief executive officer in return for Gural’s investment to keep the track running, is among those who will testify. GTECH WINS PENNSYLVANIA Horses, horses, more horses. Woodbine’s Pepsi North America Cup has drawn a record 110 3year-old pacing colts for its June renewal, and The Red Mile’s Moni Maker, for 3-year-old trotting fillies, has drawn 68 for its inaugural racing. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue announced yesterday that it has selected GTECH to run its huge computer system for lotteries, and planned to sign a five-year contract that will not exceed $6.3 million. Sixty companies had submitted bids for the contract, and that number wound up narrowed down to two, GTECH and Scientific Games. A FEW ALTERATIONS On the agenda sent to all directors -- and of interest only to the finance and executive committees -- the dinner meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening at 5:30 has been cancelled. Instead, the finance committee (Ormiston, McErlean, McKeever, Sobkowiak, Register) will meet for breakfast at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning in Gardenia B, and then again as originally scheduled with the executive committee at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning in salons F, G and H. In the Salary Survey sent to all directors, HTA’s February report, page 3 was omitted by error in the printed version. It does appear in the email version, and the missing page is being mailed to all original recipients for inclusion in your report. Wayne Gertmenian’s Matrix Capital Associates received $448,000 in 2003 for managing the Jockeys’ Guild, but those fees, which should have been included in that year’s report to the Department of Labor, were not and are now nine months past the reporting date, according to bloodhorse.com. Robert Kinsey Sr. and Jr., charged with inhumane treatment of a horse in a highly publicized case last June, pleaded guilty this week and were sentenced to 90-day suspended jail terms, fined, ordered to pay court costs, and placed on six months probation. That happened in Delaware. What did not happen in Delaware, and was erroneously reported here as a Delaware event Monday, was the arrest of trainer Richard Chansky. He was arrested at his father’s home in Jackson, NJ, in Union county, also in New Jersey. Our apologies to Delaware, and our congratulations to authorities in New Jersey. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THE SHAWN AND JEFF SHOW Welcome to the newest act in the drama of Vernon Downs. The playbill, in the form of a letter from Shawn Scott’s attorney in Dallas, Deborah Deitsch-Perez, to Michael Rhodes-Devey, representing Vernon Downs in Albany, is a “Dear Mike” suggestion that starts, “After seeing another day of unresolved conflict and more than a dozen lawyers billing on the Mid-State bankruptcy case, Mr. Scott has a proposal for Mr. Gural that should satisfy all of the warring constituencies in the case. In addition, we believe that it provides the best potential for there to be a 2005 racing season at Vernon Downs.” The letter goes on to propose that Scott and Gural join forces, instead of battling one another, and buy the assets of Mid-State for $36 million in cash and become 50/50 partners. Vestin Mortgage would be paid $27 million in cash for the paper it holds, all professionals would be paid in full, and $3 million would be left to be divided among the existing shareholders. Scott says he is confident he will be licensed shortly in New York, where the Supreme Court upheld the validity of his temporary license and the New York Racing and Wagering Board has to rule on it again. Ms. Deitsch-Perez’s letter says, “Shawn would be happy to meet with Jeff in New York to work out how they could best proceed to restart racing and obtain a VLT license as quickly as possible in a new debt-free company.” A bankruptcy court, meanwhile, approved Gural’s choice as chief executive officer of MidState Raceway, hotel and gaming executive Edward Tracy, formerly president and CEO of Trump Hotel Casino Resorts. Gural got to appoint Tracy and two Mid-State directors after signing a deal to loan the track $8.5 million to remain solvent. Tracy will be paid $20,000 a month by Gural. March 4, 2005 As of press time, a call to Jeff Gural for comment had not been returned, but the Syracuse PostStandard reported that Gural said he had not seen the proposal when interviewed but was not enthusiastic about what he was told it contained. ELSEWHERE In bad news for racing, Gov. Richard Codey of New Jersey, faced with opposition in his bid to put VLTs at the Meadowlands, has let it be known that, while “committed to the VLT proposal...as with any initiative, he is open to hearing about alternatives as long as the plan is viable and serious.” One of the alternatives he may consider is putting keno games in bars across New Jersey if legislators reject his VLT proposal. Some Atlantic City casino spokesmen say they consider it less of a threat to their operations than VLTs at the Meadowlands. New Jersey racing had better solidify quickly on this one. In Florida, the House Speaker has joined with governor Jeb Bush in opposing the idea of slots for Broward and Dade counties, and regardless of a favorable popular vote there he and Bush can make sure slots legislation is onerous. In Kentucky, Churchill Downs has filed a federal suit against the Jockeys’ Guild, seeking injunctions that would prevent a recurrence of last November’s boycotts at Churchill Downs and its Hoosier Park operation. Churchill charges that the Jockeys’ Guild orchestrated both walkouts. Churchill also has discontinued its voluntary contributions to the Guild. NO NEWSLETTER NEXT WEEK HTA’s entire staff, and most of its member track executives, will be in California next week for our annual joint meeting with TRA. The Executive Newsletter will resume on Monday, March 14. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. Estok, Editor March 14, 2005 MARTIN TO LEAD RCI C’BURY HAS RACINO PROPOSAL Frank Zanzuccki, chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) has announced that Edward J. Martin has been named president and chief executive officer of the association. Of the appointment, Zanzuccki said, “We are extremely fortunate and pleased to select an individual of Ed Martin’s stature to serve as our organization’s next chief executive. He is an experienced regulator who has a grasp of the important issues and possesses the right blend of experience, knowledge and the ability to lead our organization.” Martin is expected to begin his tenure at RCI around the first of April. He is currently in the process of winding up his duties with the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, where he has served as executive director since 1997. Prior to joining the racing board in New York, Martin managed the New York Department of Economic Development and served as a member of the New York Casino Gambling Commission. From 1991 through 1996, Martin Served as CEO of Armadillo Group, Inc., a strategic communications group he founded. Throughout the 1980s, Martin held positions with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, was chief spokesman and advisor to U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato and was director of communications and senior advisor to the majority leaders and members of the New York State Senate. Officials at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, have unveiled a legislative proposal to support a $120 million racino development at its 380acre site. At a state capitol news conference, Canterbury management released an economic analysis that determined a racino would generate at least $200 million in new tax revenue for the state during the first two years of full operation. Based on the conclusions of the economic consulting group, the proposed 3,000 machines at the racino would: Generate $180 million in new state gaming tax revenues, including a $100 million up-front fee; generate at least $200 million in future biennia when the racino is fully operational; create 1,300 full and part-time jobs from racino operations; increase live racing purses by $18 million; and produce over $9 million per biennium. In other news from the regulator’s side of the business, Thomas B. Gaines, a Lexington, Kentucky, horseman and son of the late John Gaines, has been named to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority by Gov. Ernie Fletcher. Gaines is a partner in Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds and is president of KBC International, an equine supply business based in Lexington. Other Authority members whose terms expire this year are Larry Telle, Tom Handy, and former HTA president and owner of Castleton Farm John Cashman. SEEKING ASST. PROGRAM EDITOR POKER BILL THREATENED The U.S. department of justice has told North Dakota attorney general Wayne Stenehjem it believes a proposal to license Internet poker violates federal law. The letter, signed by Laura Parsky, a deputy assistant attorney general in the justice department’s criminal division, does not specifically address North Dakota’s proposed law, but repeats the agency’s belief that federal law “prohibits gambling over the Internet, including casino-style gambling.” An HTA member racetrack is seeking a candidate to become the track’s permanent Assistant Program Editor. The position is seasonal, beginning in mid-March and continuing until the end of the race meet in mid-November. Experience is preferred, but the track would be willing to train a candidate who shows promise and aptitude. For more information contact the HTA offices by phone at 520-529-2525 or by e-mail at [email protected]. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 15, 2005 SEE AND HEAR THE MEETING COURT INVITES NEW SUITORS If you weren’t fortunate enough to make the HTA/TRA meeting in Indian Wells, California, and enjoy the charms -- and especially the weather -- of the Palm Springs area, don’t despair. We can’t deliver the weather, but we can bring you the sights and sounds and interesting panels of the Thursday and Friday general sessions, thanks to Todd Roberts and his Roberts Communications Network of Las Vegas. Todd, who also annually and generously sponsors our opening night reception, has again made available video streaming of the entire Thursday and Friday proceedings. Thursday’s sessions are up on our HTA Web site, www.harnesstracks.com and Friday’s will be up in a day or two, and will remain there. There was a great amount of interesting things discussed on those two days, so watch and listen if you missed it first time around. A U.S. bankruptcy court in Utica, NY, has terminated Mid-State Raceway’s exclusive right to submit a reorganization plan for Vernon Downs, and said it will accept competing bids after April 4. The ruling opens the door to anyone, but particularly helps Shawn Scott, who is trying to regain control of the track. Scott’s lawyer said “Everybody in the case, other than the debtor and Jeff Gural, opposed the extension of exclusivity because they all said in order to the get the best deal for Mid-State, you need to have a competing bidder. The court gets to decide if the plan is feasible and if it’s fair and equitable. Everyone has to put up or shut up. You put in a plan and people pick which one they’re going to vote for. All of the different groups get to vote on which one they want.” According to the lawyer, Deborah Deitsch-Perez, Sc-ott and Gural are setting up a meeting to discuss Scott’s offer to partner 50-50 with Gural, each putting up $18 million to settle all claims against Mid-State. “I think what the decision does,” she said, “is it encourages Mr. Gural to work with us, because if he doesn’t, well then we can put in our own offer. I think if we can’t work something out with Mr. Gural, it’s very likely that we would.” Justice Cheney, speaking for Mid-State, said of the court decision, “If you were a debtor and we owed you money, why wouldn’t you say, well, let’s wait until after April 4 and see what Shawn Scott offers or what somebody else offers? So I don’t know if this helps us, but it does give us some time.” MONMOUTH NIGHTS DEAD? The mayor of Oceanport, New Jersey, Maria Gatta, has told the Asbury Park Press that she believes night racing at Monmouth Park -- proposed by acting governor Richard Codey -- is dead for 2005. Codey’s spokesman, Joseph L. Fiordaliso, was scheduled to have appeared at a “town meeting” last week, but was ill and cancelled. The next town meeting is scheduled for June 1, and Monmouth will be racing by then, its meeting starting May 14. Mayor Gatto told the Press, “Do I believe it is off the table for 2005? Yes, I do. We have constant communication in which we’re hearing unofficially that night racing will not happen in 2005. Now we’d like the official answer. We’d like to get something in writing.” In other New Jersey developments, a state senate committee approved a bill that would ban smoking in offices, restaurants, bars and casinos, and a study commissioned by the Codey administration said 2,000 slots at the Meadowlands would have only a minimal effect on Atlantic City casinos. In another Scott-related episode, the group that backed a failed initiative to legalize slots in the nation’s capital -- reportedly funded by Scott and associates -- told a hearing of the Washington D.C. election board that it hired and relied on a professional firm that collected phony signatures, and therefore “can’t be held responsible for circulators they did not hire, pay or control.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 16, 2005 XANADU OR XANADONT? LICENSE AUCTION IN OHIO? Xanadu at the Meadowlands, a $1.3 billion project, could begin construction by the end of this week. Or it could not, winding up instead in court. Mills Corporation and Mack-Cali, the companies developing the huge entertainment and business complex, say they are awaiting only wetlands-related permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, expected today, to start work. The permits are the last in a long list that have taken the developers a year to obtain, but two possible court actions could upset the scheduled start of construction. Hartz Mountain Industries, which has battled Mills and Mack-Cali for two years, still is threatening to exercise “a lot of legal remedies out there,” and the New York Giants are unhappy too and may go to court if construction begins before a dispute over parking, traffic and other concerns are resolved. Carl Goldberg, the chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, says that construction and the Giants negotiations on a new $750 million stadium are unrelated, and he says the Giants “do not have the right to approve or not approve the start of construction.” Details are hazy, but it appears that state legislators in Ohio are considering auctioning off seven “traditional gambling” licenses for $50 million each to “development corporations.” Precisely what that means is uncertain, but one legislator defined “traditional gambling” as slot machines and table games. He did not mention racetracks, but said under the likely proposal voters would decide whether or not they wanted “traditional gambling” in their communities. “The framework rests on the people who vote,” Rep. Chris Redfern said. “It won’t be going into places it’s not wanted.” HOLLYWOOD OR HOLLYWONT? The rumors are flying again, that Churchill Downs is planning to sell Hollywood Park to developers and end racing at the Inglewood track. Matt Hegarty, writing in Daily Racing Form, said there is “wide speculation among industry officials” that the track’s days may be numbered, and that Churchill could move its dates either to Santa Anita or Los Alamitos. Hegarty quoted Drew Couto, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, as saying “I think everyone understands that Churchill is not going to be at Hollywood much longer.” Churchill bought the track and its 240 acres in 1999 for $140 million, and it is estimated to be worth between $250 million and $300 million today. VOTERS GET CALL IN PA, TOO Legislative proposals in Pennsylvania also would give voters a voice, not in slots but in slots revenue. The plan is to let voters decide if their school districts should participate in Act 72, a state plan to reduce local property taxes. School districts, under the proposal, could decide to use slot machine revenues to reduce property taxes. The school boards have until May 30 to decide whether to opt in to the plan. A survey of half of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts showed a third in favor of participating, a third opposed, and a third undecided. The legislator who introduced the proposed law, state senator Lisa Boscola, says she thinks once accurate information is publicized, most school boards will opt in. MAGNA STILL A GO IN DETROIT The development director of Romulus, Michigan, says it is his impression after speaking with Magna Entertainment real estate officials that Magna, despite its problems, still wants to break ground on its $350 million Michigan Downs project in the spring of 2006. The track would be a multi-purpose racing and entertainment complex located near Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. Estok, Editor March 17, 2005 ROCK’S CALLAHAN WINS AWARD ANOTHER WYNN L.V. PROJECT Rockingham Park Vice President and General Manager Ed Callahan was honored by the Greater Salem, New Hampshire, community today with the Chief John P. Ganley Community Service Award. At the 16th annual St. Patrick’s Day Memorial Award Luncheon, which was attended by New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, Callahan was recognized for “his involvement and leadership in the community of Salem while providing inspiration to others through his dedication, integrity and courage.” With only six weeks to go before unveiling the $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino, Steve Wynn is planning another megaresort, this one with an estimated cost of $1.4 billion, on the former Desert Inn property, according to a filing made this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The project, referred to as “Encore,” will include 2,000 luxury suites, restaurants, convention and meeting space, retail space, a spa salon, and entertainment venues. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Steve Wynn said he is designing Encore to surpass Bellagio, built by Wynn in 1998, as the most luxurious hotel on the Strip. Each Encore suite will be 1,030 square feet, with 230-square foot bathrooms. Construction is expected to begin on Encore this summer, with completion planned for sometime in 2008. Wynn Las Vegas, the Strip’s first new resort in five years, will open with 2,716 rooms and suites, 111,000 square feet of casino space, 18 restaurants, about 223,000 square feet of meeting space, and an onsite Ferrari and Maserati dealership. In other news from the Granite State, once again, lawmakers are considering a proposal to allow slot machines in New Hampshire. Calling it an economic recovery bill, Manchester Sen. Lou D’Allesandro has backed legislation to add video slot machines at Rockingham Park, at three dog tracks, and at two other locations. According to D’Allesandro, if legislators had approved a similar plan several years ago, the machines would have generated $1.2 billion for the state by now. D’Allesandro said his bill also would add an estimated 2,100 jobs, raise money for municipalities, and help sustain the struggling pari-mutuel industry. “The positives outweigh the negatives,” D’Allesandro told the State Senate’s Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday. Committee members apparently agreed, voting the bill out by a 3-1 margin; the legislation now heads to the full senate. DELAY IN DALEY PROCEEDING Trainer Noel Daley, arrested on March 2 by the New Jersey State Police and charged with illegal possession of prescription drugs, has had his day in court changed. Daley was scheduled to appear in a Chesterfield Township (NJ) court today, but the proceeding was postponed until April 6. The charges against Daley came as a result of a search of his stable at Magical Acres Farm in Chesterfield. AR GOV. TO LET BILL BECOME LAW A bill that allows a local vote on electronic gambling in two Arkansas counties, Garland and Crittenden, will become law without Gov. Mike Huckabee’s signature. The governor said Wednesday, however, that he will encourage residents in those counties to vote down initiatives to expand gambling at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs and Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis. The bill, which becomes law five days after passage, allows either the city or county where the facility is located to hold the election. The measure would not allow games of pure chance, such as slot machines, but only games in which some skill and study is involved. Bill supporters estimate the measure could create an additional $1 billion a year in betting. One thing the bill did not do was create a regulatory body to oversee the games. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor ON THE BEAT, COAST TO COAST It appears likely that thoroughbred racing on the west coast could be moving from Hollywood Park to Los Alamitos. Although Churchill Downs president Tom Meeker played it coy in discussing the possibility that Churchill may sell the huge Inglewood track to developers, he did say, “as with all our assets, we continually evaluate each asset in light of two overriding objectives: increasing shareholder value and improving the sport of racing,” and added that an evaluation on Hollywood Park would be completed “in the space of a few months.” Major thoroughbred owner Mike Pegram and Los Alamitos Race Course owner Dr. Edward C. Allred, however, did not seem to be waiting, announcing a $40 million partnership plan which would convert Los Alamitos into a mile thoroughbred track with 20 weeks of runners and year-round quarter horse racing on an inner track. Allred would remain owner of the track and all operations would be under his control, with Pegram -- who thought he had bought the Fair Grounds last year but lost it to Churchill Downs -- heading the thoroughbred meeting there. Across the country, in New York, the Senate passed two bills sponsored by Senator Bill Larkin, chairman of the Racing and Wagering Committee, hoping to get slots at Yonkers and Aqueduct rolling. One would raise the tracks’ share from slots from 29% to 32% on the first $50 million of net winnings, 29% from the next $100 million, and 26% for all over that. The horsemen’s share would be roughly 8% from the track’s vendor fees, subject to negotiation. A second bill would raise the track’s share to 34%, with a 9% horsemen’s subsidy and 4% advertising subsidy coming from the state’s general fund, thus seeking to avoid the constitutionality issue currently a problem in the state. State majority leader Joseph Bruno is urging quick passage. March 18, 2005 That support could help the matter past New York’s glacial legislative ice jam, but in another New York legislative development, the New York Racing Association is strongly opposing a proposal to increase takeout on straight and multiple-pool bets. That move, included in a budget proposal, would raise takeout on win, place and show bets from 14% to 15.5%, and on two-horse exotics from 17.5% to 19%. NYRA president Charles Hayward, who has supported NYRA’s recent policy of advocating lower takeouts, was quoted by Thoroughbred Times.com as saying of the proposal, “These are not takeout increases we’ve recommended or even discussed with anyone. We do not believe that is a prudent way to do business, and these are not any adjustments that we would support.” HARSH WORDS IN FLORIDA The battle over how much to tax tracks in Broward county on potential slots revenue is on full blast. At a meeting of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, state senator Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach, a strong proponent of slots to help tracks, bluntly told Broward county school board member Beverly Gallagher, who proposed a 50% tax on gross revenues, that she didn’t know what she was talking about. “It’s clear to me,” Geller said, “that you have no idea what you’re speaking about when you’re doing this. I don’t know why the school board is interjecting itself into something they clearly know so little about.” Geller later called Gallagher’s remarks to the committee “stupid” and warned the school board was “not making friends by disagreeing with its local legislative delegation.” DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS Track slots may be dead in Maryland and Indiana, but they still are breathing in Texas, where legislation has been reintroduced seeking to legalize VLTs at all licensed Texas tracks. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. Estok, Editor TRIBE HALTS CASINO PLAN The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians said in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dated last Thursday that they have shelved plans to build an expanded casino with 2,500 slot machines in the San Francisco Bay area after state lawmakers, whose approval for the facility was needed, said it would be too big for the community. An agreement signed last year between the tribe and Schwarzenegger had envisioned a Las Vegas-style casino covering four acres that would have provided local and state governments with 25 percent of profits, an estimated $155 million a year. Instead, the tribe will renovate and install hundreds of new games -- but not slot machines -- at its existing 70,000-square foot cardroom called Casino San Pablo, about 20 miles north of San Francisco. Absent slots, California has no regulatory authority over the facility and the tribe avoids sharing revenue. LA. WILL USE PRE-RACE TEST Matt Hegarty in Daily Racing Form reports that Louisiana will become the latest state to begin prerace testing for milkshakes on March 24. Louisiana had been testing for alkalizing agents using blood drawn post-race. The director of the Louisiana State University Medication Surveillance Laboratory, Steve Barker, told the Form that the change to pre-race testing, considered a more accurate way of determining whether a milkshake has been administered, was being instituted due to concerns that horsemen had changed the way milkshakes were being administered to horses, in feed supplements rather than through nasal-gastric tube. REPORT IS GURAL, SCOTT DEALING The Oneida Dispatch is reporting that businessman and horse owner Jeff Gural and Shawn Scott have come together in an attempt to bring Vernon Downs out of bankruptcy. “We had some discussions and I’m hopeful we’ll March 21, 2005 be able to reach an agreement,” Gural told the paper. “We’re fairly close.” Gural called the agreement a “four-way settlement” among him, Scott, Raceway Ventures and Vestin Mortgage, which holds $26 million of Mid-State’s debt. Under the new plan, Scott would be bought out and Gural would become the majority shareholder. Negotiations continue regarding how much Scott will receive and what percentage of the shares Gural will hold. Gural hopes to have the new plan finalized by the end of next week, and he remains confident the track will re-open in 2005. NY GAMING IN COURT TODAY Today New York’s highest court will weigh whether the law approving gaming expansion in the state is constitutional. At issue is the 2001 law that approved three Indian casinos in western New York, three more in the Catskills, video slot machines at racetracks, and participation in a multistate lottery. An appellate court has already ruled the expansion legally sound; as part of its holding, the court said slot machines were permissible for Indian casinos in part because of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and that the multi-state lottery passed muster because New York maintains enough control over the game to cover the requirement that lotteries be “operated by the state.” In addition, the court said that video lottery terminals at racetracks were legal but that the formula for distributing the proceeds was not. The appeals court said that the provision in the law that part of the revenue from the machines go to track purses and horse breeding violated a New York constitutional mandate that the proceeds of any lottery game go to education. The New York Senate has rewritten the formula in an attempt to comply with the constitution and the Assembly has indicated that it will draft legislation to “fix” the legal problem. In the meantime, Gov. George Pataki’s attorneys, as well as those from gaming interests, will argue the law’s legality before the high court today. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 22, 2005 GURAL BUYING OUT SCOTT HELPFUL DECISION IN KY Vernon Downs’ control by non-racing outsiders may be over, as New York realtor and harness horse owner and breeder Jeff Gural says he has reached a deal to buy the 52% share in the track owned by Las Vegas and Virgin Island entrepreneur Shawn Scott. Gural says he has an oral agreement with Scott and Vestin Mortgage, which holds a $27 million mortgage on Vernon and is the track’s biggest creditor. Gural’s deal would end Scott’s involvement with Vernon, marred by Scott’s inability to obtain a New York license to operate the track and its racino. Gural plans to invest $1.2 million to get Vernon up and running, and has agreed to provide another $7.3 million to get the racino open. Mid-State is estimating gross revenue of $47 million a year from the racino. Gural is hopeful that the New York Assembly will approve a bill passed last week by the state Senate which would increase revenues from the VLTs. In a reversal of long-standing policy by his office, the attorney general of Kentucky, Greg Stumbo, has ruled that the state constitution does not have to be amended to allow expanded gambling. While the decision is merely advisory in nature, it removes one stumbling block to legalization of slots for tracks in the commonwealth, but formidable opposition still faces such a move. QUEBEC SELLING ITS TRACKS HTA member Hippodrome de Montreal and three other harness tracks in Quebec will be sold to private operators under a move by the Quebec government. The decision reverses the decision of the province’s former finance minister, Yves Seguin. In addition to Hippodrome, formerly Blue Bonnets, the tracks to be sold are in Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres and Gatineau. The Montreal Gazette said the likely buyer will be either Ontario-based Magna Entertainment or Remstar, a Quebec company, both of which have shown interest in acquiring the tracks and have expressed a willingness to invest some $100 million Canadian dollars. In another Canadian development, Great Canadian Gaming corporation has completed its acquisition of Fraser Downs and Sandown Park in British Columbia. NEW SECURITY FOR RUNNERS In two significant thoroughbred security developments, the New York Racing Association has announced it plans to use a pre-race detention barn when it opens its 60-day spring-summer meeting at Belmont Park May 4, and Keeneland has announced tough new milkshaking penalties. NYRA began pre-race testing for carbon dioxide readings in mid-February, and will begin freezing urine samples for use as Cornell University develops new tests for currently undetectable substances. The new testing program is being sponsored jointly by NYRA and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. Under new rules at Keeneland, readings of 37 millimoles per liter of blood or higher will draw penalties that start with the first horse in a trainer’s care having to be raced out of 24 hours of detention and observation, to be paid for by the trainer at $150 a day. A second stable offense will bar the trainer from entering a horse at the meet for 10 days from notification of the positive. A third offense will result in banishment from Keeneland for one year. Penalties against owners, through banning on entries of horses testing positive, are being proposed at a meeting today of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor KENTUCKY TAKES THE LEAD It’s a headline you may never have expected to read, but the proposals made yesterday by the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, if adopted, would put the commonwealth at the forefront of meaningful penalties for racing infractions, particularly the use of illegal substances. Largely the work of premier harness breeder Alan Leavitt and co-authored by Council chairwoman Connie Whitfield, the penalties would include loss of purses and suspensions for their horses testing positive, putting the owners in the orbit of responsibility. Here are highlights of the proposals: For first offenses on milkshakes with a reading of 37 millimoles of carbon dioxide per liter of blood or higher, with no allowances for Salix, loss of the purse, $1,000 fine and 75-day suspension for the trainer, and a 30-day suspension of the horse. A second offense would bring loss of purse, $2,000 fine and a 150-day suspension for the trainer, and a 45-day suspension of the horse. A third offense would result in loss of purse, a $3,000 fine and 300-day suspension for the trainer, and a 60-day suspension of the horse. And a fourth offense would bring loss of purse, lifetime suspension for the trainer, and a 180-day suspension of the horse. In addition, every winner would have to be tested post-race for milkshakes, along with one other horse to be selected by the judges; any claim on a horse with a high milkshake reading would be automatically voided; during the entire time any penalty -- not just milkshakes -- was being appealed, all horses raced by the offending trainer would be required to race out of a 24hour detention barn, with the trainer bearing the cost. March 23, 2005 During the term of a suspension, access to the grounds of any Kentucky racetrack would be denied both trainer and horse, and there would be no “split sample” requirement for milkshake testing. In a major innovation, possession or use of blood gas machines, also known as black boxes, would be limited to authorized state regulatory representatives, and the possession or use of shock wave therapy machines would be restricted to licensed veterinarians, and no horse could be shock waved within six days of a race. The veterinarian using shock wave therapy would have to file a report listing the horse’s name, tattoo number, and trainer, and file that report with the judges within eight hours of administering the treatment. Currently, in New Jersey, Florida and elsewhere, trainers are reported using these machines on their farms and/or training centers. In the case of black boxes, they obviously could permit experimenting with milkshakes right up to the maximum limit, and shock wave therapy is not something at this stage of development for non-veterinarians to use. The Kentucky proposals, based on work being done by the national Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, would divide drug offenses into three classes, with penalties highest for Class A drugs that have no therapeutic value in a horse. The penalties for first violations of administration of Class A drugs would carry loss of purse, a $15,000 fine and 1,095-day suspension of the trainer, and a 90-day suspension of the horse, and range upwards to loss of purse, a $50,000 fine and life suspension for the trainer, and a 360day suspension of the horse for third offenses. Third offenses for private use of a blood gas machine would result in a $20,000 fine and 360-day suspension, and for unauthorized shock wave use in a $10,000 fine and 120-day suspension. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 24, 2005 BIG WIN FOR PIONTKOWSKI VICTORY FOR SCURFIELD, TOO A Massachusetts Superior Court judge yesterday dismissed all claims of Louis Giuliano against Gary Piontkowski and associates in HTA member Plainridge Racecourse, and ruled that Piontkowski and the other defendants in the case were entitled to almost $2 million, plus interest and attorneys’ fees. According to a release from David H. Rich, counsel for Ourway Realty, one of the defendants, the Giuliano liability stemmed from his fraudulent conduct related to construction of the harness track in Plainville, MA, in 1998-99. The decision, delivered yesterday by judge Margot Botsford in Suffolk Superior Court, found that Giuliano’s misappropriation of funds intended for subcontractors and his conversion of site materials was fraudulent, and that he had used construction funds for personal purposes including horses, personal mortgage expenses and furniture for his home. Judge Botsford found the deception to be knowing and intentional, and awarded double damages and attorneys’ fees to be assessed at a future hearing. Giuliano had persistently claimed he was entitled to an ownership interest in Plainville Racing Company, the parent of Plainridge. The court specifically rejected that claim, finding that Giuliano had fraudulently induced Piontkowski to sign a stock pledge agreement by defrauding Piontkowski and his partners into believing that he, Giuliano, owned the racetrack, when in fact he did not. The court also rejected Giuliano’s claim that he had been illegally blocked from exercising an option to purchase the track in 2000. In rejecting all of Giuliano’s claims, the court found his testimony in a number of instances “not to be credible.” Piontkowski said he felt “completely vindicated” by the court’s decision, and was grateful for it because of Giuliano’s “inflammatory and outrageous accusations against me and my colleagues.” Former California Horse Racing Board chairman Ralph Scurfield and his associates, including Lloyd Arnold, USTA director Ivan Axelrod, former racing commissioner Jack Coffey, and former track operator Christo Bardis, won a major victory yesterday when the Race Dates Committee of the California board voted unanimously to recommend that all harness dates in the state be raced this year at the Cal-Expo in Sacramento. The former operator of the Capitol Racing meeting at Cal-Expo, Alan Horowitz, had been seeking harness dates at Fairplex in Pomona in southern California, but the race dates committee voted against any overlap of dates because of an inadequate horse supply to race two meetings simultaneously. Scurfield’s group plans to operate as the Sacramento Harness Benevolent Association, and will operate a harness meeting for the first time during the California State Fair. The thoroughbred meeting normally held at the fair will be moved to another fair venue if the full racing board approves the date committee’s recommendations today. BETTER HAVE GOOD LAWYERS The 17 defendants in the doping and illegal sports betting ring in New York had better have some very good lawyers, because the federal government is loaded for bear. The feds yesterday filed 5,000 intercepted phone calls, surveillance photos and bank, credit card and betting records in the case, and the New York Post reported sources saying that “the physical evidence is so staggering it’s a good bet many defendants will try to make plea deals rather than go to trial.” OUR THANKS TO ROBERTS Thanks to Todd Roberts and his Roberts Communications Network, all sessions of the HTA/ TRA convention now can be seen on video streaming on the HTA Web site, www.harnesstracks.com. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor MONMOUTH COULD LOSE CUP Unless the New Jersey Racing Commission and New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Benevolent Association settle their long-simmering grievances in the next two weeks, there is a good chance that Monmouth Park may lose its chance to host the Breeders’ Cup in 2007. Cup president D. G. Van Clief says the commitment to Monmouth is firm at the moment, but unless there is a resolution to the dispute by April 9 the commitment will expire. “Barring a resolution by that date,” Van Clief said, “we will officially commence the search for an alternate site on that date.” Van Clief said the Cup “could not take something that already has inherent risks and exacerbate that with a long-standing dispute that is not yet resolved.” The Asbury Park Press, commenting on the dispute between commission and horsemen, said the two sides “are mad at each other over stuff that happened so long ago nobody even remembers who threw the first rock.” The paper headlined its story, “Fighting over peanuts with steak on the table.” AH YES, THE JOCKEYS’ GUILD It is back on the hot seat in California, where the racing board voted 5-0 to require a forensic audit of the Jockeys’ Guild before it resumes issuing some $1 million a year to the Guild’s jockey health coverage from uncashed winning tickets. Commissioner Richard Shapiro, whose motion the board adopted, said, “There have been allegations that many jockeys have claims that have not been paid and bills that were sent to collection instead. Until we get satisfaction that the money is being spent correctly, we will withhold the funds.” Disabled jockey Ron Warren told the board he had documented 17 cases where jocks’ benefit bills that supposedly were covered by the Guild had been turned over to collection agencies, and he asked the board to redirect the funds to a new group he recently helped incorporate. March 25, 2005 In other California news, the board ended its 50year relationship with Truesdail Laboratories, which has done its testing, and will switch all testing on July 1 to the Ken Maddy Equine Testing Laboratory at the University of California at Davis, which has been doing about a third of the state’s testing. One of only two laboratories in North America accredited by the International Organization for Standardization, the Maddy is named for the late state senator Ken Maddy, who was instrumental in supporting virtually all racing legislation in the state during his tenure. Finally, after almost five years, the racing board dismissed the 2000 morphine positive of the Bob Baffert-trained Nautical Look, supporting the recommendation of an administrative law judge who ruled that the facts as presented and Baffert’s “success as a trainer support the conclusion he had nothing to gain and a great deal to lose by the use of a banned substance on this horse.” OHIO SLOTS: STUDY IT MORE Some sixty important people interested in bringing slots to Ohio met in Columbus yesterday, and after three hours decided to conduct academic research on the economic impact of gambling, along with a statewide poll to see how voters feel about the issue. Track lobbyist Neil Clark said after the meeting it marked the first time that competing groups were willing to work together. A NEW BUSCH IN FLORIDA No, not Jeb. This one, a spitting legislative image of Michael Busch of Maryland, is the chairman of the House Business Regulation Committee, Frank Attkisson, and he wants to make Broward county pay all $438 million that was promised by Broward and Dade toward education if slots were approved. They were, in Broward, and Attkisson wants to make the tracks there pay dearly. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 28, 2005 HARNESS FIGURES IN NY FRAY APRIL 1? YOU’RE FOOLING US Two major harness racing figures -- owners Jeff Gural and Adam Victor -- are playing important roles in a current struggle between the New York Jets, Cablevision and TransGas Energy Systems for the future of Manhattan’s West Side railroad yards. Cablevision offered $760 million for the property, hoping to build apartment towers and a park; the Jets offered $720 million to build a stadium along with commercial and residential towers; and TransGas Energy has offered $1.05 billion for the site. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which will decide the issue, is expected to announce the winner on Thursday. Victor said he has been called the dark horse, but he says he believes the dark horse has become the stalking horse and seems confident of victory, although he says he has no idea what his company would do with the property if it wins the bidding war. He called it “grossly premature” to predict what the west side river site might look like for the next 100 years, and said it makes no sense for anyone to try to make that decision in the next three weeks. He said, “We’ll let the people decide what they want,” if TransGas winds up with the site. Victor reportedly is more interested in the site of an active fuel depot on the East River in Brooklyn than in the west side railyards. He wants to build a natural gas power plant there that could be connected to New York’s gas and steam grid. Jeff Gural entered the picture as president of Newmark and Company, hired by the MTA as a consultant real estate firm to evaluate bids on the property. Newmark is urging the MTA to reject the Jets and Cablevision offers as being far too low. Newmark believes $300 million has been “left on the table” by the two sports offers, and that some 6 million square feet of prime real estate should be worth close to $200 a square foot, making the total property acreage worth more than $1 billion. Leaders of both the New York Assembly and Senate have announced they will have a budget for 2005 passed by April 1. Unless you are a New Yorker, the significance of this may be lost on you, but meeting that deadline is something that has not been accomplished in 21 years in the great Empire state. Things do not move with the speed of light, or sound, or glacial ice, in the state that prides itself as being a national leader in all things except possibly legislation. Perhaps more important, it seems the legislators have lost their awe or amorous admiration for their third term governor, and are at odds with him on several issues as the deadline approaches. They are even talking defiantly, both Senate president Joe Bruno and House speaker Sheldon Silver standing together and saying they will announce a budget next week on time. Governor George Pataki took exception to that, saying, “I have the ability, at the end of the process, to exercise my executive powers, and I intend to do that.” One contentious issue is Pataki’s plan to settle land claims with five Indian tribes by allowing them to open casinos in the Catskills. A bill in draft form in the Assembly would bar tribes from out of state opening casinos in New York state, and three of the five tribes dealing with Pataki are located out of state, although all five have original roots in New York. Of paramount interest to racing is the status of legislation that would make changes in existing law that has been found unconstitutional. The changes would enable Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct to begin construction of their racinos, which have been stalled by the present impasse. Bruno says he thinks the problem has been fixed, but Pataki says he has questions how the legislators are doing it, and says he has some reservations on the VLT solution. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 29, 2005 MORE OF THE SAME WHAT CONSTITUTES ENOUGH? If the original American colonies had been as preoccupied with local and regional arguments as American racing is today, we probably still would be part of the British empire. Racing has little interest in cosmic views, but a great deal of interest in local fights. West Virginia’s four racetracks already operate 10,802 slot machines, but they have told the state legislature they will be in dire peril once neighboring Pennsylvania gets rolling, and the state Senate, at least, has agreed the tracks are in mortal danger. The Senate approved a bill yesterday that would allow the tracks to operate table games as well, as long as voters in the counties in which they operate agree. In a quaint touch, the Senate amended the bill by attaching two provisions: regional jails would get additional revenue from the table games, and each track would have to pay $125,000 toward local “economic development.” The state would take 23.5% of table game revenue, with smaller shares going to purses and racing pensions and other state funds. The Senate approved the table games measure on a 1914 vote, and sent it to the House of Delegates, where its sponsor called chances of passage “excellent.” One Republican senator put forth an amendment that a statewide referendum be required, saying, “I don’t think anyone can credibly argue that casino gambling won’t have a statewide impact,” but his colleagues killed that idea 22-11. The 5% share for jails, taken from money that otherwise would go to the general fund, squeaked through 17-16, jails obviously being a more sensitive subject to senators. New Jersey and the 2007 Breeders’ Cup is a classic example. The no-holds barred bruising battle between the New Jersey Racing Commission and the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, a power struggle for control, continues to threaten the Breeders’ Cup, currently scheduled for Monmouth Park two years from now. Chances are dimming, as a Cup deadline of April 9 approaches and both Dennis Drazin, counsel for the horsemen, and Frank Zanzuccki, executive director of the racing commission, are acting like Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. and House Speaker Michael Busch in Maryland: give no ground. Some interesting oratory has resulted. Alan Foreman, chief executive officer of the Marylandheadquartered Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, said he has remained “on the periphery” given the circumstances. What constitutes “a periphery” apparently is highly subjective, for Foreman ventured pretty close to the fire when quoted by Bloodhorse.com as saying, “There is no horsemen’s organization in the country being harassed and micromanaged by a racing commission like this one is.” He also was quoted as saying, “Breeders’ Cup shouldn’t go into a venue where these type of shenanigans are going on.” That seems a fairly strong endorsement of`Drazin, whose group has been accused of fiscal mismanagement. Drazin says, “the commission position is wrong, but the commission is unwilling to budge.” Zanzuccki says the matter has been scheduled for court and will be litigated in October. The Breeders’ Cup does not intend to wait that long. NEXT MOVE UP TO PATAKI It appears that both houses of the New York legislature are in accord with an increase from 29% to 32% of the first $50 million in “vendor’s fees” for VLTs, with a boost to 29% for the next $100 million and 26% for everything over that, but there has been no word from Albany that George Pataki agrees, or will. Construction of racinos at both Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct hinge on passage of the measure. Whether passage would fulfill Jeff Gural’s requirements to buy Vernon Downs is unknown. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor BLESSINGS OF A RACING GOV The state of New Jersey, or at least the racing interests in it, can be thankful they have a man who understands and appreciates racing as governor. Richard Codey, urged by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, stepped into the dispute between his racing commission and thoroughbred horsemen and ended it with a phone call, apparently securing the Breeders’ Cup for Monmouth Park in 2007. The racing commission, for its part, will allow the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association to retain three of its nine board members if they win reelection later this year, and the parties are scheduled to finalize the agreement in state Superior court tomorrow. A spokesman for the Breeders’ Cup called the resolution “good news,” and NJSEA CEO George Zoffinger said, “Now we can get back to the business of preparing for the Breeders’ Cup.” STILL A “MAYBE” IN NEW YORK The Republican Senate and Democratic Assembly may have reached agreement on raising VLT takeout in New York, but there is no indication yet that Gov. George Pataki will sign whatever they send him, and disturbing vibrations that he will not. A Pataki veto may well be in the offing, and for harness racing there is an equally big threat. The “Friends of New York Racing,” meanwhile, whose proper name should be “Friends of New York Thoroughbred Racing,” are still buzzing around the state, building models that are not likely to have much of substance for harness racing . They now have entered an agreement with the man who knows most about New York racing -- Bennett Liebman, director of the Government Law Center at the Albany Law School-- for help from him and his students in preparing a report on the history and development of racing, pari-mutuel and breeding law in the state. March 30, 2005 No one knows more about those subjects than Liebman, and hopefully he and his students, and Woodbine Entertainment and Churchill Downs, both of which are helping to fund Tim Smith’s venture and have harness racing interests of their own, will make sure that whatever emerges does not lose sight of harness racing as a still important and vital segment of racing in New York. Without their input harness racing leaders in New York have cause to worry, whether they realize it or not. TOP COURT CURTAILS INDIANS The United States Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, has ruled that Indian tribes cannot expand their tax-exempt holdings by buying up property that has been outside its reservation for generations. With Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg writing the 22-page majority opinion and only Justice John Paul Stevens dissenting, the Court ruled that “the tribe cannot unilaterally revive its ancient sovereignty, in whole or in part, over the parcels at issue. The Oneidas long ago relinquished the reins of government and cannot regain them through open-market purchases from current titleholders.” The decision came in the dispute between the little city of Sherrill, NY, and the New York Oneidas over unpaid taxes on a gas station, convenience store and defunct T-shirt factory. The Court ruled that too much time had passed for the Oneidas to now claim tribal sovereignty on individual properties within the city, and that doing so would create a “disruptive” patchwork of local and Indian jurisdiction. Justice Stevens, in dissenting, argued that the decision “is at war with at least two bedrock principles of Indian law,” that only Congress can reduce a tribe’s reservation, and that only Congress can change a reservation’s tax status. The decision overruled two lower court rulings. It was silent on the fact that the Indians did not voluntarily relinquish their sovereignty years ago. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor March 31, 2005 HOW GOES IT IN FLORIDA? THE LADY VS. CAL RACING BD It could be worse, but it could be better, too. The fate of slots at Pompano Park and Gulfstream, already decided by public vote, now rest in the hands of legislators, who do not always feel obligated to accommodate their constituents. State senators know the bill was approved by Broward county voters -- twice -- but they also know they control how many machines, how long they can operate, who can play them, and most important of all, how much tax the state plans to impose on the tracks who operate them. The latest thinking is reported to be a tax rate between 30 and 35%, no limits on the number of machines but a limitation on hours of operation, no free booze, and no one under the age of 21. The House, however, may take a stiffer stand, possibly trying to limit the machines to VLTs and electronic bingo, or “class II” games that already exist in Florida’s Indian casinos. If full slots are approved for the tracks, the Indians already have served notice they intend to negotiate for them as well, as provided by federal law. There is no fury like a woman scorned, and the California Horse Racing Board is feeling the wrath of a lady who doesn’t like to be ignored. Mary Frances Rowe, the former mayor of Sunnyvale in the San Francisco bay area, turned her attention to horse racing a few years ago and was, she says, “swindled” by a well known trainer in a private horse sale. This has been known to happen, in California and elsewhere, and Ms. Rowe ultimately got back $30,000 she paid for the horse. That didn’t end things, however, according to a story by Jack Shinar in bloodhorse.com. Ms. Rowe heard about the case of trainer Frank Monteleone, who was accused in a Nevada court of defrauding two clients in the acquisition and training of two European thoroughbreds. A Nevada court issued a $635,000 judgment against Monteleone before a settlement was negotiated, and Ms. Rowe became incensed that the former executive director of the California racing board, Roy Wood, allegedly made a deal with Monteleone, ignoring the fraud case in return for information on drug violations. The board denied any such agreement had been made, but a California deputy attorney general seemingly confirmed one may have been, writing to Ms. Rowe that, “The requested record is exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act...it being part of an investigatory or security file compiled by the CHRB for law enforcement or licensing purposes.” The board now has no comment, but Ms. Rowe is now fully revved up, and has filed a lawsuit asking a court to compel the racing board to comply with the Public Records Act. She claims her interest is that the board operates in secret, saying, “They are a public agency. So why don’t they start acting like it?” A friend who knows Ms. Rowe told us she sued trainer Jack Van Berg and won, and that Ms. Rose is “tenacious” and not easily deterred. Obviously. A REAL THREAT IN DELAWARE Two HTA tracks -- Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway -- have prospered with slots in Delaware. They face a serious threat now, however, partly from imminent competition in Pennsylvania but even moreso from a proposal to build a $300 million casino on the waterfront in Wilmington. The proposed Diamond Casino would be built on 50 acres on the Wilmington Seventh Street Peninsula, with up to 4,000 slots, a 400-room hotel, and a full scale entertainment and shopping complex. 10-CENT SUPERFECTAS Starting Saturday, Hawthorne in Chicago will begin offering 10-cent superfectas, offering fans the opportunity to play far more combinations. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 1, 2005 YOUBET TOSSES THE GANTLET ELSEWHERE, SLOT TURMOIL Unannounced to its track partners, Youbet.com has quietly launched a program offering rebates of up to 11% to its best customers, according to Daily Racing Form, and some of the track partners are less than pleased. Youbet president and CEO Chuck Champion said notification of the rebate program was sent to 46 current or previous customers who live in the U.S., except for 15 states including California where rebates are prohibited, and live more than 25 miles from any track. Champion said the move was made “to increase their interest and wagering into the parimutuel pools in the United States.” Concerning track partners that are unhappy at not being notified, Champion told the Form’s Matt Hegarty that, “A lot of people encouraged us to do this. I do know that there is some confusion about this from people who don’t really understand it, and we look forward to talking to them.” Most track operators in the U.S. today understand rebates fairly well, including Charles Hayward, the new president of NYRA, who found out about the move secondhand over the weekend, and said he was “mystified” and called Youbet’s rebates on NYRA’s three tracks “pretty distressing percentages.” Peter Berube of Tampa Bay Downs also understands rebates, having addressed the joint HTA/TRA convention a year ago on the subject, and he called the move “disturbing” and “a cause for concern on a day-in or day-out basis.” He predicted the move would have “some consequences.” Steve Mitchell, vice president of wagering operations for Woodbine Entertainment, said Woodbine’s contract with Youbet was being placed in jeopardy because of the rebate program, which calls for 6.5% on straight wagers and 11% on WEG exotics. Mitchell said Woodbine was not happy about the idea, and said if a satisfactory answer to Youbet’s motives was not forthcoming, WEG would review its wagering agreement with Youbet. Here are late slot developments around the nation: In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich finally got off the dime and said he would veto plans for a Chicago casino. He also left racing out of his budget solution, proposing instead to double the number of slot machines and table games at Illinois casinos from its present 11,000 “positions” at nine existing casinos, with a 10th still in dispute. In New Jersey, the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee said Governor Codey’s proposal for VLTs at tracks is “going nowhere,” and his committee is not including VLT revenues in its projected revenues for 2006. In West Virginia, a major backer of legislation for table games for tracks said the bill “is in trouble in the House,” saying it was being held hostage and some legislators were ready to pull their support. The measure was approved by the Senate but is before the House Judiciary Committee and will need House Finance Committee approval and three readings in the full House before that body adjourns April 9. In Florida, the first committee to consider Broward county slots voted to limit games to electronic bingo. The leader of the slots movement in Broward, Dan Adkins of Hollywood Greyhound Park, said, “No question the voters in Broward knew what they were voting for. Any 8-year-old on the street knows what a slot machine is.” In New Hampshire, slots for Rockingham and the state’s other tracks are still alive. State senator Lou D’Allesandro, whose bill would allow nearly 4,000 VLTs at the tracks, said, “We have gambling now. The difference is if we pass this bill, the state makes money.” In Maryland....gridlock. What else? HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 4, 2005 WEG PLANS TO COMMINGLE A WEEK LEFT IN MARYLAND Woodbine Entertainment, planning to take advantage of the elimination of the U.S. 30% witholding on foreign wagers, is applying to send bets directly into commingled pools at the Meadowlands in New Jersey and Calder Race Course in Florida. Woodbine’s chief financial officer, Steve Mitchell, told Daily Racing Form WEG hopes to commingle with the Meadowlands by June, and also will seek commingled pools in California and New York. He said Canadian tracks are 100% committed to the project, but admitted it was a complicated regulatory process. He said Woodbine did not plan to raise its minimum bet from $1 to $2, saying that was not considered a viable option by WEG. The days narrow down to a precious few, as the song goes, and chances for slots in Maryland now rest on the usual hurly-burly of last minute dealing. It seems unlikely that there will be any between Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his arch foe House Speaker Michael Busch, so the legislative session is likely to end without compromise on the issue. Through heavy lobbying, Ehrlich got 35 of 43 Republican delegates to support a House slots bill, but Busch and Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller could not or would not agree, and time is running out. IT’S NOW ALL UP TO GEORGE The New York legislature, Senate and Assembly, has done its job on clearing VLT hurdles that will enable expansion to Yonkers, Aqueduct and beyond, but The Boss -- and we don’t mean Trump -- has not yet signed off on the deal. While Yonkers and Batavia and Vernon Downs await the final word, Pataki is expected to negotiate with Joe Bruno and Sheldon Silver on their plans, which raise the track’s share to 32% of the first million in annual revenue, 29% of the next million, and 26% of revenue above $10 million, plus 8% of the first $100 million of slots revenue for marketing and advertising expenses and 5% of revenue above $100 million. Charles Hayward, president and CEO of NYRA, called the legislation “a good bill,” and said that he thought all parties concerned would still agree it was a good bill even after expected changes are negotiated. At Vernon Downs, meanwhile, the track will hold an open house next week, of both its property and books, for eight investors it says are interested in the track and its racino. UNHAPPINESS IN ILLINOIS Rod Blagojevich, the governor of Illinois, is having a hard time pleasing anyone on gambling issues in his state. His proposal to raise $300 million by doubling the number of gambling “positions” on the state’s nine existing riverboat casinos would, one would have thought, pleased the casinos, but they say they have no intention of buying more equipment without tax relief, currently topped out at 70%. Only two casinos currently pay that rate -- Harrah’s in Joliet and the Grand Victoria in Elgin -- with all the others except one falling in the 50% bracket for grossing between $100 million and $250 million a year. Those in that bracket fear doubling the positions from the present 1,200 a boat to 2,400 would drive their gross above $250 million, pushing them from the 50% tax bracket to 70%. WAPLES IN TROUBLE, AGAIN Randy Waples, blessed with an abundance of driving talent, seemingly is cursed with a shortage of self restraint. After losing months of racing last year for intemperate actions, he now has been fined $1,000 and suspended for 90 days for “improper and insulting language and improper conduct to another participant” at Mohawk Raceway. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 5, 2005 GEORGIAN DOWNS SOLD THE GUY SIMPLY WON’T QUIT Great Canadian Gaming corporation, which recently purchased Hastings Park, Fraser Downs and Sandown Park in British Columbia, has returned to the marketplace and is acquiring Georgian Downs in Ontario for C$25 million, plus assumption of shareholder loans and other indebtedness of some C$23 million. Georgian Downs is a harness operation in Innisfil, Ontario, some 45 miles north of Toronto, and has approximately C$34 million in total assets including buildings, land and undeveloped property. It also has slot machines, and Great Canadian Gaming’s president and CEO, Anthony Martin, called it a “total entertainment package.” Georgian Downs is new, having been built in 2000 and opening a year later, and races two days a week, 12 months a year. Cornelius Murray, the lawyer who brought the suit that resulted in portions of New York state’s VLT law being ruled unconstitutional, is at it again. He now is urging attorney general Eliot Spitzer to shut down the flourishing and hugely profitable Turning Stone Casino, near Vernon Downs. Murray contends Turning Stone has been operating illegally for 12 years, and in a letter to Spitzer he wrote, “Your office has earned a justifiable reputation as a vigorous prosecutor and enforcer of violations...including Internet gambling. I would now expect that you would bring the same enthusiasm and vigor to bear in this case.” Murray’s letter followed by just two days the United States Supreme Court decision that only 32 acres were actually Oneida’s sovereign territory, and that 17,000 other acres of the tribe’s property in central New York is taxable. Murray wrote Spitzer that “the property is...the sovereign soil of the state of New York and activities thereon are subject to the laws of the state of New York.” An Oneida spokesman said the court ruling is about property taxes, not gambling. Murray won a court ruling last year that said the Oneida gambling compact issued by former governor Mario Cuomo was invalid. That decision is under appeal. In other Canadian racing business news, the Ontario Racing Commission ruled that HTA member Windsor Raceway cannot arbitrarily move its premier stakes event, the $450,000 Provincial Cup, from spring to fall. Windsor had hoped to race the event late in its meeting, but the commission, taking into consideration that entries had been taken and payments made by owners and trainers, said the race would have to be raced as originally scheduled on Sunday, May 29, with eliminations, if needed, on Sunday, May 22. In Aurora, Ontario, the board of Frank Stronach’s MI Developments urged shareholders to reject a proposal to convert it into a real estate trust and dump its interest in Magna Entertainment Corporation, its racing arm. The board, in recommending rejection of a plan submitted by its second largest shareholder, Greenlight Capital LLC, raised its dividend 67% to fend off critics. The payout, an increase of 60 cents a share, will cost $28.6 million a quarter. MEADOWS GETS SURROUNDED The Meadows, HTA’s longtime member in western Pennsylvania southwest of Pittsburgh, has since it was built commanded an impressive site just off Interstate 79. It now appears it will lose its exclusivity, if plans for a huge, 122-acre factory outlet mall and 210-acre Bass Pro Shops store, restaurants and hotel materialize. The explosion of long-predicted development near the track and its adjoining motel has delighted some Washington county residents and appalled others, who fear overcrowded roads and strained public services. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 6, 2005 SENATE BOOST FOR POMPANO RACING THRU THE COURTS There was good news in Florida, where a key Senate leader said Pompano Park, Gulfsteam Park, Hollywood Greyhound and Dania Jai-Alai in Broward county should get just what voters there voted for: slots, and not electronic bingo machines. Senator Dennis Jones, chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee, made it clear he intends to push for slots, saying, “The constitutional amendment clearly says they were voting for slot machines. Nowhere did it say bingo or video machines. The governor or House just dreamed that up.” Jones’ committee yesterday approved, by a 6-2 vote, a bill that would let Broward county tracks operate slots 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a tax ranging from 30% to 35%, as opposed to a House bill calling for a 35% to 45% tax based on number of machines, with a maximum of 3,000 at each facility. The Senate bill sets no limits on the number of machines a track could have. Jones indicated negotiation will be needed, but he said, “There are going to be entertainment centers and this bill is built to help them be successful. If we can’t work out our differences this year, we’ll work them out next year.” Dan Adkins, vice president of Hollywood Greyhound who speaks for Broward’s tracks, called the Senate bill “a very good business plan...and it will allow us to produce what we promised the people.” The Senate slots bill passed with no debate, few amendments and only brief public testimony. Attendance may be down at tracks, but it is up in courts across the land, keeping squadrons of lawyers busy fighting either for or against developments affecting racing. In Minnesota, Canterbury Park had less luck. The Senate committee on Agriculture, Gaming and Veterans Affairs voted 10-4 against allowing a racino at the track. Canterbury president Randy Sampson said he was not surprised by the committee’s vote, and said he fully expected the gaming debate to continue in both the Senate and the House this year. The bill is still alive in the House. In New Jersey, the New York Giants have sued the state, seeking to halt construction of the $1.3 billion Xanadu project because of its impact on parking and “tailgating,” a popular pastime at Giants Stadium where fans prepare sometimes lavish pre-game snacks and meals on the stadium parking lots. The Giants also are trying to force the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to turn 29-year-old Giants Stadium into a “state-of-theart” facility. On the tailgating issue, Giants executive Steve Tisch rejected the idea of the multilevel parking garage proposed as a parking solution at Xanadu, saying, “Tailgating is a great fan experience, and I can’t imagine tailgating on the sixth floor of an eight-floor parking structure.” Also in New Jersey, leading trainer Noel Daley’s attorney received a second continuance on charges following Daley’s arrest for possession of prescription drugs without prescriptions and possession of hypodermic needles and syringes at his Magical Acres training headquarters. A new court date was set for May 4 to allow for completion of testing on vials found in Daley’s possession. In North Dakota, beleaguered Susan Bala, facing sentencing April 29 on charges of operating an illegal gambling site at her Racing Services operation, was ordered to return a $50,000 loan she made from her company to buy a life insurance policy in 1995 and borrow against its cash value in November, months after Racing Services declared bankruptcy. A federal bankruptcy judge also ordered her to turn over $14,000 in furniture she had bought with Racing Services funds. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SLOTS A LOTS AROUND NATION Pro and con, good and bad, legislators and others wrestled with slots problems this week. In Massachusetts, the legislature will take up the issue of legalizing slots at tracks this session, according to the chairman of the House Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, Vincent Pedone, who has pledged to address the issue in his committee. The former Speaker of the House, Thomas Finneran, never let it come to a vote, but new impetus and Finneran’s departure may result in a decision. In neighboring New Hampshire, hopes dimmed as the two biggest boosters of legalizing slots all but admitted defeat. The principal sponsor of the idea, Democratic Senator Lou D’Allesandro, said he will force an up-or-down vote to permit a total of 5,700 machines at the state’s four tracks and three resorts, but he admitted momentum has turned against his cause, and said some formerly in his corner now aren’t even returning his phone calls. The Republican senator from Rockingham Park’s district, Chuck Morse, was quoted in the Nashua Telegraph as saying, “It’s going down....for some reason many of the Democrats have decided we don’t need the revenue. They aren’t looking at what I am looking at.” Morse said that the failure of Gov. John Lynch to support the idea, thinking that an increase in cigarette taxes would be enough to finance the next state budget, hurt the cause. In West Virginia, The Intelligencer-Wheeling News-Register reports that Senate Bill 442, which would provide table gaming for the state’s slotrich tracks, “Likely won’t even make it out of the House Judiciary Committee.” Today is the last day bills can be passed out of committee and still be read three times, providing little chance of passage. April 7, 2005 In Maryland, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, whistling bravely in the dark, said he still was optimistic that slots would be legalized despite the fast approaching end of the legislative session with little sign that the legislative stalemate can be broken. Ehrlich said yesterday, “We believe the bill can and will be passed.” When asked the same question, Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller said, “Quite frankly, I don’t. We have a long way to go and a short time to get there.” In Maine, a push has started at the state house to get legislation passed for a Passamaquoddy Tribe harness track and racino in Washington county in northern Maine. Sebastian Sinclair, president of Christiansen Capital Advisors consulting firm, said such a casino would be in a far more rural area than others in the United States, and added, “I would be hesitant to be an investor in it.” Some Maine horse racing interests support the idea, according to MaineToday.com, as an opportunity to build a racing circuit in Maine. The state representative from the district said, “There is overwhelming support for something like this in Calais. I’m surprised by it.” Maine’s two harness tracks, Scarborough Downs and Bangor Raceway, reportedly have taken no stand on the issue, although Scarborough’s attorney said he thought the state had enough racing currently. He did add, however, that if purses grow from slots operations at Bangor Raceway, the state could see an increase in demand. In Minnesota, Southwest Casino Corporation, planning to build a new harness track north of Minneapolis, announced it had lost its chief investor and his $50 million in backing. Gordon Graves, who was scheduled to become chairman of the venture, has withdrawn his investment. Southwest’s CEO gave no reasons, but said the company had a backup plan to move ahead and added. “Everything’s OK.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor TWO RIGHTS AND A BIG WRONG The United States and Antigua are both claiming victory after a World Trade Organization appellate board handed down a 146-page decision this week. Both countries may be right in their reading, but from this vantage point there is no good news, under any interpretation, for U.S. racing. The reason is that in order to comply with the decision, the U.S. has several courses it could pursue. One would be to ignore the decision and face sanctions, since it has little trade with Antigua. A more draconian approach would be to leave the World Trade Organization. A third possibility -- and as long as it exists it is bad news for racing, with no other interpretation -- is the possibility that the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978, the bedrock on which current Internet wagering rests, where legal, could be challenged or amended. That possibility was hinted at by Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier, who said, “This report essentially says that if we clarify U.S. gambling restrictions in certain ways, we’ll be fine.” But he added that federal restrictions on Internet gambling could be maintained and still meet the WTO’s decision, which denied a U.S. appeal of an earlier decision that the U.S. policy contravenes WTO rules and regulations. Antigua’s case with the WTO contended U.S. policy interfered with its economic welfare by preventing U.S. citizens from betting with legal, licensed and regulated Antigua Internet betting outlets, and the WTO agreed. Antigua argued that the Interstate Horseracing Act is inconsistent with U.S. prohibition on Internet gambling, and its legal counsel, a Texas attorney, says the decision was “clear cut, and Antigua won on all major points.” A law professor at the state university of New York in Buffalo said, “If advising a client, I would urge caution.” It is good advice for racing. April 8, 2005 The professor, Joseph Kelly, who is editor of Gaming Law Review, warned that the matter is not going to be clear cut. “There are going to be further proceedings on both sides,” he said, noting that while the U.S. might ignore Antigua, with which it has few trade dealings, it would find it difficult to ignore other trade partners intent on expanding Internet betting. “How are you going to stop a British-licensed casino in the United Kingdom from taking wagers from American citizens?” Kelly asked, and answered the question himself. “You just can’t.” YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS, BUT After months of diligent lobbying in New York to get VLT revenues to racing increased, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association now are urging Gov. George Pataki to veto the legislation raising racing’s share. The thoroughbred horsemen are piqued at the New York Racing Association, saying NYRA won’t split the new revenue according to terms of current law, which provide for 7.5% to 10% to purses. Pataki doesn’t like the legislation either, passed over his objections, and he has until Tuesday to veto the measure. The horsemen are unhappy because the measure, as passed, does not mandate how the revenue will be shared. The horsemen’s execs, Dennis Brida and Richard Bomze, oppose the legislation even though it could mean more money for everyone in racing. If their plan is to bluff the legislature, which has already decided against Pataki’s plan, they are playing a very dangerous game, particularly with Pennsylvania gearing up with slots for next year. TWO GAMBLING BILLS DEAD Slots for tracks in New Hampshire and table games for those in West Virginia died yesterday, although there could be a last minute resurrection in West Virginia today. The session ends tomorrow night. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 11, 2005 WAIT ’TIL NEXT YEAR..OR TWO HOPES STILL ALIVE IN TEXAS At the risk of seriously dating ourself, the old Brooklyn Dodgers used to have a rallying cry, after losing pennant races, “Wait ’til next year.” Unless something monumental happens between now and midnight tonight, that has to be the forlorn hope of Maryland racetracks. Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. gave up Saturday, telling WBAL radio in Baltimore that slots not only were dead for the session now ending, but “for two more years,” until after the 2006 elections. Ehrlich added, “It’s a crying shame. The leadership has told me they will not allow a slots referendum on the ballot with my name on the ballot at the same time.” The Speaker of the House in Texas, Tom Craddick, has told supporters of casinos, and perhaps racinos, they should make their push in the next two weeks, although he doubts there are 100 votes in the House to approve such legislation. Because a constitutional amendment would be needed, a two-thirds vote would be required for approval. The Texas state comptroller, Carole Strayhorn, who has been a longtime supporter for expansion of gambling, estimates casino gambling in Texas could mean an additional one billion dollars a year in revenue for the state. SAME STORY IN INDIANA Even though the legislature didn’t show any, the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, showed good judgment in Santa Fe, vetoing a bill that would have allowed the state gambling regulatory agency to grant licenses to people or organizations whose licenses had been revoked in other jurisdictions. The veto could have ramifications for Ruidoso and Hobbs track owner R. D. Hubbard, who still is not totally out of the woods in Indiana, where he voluntarily relinquished his gaming license three years ago after a scandal involving alleged use of prostitutes at the Belterra Casino Resort. A new federal lawsuit filed by Pinnacle Entertainment, which owned Belterra and of which Hubbard was chairman, could result in the Indiana commission imposing further sanctions against Hubbard, according to the freenewmexican.com, the Web site of The New Mexican. If that were to happen, the site reported, it could affect Hubbard’s status in New Mexico. Only one New Mexico senator, Cisco McSorley, an Albuquerque Democrat, spoke against the forgiveness bill, and his response when told the governor had vetoed it was quick and blunt. “Hallelujah,” he said. “The governor is a man of integrity and balls.” This is the Wild West, pardner. Things were no better in Indiana, where HTA members Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs had their hopes dashed by Senate Republicans, who rejected a plan to put 5,000 slot-like machines at the two tracks. Minority Democrats offered the proposal, saying it could raise some $180 million for funding of public schools, but the vote followed party lines and went down, 33-16. Three weeks remain in the Indiana legislative session, and a principal supporter of the slots measure, Democratic senator Tim Lanane of Anderson, home of Hoosier Park, told that body that the loss of $75 million annually to riverboat communities could be avoided. “We perhaps could avoid all of that if we put all of the chips that are available on the table,” he said. “We’ve got to do that.” Under the amendment proposed, the Hoosier Lottery Commission would have owned and operated the machines and the state would have kept 60% of the proceeds, with the rest split among horsemen and the two tracks. The chairman of the Senate Tax Committee, Republican Luke Kenley, said the proposal should be heard in a committee hearing, where the public can testify. NEW MEXICO COMMON SENSE HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 12, 2005 ANOTHER STORM ON COAST KEENELAND CUTS OFF FIVE After a winter of black clouds and rain, California racing has been hit with another storm. This one surrounds the physical condition, or more precisely the stable subterfuge in concealing it, of the standout thoroughbred filly Sweet Catomine, the soundly beaten favorite in last Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby. The filly was reported in press conferences as okay and ready to run, but she had been transported -- under false identification -- to a veterinary clinic for hypobaric chamber treatment earlier in the week. A California Horse Racing Board investigator used strong language following his investigation, saying assertions made by both owner and trainer were “deliberately falsified” and misled the public, which made the filly the even money favorite in the race. The racing board filed complaints yesterday against both the filly’s owner, Martin J. Wygod, and Dean Kerkhoff, the driver of the van who told a stable gate guard the filly was “a pony” when he hauled her at 3:15 a.m. a week ago Monday for special treatment, and again when he returned her to the track the next day. The case has created yet another press furor for California racing nationwide. Keeneland Racecourse has cut off five major rebate shops from receiving signals from its 16-day spring meeting, now underway. President Nick Nicholson said concerns about their betting practices led to the discontinuation of signals to Racing and Gaming Services in St. Kitts; Euro OffTrack on the Isle of Man; Capitol Sports in Australia; the Elite Turf Club in Curacao; and the Tonkawa Indian casino in Oklahoma. IT’S OFFICIALLY OVER IN MD The Maryland legislature adjourned last night, and for the third straight year legislation to legalize slots at tracks died with adjournment. The governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., put the full blame on House Speaker Michael E. Busch, and said no slots legislation could have a chance in the state until 2007, after next year’s election. PATAKI DEADLINE TODAY The fate of VLT legislation in New York state -and probably of Vernon Downs -is due to be decided today, the deadline for Gov. George Pataki to sign or veto the pending VLT revenue increases to tracks. AT WAR ON HORSE SLAUGHTER A determined trio launched a major effort yesterday against the slaughter of U.S. horses for foreign food consumption. Award-winning author Bill Heller and U.S. Congressmen Ed Whitfield of Kentucky and John Sweeney of New York outlined their case at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, also heralding the publication of Heller’s new book, “After the Finish Line: The Race To End Horse Slaughter in America,” now available in bookstores and from Bow Tie Press. Congressman Whitfield is the husband of attorney Constance Whitfield, vice chair of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority and chairwoman of the Kentucky Equine Drug Council. Reps. Whitfield and Sweeney are cosponsors of House bill 503, that would outlaw commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. EVICTION AT LES BOIS The axe fell in the woods of Les Bois in Boise, Idaho, this week, as county commissioners gave Lariat Productions, which had been running the track, 48 hours to hand over the keys. A legal battle is expected, but with no signed lease order, Capitol Racing, which is leaving Cal-Expo in California in late summer and had hoped to operate Les Bois, cannot apply for a license there for live racing or simulcasting. Financial problems precluded signing of a lease between the two. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 13, 2005 PATAKI SIGNS VLT BILL IN NY LOOKING FOR A GOOD JOB? New York governor George Pataki has signed the VLT bill approved by his legislature, and the move could pave the way finally for slots at Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct, and the restoration of racing and introduction of gaming at Vernon Downs. As passed, the legislation circumvents the constitutional prohibition of using the monies for purses, by providing the funds to the tracks and allowing them to strike their own deals on purses with their horsemen’s associations. The new law provides tracks with 32% of the first $50 million in annual VLT revenue, 29% of the next $100 million, and 26% on anything over that, along with a marketing and promotional payment of 8% on the first $100 million in VLT revenue and 5% over that figure. That fund would be capped at 4% of all VLT revenue for Yonkers and Aqueduct. Legislators think the bill will be worth some $1 billion more a year in revenue for New York once racinos are up and running. The Department of Agriculture in Delaware is looking for an Administrator of Racing to represent the state’s interests at Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway. The Administrator would supervise the Delaware Harness Racing Commission staff, including the board of judges, veterinarians, inspectors, investigators and licensing personnel, and would be the state’s chief liaison officer between the state and track management. The job will pay between $60,000 and $75,000 a year, with a competitive benefits package. The closing date for applications is May 6. For a full job description and to submit a resume, contact the Department of Agriculture, Human Resources, 2320 S. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE, 19901. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME? When was the last time the governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of agriculture of your state showed up at your track for a race? This week, in the case of Dover Downs, where Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, Lieutenant Governor John Carney Jr. and Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse all turned out for dinner and the governor proclaimed Monday “Rainbow Blue Day” in Delaware. The Rainbow and driver Ron Pierce did not disappoint, breezing to victory in the $50,000 race named in her honor. BIG FINE, BAN, FOR ZERON Ontario driver Rick Zeron has been fined $35,000 and suspended for 10 weeks and trainer Richard Moreau has been fined $15,000 and suspended for 15 days for “acts injurious to racing” at Mohawk Raceway. THE TRADER GOES TO EUROPE “Trader Bud” Hatfield, Ohio’s auto dealer and amateur driver par excellence, is headed for Europe....temporarily. He will represent the United States in a 12-country amateur driving competition in Austria in late June. Hatfield will be attempting to improve on the best showing an American amateur has ever made in the World Cup Amateur Driving Championships, a third place finish earned by Bob Krivelin six years ago. CHURCHILL GOES TO COURT With the Kentucky Derby looming less than four weeks away, Churchill Downs has asked a federal judge to make sure the minions of suddenly silent Wayne Gertmenian don’t rear their contentious heads. Churchill filed in U.S. District Court last week asking for a hearing to ensure the Jockeys’ Guild does not direct a Derby walkout. The petititon said the Guild “has contracted or conspired with jockeys in an illegal effort to control prices through concerted action,” and it seeks an injunction againts illegal activities. A hearing is set for April 27. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 14, 2005 SECOND CHANCE IN ILLINOIS? “A MISSION OF THE HEART” The governor of Illinois says he is interested in a new proposal, put forth by Chicago Democratic House member Robert Molaro, that would provide a new approach to riverboat gambling taxation that includes a subsidy for Illinois horse racing. Molaro’s idea is to let existing riverboat casinos increase their slots and table games from the present 1,200 limit to 3,000, pay the state $20,000 for each new space, lower their top rate tax from the present 70% to 50%, and provide 3% of each casino’s gross revenue to the Illinois racing industry. He pointed out that the government-regulated racing industry creates thousands of jobs and should be protected from competition created by government action. A spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich said of the Molaro plan, “It’s certainly something we are interested in.” That was the way Steve Ferguson, chairman of the Cook Group of Bloomington, Indiana, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of medical devices, described the $240 million plan of his company and Lauth Property Group of Indianapolis put forth to pick up the casino license dropped by Donald Trump to restore the historic French Lick Springs Resort and Spa. Oh, and to operate a casino there. Ferguson said he didn’t know any other way to put the offer, but he also admitted that while he had said for years his company wasn’t interested in bankrolling a casino, “Mother always told me you’d eat every word you say, and she was right.” Right from the heart, Steve. THE LADY BUYS IT ALL Marian Ilitch is 70, the daughter of Macedonian immigrants who with her husband started a pizza parlor in suburban Detroit. They called it Little Caesars, and largely due to her smarts it grew into one of the biggest national pizza chains. The Ilitches and their seven children now own the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball, real estate all over Detroit, and businesses with combined revenue of more than $1 billion last year. Yesterday Mrs. Ilitch expanded her holdings, when the Michigan Gaming Control Board voted 4-0 to approve her bid to buy out her partners and become sole owner of the MotorCity Casino, currently owned by Mandalay Resort Group, whose merger with MGM Mirage forces them to sell. Mrs. Ilitch already owns 25% of MotorCity, and will pay $525 million for Mandalay’s 53.5% share and buy 11.5% held by Atwater Entertainment and the remaining 10% owned by Detroit investor Tom Celani. NOEL DALEY GETS SIX MONTHS Trainer Noel Daley has been suspended six months, fined $2,500, and denied the privileges of all grounds under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Racing Commission during the suspension period for his second violation of milkshaking rules. The judges also ordered a full suspension of all horses owned or trained by Daley. An appeal is certain, but the severity of the suspension shows that New Jersey has gotten serious about infractions of its rules. In other New Jersey news, the New York Giants and the state have reached an agreement that will allow the Giants to build a new $750 million stadium at the Meadowlands. The settlement came after Gov. Richard J. Codey intervened, calling the move “a good deal for New Jersey taxpayers,” and adding, “We’re going to get a brand new stadium with one of the best deals in the country.” Giants Stadium, owned by New Jersey, opened with the Meadowlands in 1976 and is among the oldest in the National Football League. Giants’ COO John K. Mara said the new stadium could be ready by 2008. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 15, 2005 A SETBACK FOR THE ISLE RACING SAYS WHOA TO GAMES Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s new Illinois Gaming Board, appointed because the governor was unhappy with the old one and its decisions, has reopened the Emerald Casino issue. This dispute has been ongoing for eight years, and appeared resolved last year when Isle of Capri agreed to pay bankrupt Emerald $518 million for its license, the 10th and final casino license in Illinois. The state attorney general, Lisa Madigan, immediately vowed to undo the old board’s 4-1 vote to allow Isle of Capri to buy the casino, claiming mob ties in Rosemont, and has made good on her vow at least to the extent of dragging the matter back for review. Illinois, meanwhile, loses hundreds of millions a year while the political haggling goes on. The chairman of the new gaming board, Aaron Jaffe, says the board will resume a long-suspended disciplinary hearing aimed at stripping the license from Emerald, and has appointed a respected and reformminded former Chicago federal judge, Abner Mikva, to preside over the revocation process. Chicago Business reports that if Emerald’s license is revoked, it could “effectively end efforts of Mississippi-based Isle of Capri Casinos to buy the license and open a casino in Northwest suburban Rosemont.” Chairman Jaffe insists he is not trying to punish Isle of Capri, but Les McMackin, Isle of Capri’s senior vice president of marketing and communications, says, “It’s going to add more time to the process, and once again impedes the ability for this license to generate anything positive for the state.” HTA member Plainridge Racecourse and Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts are deeply upset over plans of the Massachusetts State Lottery to introduce new virtual horse racing games in the state. The Lottery announced it was adding the simulated race games “as just another way to generate random numbers for a game, like keno,” and Lottery spokesman Joe Sullivan says, “This is animation. It is not any form of live action. It is not any form of an actual race. It is not offtrack betting. It is not a simulcast.” The tracks see it in a totally different light. Plainridge president Gary Piontkowski said, “It is a simulcast, and the idea of putting these into venues around Massachusetts is off-track betting. Make no mistake about it. That’s what it is.” His view was shared by Bob O’Malley, COO of Suffolk Downs, who said, “I think the new game is going to look exactly like a simulcast race. The images of the horses on the video screen will be scaled to look exactly like what we do.” Perhaps most significant of all, State Senator Michael W. Morrissey, chairman of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, which oversees the state lottery, said, “It may look a little cartoonish, but isn’t it just off-track betting? If it is, shouldn’t we just send live signals to the bars and restaurants so they can do actual simulcast betting?” PENN NATIONAL NOT WAITING Penn National Gaming, not choosing to wait until it can get Bangor Raceway rebuilt into a racino, is buying a restaurant overlooking the Bangor waterfront for $3.8 million and hopes to open a temporary facility with 475 slots by November or December. TOTAL DETENTION FOR DALEY All horses trained by Noel Daley or in his care must race out of detention for the next six months, starting April 21, and each will be subject to a $100 fee for the procedure, unless the horse is part of a race in which all horses are detained. The penalty is not new. It has been in effect for high carbon dioxide rulings since November, 2001, and every horseman signing a stall application receives a copy of the rules, which also are on the track’s Web site. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 18, 2005 BIG NIGHT AT DOVER DOWNS DANDY GUIDE AT NORTHFIELD Harness racing fans at Dover Downs get to see the best of the best tonight, when six Classic Series bring out the best older horses in the sport, along with six Hall of Fame drivers who will be guiding them, plus two $100,000 events for Delaware bred horses. The highlight of the night, of course, will be the first meeting between the world’s two best female pacers, Rainbow Blue and Loyal Opposition. Rainbow Blue won 20 of 21 races last year and was named Harness Horse of the Year. Loyal Opposition has won six of eight starts this year, including her last four in a row, the two most recent being the $100,000 Strada Memorial and the $122,520 Overbid at the Meadowlands. Glowing Report, a $1 million winner, and Carolina Sunshine, nearing $1 million in earnings, also are in the field. Northfield Park’s 2005 media guide is out, and is a first rate job. With a full illustrated roster of track officials, a history of the track from its beginnings, a look at new improvements, detailed information on simulcasting, statistics, a review of 2004, its featured races, its horsemen, and of course a plug for its microbrewery, it is a complete and thorough tool for media or fans. CATSKILLS HAVE TO WAIT GURAL TELLS IT AS IT IS Casinos in the Catskills, long awaited, will have to wait a little longer. New York governor George Pataki late last week announced he was withdrawing land claim settlements with four Indian tribes and would “review and reevaluate them“ in view of a recent Supreme Court decision declaring that an Indian tribe could not expand its sovereign territory simply by reacquiring former reservation lands and declaring them sovereign and tax-exempt. A spokeswoman for one of the tribes affected, the Oneidas of Wisconsin, said, “We’ve waited 200 years to settle, so another delay is nothing new.” A NIGHT MYSTERY MYSTERY Where is Night Mystery, the horse that got the Meadowlands’ leading trainer, Noel Daley, suspended? He reportedly was sold on March 15, after the Feb. 25 race in which he tested positive for a high TC02 reading, but USTA records indicate he hasn’t raced since that date. Anyone know his whereabouts? Anyone wonder? NEW OHIO COMMISSIONER Ohio has a new racing commissioner. Gov. Bob Taft has appointed Ted Brown, for the last five years’s the governor’s labor liaison and chairman of Taft’s Labor Advisory Council, to replace Scott Boregemenke, who resigned as chairman of the racing commission to become chief of staff for Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted. Jeff Gural was in Owego,NY, last week, giving local officials a realistic assessment of his plans for Tioga Downs Racino, the new harness venture he is building there. “This isn’t like ‘Field of Dreams,” he told the Tioga County Legislature, “where if you build it they will come. If you market it and promote it right it will work.” A GOOD GUY LEAVES US Another of racing’s good guys is gone, with the death last week of Nick Jemas at 86. There has been no one like him at national racing meetings since his retirement 19 years ago as national director of the Jockeys’ Guild. A fiery personality who made his views known with force, vigor, humor and intelligence, he espoused the cause of jockeys in a style and substance lost since his departure. HTA sends its sympathy to his son James, vice president of finance for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Contributions may be made to the St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Home for the Aged at 615 Mercer Street, Cherry Hill, NJ. 08002. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SABLE LEAVES FOR CHURCHILL Sable J. Downs, HTA’s Executive Assistant and Information Architect for the last five years, has become the latest in a long procession of executive assistants to move on to higher posts. Sable has accepted a position as Manager of Customer Relationship Management Analytics at Churchill Downs, and leaves HTA this week with our warmest good wishes in her new career. She has administered the HTA Scholarship Fund, compiled and edited its annual art auction catalogue and the HTA World Racing Directory, and coordinated HTA/TRA meeting planning, among many other duties since joining HTA after being named outstanding senior in the class of 1999 at the Race Track Industry Program of the University of Arizona. Joining HTA’s permanent staff are two exceptional rising young talents and a skilled replacement for controller Julie Golden. Assuming Sable’s duties will be Jessica Carner, former editor of the Bridger Valley Pioneer in Lyman, Wyoming, city editor of the HumboldtWells Times in her hometown of Wells, Nevada, and sports editor of the Uinta County Herald in Evanston, Wyoming, where she covered all sports, including horse racing at Wyoming Downs. Jessica will serve as HTA’s new Editorial Coordinator. In addition to handling Sable’s editing of all HTA publications, she will write the weekly Promotions at HTA Tracks and handle association news releases. An accomplished equestrienne, Jess has ridden since childhood, started training with her father when she was 7, and has participated in rodeos and other riding activities since that time. Brody Johnson, now in his final semester at Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program, is joining HTA as Research Analyst. April 19, 2005 Brody took his first job in racing at 15 and has served since that time as a chart caller for Equibase, assistant general manager and racing secretary at Wyoming Downs, assistant manager at Wyoming Off-Track Betting, and host of a handicapping show called “Let It Ride.” He has worked in marketing and promotion and comes from a family with a rich history of owning, training, breeding and riding. His brother Billy Peterson was the leading Quarter Horse jockey in America in 1995 winning nearly $2 million in purses, and Brody’s family continues breeding and racing quarter horses and thoroughbreds across the west. Also new to HTA’s staff is Libbie Gabriel, who has taken over for controller Julie Golden. Mrs. Golden, a 10-year HTA employee, has left because of the growth and increasing demands of her own accounting firm. Libbie is another graduate of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree there in December of 1997 and subsequently working as a simulcast program producer at Monmouth Park and Data Processing Manager and Project Supervisor for CHRIMS, the California Horse Racing Information Management Systems in Dublin, California. A “DREAM” AT NOR THLANDS NORTHLANDS The Edmonton Journal headline read, “Northlands unveils $150 Million Dream,” as HTA’s strong member in the far west announced its plans yesterday to demolish two aging buildings and build a major exposition center as part of the largest redevelopment in the organization’s history. “It’s something that we can build our future on,” general manager Ken Knowles said, noting that the organization had a 125-year history behind it. “With the additional facilities on this site, we will certainly ensure the future of Northlands Park.” Construction in the 10year plan gets underway this spring. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 20, 2005 THE DALEY DIARY OUELLETTE THERE, OR NEAR The doings of Noel Daley continue in New Jersey. The state racing commission yesterday granted “an extension of time concerning the start date of his license suspension,” from April 21 to April 27, running to Oct. 23. While New Jersey granted an extension, Solvalla Racetrack in Stockholm, Sweden, home of the famed Elitlopp, did not wait around. It announced that it had withdrawn the invitation of Mr. Muscleman, trained by Daley and previously invited to the Elitlopp, given “the turbulence surrounding” Daley, who also faces charges of possessing hypodermic needles and unauthorized prescription drugs at his training base at Magical Acres in New Jersey. If you live in Canada, where Standardbred Canada records prevail, Luc Ouellette has become the fourth driver to guide the winners of more than $100 million. If you live in the United States, where USTA rules govern, he still has four million to win before reaching that milestone. Standardbred Canada announced Ouellette went over the $100 million mark in winning last night’s fourth race at Woodbine with Crown Caper, but the USTA records show him with $95,933,387 as of today. Whether there or merely close, Luc remains one of the sport’s great drivers. In another controversial racing situation, the not-so-sweet Sweet Catomine mess in California, a suit, that could turn into a class action, has been filed against Santa Anita, Magna Entertainment, owners Marty and Pam Wygod and trainer Julio Canani by a bettor who says he lost money on the filly in the Santa Anita Derby. The attorney who filed the action said the suit was filed for one Arthur Mota and “the thousands that bet on Sweet Catomine in the Santa Anita Derby without knowledge of the true facts of the horse’s condition for the race.” Sweet Catomine, beaten favorite in the race, has been retired after veterinary “evaluation” and will be bred. NEW QUIZ IN WAYNE’S WORLD U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and husband of Connie Whitfield, vice chair of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, has asked Wayne Gertmenian, president of the Jockeys’ Guild, for information on accounting and oversight of all Guild funds and documentation on health insurance. BATAVIA ALMOST READY At least for VLTs, if not live racing. The track says it will open its doors for the first time in two years on May 18, with 580 VLTs ready to whir. Live harness racing will not return to Batavia until August 3, and Western OTB, which owns Batavia, expects it will be operating on a sound financial basis by then. The track will race, starting with four nights and then reducing to three and finally to Fridays and Saturdays, from August until Nov. 19. THE FEDS READ ESQUIRE Guys, and maybe gals too, at the Justice Department apparently read Esquire magazine. The Department is unhappy over five pages of ads for offshore online gambling in the April issue of the magazine, and the New York Post says Esquire “publisher Kevin O’Malley may be getting caught in the crosshairs of a federal investigation into illegal offshore gambling operations.” The ads were supposed to run again in the June edition, which started printing last Saturday, but there are differing opinions as to whether they will. One source said Hearst executives may replace the ads with public service spots, but a Hearst spokeswoman yesterday said they will run, with $1 million at stake in the next three issues. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 21, 2005 SARATOGA REPORT UPBEAT PEACE SETTLES OVER DERBY Things may be fuzzy elsewhere in New York State, but they are crystal clear at HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway. With a remodeled Fortunes restaurant -- formerly known as Chariots -- and an expanded marketing budget, plus the new changes in revenues from VLTs at its racino, Saratoga is sailing high on the waves. Tom and Wayne have kissed and made up at Churchill Downs, and preparations for the May 7 Kentucky Derby can go forward without concern about a jockeys’ walkout. Churchill announced it had reached an agreement with the Jockeys’ Guild, through a court approved Joint Stipulation and Consent Order under which the Jockeys’ Guild “shall not, directly or indirectly, through any device, in connection with any effort to fix, increase, stabilize, or otherwise affect the level of consideration for jockey services in thoroughbred races, including the level of insurance for jockeys, enter into, continue, cooperate in, or carry out any agreement, understanding, plan or common course of action, either explicit or implied,” to refuse to ride at any Churchill Downs tracks, or coerce, encourage, suggest, advise, or induce any jockey not to provide his services at Churchill tracks. Churchill still has a suit pending against the Guild, however, concerning walkouts last year at Churchill and its Hoosier Park operation. Daily per machine revenue from the 1,324 VLTs has climbed to $215 in the last two months, and racino general manager Jamie Hartman is predicting the daily average will reach $225, up from the first year’s $171. The track’s clubhouse restaurant, charming before, has been revamped, and under the recently passed and signed law the track will keep 32% of the first $50 million in machine revenues, 29% of the second $100 million and 26% of everything over $200 million, plus 8% on the first $100 million for marketing and promotion. Over $100 million the marketing and promotion number drops to 5%. The racino currently is drawing approximately 50,000 guests a week, and Hartman expects that number to rise with promotions, including boxing in May and a circus in June. Elsewhere on the New York scene, Yonkers Raceway general manager Bob Galterio reports a conference call yesterday with Merrill Lynch has “put things back on track,” and he expects financial arrangements will be completed in four to five weeks. After that , 10 months of construction will be required to convert the track into a racino. In Tioga county, Jeff Gural hopes to open harness operations a year from now, with live harness racing, simulcasts, video lots, a restaurant and a bar and lounge, under the name Tioga Downs Racino. He will ask for 54 days of live racing, from May through early September. Local approval is pending. In addition to that no-strike agreement, Churchill announced it has obtained $1 million accident insurance coverage for jockeys at all of its tracks except Hollywood Park, where jockeys are covered under workers’ compensation laws. Churchill plans to pass part of the cost along to owners, through a $5 a start charge toward the $25 a mount cost, at least at its Calder Downs operation. It has not decided how it will handle the matter at its six other tracks, a spokeswoman saying, “There’s not going to be a one-size-fitsall approach.” The newly elected president of the Florida thoroughbred horsemen, Sam Gordon, said the horsemen’s bookkeeping office, controlled by the horsemen, will not collect money for Calder. “They’ll have to bill every owner individually for the $5,” he said. “We won’t help them collect it.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 22, 2005 WHAT GIVES IN FLORIDA? EHRLICH: PREAKNESS MAY GO The will of the people does not always apply in Florida, as we all know by now, but disregarding it, or derailing it, seems to have become a hobby there. The people of Broward county, not once but twice, have voted for slots at tracks. The legislators in Tallahassee, however, unable to simply overturn what voters have voted for, seem determined to deny them by other means. They are talking about a pari-mutuel tax on slots at tracks in Broward county of as high as 60%, or at least in the 50% range, and are blunt about why. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, Dan Webster, who is expected to ask his committee for a 50% tax today, said, “I don’t want casinos in the state. I’ve said that a hundred times.” It apparently makes no difference to Webster, a Republican from Winter Garden, what the people of Broward county want. He does not think tracks should have slots at all, and since the people voted for them he has decided to nullify their vote by taxing them at a rate that blunts their effect. A man who strongly disagrees, former state Education Commissioner Jim Horne, points out that, “There’s a bell curve. You reach an optimum. When you increase the rate, you can’t generate the profits to build a first class facility, and fewer people will come.” But the House, after a hearing of its Fiscal Council this afternoon, could opt for a tax as high as 60%, at the urging of governor Jeb Bush. And something called Florida Tax Watch is urging the state to impose a 74% tax rate, which its “experts” say will produce $770 million for state education, badly needed in Florida, or twice as much as legislative economists estimate a tax no higher than 35% would produce. The racing industry, obviously, is of little concern to anyone in state government except perhaps Steve Geller and a few other legislators. The high tax folks hope to either discourage installation of slots or make certain they don’t fare too well. He may have lost his battle with the legislature on slots for Maryland tracks, but Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is not giving up the fight. He spoke to reporters before giving a speech to the Maryland Horse Breeders Association last night, and told them, “The failure to pass slots means, clearly, the future of the Preakness in Maryland is an open issue. The state does not own that race.” Magna Entertainment does, along with Joe DeFrancis, and while Magna had no early response to Ehrlich’s warning, its senior vice president of racing, Jim Gagliano, told the Baltimore Sun, “We’re disappointed with the legislature, and it will be difficult to confront our competition without electronic gaming, but we’re not for sale.” His response came to published reports that the company was contemplating sale of Pimlico and Laurel, and that interested buyers who had come forward included Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, who had started to buy Rosecroft Raceway and then backed out. TOUGH NEW RULES AT NYRA Stung by a milkshaking scandal a few months ago, the New York Racing Association is putting in place one of the toughest detention rules in the country. Quoting NYRA senior vice president Bill Nader, Daily Racing Form reports that every horse on a day’s racing program, including also eligibles, will be required to spend six hours of pre-race detention, with access to the horse restricted to the state veterinarian except in cases of emergency. The state vet also will be the one to administer Lasix to horses running on that medication. The new requirement will affect horses racing in the Belmont Stakes, third leg of the Triple Crown, on June 11. DUES FORMS NEEDED If your track has not yet submitted dues forms to HTA, please do so now. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor NEW GIANTS STADIUM ON WAY Gov. Richard Codey of New Jersey got his way over the weekend on a deal for the New York Giants to build a new $750 million stadium at the Meadowlands, when the 15-member board of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority approved the deal, 11 members voting yes and four - including president and chief executive George Zoffinger -- abstaining, saying they needed more information than provided before approving the idea. Codey, saying the deal is advantageous to New Jerseyans because the Giants will pay for the stadium, issued a statement that added, “The Giants have been a part of the New Jersey experience for the last three decades. With a new stadium now approved, they will continue to be a part of the fabric of our state for future generations to come.” Under the deal struck by Codey with Steve Tisch and John Mara, the Giants will pay $6.3 million a year for 75 acres of Sports Authority property where they will build a new 80,000seat stadium with their own money, and develop shops, restaurants and a Giants museum. Technically, the deal will not close until a formal lease and development agreement is worked out -- expected to take three to six months -- at which time the Sports Authority board again will take a vote on the contract. Zoffinger said his opposition “stems from my wife being a social worker and my seeing the things the state needs to spend money on rather than football stadiums. We’ve worked hard over the past three years to accomplish some financial stability and it is going to be difficult moving forward.” LIEBMAN HAD IT RIGHT Last week Bennett Liebman commented, on his Albany Law School Web site, about the charges of “actions detrimental to the best interests of racing” against owner Martin Wygod in the Sweet Catomine events prior to the Santa Anita Derby. Liebman called the ‘detrimen- April 25, 2005 tal actions’ rule “typically the last resort of racing regulators,” and said, “Anytime you resort to this rule, you are on a very slippery slope.” Over the weekend the Hollywood Park Board of Stewards slipped off the slope, and dismissed the California Racing Board’s complaint, deciding “that all charges against Mr. Wygod are going to be dismissed in the furtherance of justice.” The board’s executive director Ingrid Fermin was not pleased, judging from a release in which she said, “The California Horse Racing Board has a responsibility to pursue cases where there is probable cause that a violation has occurred. We are committed to protecting the public interest and the integrity of horse racing.” Mrs. Fermin added that she was “surprised, disappointed and, frankly, concerned that Mr. Wygod was not interviewed personally.” She said that in an effort to improve the process, “I intend to evaluate our investigative procedures from start to finish. In that way, licensees and the public will be reassured that cases have been fully investigated and evaluated before any accusations are filed.” DALEY ROLLS ON WITH A STAY The Appellate division of the Superior Court of New Jersey has stayed the 180-day suspension of trainer Noel Daley, without setting a date for a hearing with the Office of Administrative Law. Still on schedule, unless it also is changed, is a May 4 court date for possession of hypodermic needles and other charges resulting from a search of his barn at Magical Acres in Chesterfield, NJ. ALLRED SAYS NOT INTERESTED Hollywood Park may be sold or developed, or its racing moved to Los Alamitos, but in any event Ed Allred will not be part of the deal. He says he has “pulled out” of any such development, the second time big owner Mike Pegram has been left in the lurch. Pegram also had tried to buy the Fair Grounds. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 26, 2005 NO LIGHTS AT MONMOUTH NO SPEED IN PENNSYLVANIA At least this year. That’s the word from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which runs both Monmouth and the Meadowlands, and which for a time was considering racing them in competition. James DeBosh, a NJSEA spokesman, said it was his understanding that “we’re not planning on doing anything about lights at Monmouth this year, but it may be a subject that comes up in the future. We’re not saying there will never be lights there.” Gov. Richard Codey, before becoming governor, had said he favored the idea, and a Codey spokesman says the governor’s office “will be reviewing all our options, looking forward to the input the residents will provide in June.” That input, to date, has been concern, on the part of the mayor of Oceanport, where the track is located, and borough officials who have been seeking an official confirmation about the status of lights. One resident quoted by Bob Jordan of the Asbury Park Press said, “We moved into town, and we understood there was a racetrack here. But there is a big difference to calling a race at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and calling one at 10 p.m. This is a residential area. It changes the whole dynamic.” And that’s not just on the Turnpike or the highways. It permeates the courts and the racing and gaming commissions as well. The state Supreme Court heard hearings more than six weeks ago on a constitutional challenge to the slots-at-tracks legislation, but no word as yet, so the state Gaming Control Board cannot hire an executive director. The chairman, Tad Decker, says he has narrowed the search down to two out-of-state candidates, but neither is willing to leave their present positions while the court issue is pending. The commission faces thousands of applications for casino jobs in the next few months, but has hired only 11 staffers so far, with a goal of having 40 on board by June. The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, meanwhile, has not decided which of two candidates will get to build a new harness track in western Pennsylvania. Both Centaur Gaming and the Schick family are poised and ready to start construction, but the decision still is in limbo. DEFINITION OF A POWERHOUSE With yesterday’s completion of the MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group merger, a world casino giant emerges, with $7 billion in revenues and 70,000 employees. MGM Mirage now will own 24 hotel-casinos, including Bellagio, The Mirage, MGM Grand, Treasure Island, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, Luxor and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas alone, giving it control of a majority of hotel rooms on the Vegas strip and roughly 40% of the slot machines located there. Terry Lanni, who runs this empire as chairman and CEO, said there are no immediate plans to sell any of the Vegas properties and no plans for wholesale layoffs. WINDSOR HIT WITH $100 G FINE Troubled Windsor Raceway has been hit with a $100,000 fine for violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act involving serious burns to a young employee. The incident occurred in December, 2002, when a kitchen employee slipped on hot oil while changing a deep fryer. The track pleaded guilty to failing to take proper precautions in the lifting, carrying, or moving of oil, and the penalty was levied by an Ontario Court of Justice JP who also imposed a 25% surcharge provision to assist victims. 3 MORE DANDY PRESS GUIDES Big, colorful, handsome, illustrated press guides clearly are “in.” HTA has received three more beauties, from the Meadowlands, Prairie Meadows and Hoosier Park. The Prairie photographs, by track photographer Jack Coady Jr., are huge, the best we’ve seen. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor HT A TO SELL KITTELSON AR T HTA ART The Harness Tracks of America College Scholarship Fund has been named worldwide agent for the woodcarvings of John Kittelson, leading figure for the last 17 years in the annual HTA art auction and one of the world’s most renowned figures in animal woodcarving and classic dioramas. Kittelson has granted the Scholarship Fund exclusive selling rights, not only of his harness carvings, but of his infinitely detailed works on western and African animals, the scaled reproductions of authentic western vehicles, and the famed Kittelson dioramas in his Cody, Wyoming, museum. The two most spectacular carvings in the collection are the nine-foot long Budweiser Hitch, with its eight giant Clydesdale horses, and an 8-foot-6-inch masterpiece of a western stagecoach procession. The works, including prices, can be seen online at www.johnkittelsonwoodcarvings.com. They also are linked thru the HTA Web site, www.harnesstracks.com. Kittelson, now nearing the end of his carving career, is an authentic American cowboy. He ran away from home at 13, joined cattle drives, roped calves, participated in rodeos, broke broncos, and became a saddlemaker. Along the way he mastered woodcarving, first specializing in wild animals of the American west, including mountain lions, bobcats, grizzly bears and bison. Carved mostly in basswood, his animals found buyers from South America to the Orient, and a number of American collectors who began assembling collections of his work. His dioramas of western scenes are populated with people, dogs, horses, cattle and vehicles. In 1988, after seeing what appeared to April 27, 2005 be a photograph of the Budweiser hitch and finding it was in fact a Kittelson woodcarving, HTA executive vice president Stan Bergstein contacted Kittelson and asked if he would consider doing some pieces for the HTA art auction. There was no response for six months, and then six completed pieces arrived, which sold for $28,000 at that year’s auction. The sale turned out to be fortunate for both HTA and Kittelson, for he was seriously injured in early spring that year in a rodeo accident in which he almost lost his foot after being thrown from a racing wagon, and was unable to carve for the rest of the year. He has contributed pieces to every HTA art auction since, most of them winding up as sales toppers. What may be his final harness racing works will be sold at Tattersalls this fall at the annual HTA auction. JACOBS MA Y WANT VERNON MAY Jacobs Entertainment of Colorado, a division of Jacobs Entertainment that sold the Cleveland Indians and owns Colonial Downs, apparently is interested in buying Vernon Downs. Although the lawyer for Shawn Scott, majority owner of Vernon, says the Jacobs Colorado deal would be better for shareholders than that offered by New York real estate magnate Jeff Gural, the Syracuse Post-Standard says Jacobs Entertainment of Colorado is deeply in debt, quoting federal documents that say its “significant amount of indebtedness” could hamper its operations and potential growth. In Maine, meanwhile, where Scott got slots introduced at Bangor Raceway and then sold the track to Penn National, a legislative panel is reviewing a proposal to allow the Passamaquoddy tribe to build a harness track which would include a 3,000-slot racino “Down East,” in Calais in Maine’s Washington county. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SLOTS DIMMING IN FLORIDA With time running out, the president of the Florida Senate said yesterday he doubts the legislature will pass bills that would allow slot machines in Broward county this year, this despite the fact that residents of Broward have twice voted that they favored them. Senate president Tom Lee told the Sun-Sentinel that he thought slots legislation “is less than a 50-50 chance right now.” The danger of this situation became apparent last November, when in the euphoria of a successful vote on the issue supporters lost sight of the fact that it was up to the legislature to agree on rules and regulations. With the House and Senate furlongs apart on a tax rate, and less than two weeks left in the session, Lee said he could see “nothing happening until there is a new governor.” He said, “It’s so much easier to kill a bill in this town (Tallahassee) than to pass one.” If Lee proves right, the four Broward county tracks have little option but to go to court. Governor Jeb Bush said yesterday that an agreement was still possible, but according to the SunSentinel “he gave little indication he was willing to change his position to make it happen.” Pompano Park, meanwhile, called on its patrons and supporters to make their views known, loud and clear, to the legislature. “HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE” After the Supreme Court ruled recently that too many years had passed for the Oneida Indians to claim their reacquired former reservation lands were again sovereign and tax-exempt, the town of Verona, where the Oneidas own the Turning Stone Casino, had the casino and six other properties owned by the Oneida Nation appraised. The total appraisal came in at $384 million, and the town supervisor hand delivered it to the Oneidas yesterday. He said they didn’t indicate whether they would pay taxes, but offered him a cup of coffee. April 28, 2005 HOOSIER GETS TEN STARS Hoosier Park’s $200,000 Dan Patch this Saturday night has attracted an exceptional 10-horse field to HTA’s member in Anderson, Indiana. Although the morning line maker has installed He Wants It All as favorite, the field includes Canyon Wind, coming off three straight wins at the Meadowlands with David Miller; Maltese Artist, with red hot Ron Pierce driving; Toronto’s popular 9-year old “Gray Gladiator,” Admiral’s Express; Whosurboy; Escape the Wind; Eaton Road Kill; Casimir Commotion; Life Source and Johnny Be Cool N. Top field, major attraction. PEOPLE ON THE MOVE John G. Cansdale, a Saratoga Springs attorney who has served previously as director of industry development with Empire State Development, general counsel to the Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid, and a negotiator for other international events, succeeds Ed Martin as executive director of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. Martin now is president and CEO of the Association of Racing Commissioners International.......Timothy (Ted) Connors, chairman of the New Hampshire Racing Commission and the longest-serving racing commissioner in the country, having first been appointed in 1968, is the new chairman of the commissioners’ organization....... Steve Molnar has been named Executive Vice President-Strategic Markets, and Bruce Benedict has been named Executive Vice President-International Sales, at United Tote.......Lisa Narotsky, the softball pitching demon daughter of Illinois racing secretary Eliot (Doc) Narotsky, has won five games -- two of them complete game shutouts -- at Hinsdale South high school. Her ERA is 0.42. JOB OPEN AT ROSECROFT Rosecroft Raceway is looking for an experienced Assistant Track Superintendent. Call 877818-9467 for information. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 29, 2005 NYRA ANNOUNCES DETENTION BREEDERS’ CUP TO ESPN The New York Racing Association, in a move to tighten security, has announced that all horses at its three tracks -- Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and Aqueduct -- will race out of a six-hour detention barn starting with the opening of the Belmont Park meeting May 4. At Belmont, 93 stalls in barns 8 and 23 will be used as a secure environment, and once horses enter only the trainer and stable employees -- but no private veterinarians -- will be allowed in the barns. NYRA vets will administer Salix, pending approval by the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Charles E. Hayward, NYRA president and CEO, said of the new program, “While we appreciate that this will create some short-term inconvenience for trainers, the overwhelming response has been incredibly supportive as we work collaboratively to further strengthen the credibility of New York’s racing program.” Trainer Donald Donk, a strong supporter of the idea, said, “I am pleased that NYRA is stepping up to the plate and taking on this initiative. Obviously, I am for it because this is the future of racing. Eventually, I think the future is a 24-hour security barn with a camera in every stall. This is for the betterment of racing and a great day for both the $2 bettor and the serious gambler.” First it was NFL football. Now it is the Breeders’ Cup, giving up network coverage of its World Thoroughbred Championships on NBC and switching to ESPN in 2006. Under the new multi-media agreement, ESPN and ABC Sports will air five twohour telecasts from June thru October, and ESPN will provide a live, 7-hour program from noon to 7 p.m. -- two hours longer than the current telecast of the event -- starting next year. D.G. Van Clief Jr., president of Breeders’ Cup and NTRA commissioner, called the new arrangement “an extraordinary multi-media agreement highlighted by unprecedented television coverage for the Breeders’ Cup and Thoroughbred racing for the next eight years.” CHURCHILL ON A ROLL Churchill Downs, basking in rave reviews to the completion of its $121 million renovation that includes six completely new floors in the clubhouse, got another boost this morning when president and CEO Thomas H. Meeker ceremoniously opened the NASDAQ Stock Market in New York City, celebrating Churchill’s 12th anniversary of trading on the stock market. In another Churchill development, the track restored signals to several unidentified offtrack rebate locations that had been cut off, after the sites provided new information. FAST START FOR KITTELSON The HTA College Scholarship Fund, which opened a new Web site on the woodcarvings of John Kittelson just two days ago, sold five of Kittelson’s works for $7,950 on the second day. Kittelson has granted the HTA Fund worldwide selling rights to his collection of African and western American animals, vehicles, and dioramas. THE END AT ATLANTIC CITY? The Trentonian of Trenton, NJ, reports today that officials of Greenwood Racing, which owns Atlantic City Racecourse, is close to selling the track and its 254-acre site to the Nebraska-based sporting goods retailer Cabela’s. The Press of Atlantic City, however, says the track is only one of several possibilities being considered by Cabela’s, which plans a 200,000-square-foot superstore on whatever land it buys. The company says it could invest as much as $40 million in construction, with employment of as many as 700 people. Cabela’s, a 40-year-old company, is the nation’s largest direct marketer and retailer of hunting, fishing and camping equipment. The track is 39 years old. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THE HARD WAY TO COVERAGE It is nice, of course, to have horse racing on the front page of the New York Times, with a picture, and a huge jump inside. This morning’s Times had just that, Joe Drape’s feature, five days before horse racing’s biggest weekend, under the headline “At the Derby, Racing is Facing Its Drug Problem.” Acknowledging that the industry is facing its problem probably has to be considered a positive story, but it’s a hard way to get coverage. It is, however, an opportunity for horse racing, regardless of breed, because if the industry does not strike now, while the iron is hot, and charge full speed ahead with the work of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, it is losing a golden opportunity. The idea for a per start, per horse assessment to fund research on drugs and attain uniform drug testing rules and procedures has been languishing, and the sport should take advantage of the current recognition and publicity of the milkshake mess to get moving with it. There has been enough committee discussion leading nowhere, and now is the time for action, not talk. It is not likely that there will be any better time soon, for horsemen and regulators alike have the problem clearly in front of them with articles like today’s big Times spread. LATE AFTERNOON IN FLORIDA The sun hasn’t quite set on slots legislation in Florida, but it is late in the day, and the president of the Florida Senate, Tom Lee, is quoted as saying, “the slot machine bill has a very unlikely chance of passing. I see an end game, I just don’t see a very pretty one.” Lee told the Miami Herald. “I think the chambers are too far apart, and there’s some deeply held philosophical beliefs that I think are going to make it difficult to move this legislation unless someone really blinks.” As of press time, there was no sign of blinking. Putting aside that Broward county voters May 2, 2005 twice have expressed a wish for slots, as the legislators have, they are deadlocked over whether to allow bingo style machines already in use at the state’s Indian casinos, or Las Vegas style slots, which the Indians want if the tracks get them; over how many machines at each track, the House opting for a 3,000 limit, the Senate setting none; over taxes, the House wanting a 55% tax, the Senate 30 to 35%; and over where the tax would go, the House wanting it for buying computers and other school needs, the Senate wanting it spent exclusively on building new schools. With slot hopes dimming and Florida runners prominent in the Derby picture, Richard Hancock, executive vice president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, mused, “Wouldn’t that be ironic? We win the Derby and lose the thoroughbred industry.” NOW ITS LEWIS AND PEGRAM Ed Allred, owner of Los Alamitos, may have decided he’s too old to mess with buying Hollywood Park, but McDonald’s tycoon and horse owner Mike Pegram -- who was going to be Allred’s partner -- has found a new one. He and major owner Bob Lewis, who made his money in the beer business, have formed a partnership and will try to race thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos if Churchill Downs decides to sell or develop Hollywood Park. Pegram and Lewis are talking about leasing Los Al for seven years, with an option to buy, and adding runners to the quarter horse menu at the Orange county track. Lewis said it would cost more than $40 million to convert the plant to thoroughbred racing, but called the potential in heavily populated and prosperous Orange county “limitless.” He said it would take industry cooperation, but said “everybody realizes that Southern California needs a shot in the arm and this could be the opportunity to give it that.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 3, 2005 TOTAL VICTORY IN NEW YORK A NEW DAY: DUTROW GETS 120 The Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, ruled 5-2 yesterday that VLTs and Indian-owned casinos are legal and constitutional. The total victory was hailed by all in racing, and by Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who said, “They got it right.” The decision overturned that of the Appellate Division, which had ruled last year that the VLT law violated the New York constitution’s provision that all net proceeds from VLTs should go to education. Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, writing for the majority of the Court of Appeals, wrote, “These moneys are not a separate deduction, beyond other costs and expenses, from the amount paid to the racetracks as a vendor’s fee. Rather, they constitute simply a part of the vendor fee itself -- but a part whose use the state has decided to regulate.” The decision should eliminate the last obstacles to construction of major racinos at Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct, and increase chances of Vernon Downs being acquired and reopening. Even Cornelius Murray, the Albany lawyer who has been the prime antagonist in attempting to overturn the VLT legislation, acknowleged defeat on that issue. “This is probably the end of the line on VLT and Mega Millions issues,” he told the Associated Press. He did say, however, that he was considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on the Indian casino portion of the decision, since they are authorized by federal law. The full New York decision can be seen on HTA’s Web site home page, www.harnesstracks.com. With the awareness of illegal medication problems in racing spreading, regulators are becoming more stringent in their use of their power. The latest example is well-known thoroughbred trainer Dick Dutrow Jr., who was suspended for 120 days and fined $5,000 after dropping his appeals on three charges against him, two for medication violations and one for an illegal claim. The illegal claim involved owner Sandy Goldfarb, who also owns harness horses. Sixty days of Dutrow’s suspension will be stayed and discharged if he does not commit any significant violation of board rules, which would seem difficult if he is not racing horses. New York Racing and Wagering Board spokesperson Stacy Clifford said of the suspension, “The board continues to take a firm stance against inappropriate use of equine drugs and believes strongly about holding people accountable for their violations.” Well, yes, but if you say 120, you might mean it. Three violations would seem enough. HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL, ETC. The Oneida Indian Nation must be one of the most optimistic groups in America. Although the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1, in a decision on a local matter that had national implications, the Oneidas say they will ask the high court to re-hear the case. Legal experts say such reconsideration is rare. NUMBERS PLEASE IN NJ It took a long while to get connected, but telephone account betting finally got underway in New Jersey today. Meadowlands senior VP Dennis O. Dowd said, “Technically, everything is running smoothly. We’ve already exceeded 3,000 accounts, and we’re projecting handle of more than $35 million for 2005, which is 20% beyond our expectations.” Betting is not limited to New Jersey races, but includes all incoming simulcast signals offered by New Jersey’s three tracks, so the program is ready for Kentucky Derby weekend, as Dowd had promised. JENNA’S CHOICE INJURED Jenna’s Choice, winner of all three finals leading up to Saturday’s $225,480 Berry’s Creek at the Meadowlands, broke a rear pastern in last week’s prep victory and is out for the year. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor NO TICKEE, NO LAUNDRY That was one of the earliest business slogans the editor remembers as a kid, and it is the same message that Magna Entertainment sent to Maryland yesterday. Jim McAlpine, now vice chairman for corporate development of Magna, let Maryland know that without slots there is little likelihood of any further improvements at Laurel and Pimlico. “We’re weighing very carefully what’s happened in Maryland, and we could, frankly, stop investing any significant sums at this stage because we’ve done the most important piece, which was to get the racing assets of Laurel fixed up,” McAlpine said in a conference call discussing Magna’s first quarter results, which showed a $4.1 million loss. McAlpine said Magna hopes to build a racino at The Meadows, and in discussing plans he said -- without mentioning Pimlico or Laurel -- that options for raising cash included the sale of real estate and other assets. The Baltimore Sun reported that one member of the Maryland Racing Commission, Terry Saxon, has said he is part of a group looking into the feasibility of making an offer to buy the two tracks. Saxon was quoted as saying that his group wants to look at the financial data and “perhaps a few weeks after the Preakness, make an offer.” Magna executive Jim Gagliano said the company has spent some $38 million since buying controlling interest in the Maryland Jockey Club in 2002, $20 million of that spent rebuilding the dirt and turf tracks at Laurel, and the rest spent on improvements at Pimlico including dining room upgrades, landscaping and a brick column perimeter fence. The Magna announcement yesterday came as no surprise to Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. A spokeswoman said, “It’s saddening news, but not surprising, as this is the result of inaction. The governor has for years warned of dire consequences and ramifications of not passing a slots bill, May 4, 2005 and today those warnings came to fruition.” One anti-slots legislator, Baltimore Democrat Curtis S. Anderson, called the Magna announcement an “empty threat.” He may think Magna is bluffing, but we don’t, and it’s that kind of legislative thinking that has brought racing in a state that once prided itself of a great racing tradition to the sad state in which it now finds itself. PENNSYLVANIA THINKS BIG While Gov. Ehrlich faces the diminution of the racing industry in his state, Gov. Ed Rendell in neighboring Pennsylvania is talking very big dollars. He predicts that when slots are fully operational in the Keystone state, they will produce $1 billion a year for the commonwealth. His projections, however, are being challenged by academics and others, who point out that no state -- Nevada included -- reaps that large a bounty on slots. While Nevada casinos made $10.6 billion last year, the state collected $887 million, and that was the highest anywhere. Illinois picked up $802 million on $1.7 billion of wagering, by taxing its casinos as high as 70%. There may be skepticism, but it certainly is not evident in Gov. Rendell’s office. His press secretary, Kate Phillips, says “We are confident that we’ll not only reach $1 billion, but that we could reach more than that.” JUNE START FOR YONKERS? With the legal obstacles now cleared away, Yonkers Raceway is finalizing its financing and expects to close on its loans next month, and possibly even start on construction before June is over. General manager Bob Galterio says racing will be suspended for five months for construction, and another five months will be required to complete construction of the $175 million Empire City racino at the track. The plan includes 5,500 VLTs, new restaurants and entertainment facilities. One remaining hurdle is how much the city of Yonkers will get. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 5, 2005 NO DOUBT AT THE ISLE NEW MAINE TRACK ON COURSE There may still be doubt in the Florida legislature as to the form slots in Broward county will take when the session closes tomorrow night, but there is no uncertainty at HTA member Pompano Park. The track announced today that it will start construction within two weeks on a 157,000 squarefoot building that will hold as many as 2,000 slots, and a Pompano Beach city building official confirmed that approval of the permit to build it is near. Approval for the site plan of the $1.6 million Phase I of the project was approved by the Pompano Beach Planning and Zoning Board last week. Pompano general manager Dick Feinberg said the new racino “is going to be gorgeous.” A legislative committee in Maine yesterday overwhelmingly backed a plan for a new harness track and racino “Down East” in the state’s Washington county. The Legal and Veterans Affairs committee voted 9-1 to support the Passamaquoddy Indians’ plan. The bill still faces votes in the House and Senate, and strong opposition from Maine’s Casino No! anti-gambling group. Gov. John Baldacci, who opposes an expansion of gambling, would not say whether he would veto the bill if it were to pass. As approved, the Passamaquoddies would operate the track and share their slot revenues with Maine’s three other tribes. CAL BOARD BILL APPROVED On the opposite coast, the California Assembly’s Committee on Governmental Organization approved, after what the San Diego Union-Tribune called “heated debate and noisy opposition,” a bill that would restrict horse ownership by members of the California Horse Racing Board. The committee approved, on an 8-5 vote on strict party lines -- Democrats for and Republicans against -- a bill that would provide that no more than four of the board’s seven members could have any financial stake in horse racing. There is no current limit, and five members of the board presently own horses. Neither side was happy with the result of the vote, and both agreed to continue negotiating the content of the bill before it is sent to the Assembly floor for an up or down vote. The committee’s chairman, Jerome Horton of Inglewood, said after the vote, “What a monster.” Speaking of monsters, no word from The Terminator yet on where he might stand on the proposal, which might have been inspired as a payback for remarks by commissioner and horse owner Richard Shapiro about the Jockeys’ Guild. THE SLOW WHEELS OF JUSTICE Trainer Noel Daley got another extension of his pre-trial hearing on medication violations in New Jersey yesterday, when the prosecution asked for a postponement because a laboratory has not completed its analysis of items found in Daley’s barn following a search March 2. Prosecutor Mark Tarantino said it could be another month before the tests were completed. In North Dakota, three months after a jury convicted Racing Services and it owner, Susan Bala, the government still has done nothing about the promised guilty plea of Gary Storm, the former CFO of the company. An assistant U.S. attorney, asked why by Fargo’s Inforum News, said he was “not at liberty to say why the guilty plea hasn’t been filed at this time for a number of reasons.” Ms. Bala, meanwhile, has had her sentencing postponed until July 14 to allow for more pre-sentence investigation, but the federal judge in the trial denied her motion for acquittal. Her former partner in Racing Services, Raymundo Diaz Jr., pled guilty to three felony counts in return for a lighter sentence, and is to be sentenced May 20. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 6, 2005 THE AMBIVALENT MAYOR SCIOTO, BILLINGS OPEN TONITE Martin O’Malley, the mayor of Baltimore, lashed out Wednesday of this week at the governor of Maryland’s leadership on juvenile justice issues. A day later, he lauded Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s failed efforts to get slots at tracks. Speaking at an event promoting the May 21 Preakness, O’Malley said critics had questioned the morality of Ehrlich’s position on slots, but he asked, “Where’s the morality of doing away with 18,000 racing jobs? The Preakness is Baltimore’s version of the Super Bowl. We need to rise above partisan politics.” O’Malley is expected to run for governor next year, and you might think the governor would have asked, “Where were you when I needed you?” Ehrich’s response, or at least that of his spokeswoman Shareese N. DeLeaver, was far more original. “The mayor has flip-flopped on this issue, expressing quasiopposition and quasi-support for months, if not years,” she said. “If Mayor O’Malley truly is a proponent of slots, then he needs to be a workhorse, not a show pony.” Scioto Downs opens for its 46th racing season tonight, with a pre-race concert and a meeting that will run through Sept. 24. Among features planned for the meeting is a one dollar Pick 7 on races three thru nine, an innovation for Scioto. THE AMBITIOUS GOVERNOR The governor of New Jersey, Richard Codey, is a racing man from way back. So, using a spokeswoman, as did Gov. Ehrlich, he was quick to take the offensive yesterday after New York’s Court of Appeals upheld VLTs there. Kelley Heck of Codey’s staff said the New York decision made it “imperative” for the state to take action and permit 5,000 slots at the Meadowlands. Codey believes that some $550 million could be raised if the slots were installed, and state senator Paul Sarlo, whose district includes the Meadowlands, has introduced a bill to permit VLTs at the track. Sarlo hope to get support for the plan when budget negotiations begin next month, but he and the governor will be facing the Beach Boys, the casino crowd from Atlantic City, who bitterly oppose the idea. At Pompano Park in Florida, one of harness racing’s great strengths -- amateur driving -- will be featured as the C.K.G. Billings Amateur Driving Series gets underway. The series, open to all amateur drivers 18 or older, will continue for seven months at 49 racetracks in the U.S. and Canada, culminating with a $45,000 Gold Cup final at the Meadowlands Nov. 25. Pompano publicist Steve Wolf captured the spirit of the series eloquently in the lead of his release on tonight’s opening. It reads, “What do an embroiderer, two business executives, a doctor, a car detailer, a salesman, a real estate investor, a maintenance supervisor, a food distributor and a venture capitalist all have in common?” These are the true professions of the ten harness racing drivers who will be competing tonight at Pompano Park in the opening round of the 24th season of the C.K.G. Billings Amateur Driver Trotting Series.” All drivers in the series must not have taken compensation for driving for the past 10 years, and all donate their 5% driving commission to the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY. Former Denver Bronco wide receiver Tony Kimbrough, now driving harness horses professionally, won his first race at Hoosier Park Wednesday night. Kimbrough drove the pacer Bark Bark -- his first pari-mutuel horse -- to a 1:54.4 victory. Hoosier, incidentally, had the highest handle in its harness racing history last Saturday, when $1,736,485 was wagered on the 15race card featuring the $200,000 Dan Patch Pace. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 9, 2005 HUGE NUMBERS AT DERBY “AN INSULT TO THE VOTERS” Whatever other troubles horse racing may have, the Kentucky Derby is not one of them. Its numbers Saturday were staggering: 156,435 people, a $102.60 winner, and the biggest handle ever in North America for a single racing program. That total came in at $155,133,631, and was up almost 9% from the previous record set just last year. Of that total, $133,016,465, or 85.7%, was bet offtrack, not too far off the national average. Churchill bet $22,117,166 on the 12 race card, up almost 15% from last year. Betting on the Derby itself from all sources was $103,325,510. Here is a breakdown of the numbers. That was how Dan Atkins of Hollywood Greyhound Track characterized the Florida legislature’s shilly-shallying on promulgating rules for slots at Broward county’s four tracks. Voters in Broward twice expressed their desire to have slots there, but the legislature, which accomplished little of Gov. Jeb Bush’s agenda, did heed his expressed opposition to gambling and let the matter die without a vote in the House after the Senate passed a bill with a 35% to 55% sliding scale tax on slots. State senator Steve Geller, who led the fight for slots at tracks, said, “At the end of the day, the governor was the heavyweight in the slot debate. The House has a history of following the governor’s lead on issues, and the governor was very outspoken about slots”. The people were too, but their governor wasn’t interested in what they were saying. The tracks have not made a decision on whether they will go to court seeking relief. Attendance this year, 156,435, last year 140,054, up 11.7%. On-track betting on the Derby, $10,055,508, last year $9,488,539, up 6%. On-track betting on the entire card, $22,117,166, last year $19,246,210, up 14.9%. Off-track betting on the Derby, $93,270, 002, last year $89,875,549 this year, up 3.8%. Off-track betting on the entire card, $133,016,465, last year $123,602,079, up 7.6%. Total all-source betting on the Derby, $103,325,510, last year $99,364,088, up 4%. Total all-source betting in the entire card, $155,133,631, last year $142,848,289, up 8.6%. In addition to those numbers, 111,243 showed up last Friday for the Kentucky Oaks, breaking the old record of 106,156 set in 2000. On- track betting rose 9.4%, but all-source betting declined slightly, down 1.3% from all -source betting on the Oaks card last year. NO NUKES, SEATRAIN DIE Two big names in the harness racing equine world have died. No Nukes, one of a few stallions of any breed to sire winners of over $100 million, died yesterday afternoon at Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania. His sons and daughters have won $123.2 million, ranking him third among all standardbred stallions behind Albatross and Abercrombie. He was 26. Seatrain, winner of the 1975 Little Brown Jug, died Saturday night at his retirement home at the Rockin T Equine Rescue in Maine. He became the first gelding ever to win the Jug, and was 33. LAKES REGION SURRENDERS The owners of Lakes Region Greyhound Park in New Hampshire, caught up in illegal gambling charges in January, have surrendered their license. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 10, 2005 REGULATORS: FRIEND OR FOE WHAT FEATURES CAN DO New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, in his latest book “The World Is Flat,” makes the point repeatedly that technology and the Internet have changed the world, that boundaries no longer exist with meaning, and that those who do not learn this lesson will fall irretrievably behind. Racing and its regulators are not exempt. Regular visitors to this site know the editor’s passion for solid features and what they can accomplish in coverage, and Saturday’s Kentucky Derby and its bizarre payoffs provided the best possible examples. Here are a few: It is imperative that the people who control racing, whether state racing commissions in the United States or federal regulators in Canada, come to realize that this is not their fathers’ or grandfathers’ pari-mutuel world. A case in point is the current controversy in Canada, where Canadian tracks, hoping to start common pool betting with Hawthorne and Balmoral and Maywood in the Chicago area, have received approval from the Illinois Racing Board but have been rebuffed by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency, which regulates pari-mutuel wagering in Canada. Steve Mitchell, Woodbine Entertainment’s senior VP and CFO, alluding to the CPMA’s mandate “to protect the wagering public against fraudulent practices, thereby helping to maintain a viable racing industry,” says CPMA must be accountable to the Canadian public. He says CPMA should “get on with U.S. common pools using the principle of ‘host tracks rules apply’ or tell the public what fraudulent activity they need protection from.” Woodbine has taken out full page ads in Daily Racing Form inviting its customers to call, fax and e-mail government officials urging them to give Canadians access to U.S. pools, and has invited the CPMA to a ‘town hall’ meeting to listen to Woodbine’s customers firsthand. CPMA’s ambiguity is confusing. It allows commission vets to administer anti-bleeding medication in detention barns without notifying the public which horses are treated, but it won’t allow common pool wagering. Who’s protecting whom from what? The hard-to-believe story of one of the seven winning $1 tickets on the Derby superfecta, worth $864,253.50, being lost by a bettor and then found by a mutuel clerk at Turf Paradise. After the bettor and track employees sifted through all of the garbage bags in the clubhouse, naturally with no luck, a mutuel clerk named Brenda Reagan, informed that her machine had produced a superfecta winner, said she noticed two tickets lying next to her machine. One was the winner. The huge coverage in New York and New Jersey on the two friends handicapping in the Meadowlands parking lot who tossed out the “figs” and picked by names and hunches, and came up with one of the $864,254 winners. Meadowlands PR director Carol Hodes, off on Monday, left word for the mutuel department to notify her if the winners showed up. They did, and Carol interviewed them by phone, wrote a release, and the story exploded all over the place. Betting volume. It broke records all over the place, and a good example was HTA associate Capital OTB in Schenectady, NY, which received one of its biggest positive stories ever in the Albany Times Union with the its $3 million day, biggest one-day handle in its 33-year history. And then there was Kentucky. With all of the grievous problems facing racing, the Kentucky Racing Authority got coverage by postrace worrying about advertising on jockeys’ pants. If that’s such an overriding issue (no pun intended) it seems that it could have been checked out prerace, and offenders ordered to change their britches, saving the bruhaha. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 11, 2005 THE COUNTY RISETH UP FOUR WIN, SIX LOSE IN IOWA Broward county, Florida, is home to four parimutuel facilities: HTA member Pompano Park; Gulfstream Park; the Hollywood Greyhound Track; and Dania Jai Alai. The citizens of Broward have voted -- twice --that they approve of those tracks having slot machines. The legislature, ignoring their wishes, disagreed. Now Broward county commissioners, feeling the legislature abdicated its responsibility to make rules and regulations for installation and regulation of slots, is exploring the possibility of seizing the initiative and doing it on their own. The commissioners asked their attorney yesterday to research their authority to oversee industry slots, and will consider next week whether to begin drafting restrictions covering slot payouts, number of slots and hours of operation of the machines. The commissioners expressed concern that if the tracks and fronton sue the state and a judge rules in their favor, there could be unregulated gambling. The commissioner who made the motion, Irene Lieberman, said, “If they (the tracks) are successful in a lawsuit because the state did nothing, there will need to be regulations. I don’t want to see it operate unregulated.” The South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Scott Wyman wrote, “While a court could authorize the parimutuels to offer slots, election law experts doubt whether judges have the authority to spell out taxes or regulations.” When the tracks and Broward county met earlier this year to deal with extra costs of law enforcement and government services should the racinos be approved, the tracks agreed to allow the county to regulate slots if the state did not do so. They still hold to that position, their lobbyist Ron Book saying, “We’ve always said we are for responsible regulation.” The Seminole tribe, which has a stake in all of this, says it will wait to see what happens between the pari-mutuel industry and the state before it makes any moves. The Iowa Racing Commission met this morning after months of deliberation and settled the issue of winners and losers on 10 applications for new riverboat casinos in the state. The four winners were Wild Rose Emmetsburg/Palo Alto County Gaming Development in Emmetsburg; Diamond Jo Worth/Worth County Development Authority in Worth county; IOC Black Hawk County/Black Hawk County Gaming Association in Waterloo; and Washington County Casino Resort/Washington County Riverboat Foundation in Riverside. Losers were six groups that had hoped to have gambling boats in Fort Dodge; a second group looking for a license in Emmetsburg; one in Franklin county; two other groups in Waterloo; and one in Ottumwa. OPEN LETTER FROM WOODBINE In an open letter to its customers, Woodbine Entertainment outlined its grievances with the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency that regulates parimutuel in Canada. The two have been negotiating for six months for approval of common pool wagering with U.S. tracks, Woodbine seeking the U.S. formula that “host track rules apply.” CPMA refuses to accept that position, insisting that U.S. tracks must remove all teller cancel delays across their networks before letting Canadians wager into those pools. The CPMA also wants Canadian tracks and teletheaters to provide up-to-date wagering rules for every common pool jurisdiction for all customers to access on an immediate basis, and insists U.S. host tracks advise Canadian tracks, who in turn must advise their customers, of any change in wagering rules before implementing them. Woodbine is asking its customers to sign petitions saying they are prepared to accept the “host track rules apply” idea. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 12, 2005 WILLMOT, FIRLOTTE TO HALL POSITIVE DERBY FALLOUT David Willmot, chairman and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment and a former president and chairman of HTA, has been named to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, along with veteran trainer Stew Firlotte. Willmot, a respected leader in both thoroughbred and harness racing in North America, has had a huge impact on racing with his innovative and progressive ideas and his pioneering enterprise in turning Woodbine in Toronto into one of the premier racetracks and racinos on the continent. He and his father D. G. Willmot built their Kinghaven farms into one of Canada’s leading thoroughbred breeding and racing operations, and David currently owns one of harness racing’s top pacing fillies, Cabrini Hanover, and also raced the champion trotting filly Southwind Allaire with his partner Bob Anderson. The huge payoffs on last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby produced positive aftershocks in a number of harness racing locations. The Meadowlands’ exceptional metropolitan coverage was outlined yesterday, and nearby Freehold Raceway reported a spectacularly successful press conference on a trio of partners who bought one of the seven national winning $864,253 superfecta tickets at the track last Saturday. Publicity director Don Bielak called the turnout “huge,” especially in broadcast coverage, where CBS New York, Fox 5 New York, News 12 New Jersey and ABC in Philadelphia all sent TV crews to cover the winners, Mark Madden and his daughter Lisa from Morganville, NJ, and Lisa’s boyfriend Alex Corrado of Hoboken. The three gave their handicapping secrets free: Corrado used Afleet Alex because it was his namesake; he simply liked the sound of Giacomo; Madden liked Don’t Get Mad because it was part of his name; Lisa said she just kept hearing a race call in her head that said, over and over, “And here comes Closing Argument.” Now you know how to pick an $864,253 winning ticket. Stew Firlotte began his racing career as a groom 35 years ago. He opened his own public stable six years later, in 1976, and over the years has developed such standardbred standouts as Town Pro, Historic, His Mattjesty, Brees Brief, Strong Clan and Rare Review. Also named to the hall are the outstanding trotting stallion Garland Lobell, sire of the winners of more than $46 million with average earnings of $75,770; the trotter Glorys Comet, first $2 million winner in Canadian harness racing; and the pacing star and stallion Armbro Omaha. Also entering the Hall Aug. 25 will be the thoroughbreds Norcliffe, Cool Reception and Anita’s Son. $4.1 MIL FOR LAKES REGION Three New England businessmen plan on buying besmirched Lakes Region Greyhound Park in New Hampshire for $4.1 million. David Johnston, a developer, and hotel chain owner, Christopher Gistis and his son Glen -- all without racing experience -- hope to “make the track profitable and respectable.” At Pocono Downs’ Hazleton, PA, OTB outlet, a regular patron bet $24 on a $4 triple box on the Derby, and won $266,269. “Unlike the lottery,” he said, “I only had to pick three numbers to win that amount on the Kentucky Derby.” The numbers were 10-18-12. Two other patrons at The Downs at Hazleton each had winning $66,567.40 tickets on the Derby, one betting $36 on a 10-all12 and the other betting $342 on a 10-all-all. The facility had its biggest day, and its manager, Mike Zullinger, said, “We have a lucky site here and astute patrons.” John Zimich, Pocono’s publicity director, agreed, noting that the three lucky bettors took home almost $400,000 and more than half a million dollars was paid out at Pocono and its off-track betting facilities. There were 18 winning exactas sold. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor KY TAKES BIG STEP ON DRUGS The Kentucky Equine Drug Council, meeting yesterday, unanimously approved stringent new recommendations on penalties for illegal medication violations in the state. The recommendations will be forwarded to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority Monday for final approval. If they are approved as recommended, Kentucky would leap to the forefront as a medication leader in the United States, a far cry from its much maligned former position as the bastion of permissiveness. Connie Whitfield, chairwoman of the drug council, acknowledged the change, saying of the new recommendations, “I think Kentucky, around the country, is being perceived as being the leader that we are and should be.” The eight members of the drug council, appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher, earlier recommended rules similar to those of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium on limiting race day medication. The proposed rules make possible suspension of horses as well as trainers, thus extending the penalties to owners, but the rules limit those penalties to protect owners who claim not knowing their trainers were using illegal substances. Owners are merely alerted for first offenses. The proposals would provide stewards discretion to force trainers to give up care of horses under their care who test positive for illegal drugs, rather than allow them to switch their care to associates or family members. Revocation of license is included in the penalty schedule, and thoroughbred trainer John Ward, a member of both the Kentucky drug council and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, said, “I hope other states adopt these kinds of rules.” In an indication that other states are taking medication violations far more seriously than previously, Delaware has fined trainer Chris Height $5,000 and suspended him for five years for illegal medication of a filly in his care. Although Height indicated he will appeal, no stay will be granted pending the appeal. May 13, 2005 Following commission hearing for the offense at Harrington Raceway, Height was arrested by animal control officers with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Delaware State Police, and charged with cruelty to animals and cruel mistreatment. Two veterinarians testified they doubted the filly would live through the night involved. She survived, although the owner, Howard Levine, refused to allow the commission to have her treated, at which point the state took custody of the filly and treated her. YOUBET GETS WASHINGTON OK Youbet.com, in a unique bargaining arrangement, received approval yesterday from the Washington Racing Commission to accept Internet online bets from Washington residents. What made the deal unique was a payment of $400,000 to the state to compensate it for wagers Washington says Youbet accepted illegally from residents last year. The chairman of the Washington commission, Gary Christenson, rejected the notion that regulators were ignoring, or even rewarding, illegal activity. “It’s almost the opposite. By giving Youbet.com a license, we are insuring that the state of Washington is getting the money that’s due it.” Ron Crockett, owner of Auburn Downs, Washington’s only major racetrack, supported Youbet’s license application, and Youbet’s attorney, Scott Solomon, indignantly rejected the notion that Youbet had broken Washington state law. “Any activity that we have or haven’t been doing has been with the full knowledge of everyone in that room,” Solomon said, and added that the racing commission had never told the company to stop taking bets. He said Youbet applied for a license even though it does not believe Washington has the authority to regulate interstate Internet gambling. TVG and XpressBet already are licensed in Washington. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor LAST CHANCE MOVES IN MD,FL Track managements in Maryland and Florida, rebuffed by legislatures in those states, are taking final shots at changing the outcome and getting slots. In Maryland, Dennis Mills, a vice chairman of Magna Entertainment, met with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller -- both advocates of slots at tracks -- and appealed to the man who stopped slots, House Speaker Michael Busch. Busch skipped the meeting, saying he had a prior commitment, in effect nullifying Mills’ trip to Maryland. The Baltimore Sun reported that the governor and Miller emerged from the session saying they fear that Magna will pull out of Maryland and take the Preakness, the state’s biggest racing attraction, with them. Mills denied that his visit was to make threats, but he did warn the leaders in Annapolis that Magna shareholders were growing tired of losing money in Maryland. If Mills’ visit was to encourage the governor to call a special session of the legislature, that seems unlikely. The governor says he would like to do so, but won’t unless he, the Speaker and Senate president can agree on a bill. That possibility seems remote, since Busch called the Mills’ visit “a big set-up.” He said the governor and Senate president were trying to blame someone else for the fact that they didn’t take the bill that the House had passed, which was unacceptable to them. Mills said that Magna would have accepted either the House or Senate version. Mills was not the only supplicant for reconsideration of the slots issue. The Maryland Racing Commission offered to meet with state political leaders to discuss the situation, calling it “very dire.” Speaker Busch had negative views on this, too, telling the Washington Post he wondered what took the commission so long to express its opinions. May 16, 2005 In Florida, the four tracks in Broward county were preparing to play a longshot: going to court to force the legislature to act on the slots issue that voters in the county have twice approved. Constitutional scholars were not supporting their bet. An amendment passed last November requires the legislature to produce rules and regulations for slots in Broward by July 1, but one constitutional law authority, Dexter Douglass, put it about as bluntly as possible: “The legislature thumbed their nose at the Constitution, which is not unknown to this group.” Douglass agreed that in light of the default on the part of the legislature, the only remedy was for the tracks to go to court and contend that it should intercede and direct how slots should be implemented. He added, however, that the court could say, “We can’t do anything. The Legislature didn’t do its duty, so vote them out of office.” Jon Mills, dean emeritus and professor at the University of Florida’s Levin School of Law, said that although the slots amendment appears to require the legislature to act, “We all know in a very real sense you can’t necessarily compel such action.” Mills, a former House speaker in Florida, did add that there is some precedent for the courts to intervene when a judge has been convinced that the legislature failed in its duty, and that courts have ordered legislatures to act, but not very often. A THREAT IN MAINE, TOO The Bangor Daily News in Maine, under a headline reading, “Bid to repeal slot machines worries Penn,” reports that a movement to repeal the November 2003 vote authorizing slot machines could delay Penn National Gaming from beginning work on its permanent racino at Bangor Raceway. The paper says anti-gambling and church groups are gathering signatures in an effort to bring the issue to referendum, most likely in November of 2006, and that movement could push Penn National construction back from 2006 to 2007. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 17, 2005 MAGNA GETS MICHIGAN OK ISLE OF CAPRI TO SINGAPORE? Michigan Racing Inc., a fully-owned subsidiary of Magna Entertainment, has been awarded the one available racing license in the Detroit Metropolitan area. Acting racing commissioner Christine C. White, in awarding the license, said, “After careful and objective review of the applications, I have reached the conclusion that Michigan Racing Inc. possesses the most comprehensive plan to bring Thoroughbred racing back to the Detroit area.” Her rationale included: They’ll be there, running a new integrated resort casino complex, if a group called Eighth Wonder wins the competition to build it. The government of Singapore hasn’t chosen the winner yet, but Eighth Wonder is one of the finalists and has signed a management agreement with Isle. Eighth Wonder is a privately held company whose founder is Mark Advent, who created the New York New York hotel in Las Vegas, and his partners include Starwood Hotels and Resorts, whose brands include Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin and W hotels. Isle president Bernard Goldstein said managing for the high-powered consortium “validates our efforts to bring high-quality gaming and hospitality to markets across the world.” Isle of Capri is the owner of HTA member Pompano Park and widespread casino holdings in the U.S. and offshore. n Magna currently owns the property under consideration and its plans were the most detailed proposal; n Magna has demonstrated the most public support from residents, government officials and industry representatives; n Magna has a proven record of racetrack operation, currently operating 14 tracks; n Magna has the financial wherewithal to build and operate Michigan Downs; n Magna has secured all local approvals in order to apply for a building permit. Magna plans to commence thoroughbred racing on the 212-acre site in Romulus, about two miles from Detroit Metro Airport, by 2009. GET IN LINE FOR HOLLYPARK A dozen or so developers have submitted bids to buy Hollywood Park from Churchill Downs Inc., and Churchill’s investment bank, Lazard Freres, is expected to narrow the field to five top candidates in the next few weeks. One bidder was quoted by the Los Angeles Business Journal as saying, “Everybody threw their hat in. How many times do you get the opportunity to acquire nearly 240 acres of urban infill in Los Angeles?” Guesses on selling price range from $200 million up. FIVE SUSPENDED IN DELAWARE Delaware Online, a service of the Wilmington News Journal, reports that five harness racing drivers have been suspended for drug violations by presiding judge Allen Cook and the Delaware Harness Racing Commission in the past two and one-half months. The paper said the suspensions were confirmed by John Wayne, executive director of harness and thoroughbred racing. The five are Andrew (Bobby) Glassmeyer, who received a $3,000 fine and nine-month suspension for a milkshake violation; Darrell Lewis, who received the same penalty for the same offense; Kenny Mitchell, Dino Episcopo, and John Veazy, all fined $500 and suspended 90 days and ordered to complete drug rehabilitation programs after testing positive for oxycodone, hydrocodone, and cocaine, respectively. In its most major recent penalty action, the Delaware commission fined trainer Chris Height $5,000 and suspended him for five years, with no stay while any appeal is pending. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 18, 2005 STRONACH FRONT PAGE NEWS LARKIN WANTS INTERNET BETS Only this time it isn’t Frank. It’s his politician daughter Belinda. She was all over the front pages of the Toronto Globe and Mail and all other papers in Canada after announcing, two days before a critical budget vote that could bring down the Liberal government, that she was defecting from the challenging Conservative Party and joining the Liberals. The Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, immediately named her to his cabinet, as Canada’s new Human Resources Development Minister, but all sources said it was not a quid pro quo for her switch. The Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, was quick to acknowledge that her decision to accept the Prime Minister’s offer of a cabinet post did not help the Conservative cause. “Obviously,” he said, “Belinda’s actions today make the defeat of the government much less likely.” For her part, Ms. Stronach left a strong jab, saying her former colleague was insensitive to the concerns of women, urban Canada, and Ontario, and that his plan to force an election will aid Quebec separatists. Prime Minister Martin said that while he was thrilled to be appearing with Ms. Stronach, he was a little worried that when it came to style he was going to suffer by comparison. New York state senator Bill Larkin, chairman of the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, was expected to introduce legislation today to permit Internet wagering in New York state. Larkin said, “Other states are doing it, and we’re going to lose” without it. Larkin’s counterpart in the New York Assembly, Gary Pretlow, lent bipartisan support of the idea by saying he agrees on Internet betting, hoping “to keep dollars in the state.” Larkin and Pretlow conducted a widely publicized joint legislative hearing on “The Future of Horse Racing in New York” yesterday, which journalist Bill Heller wrote “was pretty much new players singing the same old song until racing law expert Bennett Liebman testified.” Liebman, appearing on behalf of the “Friends of New York Racing,” called sections of New York’s existing racing and wagering law “incomprehensible....Nobody knows what takeout should be...what decisions should be made by the legislature and what decisions should be made by the tracks, horsemen and the OTBs.” He said the creation of an ad-hoc committee to solicit requests for proposals to operate NYRA’s three tracks if NYRA’s current franchise is not renewed presented “a unique opportunity” to change New York’s racing laws. Our opening sentence, on review, is not quite accurate. Belinda’s father also was front page news, but in Detroit, not Canada. He was pictured in the Detroit News smiling broadly after Magna was awarded the only Detroit area license to operate thoroughbred racing at a new $100 million complex Stronach plans to build in Romulus, near Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport. Stronach told the paper’s R. J. King that he wasn’t deterred by falling revenue in Michigan’s racing industry, saying “it has been neglected over many decades,” and saying he will press ahead even without slots, but would be happy “to take them if someone offered.” SETBACK FOR MN RACINO Canterbury Downs’ hope for a racino went up in smoke yesterday -- possibly for the rest of this year -- when an overnight defection left supporters without enough votes to pass the measure. Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty’s office announced, “We lost a couple votes over the last 24 hours and we no longer have enough votes to pass the bill today.” The bill would have set up a racino and new tribal casino next door, creating a miniLas Vegas strip with another Indian casino just down the road, but supporters pulled the bill rather than lose a vote in the House Taxes Committee. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 19, 2005 PROSPERITY 2-EDGED SWORD CONGRESS TALKS DRUG BANS Atlantic City’s casinos and their legislative friends have found another weapon in their fight against allowing the Meadowlands to have slots. Good times. South Jersey Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew says now that the state has solved its budget problem, there is no need for Gov. Codey’s plans for slots at tracks. “It’s dead, buried and decomposing,” the casino’s good friend said. “This really kills it.” The “this” he was referring to was Codey’s announcement last week that state revenues had surged by some $1 billion above previous projections. Gov. Codey, however, did not agree with Assemblyman Van Drew. His office says lottery terminals still are part of his budget proposal. Codey faces opposition not only from Van Drew but from the Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Roberts -- another south Jersey lawmaker -- as well, along with other opponents who contend VLTs are slots and since slots currently are limited to Atlantic City by the state constitution, voters would have to approve an amendment to it to allow VLTs at the Meadowlands. The state’s position is that VLTs would be an extension of the New Jersey State Lottery, and therefore exempt from the constitutional ban. Professional sports, which have messed around with a lot of anti-drug talk but not much significant action, was pulled up short in Washington yesterday. First, the NBA was told its testing policies were so weak that a bill is being drafted that will follow Olympic standards and provide for a 2-year ban for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second. Then baseball commissioner Bud Selig, testifying that the game had taken “an abrupt aboutface” and that it was up to baseball “to take the next step and that is to remove any doubt” about steroid use and needed to do it as soon as possible “so we can quit talking about.” Selig’s comments drew comment from Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan that, “You’ve come a long way,” but Selig was blistered this morning by New York Times writer George Vecsey, who sarcastically began his column with, “Fightin’ Bud Selig, the People’s Choice, came out swinging yesterday. He was against steroids. He was against amphetamines. By golly, he was for what’s right. This new baseball commissioner, this man we’ve never seen before, vowed that baseball would turn back the forces of evil, those illegally pumped, bulging-muscled, revved up players.” TRACK SLOTS FLOATED IN IL Professional football, determined to keep its softball touch, also was in Washington yesterday, with commissioner Paul Tagliabue and NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw discussing pending federal legislation. Tagliabue told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee conducting a separate inquiry into steroid use and proposed legislation that he “would respectfully urge that it not be enacted into law in its present form.” Things are not as rosy economically in Illinois as they are in New Jersey, and the president of the Senate, Emil Jones of Chicago, thinks 20,000 new slot machines, including at Illinois tracks, would help solve the problem. Jones thinks they could add $580 million to the state treasury, and said they would not represent gambling expansion, but rather would provide current gambling facilities with more betting options. He floated that idea yesterday in budget discussions. The Senate minority leader, Republican Frank Watson, lent b i partisan support, calling horseracing “a viable industry in Illinois that needs some help.” The hearings and the testimony should convince racing that its current course toward more severe penalties is both proper and proactive, and needs to move forward forcefully and without delay. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 20, 2005 MAGNA STILL HOPING IN MD BLACK TIE IS OPTIONAL Dennis Mills, executive vice president of Magna Entertainment, is in Baltimore along with a hundred thousand others for tomorrow’s Preakness. Unlike most of the rest of the throng, he will be returning Wednesday. Mills has a meeting scheduled with Michael Busch, the killer of slots, to see if something can be worked out. Busch confirmed the meeting, but said a special session of the legislature is unlikely. Maryland’s governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., made clear at yesterday’s Preakness Alibi Breakfast that he still hopes to get slots done. Speaking of Magna, he said, “I know that they’re hemorrhaging money in Maryland. I know it’s an uneven playing field, and I know they will make a decision (on leaving) at some point. The 112,000 people leaving here Saturday need to understand the stakes have been ratcheted up.” Michael Olesker, humorist of the Baltimore Sun, who last week wrote that “As everybody knows, the average age of the serious horse-racing fan is 114,” was back at it again for the Preakness, writing that “The Alibi Breakfast felt like the Last Supper,” referring to the concerns that Magna might move Maryland’s premier racing attraction. Magna wasn’t saying that at the Breakfast, but others were. Chick Lang, the man who played a large role in making the Preakness what it is, said, “I see it happening. I think it’s going to Gulfstream Park.” Olesker, in his column on racing age, said he bumped into two of his old high school teachers, both approaching 70, at Pimlico. “Among the thoroughbred horseracing set,” Olesker wrote, “they have a name for 70-year-old men. They are called a youth movement.” It makes funny copy, but 100,000 or more of the 112,000 at the Preakness will be far under 70. Someone out there likes the sport. While watching the NBC Preakness telecast, watch for the Derby Superfecta winners who picked their winner on the Meadowlands parking lot. If you are in Milwaukee tomorrow evening, or nearby, plan to stop in the Italian Community Center, where HTA’s longtime good friend Dominic H. Frinzi will be receiving another high honor when he is installed as president of the National Italian Bar Association. Dominic has been a prominent Wisconsin attorney for more than 50 years, and has served a record five terms as president of Milwaukee’s Italian Community Center. He also is a past president of UNICO National, the UNICO Foundation and its Milwaukee chapter, and is a member of enough organizations to fill the rest of this column. The Justinian Society, an attorneys’ group, honored Frinzi with its Justinian Man of the Year award six years ago, and three years ago he was honored with the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy. He has tried cases in every county of Wisconsin, ran for governor in 1964 and 1966, and is a nationally renowned scholar of opera. He has served an unprecedented nine three-year terms as president of Harness Horsemen’s International, and won HTA’s Messenger Award, our highest honor, in 1993. He also has been enshrined in harness racing’s Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY, and in the Illinois and Wisconsin harness Halls of Fame. HTA salutes him on his latest national honor. While we’re saluting, a tip of the hat to two of the sport’s worthiest women. Carol Cramer of USTA, who has handled the Stakes Guide since its inception in 1967 and is a steward and secretary of the Grand Circuit, will be the 2005 Lady Pace honoree at the Little Brown Jug meeting in Delaware, Ohio, Sunday, Sept. 18. And prolific harness racing author Marie Hill will receive the Harness Racing Museum’s Pinnacle Award for press and public relations accomplishments at the annual Hall of Fame Day dinner in Goshen, NY, Sunday, July 3. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 23, 2005 NYRA ZAPS 59 MUTUEL CLERKS STRANGLES AT INDY DOWNS After 89 mutuel clerks called in sick at Belmont Park on Preakness day, an angry NYRA fired 59 of them for participating in an illegal job action. Under terms of the relevant collective bargaining agreement between NYRA and the mutuel clerks, 15 days notice is required for any strike or job action. None was given Saturday, and Bill Nader, senior vice president of NYRA, said as late as Friday night Belmont was told no job action would be taken. The absence of 89 of the 180 clerks scheduled to work the Preakness card left the 9,221 on hand at Belmont irate over long lines and short tempers, and NYRA announced today it would offer free grandstand admission and reduced clubhouse admission as a good will gesture. NYRA president and CEO Charles Hayward called the absenteeism “a blatant and illegal action to embarrass NYRA on an important race day,” and said it was both disappointing and disruptive. The clerks’ union chairman Sal Zammitto said the union did not sanction any type of walkout or strike Saturday, and that all of the clerks who did not show up either called in sick or went to work the Preakness in Baltimore. The clerks have been working without a contract since the end of 2003, operating under provisions of a prior agreement. Although Zammitto claimed NYRA backed out of an agreement reached three weeks ago that he said had been signed by both parties, Nader denied that. He also said there were “hundreds” of people in training to be mutuel clerks and 800 would be working for the Belmont on June 11. HTA member Indiana Downs, currently in the middle of its spring thoroughbred meeting, has quarantined its receiving barn for the remainder of the session that runs through June 18 after an outbreak of the highly contagious respiratory disease strangles. General manager Jon Schuster said, “Our concern is for our equine athletes. The horses and their safety have been considered in every decision that has been made and will continue to be our primary concern.” The track and the Indiana HBPA have made alternate arrangements for receiving horses. MAGEE 5TH TO REACH 10,000 Dave Magee, HTA’s Driver of the Year in 1994 and a winner of more than 200 races for 27 consecutive seasons on the Chicago circuit, joined Herve Filion, Cat Manzi, Walter Case Jr. and Dave Palone in the exclusive 10,000-win club at Balmoral Saturday night. OHIO VOTERS NOW LIKE SLOTS Ohioans voted down slots in 1990 and 1996, but a Cleveland Plain Dealer poll now shows that 55% of voters polled say they favor Cleveland mayor Jane Campbell’s effort to change the Ohio constitution to let the state’s major cities decide if they want casino gambling. The telephone poll covered 1,500 voters, and revealed that one third of the respondents had gone to another state to gamble in the last year. MARINO, JEWELS & POMPANO City and Shore, an up-upscale magazine whose slogan is “Savoring the Good Life in South Florida,” and is about as posh as publications get, features Dan Marino enjoying the good life on the cover, pictures of Donald Trump’s new $41,350,000 home in Palm Beach inside, and, opposite the inside back cover, a full page feature and great picture of Pompano Park. The article, by Stuart McIver, tells of Pompano’s history from 1926 to the time Francis and Fred Van Lennep bought it and rebuilt it in 1964, and shows the track as it looks today. The article concludes, “The vote in favor of slot machines in Broward county will bring big changes again to the track...and, more than likely, a big crowd again.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor MORE TROUBLE FROM KYL Arizona senator Jon Kyl is at it again, proposing legislation that could be disastrous for racing. This time it is called “The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005, and according to the headlines on this morning’s “Market Watch” of the Wall Street Journal, there are no track exemptions in this latest Kyl attack. The story, written by William Spain, says the draft legislation was spurred by the World Trade Organization ruling on the dispute between the U.S. and Antigua. A warning was sounded on these pages several months ago, when U.S. trade reps began talking about “minor revisions” in current Internet laws. Kyl apparently saw the dispute as another opportunity to reintroduce his previously failed measures, but writer Spain says this one goes farther. “What makes Kyl’s latest proposal different from previous failed bills is that it doesn’t carve out an exception for racing. That has given rise to warnings that the only part of the parimutuel industry that is growing at all -- account, or remote, wagering -- could be run right out of business.” Spain said that through a spokesman, Kyl declined to comment on the proposal. The Spain article apparently was triggered by a long report co-authored by Anthony Cabot, a partner in the Las Vegas office of Lewis and Roca LLP, and Eugene Christiansen, chairman of the gaming consulting firm Christiansen Capital Advisers in New York. HTA has obtained a copy of the article, which reportedly is scheduled for publication in Gaming Law Review. It is titled “Why the Future of Horseracing is at Risk: the WTO Decision and Senator Kyl,” and it begins, “For the past seven years, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and other conservative members of Congress have attempted to pass legislation that would prohibit all forms of Internet wagering. In early May, Sena- May 24, 2005 tor Kyl began circulating proposed legislation that would again seek to prohibit interactive gaming. Significant changes in the political landscape in Washington provide an unprecedented opportunity for Senator Kyl to obtain the necessary votes in both the House and Senate to pass his “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005 (New Kyl bill). Republicans control both houses of Congress; they control the White House; they control the Department of Justice; they are increasing their control of the Federal bench; and they owe this control in significant part to the Christian Right, for whom Internet gambling is a moral issue, just as, to their forebearers, Prohibition was a moral issue. If they want to pass Senator Kyl’s bill, or any version of Senator Kyl’s bill, they can.” Greg Avioli, executive vice president of the NTRA, who speaks more and more for the American Horse Council these days, says, “We are confident that Mr. Kyl and other members of the Senate do not want to interfere with legal parimutuel betting (and that) whatever legislation passes will adequately protect racing.” That’s Greg Avioli talking, not Jon Kyl. Kyl is my senator, and unfortunately I do not share Avioli’s confidence in him. Racing had better begin preparing itself for another major effort with what friends it has in Congress to kill this legislation soon. BOB HACKETT DIES AT 80 Robert Alden Hackett, former editor of both Hoof Beats and Horseman and Fair World, died Saturday in an assisted living home in Hilton Head, SC. Bob, 80, had been seriously ill for several years. He moved to South Carolina a year or so ago to be near his daughters. A Harvard graduate and cavalry man who moved to Tubac, AZ, after retirement to share old times with his cavalry buddy Will Rogers Jr., he was one of the sport’s most popular figures during his long writing and editing career. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 25, 2005 MEMBER PERKS FOR HTA,USTA HTA ADDS TWO NEW MEMBERS The United States Trotting Association, representing 24,847 owners, breeders, trainers and drivers, and Harness Tracks of America, representing 35 major harness tracks in North America and their thousands of employees, have joined the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s group purchasing program. Under the plan, USTA and HTA will be offering Members’ Perks that will provide significant savings to their individual members. Western Fair Raceway in London, Ontario, and Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack in Chester, PA, now are members of Harness Tracks of America, bringing the association’s membership to 35 tracks and racing organizations. Hugh Mitchell, chief operating officer of Western Fair Association, will represent Western Fair on HTA’s board of directors and Anne Allman, who is supervising construction and organization of the new Harrah’s track in Chester, will be the HTA director for that operation. HTA president Jeff Smith said the additions “add new strength and vigor to HTA,” and HTA welcomes both organizations and their directors to the HTA family of tracks. Effective immediately, those associated with USTA and HTA will be able to enjoy sharp discounts on a diverse selection of products including Dodge cars and trucks, John Deere tractors and other equipment, FedEx delivery service, Sherwin-Williams Paints, OfficeMax supplies, NetJets, Presort Services, Daktronics, Lexmark inkjet and laser printers, and Hallway Feeds. USTA president Phil Langley and HTA president Jeff Smith, jointly announcing the affiliation and partnership, said the agreement has the potential to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to those making purchases under the program. NTRA Purchasing President Joe Morris said the addition of USTA and HTA “will significantly strengthen the collective buying power of NTRA Purchasing and allow us to generate even more savings for the horse industry.” NTRA Purchasing has generated $107 million in sales and $25 million in savings to the equine industry since its inception in 2002. Last year alone, its sales figures topped $60 million. The American Quarter Horse Association and the United States Equestrian Federation also are members of the NTRA group purchasing program. Details of participation in Members’ Perks are being provided to all members of USTA and HTA. ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS HTA member Pompano Park, along with Gulfstream Park, Hollywood Greyhound Track and Dania Jai-Alai, sued the state of Florida yesterday, seeking to have a decision saying they are authorized to operate slot machines. Opponents also filed a suit, asking for a ruling that the tracks cannot operate slots until the adjourned legislature issues enabling legislation. In Maryland, Magna Entertainment executives met today with House Speaker Michael Busch, hoping to persuade him to broker a compromise on slots at tracks in that state. In New Jersey, the state treasurer told the Assembly Budget Committee that the Codey administration still is counting on its proposal for VLTs at the Meadowlands. Up or down action is expected in the next two weeks. In Massachusetts, the mayor of Boston, Thomas M. Menino, threw his full support behind slots at state tracks, calling it “a matter of survival” for the tracks and essential for retaining as many as 4,000 jobs. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor KEEP AN EYE ON THIS ONE Youbet.com, which registered huge 75% gains on Preakness betting over its numbers a year ago, thinks last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in a wine case could enable it to offer its services in nine states where it is now prohibited. Jeff True, Youbet’s western region general manager, says “We think this decision could go a long way in allowing us to operate in those other nine.” Youbet’s hopes, which were reported along with details of the decision by Interactive Gaming News, which keeps a close watch on the pulse of Internet wagering and gaming, are based on a court decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy. It argues that if in-state companies are allowed to partake in a form of commerce among in-state companies, that form of commerce also must be opened to out-of-state companies. The 5-4 decision came in the consolidated cases of Granhold v. Heald in Michigan and Swedenberg v. Kelly in New York. The central issue was whether a state can prohibit the online sale of wine to its residents from an out-of-state winery, while allowing in-state wineries to sell their products as long as they don’t ship those products across state borders. Justice Kennedy wrote, “States have broad power to regulate liquor. This power, however, does not allow states to ban, or severely limit, the direct shipment of out-of-state wine while simultaneously authorizing direct shipment by in-state producers. If a state chooses to allow direct shipments of wine, it must do so on evenhanded terms.” Kennedy also said that laws blocking some businesses from a market while allowing others to access it are in direct violation of the Commerce Clause. Lawyers who opposed allowing Internet importation argued that the 21st amendment, which ended prohibition, overrode the Commerce Clause, but the Court rejected that argument. Youbet thinks the decision is applicable to interstate horse race betting. May 26, 2005 Kennedy was joined in the decision by justices Antonin Scalia, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, with chief justice William Rehnquist and justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor and Clarence Thomas dissenting. SLOTS DIE IN TEXAS AT 2 A.M. Things are different in Texas, as everyone knows, and they were different as slots at tracks came down to the wire in the Senate last night. First, in an unusual legislative development, the Texas Senate voted yesterday, 16-15, to shut off debate on House Bill 3540, a crucial revenue measure with about 50 amendments including one that would have allowed VLTs at tracks. Senator Ken Armbrister, a Democrat who wanted to sponsor a VLT amendment, was bristling at the parliamentary maneuver, and at 2 a.m. this morning, as the session wound to a close, he introduced his bill. Or tried to. He began by saying, “This is a small amendment that will bring in billions of dollars for the State of Texas....,” but that was as far as he got. Republican Senator Jane Nelson, an opponent, raised a point of order that it was after midnight and no debate could be considered. Armbrister said, “I believe it’s before midnight...in Vegas,” and Nelson shot back, “But senator, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You know that.” After a parliamentary discussion, Lt.Gov. David Dewhurst, presiding over the Senate, ruled that time had run out, and the measure died as the legislature dissolved. PROBLEMS IN WONDERLAND Wonderland Park, Boston’s big dog track that has been closed since May by a serious epidemic of kennel cough and does not plan on reopening until June 10, has asked the Massachusetts Racing Commission to reduce its season by 106 performances, from 256 to 150. The track says it reached the decision before the siege of sickness decimated the ranks of its dogs. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor TWO VERSIONS IN MD; PICK ‘EM BET Dennis Mills, a vice president of Magna Entertainment, met with racing’s nemesis in Maryland, House Speaker Michael Busch, this week. So how did it go? “I sense a great hope after speaking with the speaker,” Mills said. “We observed that time is of the essence. We hope things can be done sooner rather than later.” How about it, Mr. Busch? “The people of Maryland expect us to do our work in 90 days. They don’t expect us to come down here in a special session at a cost of $45,000 a day to help out one industry.” Mr. Mills: “We talked about the fantastic success of the Preakness. We impressed upon the speaker the competitive disadvantage the racing industry is up against.” Mr. Busch: “They articulated the point of view that horse racing is at a competitive disadvantage here. What does it take to make horse racing more competitive? What does it take to do that without slots? I think that is an alternative everybody must consider.” Mills: “We remain optimistic that all legislators here will do what needs to be done.” Busch: “For the members, this isn’t just about horse racing. It’s a defining vote for them on the future of Maryland and of their communities.” Mills: “The bank says, ‘You’ve got slots all around you.’ Magna needs additional revenues, either from slots or some other unspecified source, to satisfy banks.” Busch: “I would encourage Magna to continue to come down here working to make horse racing more competitive.” Any questions? May 27, 2005 PRESSURE ON TRACKS IN CAL, TOO With handle down in California by $65 million through five and one-half months of this year -the runners down $39 million in southern California, or 3.82%, and harness down $18 million, or 22.18%, in northern California -- and with attendance down 315,000, racing commissioner Richard Shapiro called the numbers “dismal,” and racing board chairman John Harris said, “We really need to get something going to turn this around.” Exactly what -- short of less rain -- was not specified exactly, but the board did put the onus on the tracks, saying it intends to place more demands on tighter security, better marketing and advertising, and more financial information. It took steps in those directions yesterday by approving rule amendments for public notice to incorporate those requirements in the applications for licenses to operate race meetings. The tracks responded quickly, with Hollywood Park Rich Baedeker, speaking for the federation of California tracks, telling the board the federation does not believe marketing-dollar information should be included in the licensing process. He told commissioners that process opened the door for micromanaging of tracks’ business operations, and offered as an alternative a willingness -- at least on the part of Hollywood Park -- to provide such details “one on one” to any commissioner. The chairman of the racing board and three colleagues were not impressed. Chairman John Harris said, “Your marketing efforts affect so many people in the industry, it really should be public information. If racing was doing well right now, it might not be so important, but the way things are, I would like to see more transparency.” Shapiro added, “I understand that you need help, but it is difficult for me to be an advocate when I don’t really understand your bottom line. We need to make sure racing associations are putting forth the effort and expenditures to justify granting a license.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor May 31, 2005 A SLOTS DEAL IN CALIFORNIA? DIAZ SENTENCED, BALA NEXT Bloodhorse.com reports that a revenue-sharing agreement may be underway in California between state racetracks and tribal casinos, following the dropping of a track suit that was aimed at overturning five compacts signed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields and Los Alamitos had filed the suit, but dropped it in May 25, and Hollywood president Rick Baedeker and an attorney representing the tracks said talks have been ongoing between the Indians and the tracks. The lawsuit had derailed a $1 billion transportation bond that was to have been financially supported by the tribal casinos in return for slot exclusivity and unlimited machines. The attorney said the suit was withdrawn in the hope of a compromise settlement with the tribes and the state, but that it could be reinstated if the negotiations do not produce results. Raymundo Diaz Jr., the business and personal partner of Racing Services’ owner Susan Bala, has escaped jail for his role in the huge illegal gambling operation in Fargo, North Dakota. Diaz was sentenced to 90 days in a halfway house, 60 days of electronic home surveillance, two years of probation, and forfeiture of $100,000 for his role in the operation. Ms. Bala, who will be sentenced July 14, stunned Diaz’s lawyer by showing up at his trial and sitting with his family. “I still can’t believe she came to this sentencing,” he said, apparently in view of Diaz turning prosecution witness against her. Diaz blamed all guilt on Ms. Bala, and said he was “very remorseful for everything that has happened and the shame I’ve brought on my family, my friends and my children.” When asked by reporters if he still had a personal relationship with Ms. Bala, he said, “No, I don’t.” SCHOOLS SAY “NO THANKS” IN THE NEWS ELSEWHERE Only 96 of 318 school boards in Pennsylvania have agreed to accept gambling money from track slots to fund tax rebates. One supporter of the idea, a state representative, said, “It’s going down in flames.” In the Philadelphia area, where 64 suburban school boards are located, only 7 joined the program, which offers school districts gambling revenues for property tax rebates and the strings attached to getting them. The non-acceptance by school districts statewide refuted the prediction in April of Gov. Ed Rendell, who said at the time, “In the coming months, we’ll see school boards across the commonwealth make history by voting to provide property tax relief to their residents.” In return for the slots revenue, school boards would have had to enact a 0.1% earned-income tax increase and conduct referendums on school budgets if tax hikes exceeded an annual inflation index. Proponents said the districts were unwilling to give voters budget veto powers. Keith Waples has been named Canada’s greatest horseman of all time in a poll conducted by The Canadian Sportsman......Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino breaks ground tomorrow on a $60 million expansion project that includes a 14,000-square foot multipurpose facility that will seat 800 for banquets and 1,200 for concerts.... Penn National Gaming won a 5-0 vote of confidence when the Maine Harness Racing Commission granted it a license to operate a temporary OTB facility in a restaurant it purchased for $3.8 million in Bangor while its $75 million racino is built at Bangor Raceway......Cantor Fitzgerald has won Nevada Senate approval of a handheld wireless device that will enable gamblers to play as they wander through Nevada casinos.....the $2.6 million dollar winning pacer Red Bow Tie was euthanized Saturday, a victim of EPM....Gov. John Baldacci of Maine says he is unlikely to sign enabling legislation for an Indian harness track if it is passed. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SPECIAL SESSION IN FLORIDA? Reports from Florida indicate governor Jeb Bush is concerned that “unelected folks” or the judiciary may take over the process of deciding the fate of slots at tracks in Broward county. Bush, no supporter of the idea, was quoted as telling reporters, “We need to reach common ground” to avoid having courts decide the issue of whether the county can write its own rules and regulations on slots, which were twice approved by the voter. but then left hanging by the legislature, which adjourned without acting on regulation and taxing of the measure. Bush reportedly discussed a special session of the legislature with House Speaker Allan Bense and Senate President Tom Lee after HTA member Pompano Park, Gulfstream Park, Hollywood Greyhound Track and Dania Jai Alai and opponents of the slots plan filed conflicting lawsuits last week. PRIVATIZATION IN QUEBEC? The province of Quebec appears to be moving closer to privatization of its racinos. A spokesperson for Quebec finance minister Michel Audet said the plan to privatize the four racing centers in the province would go to the cabinet soon for a vote, with private owners giving Quebec a portion of VLT profits. Audet’s proposal would have private interests -- Magna Entertainment or Remstar being the leading candidates -- operate the racinos rather than Loto-Quebec, the provincial lottery operator, reversing the policy proposed by Audet’s predecessor as finance minister, Yves Seguin. STARRY NIGHT IN TORONTO The stars will be out in Toronto Saturday night, the most dazzling array of the year in harness racing to date. Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue headlines the $85,000 Classic Distaff and Maltese Artist and Life Source feature the $85,000 Pacing Classic. June 1, 2005 Last year’s 3-year-old champion trotting filly Housethatruthbuilt makes her seasonal debut in a $60,000 Classic Oaks division that also includes red hot Mystical Sunshine and Silver Springs, and Windylane Hanover starts in another division of that race. The Trotting Classic has the continent’s number one performer, Mr. Muscleman, along with JMVan Gogh and Cash Hall in a six-horse field. In addition to those Classic Series events, there will be three $100,000 divisions of the Burlington for 3-year-old pacers. DISNEYLAND WITHOUT MICKEY The state of Maryland is planning a 500-acre horse complex -- sort of Kentucky Horse Park North -- with a 5,000-seat arena, an outdoor amphitheater for competitions, some 1,200 stalls, and a museum, and they are referring to it as “a Disneyland for horses.” There is only one problem. It would be Disneyland without the feature attraction, Mickey Mouse, or in this case without horse racing, for which Maryland is famous. Unless Michael Busch gets off his high horse and lets slots pass in the Maryland House, a Disneyland for horses in Maryland without a vital, vibrant horse racing industry would be a hollow gesture, a reminder of what once was a great racing state. The executive director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, Rob Burk, says, “It won’t be a racetrack, and it wouldn’t be a slots location or anything like that.” Michael Busch, not surprisingly, supports the idea. DENNIS AND THE DAILY DOUBLE Tom Luicci, covering the opening of Monmouth Park for the Newark Star-Ledger, wrote of Dennis Dowd, “The track’s new senior vice president for racing has a feel for what bettors want and need and his impact should be felt immediately. Don’t just say hello if you see him roaming the grounds. Ask him who he likes in the double. He will definitely have an opinion.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 2, 2005 “USE A CLUB” IN MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB V. HEMINGS The state controller of Maryland, William Donald Schaefer, who is former governor, has suggested the present governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., bring in House Speaker Michael Busch “and club him with a club” to get slots at tracks. Busch was quick to reply, saying that if Ehrlich took Schaefer’s advice, he should train the weapon on Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller. “If the governor wants to execute the suggestion to use a club, he should point it in the direction of the other Mike, the president of the Senate,” Busch said. Schaefer, in addition to suggesting the governor club Busch, had a more positive idea. “My admonition is to ask the business community to get involved. The Greater Baltimore Committee is sitting on their hands. There’s time yet to do this.” Schaefer was referring to the threat of Magna Entertainment to move Maryland’s greatest race, the Preakness. Schaefer said business leaders don’t believe the threat, but obviously he does. Gov. Ehrlich did not agree with Schaefer on losing the Preakness. “We are not going to lose the Preakness, but I need a little cooperation from downstairs to get it done,” he said, referring to the House and Speaker Busch. Every so often racing takes itself so seriously that it looks ridiculous. Here’s the latest instance: The Jockey Club, which has approved a few double entendre names with salacious interpretations in recent years, has taken great offense that Garrett Redmond, owner of Ballycapple Farm in Paris, KY, asked to name a runner Sally Hemings, the slave who was reportedly the mistress of Thomas Jefferson, and whose descendants surfaced in the news with fanfare in the last year. The Jockey Club first had no idea who Sally Hemings was, telling Redmond he would have to get her permission to use her name. Redmond wrote back that “I will gladly get her permission if you can dig her up.” And he asked, with good cause, if the Jockey Club had required written permission when it approved Louis Quatorze, the French king Louis XIV, or Buddha? Chastened but unbowed, the Jockey Club then decided Sally Hemings was notorious, or at least famous, and denied Redmond’s application. Redmond has now filed a federal lawsuit. If there ever was a case where we hoped an owner would win, this is it. Racing has enough problems without absurdity being added to the list. A LESSON FOR HORSE RACING Two days ago we reported here that 96 of 318 school districts in Pennsylvania had rebuffed the governor, Ed Rendell, by rejecting participation in Act 72, the property tax relief program tied to slots at Pennsylvania tracks. Our trusted director from The Downs at Pocono, Conrad Sobkowiak, responded before the ink had dried on the release that “It’s worse than that. There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania, with only 96 voting to take the slots money.” Gov. Ed Rendell responded, too, but not to us. He told Associated Press he would “have to look for another vehicle to provide Pennsylvania with property tax relief.” Gary Tanaka, the co-founder of Amerindo Investment Advisors and a major figure in thoroughbred racing, has been charged with fraud and, according to The Blood-Horse, is being held at a federal detention facility pending bail, with a hearing set for tomorrow. The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit in federal court asking a judge to appoint a temporary receiver for Amerindo. How refreshingly different from horse racing itself. If this were a rac- i n g matter, instead of a major fraud case, Tanaka would still be running Amerindo on appeal. CONRAD SETS US STRAIGHT HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor FARALDO ATTACKS “THEY” Wearing his hat as lawyer for Vernon Downs’ horsemen, USTA chairman Joe Faraldo leveled a blistering attack in the Oneida (NY) Daily Dispatch this week on unnamed “theys,” scolding them for not stepping up and buying the track. Although Faraldo did not mention major New York City realtor and owner-breeder Jeff Gural or majority shareholder Shawn Scott by name, the reporter who did the interview with Faraldo -Rachael Protzman -- did, a number of times, making it appear that Gural was Faraldo’s target. This would be strange, because Faraldo recently was quoted as lauding Gural for his legislative efforts in Albany in getting the VLT issue resolved. In the long story, Protzman identified Faraldo as “attorney for the Harness Horsemen’s Association of Central New York,” who told her, “They’re saying that they’re doing everything they can to make sure there is a racing season, but they don’t seem to be doing what they need to do. It seems to me that there are people that have an ownership interest in Vernon Downs and they say they are going to create all these wonderful things for the horsemen. But instead they’re doing all they can to scare away competitors that are interested in buying the place, and all that’s doing is setting us back. I think somebody’s got to step up and buy Vernon Downs. Until that happens everything else is, unfortunately, just a waste of everybody’s time. It’s raising a lot of people’s hopes. They know what they’re doing. They’ve calculated every penny and dime. They’ve calculated the risks that they’re willing to take and not take.” That’s fine talk for clients, but perhaps a bit of oversimplification, particularly when someone has to figure out how to handle Vernon’s $26 million or more in debt. It would seem to an outsider that calculating the risks is a prudent course when tens of millions of dollars are involved. Gural told Protzman, “Everything’s still up in the air at bankruptcy court. June 3, 2005 “We intend to submit a revised plan in the next few days. We’re working on it with attorneys as we speak. There’s growing concern that the delay is just costing everybody money. We’re hoping there will be a racing season. We’re working on it with Racing and Wagering.” Faraldo said, “If it was in our hands, we would do everything that we can. But because of this maneuver of putting this place in bankruptcy, because of the maneuvering by potential suitors, the horsemen are caught in the middle.” That’s true, but talk is cheap. Buying Vernon Downs is not. BIG CHANGES ON THE COAST In what is characterized as one of many changes, the California Horse Racing Board is not renewing the contracts of three veteran California stewards. Board executive director Ingrid Fermin, who formerly worked with the three as a steward, announced that senior steward Pete Pedersen; former harness racing driver and steward Jack Williams; and MerlinVolzke, were being replaced. Petersen, 84, is in his 50th year as a California steward. Fermin said changes also were being made to the racing board investigative staff, including adding new employees and rotating some present ones from track to track. Pedersen said “I’ve been lucky to be on the track this long. It’s not the end of the world.” THE STORY IS EVEN BETTER We recounted here yesterday thoroughbred breeder Garrett Redmond suing The Jockey Club for refusing the name Sally Hemings, the reported slave mistress of Thomas Jefferson. The Club first requested Redmond to get her permission, then decided she was notorious or famous. We neglected the real jewel of the story, however. The filly in question is out of Jefferson’s Secret, who was by Colonial Affair. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 6, 2005 MAINE GOV TO VETO RACINO HANG ON. HELP ON WAY, IN’07 The legislature of Maine gave its approval last week to a tribal racino and harness track in economically depressed Washington county, but the state’s governor, John Baldacci, says he will veto the bill. The House passed the measure, 94-53, and reaffirmed that vote in another 87-46 vote. The Senate approved it 19-15, but those votes do not provide the two-thirds majority needed to override Baldacci’s promised veto. The governor said gambling would hurt long-term efforts to bring businesses and jobs to Washington county -- a strange premise -- and said the project was “not sustainable economic development.” The Senate majority leader, Paul Davis, said, “If he vetoes it, it’s all over.” Tracks and horsemen in Pennsylvania have been waiting a long while for slots, but it appears they’ll have to wait at least another two years. The chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Thomas A. Decker, told reporters last week that he feels confident the state will begin seeing revenue “as soon as 2007.” That is not “as soon as” racing would like, but the control board is crawling, not running, and a legal challenge on constitutionality isn’t helping. The state Supreme Court is expected to hear the case this summer. A VETO IN FLORIDA, TOO Tracks in Florida, particularly in Broward county where HTA’s Pompano Park operates, have been plagued recently with a proliferation of adult arcades, where four quarters get you a chance in pizza parlors and arcades to win tickets that can be exchanged for gift certificates in stores, supermarkets, and restaurants. Although direct cash, alcohol and tobacco prizes are prohibited under the law, the tickets can be exchanged in supermarkets and stores for those items. A Miami Republican, Senator Alex Villalobos, slipped a provision into a consumer protection bill that would have allowed the arcades to use dollar bills instead of coins in the machines. The tracks objected, and for once Jeb Bush came down on their side. He vetoed the measure, calling it “an expansion of gambling and inconsistent with my long-standing anti-gambling philosophy.” It was a nickel and dime victory -- or maybe more accurately a four-quarter victory, but at least it gave t h e tracks something they wanted and gave the arcades something they didn’t want. In Florida, that’s progress. AH YES, THE EMERALD AGAIN If you like really long-running serials, then Chicago and the Emerald Casino case is the place for you. The Illinois Gaming Board, recently reconstituted by the governor, has taken up the license revocation matter involving the Emerald again. We have lost track of the years this has been dragging on, but eight is a good guess, and the revocation proceedings themselves go back three years. Now attorneys for the bankrupt Emerald are asking a judge to halt the revocation matter, saying it is causing the Emerald group to lose money for lawyers and the state to lose money because the license remains unused. The attorney general of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, says there is no emergency that would cause the judge to grant an injunction to stop the hearing. DANICA ASIDE, HERE’S KARYN Danica Patrick has captured headlines, including Sports Illustrated’s cover, since her fourth place finish in the Indy 500. But how about Dr. Karyn Malinowski, a dean at Rutgers university and director of its Equine Science Center, who finished first in the $5,000 American Harness Drivers Spring Final at the Meadowlands. She not only won, but drove her own pacer Hugme Christi to a 1:55.4 victory. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 7, 2005 KEY SLOTS VOTE IN NJ HARRAH’S BREAKS GROUND The Senate Tourism and Gaming Committee of the New Jersey legislature has scheduled a vote Thursday on a proposal to place 1,500 to 2,000 VLTs at the Meadowlands. Regardless of the Senate committee vote, Democratic leaders in the Assembly have vowed to block the measure, which is vigorously supported by Gov. Richard J. Codey. Codey believes VLTs at the track could generate $150 million for the state, noting that New Jersey already faces slots competition from New York, but Atlantic City casinos have thrown their money and clout behind the effort to defeat Codey’s proposal. HTA’s new member Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack, broke ground yesterday, and Harrah’s Entertainment president and CEO Gary Loveman backed his commitment to Chester with a check for $500,000 for job training and development in the economically depressed waterfront city. Calling it “The Harrah’s Chester Challenge,” Loveman said the community development initiative was designed to support the acquisition of job skills and training that will enable Chester residents to fully benefit from the new jobs that will be created as a result of Pennsylvania’s gaming legislation. The check, payable to the Delaware County Workforce Investment Board, is expected to be earmarked for not-for-profit and government organizations that are dedicated to helping educate and train Delaware county residents, including United Way, the Delaware Office of Employment and Training, and the Opportunities Industrialization Center. Loveman said, “Gaming has helped produce dramatic economic turnarounds in communities across America, and we expect similar results from our project in Chester.” Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, harness racing commissioner Ed Rogers Jr., state senators and other dignataries attended the groundbreaking. REALITY REPLACES RHETORIC After some earlier rhetoric castigating potential investors in Vernon Downs for not putting up $38 million or so to buy the track, horsemen’s counsel Joe Faraldo told the horsemen this week that “there’s very little we can do” and they would have to resign themselves to waiting for whatever is going to happen. “Unless we have $38 million to buy this joint,” he said in a meeting with Vernon’s horsemen, “there’s very little we can do. This is your reality. This is what you’re stuck with here. Absent someone coming up with the money to buy this place, I don’t see this place getting a license. I think you’re better off knowing the truth. While Shawn Scott owns 52% in this corporation or even more than 10%, this corporation is not going to get a racing license. It’s not going to get a simulcasting license. It’s not going to get anything. It’ll take a removal of Scott’s interest.” Real estate magnate Jeff Gural, meanwhile, says the cost of reopening Vernon has risen from $8 or $9 million to $15 million, but says he still is interested in buying the track and its racino. Gural has submitted a plan to bring Vernon out of bankruptcy, which is to be heard by the judge handling the case next month. COULD TEXAS BE OVERRATED? If nothing else, its legislature could be. Newspapers have blasted the legislature for its do-nothing record in the session recently concluded, and Ft. Worth Star-Telegram racing writer Gary West, was one of the voices, saying the legislators quit “without tossing so much as a crumb toward horse racing.” Hope springs eternal, however, and Lone Star Park and TRA president Corey Johnson thinks the industry had the votes to pass VLTs, but “ran out of time” according to West’s story. He quoted Johnson as saying, “I think we can accomplish this.” > > HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor RACING THRU THE COURTS In horse racing these days, drivers need helmets and safety vests and track operators need lawyers. Here are just a few reasons why: In Michigan, HTA member Northville Downs has filed an appeal of a license granted to Magna Entertainment to build a huge thoroughbred racing operation just north of Detroit’s Metropolitan airport. Northville argues that a third track in the Detroit metropolitan area will oversaturate the market and force Northville, now in its 61st season, to close. It points out that it is one of its host city’s 10 largest sources of revenue, contributing more than half a million dollars to Northville last year. Northville attorney Ed Draugelis said in the appeal, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, that, “With the competition from casinos (in both downtown Detroit and Windsor across the Detroit river) we think the area can really only support two tracks.” The appeal was delivered to the office of the state racing commissioner, and the state must answer the appeal within 21 days. In Yonkers, New York, Yonkers Raceway faces another challenge in getting underway with its racino. A city economic development agency met this week behind closed doors to discuss involving itself in litigation challenging the Division of Lottery’s review of the $155 million project that is scheduled to place 5,500 VLTs at Yonkers. The city of Yonkers has been negotiating with the state and track for a steady revenue stream from the racino. The latest action, by the Industrial Development Agency, came in executive session at the end of an open meeting, and the agency’s lawyer said the Open Meetings Law permits closed sessions to discuss “proposed, pending or current litigation.” He would not reveal what was said in the session, but did say no action was taken. June 8, 2005 In Nevada, Gov. Kenny Guinn signed a bill sought by Cantor G & W, an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald, which will enable the company to use its wireless gambling technology in Vegas hotels and casinos. The device will permit gamblers to use the wireless devices from casino bars, pools, and other hotel and casino facilities. It was approved by the legislature last week and will allow gamblers to place bets from public areas in casinos with at least 100 slots or other games. In Chicago, Nick and Sherri Boscarino invoked Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in the Emerald Casino license revocation proceedings. Boscarino has been accused of being “a known associate of organized crime” and a trust in his wife’s name helped trigger the Illinois Gaming Board investigation that sank the Emerald. Boscarino currently is out on bond on a 2004 insurance scam conviction. In California, a third complaint has been filed by the California Horse Racing Board against Julio Canani, the trainer of Sweet Catomine, alleging violations of board rules concerning insuring the condition of a horse and conduct detrimental to horse racing. Sweet Catomine was the favorite in the Santa Anita Derby that was spirited off the track for treatment during the week preceding the race. And this tidbit. While some racing leaders are trying to reason with Arizona senator Jon Kyl on his proposed Internet gaming bill that does not include an exemption for racing, the River City Group’s I Gaming News reveals that the American Gaming Association is delighted with that aspect of the bill. It quotes Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the AGA, as saying his organization would not support any legislation that creates “competitive advantages” for pari-mutuel wagering operations, and the AGA’s lobbyist says it will not oppose the Kyl bill as currently proposed. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 9, 2005 HORSE SLAUGHTER: ONE DOWN A COMPROMISE IN MAINE? Despite strong opposition by House Agriculture Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, proponents of ending commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. won a resounding victory yesterday when Rep. John Sweeney, Republican of New York, outmaneuvered Goodlatte and the House passed, 269-158, a bill to strip funding from inspecting horse meat, effectively barring commercial slaughter, even though the meat is not sold in the United States. Maine is not Florida, where legislators and the governor ignore voters’ wishes and go their own merry way. The governor in Maine, John Baldacci, dislikes gambling, like Jeb Bush, but apparently is willing to let voters make their voices heard. Baldacci indicates he still plans to veto the measure passed by the legislature to allow a tribal racino and harness track in depressed Washington county, but after nearly two hours of talks with tribal leaders he appears willing to have the people vote on a referendum on the issue. The tribal leaders were jubilant after the meeting, which they called “fruitful and positive,” and said they looked forward “to returning to the table.” Without a veto, the bill - LD1573 -- would require only a local vote before a racetrack casino with as many as 1,500 slots could open in a community. The House passed the measure 87-46, but the Senate vote was 19-15, not enough for a veto override. Baldacci said he would postpone his veto until later this week as “a reflection of respect.” Washington county is the poorest in Maine, and the Passamaquoddy tribe proposes to split any gaming revenue with other tribes in the state. One state senator, former Speaker of the House Libby Mitchell, said, “For the life of me, I can’t understand why it’s OK to have a racino in Bangor but not in Washington county and for our tribes.” A Republican senator from Washington county said there was “stunned disbelief” that the governor, who co-sponsored a casino bill 10 years ago as a state senator, has changed his mind on gambling. The measure now goes to the Senate, where John Ensign, the Nevada Republican and a veterinarian, leads the fight to get a similar bill passed. Sponsors of the House bill, in addition to Sweeney, included Rep. Ed Whitfield, husband of Connie Whitfield, vice chair of the Kentucky Racing Authority and chairwoman of the state’s Drug Testing Council; Jack Spratt, Democrat of South Carolina; and Nick Rahall II, Democrat of West Virginia. The ban as passed will force a yearlong shutdown of two commercial slaughterhouses in Texas and one in Illinois, where some 65,000 horses a year are slaughtered for the overseas market. If the Senate approves, the measure will become effective October 1, the start of a new fiscal year. That timing is the result of Sweeney getting the measure attached as an amendment to a Department of Agriculture spending bill. Sweeney and Whitfield have been stymied for two and one-half years by Goodlatte, who again argued -- this time unsuccessfully -- against the measure. The president of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle, said of yesterday’s vote, “This is the beginning of the end of horse slaughter for human consumption in the United States. We knew it had tremendous support. It was always just a question of getting a vote.” Yesterday Sweeney, Whitfield and their colleagues got it. “HANDS OFF INTERNET BETS” Nearly 30 states, including California, New York, Kentucky, Michigan and Delaware, are joining forces to urge the federal government to keep Internet betting out of international trade agreements. Their attorneys general are petitioning to protect states’ rights on the issue. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor MAINE GOV. VETOES RACINO Maine Gov. John Baldacci on Thursday vetoed the bill that would have allowed a tribal-run harness track with slot machines in the state’s Washington County. Under the legislation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe would have been permitted to operate a racetrack with up to 1,500 slot machines. When the legislature approved the bill last week, neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate had the two-thirds majority needed to override a gubernatorial veto. Supporters of the racino now are pushing for a statewide referendum on the issue. COURT ORDER ON EMERALD An Illinois county judge has ruled that the Illinois Gaming Board must renew the bankrupt Emerald Casino’s gaming license and allow it to relocate to Rosemont. Cook County Judge Sophia Hall issued an order that says the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision in 2003 that gambling regulators were required to renew Emerald’s license should be followed. Emerald’s attorney says the ruling means a hearing aimed at revoking the casino’s license should stop. But Gaming Board attorneys contend the ruling does nothing to stop that hearing. The board has been trying to revoke Emerald’s license since 2001 over concerns that company officials lied to regulators and some investors allegedly have ties to organized crime. VLT BILL MOVES TO NJ SENATE A bill that would allow as many as 5,000 video lottery terminals at the Meadowlands Racetrack moved to the full state Senate on Thursday. The Senate Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee heard three hours of testimony, including presentations of contrasting studies that estimated how many customers would be drawn away from Atlantic City by slots in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Meadowlands. Acting Gov. Richard Codey and June 10, 2005 other northern New Jersey Democrats have led the push for VLTs at the Meadowlands. So much so that Codey’s proposed budget for 2005 estimates $150 million in revenue to the state this year and $300 million next year. A study by Christiansen Capital Advisors found that VLTs at the Meadowlands would have minimal impact on Atlantic City compared to the expected damage from slot machines in neighboring states. “It’s a changed market for Atlantic City and nothing can reverse that,” Eugene Christiansen said. “Meadowlands VLTs will help prevent the New Jersey population from crossing the state borders into New York and Pennsylvania.” A study performed by PricewatershouseCoopers, commissioned by the New Jersey Casino Association, found exactly the opposite. For now, the bill is stuck in the Senate and facing an uncertain future in the House. The sponsor of the bill, Paul Sarlo of Bergen County, believes a compromise could still be reached. “This budget still relies on $110 million from VLTs,” Sarlo said. “Where are the alternatives?” YONKERS TO CLOSE JUNE 25? According to a report in the New York Daily News, Yonkers Raceway has filed a request with the New York State Racing and Wagering Board to end live racing at the conclusion of the program on June 25 and simulcasting following the last race on June 26. The plan is to stay shut down four months in order to complete the massive reconstruction necessary for VLTs to be installed. The request will be presented to the Board as part of its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on June 16. MAGNA & ODS SETTLE IN MD. The Baltimore Sun reports that a lawsuit between Magna Entertainment and ODS Technologies was settled out of court this week. The suit stemmed from Magna’s desire to be released from its contract with TVG. Although terms were not disclosed, current broadcast and wagering practices will continue. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor June 13, 2005 SPOOR JOINS FLAMBORO FLA. TRACKS SEEK DISMISSAL Flamboro Downs announced that effective today, Gerard Spoor has been appointed president and general manager of the Dundas, Ontario, racetrack. Spoor brings more than 30 years of experience to his new post. A former vice president and general manager of the Ontario Jockey Club (now Woodbine Entertainment Group), Spoor most recently held the positions of Director of Autotote Netherlands and regional manager of Autotote for northern Europe. “We welcome Gerard to the MEC team and we believe his experience will be a substantial asset to Flamboro Downs, the Ontario harness racing industry and to MEC,” said Don Amos, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Magna Entertainment Corp., Flamboro’s parent company. Broward County’s racetracks are preparing to appear before a Tallahassee judge this month to ask him to dismiss an anti-gambling group’s lawsuit designed to block them from adding slot machines to their facilities. A hearing is set for June 21 before Leon County Court Judge P. Kevin Davey. The anti-gambling group No Casinos filed the lawsuit on May 23 to get a judge to forbid the tracks from installing slot machines unless the state legislature passes regulations. The next day, track operators filed suit in Broward County asking a judge to let them have slots immediately in spite of the legislature’s inability to pass regulations. Attorneys for the tracks argued that the anti-gaming group has no standing to weigh in on whether tracks should get slots now or not, and that in any case, the matter should be heard in Broward County, since the case is about slots in Broward County. GAGLIANO JOINS JOCKEY CLUB Jim Gagliano has been named executive vice president and chief administrative officer for The Jockey Club, the breed registry for thoroughbred horses. According to a release from The Jockey Club, Gagliano will be “responsible for overseeing all administrative activities for The Jockey Club and its family of companies and will work directly with business unit heads to develop and implement company-specific business plans.” Gagliano, who resigned as executive vice president of Maryland racing operations for Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) to accept the position at The Jockey Club, joined Magna in 2002 as president of MEC OTB and group vice president of MEC Northern Group, which includes racetracks in Michigan, Oregon, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Prior to joining MEC, Gagliano spent four years with Greenwood Racing Inc. as executive vice president and general manager of Philadelphia Park and 10 years with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. In his new position, Gagliano will be based at The Jockey Club’s New York office. NY GOV. HAS A NEW PLAN New York Gov. George Pataki, who had proposed as many as five casinos for the Catskills in his attempt to settle the Akwesasne Mohawks’ 23year-old land claim against the state, is now planning just one. “At this point we’re only looking at one casino,” Pataki spokesman Kevin Quinn said. “We’re continuing negotiations on the other settlements. The agreement with the Mohawks entitles them to build a casino in Sullivan County, provides them with more than $100 million and the right to nearly double the size of their reservation in northern New York. The Mohawk settlement, signed by Pataki and tribal leaders in February, requires the approval of the state legislation and Congress. In other Indian gaming news from New York, the Oneida Tribe, owners of the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York, released a list of investments as part of a tax valuation. According to the tribe, the Oneida’s have spent roughly $343 million over the past decade. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor KY LEGISLATOR BAILS ON BILL Expressing frustration that Kentucky’s racing industry could not present a united voice on the details of a casino gaming proposal, House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, a Louisville Democrat, told the racing industry that it “can get another jockey,” according to a story in the Kentucky Post. Just last week Clark, who has been a proponent of casino gaming, sent a letter to fellow lawmakers urging support for gaming legislation which he now says he has no plans to introduce. In Clark’s letter, he used figures from the Legislative Research Commission of the Kentucky Assembly to estimate that casinos in the Bluegrass State could generate $1.25 million in revenue and $430.5 million in state taxes annually. But as of Sunday, Clark emphasized that he has no plans to introduce the legislation. REFERENDUM BILL IN MAINE Following a veto of legislation by the governor of Maine, the Maine House of Representatives has indicated they want voters to decide on the issue of whether slot machines should spin at a racetrack-casino in Washington County. The move is the first in an effort to push the state toward a fall referendum on the expansion of legalized wagering. House members voted 97 to 40 Monday to hold a November referendum on the proposal by Maine’s Indian tribes to open a harness track with a 1,500-machine casino. The senate is expected to vote on a proposed statewide referendum today. NM GOV WANTS JOINT BOARD New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has proposed combining the Gaming Control Board and the Racing Commission, creating a single regulatory agency. In announcing the proposal, Richardson said the consolidation would save money and streamline the regulatory process without sacrificing oversight of gam- June 14, 2005 bling. The Gaming Control Board, with a budget of $5.2 million and more than 50 employees, regulates slot machines at racetracks and at veteran’s and fraternal organizations. The Racing Commission, with 17 employees and a $1.9 million budget, regulates pari-mutuel wagering, drug testing and licensing for live and simulcast racing at the state’s five racetracks. Richardson has ordered the boards and staffs of the two agencies to develop a preliminary plan over the summer. A special advisory committee will then review and revise the plan, with the goal of being ready to introduce the legislation required to carry out the merger during the 2006 session. NO OAKLAND CASINO...FOR NOW Once again, it appears that an effort by a California Indian tribe to build a casino in an urban area has failed. The Lower Lake Rancheria Koi Nation’s proposal to build a huge gaming complex near the Oakland International Airport has apparently died with the expiration of a sales agreement between a developer and the tribe. Despite an offer to pay $30 million per year for 20 years to mitigate environmental and traffic problems, the project was opposed by the Oakland, Alameda and San Leandro city councils. The failure of the proposal follows the abandonment of a similar plan by the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, which wanted to build a huge casino in San Pablo. HARRAH’S CLOSES MERGER Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., soon-to-be-built HTA member Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack, on Monday closed its $6.8 billion purchase of rival Caesars Entertainment, creating the world’s largest casino operator. The combined company has nearly 100,000 employees and $9 billion in annual revenue from 40 current properties, including riverboats and hotel-casinos in 12 states. Harrah’s now controls six Las Vegas properties, compared with the number two gambling company, MGM Mirage. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor USTA SAYS NO TO ADVANTEDGE The United States Trotting Association has withdrawn its approval of the Evolution Racing’s AdvantEdge Model 6.8 sulkies, as continued collapses and breakdowns of the bike have led to concern over potential injuries or death. Tom Harmer, the head of Evolution Racing and a trainer and driver himself, announced he has issued a recall on all 368 race bikes in use across the country “in the interest of safety.” Harmer’s action came after drivers at the Meadowlands voted not to use the bike and the Indiana Racing Commission banned its use after an accident at Hoosier Park. An AdvantEdge also collapsed at Pocono Downs. Both arches and shafts have broken in 13 reported failures. Paul Consol, speaking for Meadowlands’ horsemen, said, “We don’t want to see anyone get hurt. There have been anywhere from 6 to 15 incidents of them falling apart, not from accidents but just breaking. We don’t want to wait until someone is hurt. Even if you’re not driving one, if it breaks in front of you, it’s still a problem.” John Brennan, a USTA director, said, “All the drivers like the bike, but it’s a safety question.” There have been two breakdowns of the bike in races at the Meadowlands, one on January 14 and another June 1. USTA’s withdrawal of approval of the AdvantEdge means that it needs to be retested and reapproved, and the USTA also is conducting further testing and a review of the race bikes. ONEIDAS FACE FORECLOSURE Oneida county in New York has begun foreclosure proceedings on dozens of properties owned by the Oneida Indian Nation, trying to recover more than $5 million in delinquent taxes. The Oneidas, who own the hugely prosperous Turning Stone casino and entertainment complex, also own 284 parcels in the county, mostly in the town of Verona, and the June 15, 2005 county mailed notices to 59 of them. Oneida county also had gone to court in April to foreclose on 98 parcels owned by the Nation, and a hearing on that matter is scheduled for July 18. Both actions in Oneida county, and another in Madison county involving some $3 million in taxes, came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that the Oneida Nation must pay property taxes in Sherrill, NY. Last Friday, a highranking Department of the Interior official wrote to the Oneidas, telling them that the high court’s decision “unmistakably” means the lands are taxable. The Oneidas contend that despite the Supreme Court decision, the land remains part of their reservation and cannot be taxed. They own some 17,000 acres in the two counties, and asked the Department of the Interior to place all of it in trust, which would remove it from all local control and taxes. Interior declined, saying the land would not be taken into trust unless the back taxes, totaling some $8 million, were paid. A SAD SITUATION IN SWEDEN After Noel Daley, who trains the top trotter Mr. Muscleman, was arrested for illegal possession of drugs at his training center, Hans Lindskog, the racing manager at Solvalla racetrack in Stockholm, Sweden, withdrew an invitation to the owners, Adam Victor and his son, to race their trotter in Sweden’s most important race, the Elitlopp. After Mr. Muscleman clearly established himself as the best trotter in North America, pressure at Solvalla built on Lindskog. Last Sunday, at Charlottenlund Racetrack in Copenhagen, where the Copenhagen Cup is contested every year following the Elitlopp, Lindskog announced he was quitting the Solvalla job and probably would return to Swedish television, his former job. Meanwhile, in the charade that is part of North American racing, Mr. Muscleman raced at Woodbine with Chris Ryder listed as trainer. In an interview after the race, his owner said on television, “Noel has done a great job with this horse.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THE TWO BEST ARE OUT In a twist of ironic timing, harness racing and thoroughbred racing lost their brightest stars in one week’s time. After the announcement of Ghostzapper’s retirement, taking the world’s best runner from the scene, harness racing lost its 2004 Horse of the Year, the brilliant pacing mare Rainbow Blue, to a tendon tear. Now four, Rainbow Blue has won 30 of 32 lifetime starts, including her last 13 races in a row, and is sidelined with earnings of $1.4 million. She is four for four this year, and was scheduled to start tomorrow night at the Meadowlands in the $215,000 Lady Liberty Pace. Trainer and co-owner George Teague says he will seek second and third opinions, but at present it appears the great mare will not race again this year. DALEY GETS ‘SUPERVISION’ Trainer Noel Daley, charged by New Jersey state police with possession of hypodermic needles and syringes and possession of prescription drugs without a prescription, gets off with an $833 fine and a year of court supervision. Judge Bonnie L. Goldman of Chesterfield Township Municipal Court granted Daley a conditional discharge, meaning no plea or admission of guilt is entered, and if no additional offenses are committed during a specified monitoring period, the charges are dismissed. Daley’s attorney said he had intended to go to trial, but the program accepted was available, and, “It’s just a lot more cost effective and we can on with life.” He claimed the items seized by State Police on March 2 at Daley’s aptly named Magical Acres were obtained through a veterinarian and administered by a vet. In Illinois, meanwhile, the Illinois Racing Board relicensed Agostino Siciliano, who had been given a lifetime suspension in 1987 after urine tests on his horses showed June 16, 2005 21 positives for Etorphine, or elephant juice. And in Kentucky, in a move not unexpected, the state HBPA has resorted to an end run to avert changes proposed by both the state’s Drug Testing Council and the Kentucky Racing Authority. The horsemen have appealed to their legislative friends, and according to bloodhorse.com House Speaker Larry Clark, a member of the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing and Occupations, wants the staff to get answers on whether all interested parties have had a chance to be heard, and whether the national Racing Medication and Testing Consortium’s standards need to be adopted in total in the Bluegrass. Clark also is inquiring into the drug council’s budget. Sound familiar? UGLY TIMES IN NEW YORK When government agencies issue reports, confirming or refuting them becomes a task for the accused, and black headlines pour forth. They were jet black today after New York state comptroller Alan G. Hevesi called the New York Racing Association “the poster child for mismanagement and corruption,” and claimed NYRA violated state law and its own policies by awarding no-bid contracts during a 2-year audit period covering 2002-2004. Hevesi said NYRA “is the worst agency of all, in my experience.” One of his charges was that NYRA awarded a no-bid contract for $797,913 to a Web services company owned by the daughter and son-in-law of Barry K. Schwartz, the former NYRA chairman and CEO, and called for his resignation along with other directors who served before the appointment of the monitors. Schwartz, responding to the articles, called Hevesi a liar, saying that contract was bid out and asking, “How does somebody this dumb get a job in this state?” We have a question of our own. How does MGM Mirage, which announced today it would manage a 4,500-unit VLT facility at Aqueduct, get that lush assignment in New York without bidding for the contract? HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 17, 2005 GURAL OFFERS VERNON PLAN SARATOGA MAY BUILD HOTEL Major New York City realtor and harness horse owner and breeder Jeff Gural has submitted a new Vernon Downs plan to federal bankruptcy court. If accepted by the court and all creditors, Gural thinks Vernon could be back racing by late July or early August. Under the plan, Gural and Track Power of Canada would invest some $15 million to get the track out of bankruptcy. The pair would purchase all of the stock of Mid-State Raceway, Vernon’s parent, and eventually current stockholders would be able to reinvest as long as they are licensed by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. Gural explained his plan to the Oneida Dispatch, telling the paper, “It basically provides that we would be paying everyone virtually 100 cents on the dollar to the creditors; however, we would be stretching out the existing mortgage on the property over eight years. Also, essentially we are buying all of the stock of Mid-State Raceway; however, we are allowing those stockholders who are interested in buying back into the company an opportunity to acquire a portion of the stock at a very, very low discount rate, provided that they can get a license.” For the plan to be accepted by the bankruptcy court, it must be approved by a majority of the creditors, who have 30 days to review the plan. Gural says he has some ideas about Vernon, but “it’s premature to announce anything.” The track currently is open for training, and qualifying races are being held, but no racing has been conducted in the last year. Gural says if his plan is accepted, it would provide immediate payment to horsemen who received bad purse checks last July. He already has loaned the track $1.2 million, and Mid-State accepted Gural’s offer of $8.5 million to reopen the track, but the bankruptcy court has not yet accepted that proposal. A court date of June 21 now will be moved back to allow creditors time to study the proposal. City officials in Saratoga Springs, NY, announced today that HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway is considering building a 144-bed hotel and entertainment facility near the Jefferson street entrance to the track property. Track president Daniel Gerrity declined to comment on the report, but said, “We’re getting close to knowing what we’re going to do,” adding that he already had met with architects and could have an announcement within two weeks. Saratoga Springs’ mayor Michael Lenz said of the project, “If it brings more people to our city and our downtown, we want to see this happen. It tends to be a natural extension of the activities going on there, but we don’t want it to detract from our downtown.” The city has been briefed on the plans, which apparently also include an 18,000 square-feet arena with fixed seating. Gavin Landry, executive director of the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau, called that idea “very logical,” adding that it could be “very appealing, reaching out to niches that are not being served.” The racino, which is drawing some 50,000 people a week to its 1,324 VLT terminals, has created 300 jobs, and another 200 are involved in the track operation. NOW THIS IS RACE CALLING As an old track announcer, the editor is qualified to pass judgment on good calls and quick thinking. Vic Stauffer, Hollywood Park’s racecaller, deserves five stars. When an earthquake shook his booth and the press box yesterday, Stauffer, calling the second race, said, “We are in the midst of an earthquake. I want you to know that I love you all, and horse racing was my first love.” He then added, “I better make this my greatest race call,” and he did. As Dark Beauty and Pleasant Thunder battled to the wire, Stauffer said, “These two come to the wire in the shaker. It’s a photo. I don’t know who won, nor do I care.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond June 20, 2005 Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor ACCORD ON CANADIAN BETS The Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency has relented in its earlier refusal to allow Canadians to bet into U.S. pools, agreeing to a compromise with tracks that will allow commingled pools with warnings to Canadian bettors of what the agency perceives as a challenge to the integrity of the pools. The CPMA previously had refused because of cancel delay policies at U.S. tracks, which the agency believes could lead to manipulation of odds. Under the agreement, the agency is drafting a notice that will advise bettors of risks related to the 3- to 10-second cancel delays in effect at some U.S. tracks. Ron Nichol, director of coordination and program standards for the CPMA, told Daily Racing Form’s Matt Hegarty, “We want to make sure that the fans know that there are possible risks inherent in the U.S. pools that are not inherent in the Canadian pools.” The CPMA does not allow cancel delays at Canadian tracks. Woodbine Entertainment has been eager to introduce common pool betting on U.S. racing since Congress removed the mandatory 30% withholding tax on foreign bets made at U.S. tracks, but the CPMA’s permission does not mean immediate implementation. Track, tote and CPMA officials met last Friday to work out details, but Nichol would not put a dateJune 21, 2005 MAJOR VICTORY IN FLORIDA A circuit court judge in Broward county, Florida, threw out the state’s case in the matter of slots at tracks today and told the county’s four pari-mutuel operations that they were free to begin operating slot machines by July 1 without fear of prosecution from the state’s attorney’s office. The judge said a constitutional amendment approved by voters last November overrode the state statute prohibiting slots. Obviously annoyed at the legislature’s dereliction in ignoring voters’ wishes, Judge Leroy Moe said that if the state or county did not issue regulations on hours of operations, type of machines and distribution of revenues by that date, he would. He said the state legislature violated the intent of the Amendment 4 of the Florida state constitution that allowed voters in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to decide whether they wanted slots at their pari-mutuel sites. Pompano Park announced it would wait until its new racino building is completed to begin slots operations, but Hollywood Greyhound Track said it would begin offering slots within a month or two. A Miami Herald photographer was enroute to Pompano to get a picture of general manager Dick Feinberg celebrating atop a pile of structural steel resting on the parking lot awaiting construction. It is doubtful governor Jeb Bush is celebrating, for the decision is likely to complicate his federally mandated negotiations with the Seminole Indian Nation, now clamoring for slots instead of VLTs. The attorney who is general counsel for the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys’ Association, representing the state’s attorney, had asked Moe for a dismissal and a postponement because he couldn’t attend the hearing, but Moe denied both motions. The state can appeal Moe’s decision, but as of press time no word from either the state’s attorney or the governor as to that possibility. Meanwhile, exultation understandably is the order of the day in south Florida. NEW CAL-EXPO SEEKS HORSES In an innovative push to lure new horses to California, the new operators-to-be of racing at Sacramento, Cal Expo Harness and the Sacramento Harness Association, along with the California Harness Horsemen’s Association, have announced a bonus incentive plan. When any new horse over two years of age makes its first start, the owner will receive a $500 bonus. When it makes its 10th start, the owner will receive another $500. And the owner of the horse with the most wins between Aug. 6 and Dec. 30 will receive a $10,000 bonus, as will the owner of the new horse with the most money earnings during that period. BRUNO FLEXES HIS HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 21, 2005 MAJOR VICTORY IN FLORIDA NEW CAL-EXPO SEEKS HORSES A circuit court judge in Broward county, Florida, threw out the state’s case in the matter of slots at tracks today and told the county’s four pari-mutuel operations that they were free to begin operating slot machines by July 1 without fear of prosecution from the state’s attorney’s office. The judge said a constitutional amendment approved by voters last November overrode the state statute prohibiting slots. Obviously annoyed at the legislature’s dereliction in ignoring voters’ wishes, Judge Leroy Moe said that if the state or county did not issue regulations on hours of operations, type of machines and distribution of revenues by that date, he would. He said the state legislature violated the intent of the Amendment 4 of the Florida state constitution that allowed voters in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to decide whether they wanted slots at their pari-mutuel sites. Pompano Park announced it would wait until its new racino building is completed to begin slots operations, but Hollywood Greyhound Track said it would begin offering slots within a month or two. A Miami Herald photographer was enroute to Pompano to get a picture of general manager Dick Feinberg celebrating atop a pile of structural steel resting on the parking lot awaiting construction. It is doubtful governor Jeb Bush is celebrating, for the decision is likely to complicate his federally mandated negotiations with the Seminole Indian Nation, now clamoring for slots instead of VLTs. The attorney who is general counsel for the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys’ Association, representing the state’s attorney, had asked Moe for a dismissal and a postponement because he couldn’t attend the hearing, but Moe denied both motions. The state can appeal Moe’s decision, but as of press time no word from either the state’s attorney or the governor as to that possibility. Meanwhile, exultation understandably is the order of the day in south Florida. In an innovative push to lure new horses to California, the new operators-to-be of racing at Sacramento, Cal Expo Harness and the Sacramento Harness Association, along with the California Harness Horsemen’s Association, have announced a bonus incentive plan. When any new horse over two years of age makes its first start, the owner will receive a $500 bonus. When it makes its 10th start, the owner will receive another $500. And the owner of the horse with the most wins between Aug. 6 and Dec. 30 will receive a $10,000 bonus, as will the owner of the new horse with the most money earnings during that period. BRUNO FLEXES HIS MUSCLES Joe Bruno, The Force in the New York legislature as Senate Majority Leader, announced yesterday that it will not be one casino in the Catskills, as proposed by Governor George Pataki, but three, or nothing. Some lawmakers and lobbyists protested that a three-casino bill would help the Oneidas of Wisconsin, a tribe that has Bruno’s son Kenneth as a lobbyist on its payroll. Be that as it may the Ottaway News Service says Bruno’s opposition “puts Pataki’s proposal to settle the St. Regis Mohawks’ land-claim lawsuit on thin ice.” The legislature is nearing the end of its session, and before Bruno made his “threeor-none” announcement, it seemed Pataki’s wish for one casino would pass. One state senator, Eric Schneiderman of Manhattan, told Newsday the usual 11th hour frenzy in the state capitol had been replaced by a desire to end the session on a high note with the first on-time budget in 20 years. “They just seem to want to get out of town,” Schneiderman said of his colleagues. “If they stay here any longer, they’ll get into a fight about something.” His statement was prescient. Joe Bruno now has given them something to fight about. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 22, 2005 GOOD HORSES, GOOD HANDLE AND VERY BIG NUMBERS Last Saturday’s North America Cup, carrying a purse of $1.5 million Canadian and others of $565,000, $342,100 and $100,000, also produced big numbers on the business side....in fact, the biggest in the 22-year history of the Pepsi North America Cup. Total wagering reached $3,820,598, topping the previous record set in 2002 by almost $400,000. Jamie Martin, vice president of Standardbred Racing for Woodbine Entertainment, said, “It’s rewarding for all involved to see our biggest event result in a record handle and outstanding ontrack attendance.” The program concluded Woodbine’s spring meeting, with action now moved to Mohawk Raceway. During the Jan. 1 - June 18 session, Chris Christoforou was the leading race winner with 144 victories, topping Luc Ouellette’s 135 and Rick Zeron’s 131, and also was the leading percentage driver with a .369 slugging average; Ouellette was the leading money-winner with $2,933,085 won by his mounts; Joe Stutzman won 99 races to lead all trainers and also topped money-winnings with $1,815,603 won by his horses; and Bob McIntosh was the leading percentage trainer with a soaring .507 in-the-money percentage. Zeron, third in wins and fourth in money won, will have to give a sizeable piece back to the government. The Ontario Racing Commission has fined him $25,000, and suspended him for six weeks, for an unspecified violation of racing conduct rules at Woodbine March 13. Trainer Richard Moreau was fined $15,000 earlier, and handed a 15-day suspension with Zeron, for “Conspiring with another participant to attempt to commit an act injurious to racing, specifically attempting to cause a witness to change or retract their evidence as it pertains to an incident at Greenhawk Tack Shop.” Moreau did not appeal. Zeron did, and the commission reduced his penalties, originally a $35,000 fine and 10-week suspension. According to a report from The Canada West Foundation, government-run gambling in Canada now is almost a $13 billion business. The report says the country has some 87,000 gambling machines, 60 permanent casinos, and 33,000 lottery ticket centers producing revenue for the government. Gambling-related profits of $6.3 billion now approach what the government receives from taxes on fuel and liquor, with gambling producing a profit margin of 49.7%. Slots, anyone? CASINO DEADLOCK IN NY? With time running out on the session, legislators in New York state are still far apart on casinos in the Catskills, and James Odato, the Capitol bureau chief of the Albany Times Union, says the situation “creates the possibility that the session may end without settling Native American land claims or an expansion of gambling.” As reported yesterday, governor George Pataki says he will not sign a bill for multiple casinos in the mountains, and Senate majority leader Joe Bruno says he will not allow legislation for just one to pass. Bruno’s son works for one of the Wisconsin tribes seeking a casino in return for land-claim settlement. Another power in New York, Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, has sided with Pataki, saying the case for the Wisconsin tribes still is incomplete. The president of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council has joined the Bruno camp, calling for three casinos and saying, “It’s about jobs.” NEW HONORS FOR LAVERNE HTA director LaVerne Hill, who has not missed an HTA meeting in more than 40 years, has been elected as the 21st inductee to the Little Brown Jug Wall of Fame. Laverne was HTA’s Messenger winner in 2001 and has received a host of other honors. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor BIG NEWS IN PENNSYLVANIA The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s slot laws yesterday, saying the legislature followed proper parliamentary processes in enacting it and it is constitutional. The full 51-page decision is on HTA’s Web site this morning. The court concluded that, “as a matter of law, there was a single unifying subject to which most of the provisions of the act are germane, the regulation of gambling.” The court did throw out a section of the Gaming Act, however, that gave the Gaming Control Board power to override local zoning ordinances as to where casinos will be located, saying the legislature did not provide adequate standards and guidelines. It also ruled that a provision for $25 million a year to volunteer fire fighting companies, another for reimbursement to rural counties for forest lands, and allowing casinos to provide free and below-cost alcoholic drinks, were not germane to the single subject of gambling, and were prohibited. Although other legal challenges remain, yesterday’s decision removed the biggest stumbling block in getting sRACING LEGISLATION IN NY Changes in racing law in New York are in the works in Albany today, having already passed the Senate and possibly the House by the time this newsletter appears. The new legislation will: Legalize the VLT contract between MGM and NYRA for construction of a racino at Aqueduct, and place the Lottery Division in control of the issue instead of the Racing and Wagering Board. Allow the ad hoc committee scheduled to review the NYRA franchise, which expires at the end of 2007, to begin its deliberations immediately, instead of on or after Dec. 1 of this year. It now must begin studying the issue on or before Dec. 1 of this year. Gov. George Pataki, Senate president Joe Bruno and June 23, 2005 Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver each select three members of the committee. Create a five-person non-profit racing oversight board that will monitor NYRA. Pataki gets to appoint three of the members, Bruno one, and Silver one. This board will assume powers that the division of the budget currently hold in regard to capital expenditures and approval of NYRA’s bidding process, will prescribe a plan of operation for NYRA, and will have power to make recommendations on NYRA’s finances, budgets, accounting systems and governance systems. This board would succeed the thoroughbred racing capital investment fund. Gives OTBs a tax credit on increases on in-state handle over 2004. Eliminates pari-mutuel taxes collected at Belmont for the Breeders’ Cup meeting. Leaves the Racing and Wagering Board intct, with no new commission created. ON THE HARNESS FRONT In New Jersey, Senate Democrats abandoned for now their quest of VLTs at the Meadowlands, acknowledging they had no chance to get the measure through the Assembly. The Hambletonian Society, meanwhile, relocated from East Brunswick to president Tom Charters’ hometown of Cranbury. In Ontario, Woodbine Entertainment chairman and CEO David Willmot announced that Woodbine had found a suitable partner to develop the huge land areas surrounding its Woodbine track, and that plans for the undeveloped portion of its 700 acres would be finalized in the next few months. The focus of construction will be west of the grandstand and is expected to include a hotel, conference center and theater seating several thousand. The development will fulfill a longtime Willmot goal, and he said of the project, “we are really excited and ready to proceed.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor June 24, 2005 RACING LEGISLATION IN NY ON THE HARNESS FRONT Changes in racing law in New York are in the works in Albany today, having already passed the Senate and possibly the House by the time this newsletter appears. The new legislation will: In New Jersey, Senate Democrats abandoned for now their quest of VLTs at the Meadowlands, acknowledging they had no chance to get the measure through the Assembly. The Hambletonian Society, meanwhile, relocated from East Brunswick to president Tom Charters’ hometown of Cranbury. Legalize the VLT contract between MGM and NYRA for construction of a racino at Aqueduct, and place the Lottery Division in control of the issue instead of the Racing and Wagering Board. Allow the ad hoc committee scheduled to review the NYRA franchise, which expires at the end of 2007, to begin its deliberations immediately, instead of on or after Dec. 1 of this year. It now must begin studying the issue on or before Dec. 1 of this year. Gov. George Pataki, Senate president Joe Bruno and Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver each select three members of the committee. Create a five-person non-profit racing oversight board that will monitor NYRA. Pataki gets to appoint three of the members, Bruno one, and Silver one. This board will assume powers that the division of the budget currently hold in regard to capital expenditures and approval of NYRA’s bidding process, will prescribe a plan of operation for NYRA, and will have power to make recommendations on NYRA’s finances, budgets, accounting systems and governance systems. This board would succeed the thoroughbred racing capital investment fund. Gives OTBs a tax credit on increases on in-state handle over 2004. Eliminates pari-mutuel taxes collected at Belmont for the Breeders’ Cup meeting. Leaves the Racing and Wagering Board intct, with no new commission created. In Ontario, Woodbine Entertainment chairman and CEO David Willmot announced that Woodbine had found a suitable partner to develop the huge land areas surrounding its Woodbine track, and that plans for the undeveloped portion of its 700 acres would be finalized in the next few months. The focus of construction will be west of the grandstand and is expected to include a hotel, conference center and theater seating several thousand. The development will fulfill a longtime Willmot goal, and he said of the project, “we are really excited and ready to proceed.” In New York, Yonkers Raceway announced it was transferring the $390,000 Yonkers Trot and its $114,000 companion Hudson Filly Trot to Freehold Raceway in New Jersey for the second straight year, as Yonkers undergoes construction for a racino. The races will be contested Saturday, Aug. 20. In Indiana, Hoosier Park closes its 61-day meeting tomorrow with the ninth edition of the $500,000 Hoosier Cup as the feature. In post position order, the field consists of Dawn Ofa New Day, Up Front Jerry, Chevie Cash, Allamerican Inca, Michael’s Marvel, Up Front Tornado, I Zee, Team Hutch, Glittering Beaches, Odds On Duane, and Beretta Hall. In Ohio, as elsewhere, the dime superfecta is proving a popular bet at Scioto Downs. It’s popularity is likely to increase after last night’s dime super paid $3,518.35. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor ‘FRIENDS’ INITIAL REPORT OUT Friends of New York Racing today released its initial report, in which it proposes a new structure for racing under which NYRA’s three tracks would be run as a public-private partnership. As part of the new structure, off-track betting corporations could opt to become part of the enterprise. The report projects that by replacing NYRA with the new model, the State of New York would attract capital investment of $500 million to $1 billion, would produce more than $6 billion for education in its first 10 years, and by increasing purses and breeder awards, assure racing’s future in the state. The release of the report comes just days after the state legislature established an oversight board that will monitor -- and could take over control of -- operation of the NYRA tracks if NYRA does not satisfactorily deal with its well-publicized legal problems. Meanwhile, Gov. George Pataki will appoint a nine-member ad hoc committee to come up with a process to put the NYRA tracks up for bid. As an alternative proposal, Friends offers a privatization model under which the state would receive a flat rate up front for the right to operate the tracks. DECISION IN PA PUT OFF The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission will decide by October whether Centaur Inc. or Ambrosia Enterprises will be eligible for the state’s remaining harness track. The commission’s attorneys need time to investigate the financing of the competing applicants, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. IN MAINE, LOOKING TO 2006 Supporters of a proposed Maine harness track with slot machines will try to place the idea on a statewide ballot in November 2006, unless the state legislature beats them to it by scheduling a referendum this year. Backers of the project outlined the new plan on Friday June 27, 2005 after Gov. John Baldacci pledged to veto a bill that called for a referendum this year. Baldacci had said he would not veto the bill if the House and Senate passed it by two-thirds votes. The House met that threshold, but the Senate fell one vote short. SCOTT SUES OVER TIOGA In the latest twist in the neverending saga of Vernon Downs and majority owner Shawn Scott, All Vernon Acquisition Company, Scott’s company, is seeking to derail Tioga Park’s plans for a projected Memorial Day 2006 reopening as a racino. In a filing in the New York State Supreme Court, All Vernon contends that since Tioga was not licensed as a harness track at the time New York’s VLT law was enacted, the track is not entitled to a VLT license. The owners of Tioga are Jeff Gural and TrackPower. Gural and TrackPower have also become involved in attempting to buy bankrupt Vernon Downs. For his part, Scott has indicated he is turning to the courts for a ruling so he will have a better idea how to vote on the reorganization plans being floated for Vernon. In the suit, Scott contends that Vernon will be unduly devalued at a critical time by what his filing called the false prospect of competition with Tioga Downs. Scott also contends that it may be Gural’s plan to close Vernon because the two tracks, located approximately 140 miles apart, are in the same geographic market for horses, horsemen and patrons. “This would have the effect of thwarting the will of the Legislature, which specifically identified Vernon Downs as a track to be salvaged with the prospect of VLTs, by allowing the ‘tricky efforts’ of a downstate New York landlord to manipulate the system to seize an opportunity intended to benefit harness racing for the benefit of a few politically powerful Goliaths,” Scott said in his filing. “Even if the goal of the Tioga Downs operation is not to shutter Vernon Downs, it is still critical to determine whether or not Tioga Downs is entitled...to claim an entitlement...created to benefit established harness tracks.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor HORSE IMPACT NEARLY $40 BILL The horse industry in the United States contributes $39 billion in direct economic impact to the U.S. economy and supports 1.4 million jobs on a full-time basis according to a study released today by the American Horse Council. When indirect and induced spending are included in the equation, the industry’s economic impact reaches $102 billion. The study also estimates the horse population in the United States at 9.2 million. Entitled “The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry in the United States,” the study is being described by the Horse Council as “the most comprehensive research document ever compiled on the American horse industry.” Jay Hickey, president of the Horse Council, said of the research, “This study paints a portrait of an industry that operates in every corner of the country and contributes mightily to the American economy and culture.” PARTYGAMING’S WINNING HAND Online gaming company PartyGaming exploded onto the London Stock Exchange on Monday with a stock offering that shot up 11 percent by the end of the trading day, giving the company a value of more than $9 billion dollars. To give that number a little context, the $9 billion market capitalization makes PartyGaming more valuable than casino giants like Harrah’s Entertainment and Wynn Resorts, and nearly as valuable as MGM Mirage. Although online gambling is illegal in the United States, almost 90 percent of PartyGaming’s revenue and profit came from the U.S. last year. Internet gambling was legalized in Great Britain this spring. As a result of the troubled status of ’net gambling in the U.S., America’s large financial institutions, which generally play a large role in London’s financial markets, were absent from the offering, fearing possible repercussions from authorities in the United States. PartyGaming began with a price of $2.12 per June 28, 2005 share and closed at $2.35 per share. The stock offering will make PartyGaming’s founders and many of its executives rich. Founder Ruth Parasol and her husband are cashing in stakes worth $370 million each, and the company’s group operations officer, Anurag Dikshit, is selling shares worth $720 million. The three will retain large shares of PartyGaming even after selling stock. BROWARD WILL APPEAL RULING The Broward County state attorney announced that he plans to appeal a circuit judge’s ruling ordering county commissioners to enact regulations for slot machines because state lawmakers failed to pass such a measure. In a twist, however, State Attorney Michael Satz hired an outside lawyer to represent the state’s 20 prosecuting attorneys because Attorney General Charlie Crist refused to get involved in the matter. While Florida’s attorney general normally handles appeals for state attorneys and state agencies, Crist spokesman Joann Carrin said that “the state attorney is the appropriate office to be the party in this suit.” As for what comes next, Dan Adkins, owner of Hollywood Greyhound Track, told the Palm Beach Post that he believes the four Broward County pari-mutuel operations, including HTA member Pompano Park, will move ahead with slots once a “firm regulatory structure is in place and the lawsuits settled.” NOT DONE IN PENN. YET EITHER Even as the newly formed Penn. Gaming Control Board accelerates its efforts to get an expected multibillion-dollar gaming industry off the ground in the Keystone State in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s slot machine law, there is trouble on the horizon. Developer Charles Betters, who is bidding to operate a thoroughbred track in the state, intends to go forward with separate legal cases he has filed in federal and state court challenging the legislation as well as the legislative process. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. Estok, Editor Editor Stanley F. Bergstein, BROWARD TO WAIT ON RULES For the time being, Broward County commissioners have decided they will not write their own guidelines to oversee expanded gaming at the county’s four pari-mutuel facilities. On Tuesday, county commissioners declined to pass emergency rules for slot machines, saying that for now, a pending court appeal (see Executive Newsletter of June 28 for details) makes it unnecessary for them to act. Pari-mutuel operators in Broward welcomed the decision and made it clear that they are comfortable waiting until there is clear legal authority for slots and a regulatory structure in place. INDIAN CLAIM REVERSAL IN NY In a potentially far-reaching decision, a federal court in New York has ruled that the Cayuga Indians are not entitled to a $248 million land claim and judgment awarded them by a lower court. In a 2-1 decision, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the tax case involving the Oneida Indians, owners of the successful Turning Stone Casino, and the town of Sherrill, New York, that said too many years had passed for the Oneidas to claim their reacquired former reservations lands were again sovereign and tax exempt. The court in the Oneida case said some of the considerations that doomed the case included the passage of so much time; that most of the tribe moved elsewhere; the tribe’s long delay in seeking relief; and the longstanding distinctly non-Indian character of the area and its inhabitants. As a result, the appeals court reversed and dismissed the Cayuga’s entire 25-year-old land claim. “This wasn’t remanded. This was reversed and dismissed,” said Christine Pritchard, a spokesperson for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. “This is significant and precedent-setting. This is the same court that will oversee the rest of New York’s land claims.” The Cayuga case is the only Indian land claim in New York to make it through the courts. The June 29, 2005 Oneidas, Onondagas, Mohawks and Senecas also have land claims pending. Gov. George Pataki had been pushing to get the legislature to pass a bill for another tribe with a land claim, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, that would have involved a settlement of $100 million plus the right to build a casino in the Catskills. The Assembly passed the bill, but the Senate, seeking a bill for three land claim settlements to yield three Catskill casinos, would not settle for one casino deal. In light of the appeals court ruling, it remains to be seen if Pataki will still try to use gaming compacts as currency to settle land claims. Attorneys for the Cayugas are considering their appeals options. YONKERS BREAKS FOR CASINO Yonkers Raceway now has officially closed its doors for renovations for four to five months while work on the track’s $185 million construction project begins. Over the next 10 to 12 months, the raceway will add a food court with 300 seats, a coffee shop as well as a bar and entertainment lounge. Yonkers will also be adding a 120,000 square foot building that will house as many of the approved 5,500 slot machines. It will take about a year before Yonkers will be transformed into a racino. PAUL SPEARS HONORED The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has honored Paul Spears, chairman of Hanover Shoe Farms and executive vice president of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company, for lifetime achievements in representing the equine industry in the Keystone State. Spears has been instrumental in most equine-related initiatives in Pennsylvania, most recently as a representative of Standardbred interests in the drafting and passage of the Pennsylvania slot machine legislation. Spears was introduced to the membership of the house during today’s legislative session and presented with a special House citation for service to Pennsylvania agriculture. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond July 1, 2005 Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor McCAIN AIMS AT INDIAN GAMING PENN NATIONAL TO SELL CASINO Congress never intended for Indians to build Nevada-style casinos away from their reservations, and tribes risk a backlash by pursuing the trend, Sen. John McCain told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The trend of tribes establishing offreservation casinos has surfaced as Indian Gaming has transformed in recent years from a relatively small industry into a huge one, generating an estimated $18.5 billion in 2004, nearly double the take from Nevada’s gaming industry. McCain said after the hearing that he was still deciding whether to introduce legislation to further restrict off-reservation gaming. Penn National Gaming announced this week that is has agreed to sell the Argosy-Baton Rouge casino for $150 million in cash upon the completion of its acquisition of Argosy Gaming Co. Penn National will sell the property to a unit of Columbia Sussex Corp., a Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, hotel and casino operator. TRUE PROMOTED AT YOUBET Youbet.com, Inc. has announced that Jeff True has been named a vice president of the company. True will continue to serve as Western Region General Manager for Youbet and will now oversee the promotion and promotion partner development programs. CHRB BACKS CHIP ID The California Horse Racing Board instructed staff on Thursday to develop a detailed plan for a pilot program to add microchips to the methods used to identify racehorses in California. Microchips are used widely in 16 other countries and on a limited basis in some states, but if the CHRB successfully implements program, California would become the first state to require microchip technology for the monitoring of racehorses. CHRB Chairman John Harris said the intent of the Board would be to require, “at a date certain, that any horse participating in races in California has a chip.” Dr. Ron Jensen, the Board’s equine medical director, will be meeting with horse identifiers, stall superintendents, and others to develop t h e pilot program, which could be funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. NYRA MONITOR GETS MORE TIME A federal judge yesterday extended the time the New York Racing Association will be under the watchful eye of a court-appointed monitor. Yesterday, on the eve of the expiration of Getnick & Getnick’s 18-month oversight, Judge Arthur Spatt extended the time NYRA will be under the purview of the monitor to July 24, while at the same time extending the deferred prosecution, which was also set to expire, until August 23. According to Jim Odato’s report in the Albany Times Union, Getnick wrote to Spatt asking to extend the monitorship until the end of the Belmont meet and said he would recommend dismissal of charges brought against NYRA if he determines it has met the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement. RED MILE RACING... Racing action returns to The Red Mile this weekend when the Lexington track opens for two days of quarter horse racing this Saturday and Sunday. Last year The Red Mile’s abbreviated quarter horse meet drew crowds of 10,000-12,000. NM LAW ALLOWS LONGER HOURS Beginning today, gamblers will be able to spend more time in New Mexico’s casinos. A new state law will now let racetrack casinos stay open 18 hours a day, but it won’t let casinos operate more than 112 hours a week. Casinos must also spend at least a quarter of their income from gambling machines on programs to treat compulsive gamblers. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor CANADA COMMINGLES TONITE Canadian racing fans get their first chance tonight to bet directly into an American track’s host pools. With Illinois and Ohio approving commingled pools, Woodbine Entertainment gives its patrons the opportunity tonight to bet into pools at Maywood Park in Maywood, Illinois, and Balmoral Park in Crete, Illinois, and tomorrow night at Northfield Park near Cleveland. Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is expected to become the first thoroughbred track to take Canadian bets directly into its pools later this month. New York and Delaware also are considering the issue, and California, Florida, and New Jersey are studying it. Steve Mitchell of Woodbine, who has been handling details for WEG, thinks Canadians will benefit greatly from the new system, giving them larger pools and better payouts. “Once all states permit this,” Mitchell believes, “payouts on winning bets should increase by more than $10 million a year.” Commingling became possible last fall when the U.S. Congress eliminated the 30% withholding tax on foreign bets made on a U.S. racetrack. Following that Woodbine worked out an agreement with the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency, which was concerned about teller delays at U.S. tracks, but finally conceded as long as warnings about that process were posted at wagering sites. John Johnston, president of Balmoral and vice president of Maywood, says he expects pools at those tracks will grow by 10% from Canadians betting directly into them. OUR BOY JOE SCORES BIG Sandra Day O’Connor may have grabbed the front page of the New York Times last Saturday with her retirement announcement, but Joe Asher of Cantor G and W didn’t do too badly. He grabbed column 1 on the same front page, and his handsome visage and story took up 34 inches of the Times page 9. July 5, 2005 Joe, who started at Brandywine under Hap Hansen, now is an attorney and managing director of Cantor Gaming and Wagering, which has developed under its parent Cantor Fitzgerald, the New York-based financial services company, hand-held devices that will enable casino guests in Las Vegas to play poker, slots, blackjack or other table games while at the swimming pool, in a meeting or restaurant, or in any other public spaces in the hotel. Cantor introduced the devices successfully in England, and Asher said, “Since we spent a tremendous amount of money developing the technology, we were looking for other applications, and so we approached Nevada.” The new machines are not linked to the Internet, thus circumventing Nevada’s legal ruling that casinos cannot do online gaming, and Gov. Kenny Guinn signed them into law last month. The Nevada Gaming Control Board currently is writing regulations for their use, and they should be operational by the time HTA, TRA and USTA meet for the Racing Congress at the Bellagio starting February 6, 2006. RO LO SCORES BIG, TOO Ro Lo, a 3-year-old Quebec-bred trotting colt, made page 1 of Canada’s largest French newspaper, the Journal de Montreal, over the weekend, when he was sold for a reported $750,000 to Norwegian interests. Trond Smedshammer will train the colt for U.S. campaigning. The Journal de Montreal has a circulation of more than 2 million, and its headline read, in French, Jackpot for 3 Quebecers. TOUGH KY RULES ADVANCE Still facing legislative challenges, the Kentucky Racing Authority last week unanimously voted to endorse penalties approved by the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council in May. The new rules include suspension of horses and greater accountability for owners and veterinarians. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor PLAYERS’ POOLS ILLEGAL IN CA Players’ pools -- where bettors commingle funds and bet as a group -- have been ruled illegal in California. The state attorney general ruled against them, and racing board executive director Ingrid Fermin announced the decision last week. AmericaTab, which has conducted such pools, says it will comply with the ruling, even though it is not a licensed entity in California and its hub is located in Oregon, where such pools are legal. Todd Bowker, general manager of AmericaTab, was quoted in Thoroughbred Times as saying, “As an account wagering provider, we’re not licensed in California, but we do business there. We don’t want to lose the California product. If they prefer we don’t do pools on the California product, then we won’t.” THOSE INTERSECTING LINES Bones of racetracks lie across the nation, victims of the intersecting lines of real estate values and racing business. In harness racing, three of the grimmest reminders are the shopping centers that now stand where Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island, Liberty Bell Park in Philadelphia, and Brandywine Raceway in Wilmington, Delaware, once stood. Although the track owners who sold the property prospered, in most cases, racing suffered, and could again if Churchill Downs sells Hollywood Park for development rather than racing. Churchill almost certainly will do well. It paid some $140 million for the track and its roughly 240 acres just six years ago, and the Louisville Courier-Journal quotes Jeffrey Thomison, an analyst at Hilliard Lyons in Louisville, as saying he thinks, using recent land sales next to Hollywood Park as an indicator, that Churchill can get as much as $235 million for the Inglewood track and its adjoining property. Hollywood Park represented 23% of Churchill’s cash flow in 2000, 11% in 2003, and 14% last year. The paper says Churchill spent $5.9 million July 6, 2005 last year on efforts to get slots in California and Florida. Its long-term debt at the end of last year was some $243 million, according to the CourierJournal, and it could use proceeds from sale of Hollywood Park to pay down that figure, or make further acquisitions. Either way, the ominous graph hangs over all of racing: when the ascending line of real estate value intersects the descending line of racing business, some hard decisions must be made. O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. And slots are one of them. Plans are afoot to use the former mighty but now abandoned Bethlehem Steel site in the Pennsylvania Lehigh Valley city as the locale for a $300 million casino project, but some citizens and councilmen are aghast at the idea. One says, “I am trying to prevent the town’s character changing from the Christmas city to the Gambling city.” Signs have appeared reading, “Take the bet out of Bethlehem.” Another opponent urges, “Don’t exchange the star of Bethlehem for the neon lights surrounding slot machines.” Proponents might want to remind fellow citizens that another line of the famed Christmas carol starts, “Yet in thy dark streets.....” which are getting darker without Bethlehem Steel. A stanza of the carol ends, “The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.” For those who want slots, Christmas could come in the form of jingle bells in the huge complex that once belched the smoke of prosperity over Bethlehem. In another holy setting, the National Lottery Corporation of Israel is asking the finance ministry to widen its gambling machine empire around the country to battle thousands of illegal video poker machines, blackjack tables and slots currently operating. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 7, 2005 SALES AND STORM WARNINGS GREAT CANADIAN MARCHES ON Churchill Downs’ sale of Hollywood Park to Bay Meadows Land Co. for $260 million was today’s big news in racing, but it is not necessarily good news. Although the announcement stated that live racing will continue at the huge Inglewood track -- one of America’s best known racing venues -for at least three years, and Churchill can reinvest as a majority partner for eight years, the buyer is a land company. It operates a race track -- Bay Meadows -- but it also develops property, and its president, Terrence E. Fancher, while talking about his love for racing, also made clear that changes must be made so California racing can better compete with other forms of gaming. “If changes are not made,” Fancher said in a news conference, “then it’s simply a reality that this will not be an economically viable track over the long term. We don’t know how much more clear the message could be. A huge track in Northern California and a huge track in Southern California would be gone.” Los Angeles Times writer Bill Dwyre, writing about the turn of events, likened the comments of Churchill CEO Tom Meeker and Fancher to the movie “Network.” He wrote, “Two men who have spent a lifetime conducting business with quiet, understated dignity became Howard Beale....they were mad as hell and they weren’t going to take it any more.” Dwyre called what happened Wednesday “gutsy, brilliant and also somewhat desperate.” He said part of the brilliance was “that it so publicly drops the hot potato in Sacramento’s lap.” But he added, “Sacramento, of course, may yawn and turn its back. It may legitimately have bigger agendas, much larger blocks of constituents than 60,000 race employees, much bigger losses of face than two horse tracks folding. But you have to give California horse racing credit for one thing after Wednesday’s power play. Some major players in the sport may eventually go, but they won’t go quietly.” There was another major development on the west coast, as Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, which has been expanding its racing holdings exponentially, announced it was buying Flamboro Downs from Magna Entertainment for some $63.9 million. The track, 45 miles from Toronto, has 230 acres and offers year-round live harness racing and daily simulcasting on-track and at four teletheaters and OTBs. It also has 752 slot machines Great Canadian has in the last year bought Hastings Park, Fraser Downs, Sandown Park and Georgian Downs. MEG president/CEO W. Thomas Hodgson said the divestiture “allows MEC to focus resources on a strategic goal of delivering prime racing content, developing our U.S. gaming potential, and expanding our signal delivery and wagering capability within North America and internationally.” BITTER HERBS, SUGAR IN OHIO The Ohio State Racing Commission has granted Thistledown, Cleveland’s thoroughbred track, permission to discontinue sending its signal to Northfield Park, at the request of the Ohio division of HBPA. On a brighter note, the commission approved the sale of the Sandusky Cedar Downs OTB -- Ohio’s only remaining OTB -- to Northfield Park by Argosy Gaming. DANCER IN BAD SHAPE Stanley Dancer, perhaps the best known driver in harness racing history, is hospitalized, in constant pain and unable to walk. Plagued by the thought that the harness world has forgotten him, he would be bolstered by cards and letters. Send them to 1300 S. Ocean Blvd., Apt. 101, Pompano Beach, FL 33062-6914. Also send best wishes to Meadowlands chief Dennis Dowd, recovering from another round of hip surgery. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 8, 2005 YOU SHOULD LIVE SO LONG TOP NY COURT HOLDS FIRM The old Jewish mothers’ wish is our hope for those waiting for slots in Pennsylvania. We have a second wish, too: get your kid a job with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Outside of being a mutuel clerk in California, it’s the best deal in racing. Moving with glacier-like speed, the Control Board is operating so slowly in putting together an operating staff that many of the horses -- and perhaps their owners and breeders -- who were expected to benefit from slots in Pennsylvania will be retired or dead by the time they finally get regulations argued over, written, and in place. The latest move was the hiring of Anne L. Neeb, director of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board for the last two years, to be executive director of the Pennsylvania board, at a cool $180,000 a year. She will direct a staff that eventually will number between 130 and 140. The control board also hired its top cop yesterday, a 30-year veteran of the FBI named David J. Kwait, 62, who will be paid $140,000 and will answer to Ms. Neeb. Most recently, he has been chief of criminal investigations for the Pennsylvania attorney general. Although the board’s chief counsel has not been hired yet, three members of his or her staff were hired yesterday. They are a gaming law specialist from an Atlantic City law firm; the director of the state House Judiciary committee; and the assistant counsel of the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct board. The chairman of the Gaming Control Board, Thomas (Tad) Decker, said the board will be moving “expeditiously” to implement the law passed a year ago, now that the Supreme Court has upheld its legality. He also said he still hopes to have the first seven track racinos licensed by late 2006 or early 2007. The wheels of progress grind slowly in Pennsylvania, and racing in the state -- which Ms. Neeb says has an opportunity to be revitalized -- can only wait and hope, that there’s money left after staffing. New York’s highest court -- the Court of Appeals- has refused to reopen a case it upheld last month establishing the legality of VLTs in the state. Without comment, the court denied a motion to rehear the case, which differentiated VLTs from slots and permitted revenues from them to be used to benefit the state breeding fund. The decision was another defeat for Joseph Dalton, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, who has been trying to upset VLTs in New York. CASINO TIES UP MINNESOTA A partial shutdown of state government in Minnesota entered its second week today, with the governor, Tim Pawlenty, and legislative leaders deadlocked over the issue of a casino at Canterbury Downs. The governor and his key Republican allies want one. They control the House, but Democrats control the Senate, and the stalemate over the casino issue has forced almost 9,000 state employees off the job since July 1. Residents can’t get new drivers’ licenses, highway rest areas are barricaded, and other services that derive income from state funding are shut down. A special court master says he will recommend restoration of the services, but another judge still must sign off on that. Canterbury has round-the-clock poker, but wants to add slots and more table games, and is willing to pay the state $210 million for the next two years to get them. At the present time in Minnesota, those privileges are reserved for the state’s many Indian tribes. If the stalemate continues for another week, the 8,900 affected employees will be formally laid off and Minnesota will have to pay millions in unemployment and severance costs. PICK 6 OVER $100,000 The Meadowlands Pick 6, not hit since June 22, now has a $100,067 carryover. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor July 11, 2005 POSITIVES IGNORED IN KY. ORE. HOUSES OKAYS MACHINES Jim Gallagher, the transplanted New Yorker tasked with helping to straighten out the regulatory environment in the State of Kentucky on Friday outlined how the previous incarnation of Kentucky’s horse racing regulatory body failed to pursue penalties after horses tested positive for banned substances. In testimony before the Kentucky legislature’s Interim Joint Committee on Licensing and Occupations, Gallagher, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, said results from the laboratory that processes postrace samples from the state’s racetracks showed a number of positives but that none of the positives was ever reported. “More troubling were findings that should have been vigorously pursued from an investigative standpoint” but were not, Gallagher told the committee. As a result of Gallagher’s testimony, the legislative committee asked the Racing Authority for documentation to support Gallagher’s allegations. Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher abolished the old Kentucky Racing Commission and reconstituted it as the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority after taking office in January 2004. Gallagher said he came across the information after discussions with the director of the Iowa State University Laboratory, the laboratory with the contract to analyze Kentucky’s post-race testing in 2002. Lu Juana Wilcher, Kentucky’s Secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, which oversees the horse racing authority, told legislators that while the Authority could have spent much more time on the matter, they decided rather to attempt to, “find the problem, fix the problem, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Legislators have asked for more information about the positives as well as about the work of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, the industry coalition that has been working to, among other things, recommend uniform guidelines for medication usage and testing in the racing industry. In a move supporters say could help save horse racing in the state, the Oregon House approved a bill to expand the number of slot and video poker machines at Portland Meadows. Under the terms of the bill approved last Wednesday, the track could have 30 machines, triple the current number. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain. Portland Meadows is owned by Magna Entertainment Corp. Last year, Magna closed its other Oregon racing operation, Multnomah Greyhound Park, because of financial losses. NOW THAT’S A POT! The nine players reaching the final table at the World Series of Poker main event can no doubt agree on at least one thing: There’s big money involved. The total prize pool for the tournament is $52.8 million, minus the house cut of $3.37 million. According to tournament officials, 560 players will finish in the money, but the best money will be at that final table, where the first person knocked off the table, the ninth place finisher, will receive a cool million bucks. From there it’s eighth place, $1.15 million; seventh place, $1.3 million; sixth place, $1.5 million; fifth place, $1.75 million; fourth place, $2 million; third place, $2.5 million; and second place will collect $4.25 million. The final table is scheduled to begin play Friday at Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. The main event began last Thursday at the Rio hotel-casino with a record 5,619 players, more than double the 2,576 participants in 2004 and almost seven times the then-record 839 players who entered in 2003. PLATO TO HBPA Laura Plato, a former HTA staffer who more recently worked for Overbrook Farm in Lexington, Ky., has taken a position as executive assistant with the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley Paul J. Estok, F. Bergstein, Editor Editor MAINE TRIBE TO TRY VOTERS Proponents of an Indian-operated racetrack casino in Maine, who have twice won legislative backing in recent weeks but have been unable to overcome the objections of Gov. John Baldacci, are seeking to take the issue before state voters themselves. Tribal leaders submitted an application with state election officials Monday, aiming to put the question to voters in November 2006. On June 23, after the Legislature adjourned, Baldacci vowed to veto a racino bill calling for a statewide referendum. The governor vetoed a similar bill without a referendum provision on June 9. Baldacci had linked acceptance of the referendum measure to its supporters’ attainment of super majorities of two-thirds voting approval in the legislature. The senate’s enactment vote was just short, 21-11. Once cleared for circulation, supporters of a ballot initiative would have to submit the requisite number of valid voter signatures by January in order to get their proposal on the November 2006 ballot. VLTS FAIL IN TEXAS...FOR NOW A legislative maneuver to legalize video lottery terminals at racetracks in Texas was rejected early this morning. The vote by legislators came at 3:15 this morning. NEW FACES AT ISLE AND SGMS Isle of Capri Casinos, owner of HTA member Pompano Park, has announced the appointment of Duncan McKenzie as regional vice president. McKenzie will be responsible for Isle’s properties in Mississippi and Missouri. And Scientific Games Corporation has announced that, in a move “designed to broaden the Company’s highly respected management team to take advantage of future growth opportunities,” Micheal Chambrello has been appointed president and chief operating of- July 12, 2005 ficer of the company. Chambrello, previously served as president of GTECH Corp. and Executive Vice President of GTECH Holdings Corp. KY. WILL LOOK AT POSITIVES In light of the revelations made by Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) Executive Director Jim Gallagher with regard to alleged positive drug tests that were never pursued in the Bluegrass State (see Exec. Newsletter of July 11), the KHRA has asked for an investigation by the inspector general of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, which oversees the Authority. TRIBE SETTLES IN NEW MEXICO The Pojoaque Pueblo Indians in New Mexico have agreed to pay the State of New Mexico $24 million in back casino payments in order to settle a lawsuit, the state attorney general announced. Attorney General Patricia Madrid sued New Mexico tribes that operate casinos five years ago. She alleged they were violating a 1997 compact that required them to pay 16 percent of their net slot machine revenue to the state in exchange for limits on competition. All tribes except the Pojoaque eventually settled and made payments. Revised compacts approved in 2001 require tribes to pay no more than eight percent of their slot revenue. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Pojoaque Pueblo will sign the 2001 gaming compacts and make its back payments in installments over about 12 years. The agreement still must be approved by a federal judge in connection with the lawsuit. OOPS...WHAT THE WINNER GETS Yesterday’s Executive Newsletter listed the consolation prizes for the World Series of Poker, with a total prize pool for the tournament of $52.8 million, minus the house cut of $3.37 million. What wasn’t listed was what the winner’s share of the pot will be...a whopping $7.5 million. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 13, 2005 INQUIRY ON POSITIVES IN KY OHHA ISSUES ULTIMATUM Jim Gallagher’s charges that the former Kentucky Racing Commission overlooked drug positives and that commission policies never went through proper administrative review have gone to the Office of Inspector General. Bernie Hettel, who was fired from his former job as executive director and chief steward in Kentucky, denies Gallagher’s charges. Gallagher, for his part, says he “just wants to move forward...to make sure this sort of thing never happens again.” He followed up on that statement by telling the new Racing Authority he would like to update all of Kentucky’s pari-mutuel rules and regulations and make them applicable to all three breeds. This would be a welcome change from the past double standard, where harness horses and thoroughbreds were subject to different standards, with full approval of the former commission and its executive director. The Ontario Harness Horse Association and an organization called National Capital Region Harness Horse Association, representing horsemen in the Ottawa area of Rideau Carleton Raceway, are tangling over membership. OHHA president Jim Whelan sent a letter to OHHA members in District 1, covering that area, telling them they cannot be members of both organizations, and asking them to make their choice. Whelan explained that OHHA needed to confirm its membership, and that only those who chose OHHA as its sole and exclusive bargaining agent would continue to receive benefits of OHHA membership. His letter said members of the NCRHHA could not continue to be members of OHHA and would have to make their choice. OK FOR GOOSE, NOT GANDER? The Indiana legislature refused to approve slots for the state’s two racetracks, but now the Hoosier Lottery is asking for the same thing. The lottery’s executive director, Esther Q. Schneider, has asked the Indiana attorney general for a legal opinion on whether current law allows the lottery to offer new games, including electronic gambling devices. She added that new games would be implemented only with legislative approval. Assuming that what is good for the Indiana goose would be good for the Indiana gander, it seems a favorable decision on Ms. Schneider’s request would be the height of inequity. Lottery profits are expected to fall about 5% in the budget year that ended June 30, and Ms. Schneider says, “We’re looking at all the different ways we can increase revenue and our bottom line.” We’re pretty certain, Ms. Schneider, that’s exactly what Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs were hoping to do. NEW BUSINESS FOR MAGNA Add a new product to Magna Entertainment’s inventory. The company has announced it has built a plant in Lumberton, North Carolina, to manufacture a pellet form of straw to be sold for bedding under the brand name STREUfex. The Lumberton plant will process local straw into pellets that “work almost like kitty litter.” The new bedding was the only product allowed for stall bedding at Magna’s Palm Meadows training facility in Florida this year, and the results led to Magna production of the pellets. PIERCE NOW OWNS A RUNNER Harness racing’s hottest driver now is a thoroughbred owner. Ron Pierce, inducted into the Hall of Fame in Goshen a week ago Sunday, is sending out a 2-year-old called Blackout O Three in Monmouth Park’s fourth race tomorrow. Ron bought the Louis Quatorze-Quiet Express by Quiet American colt for $20,000 as a weanling, after stopping at neighboring farm in Clarksburg, NJ, when a flight taking him to Toronto for a race was cancelled by a blackout. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor INDIANS RAKE IN $19.4 BILLION Indian-owned casinos nationwide won nearly twice as much from gamblers as all of Nevada’s casinos last year, according to data released today by the National Indian Gaming Commission. The nation’s 367 tribal casinos won $19.4 billion, up 15 percent from 2003. That compares to the roughly $10 billion won by Nevada casinos for the year ended June 30. Tribal gaming revenue grew 14 percent in 2003 and 15 percent in 2002. In California, tribal casinos won $5.8 million, up 23 percent from 2003. The California region also includes Northern Nevada, which is negligible. The commission doesn’t report state-specific data because in some states, the figures could reveal too much detail about tribal revenue, figures closely guarded by tribes, commission spokesman Shawn Pensoneau said. The data is based on quarterly financial statements sent to the commission by tribes. The statements are required by federal law, which also allows tribes to keep private their financial data. MORE CHANGES AT NYRA After what NYRA President Charles Hayward termed “careful evaluation,” the Association today announced the firing of two key racing officials and an executive as well as the retirement of the association steward. Racing secretary Mike Lakow, chief examining veterinarian Celeste Kunz, and vice president of human resources and labor relations Raphael Chetcuti were fired without notice today, while association steward Dave Hicks was given the option of early retirement. ANOTHER CHALLENGE IN MICH. Another challenge has arisen to Magna Entertainment Corp.’s bid to build a new thoroughbred track in suburban Detroit. Same Danou, a developer who was an unsuccessful applicant for the track license granted to Magna, last week filed an appeal claiming Magna still controls the license of Great Lakes Downs in west- July 14, 2005 ern Michigan, although Magna claims to have sold its interest in that license. Michigan law prohibits any racetrack entity from holding more than one racing license. Northville Downs, the suburban Detroit harness racing facility, has also appealed the granting of a license to Magna. MEDIA AWARD FOR CTV CTV, one of Canada’s best-known and popular broadcast communications operations, and its broadcast of last summer’s Nat Christie Memorial Stake in Calgary has been named by an international committee as the best harness racing TV broadcast in the world during the last 18 months. The announcement came at the recently concluded World Trotting Conference in Italy. POCONO PLANS TO BE OUTLINED On Thursday, July 21, Robert Soper, president and CEO of HTA member The Downs at Pocono, will present the Mohegan tribe’s plans for the development of a gaming facility at the Plains, Pennsylvania racing facility. The name and logo of the new facility will be unveiled during the press conference, along with details of proposed “gaming amenities.” ALICE CARNEY DIES Alice “Allie” (McCrystal) Carney, wife of Rockingham Park owner and President Dr. Thomas Carney for 54 years, died suddenly in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on July 12. Mrs. Carney is survived by her husband, three sons (Thomas F. Carney, Jr., Dr. Daniel Carney, and Peter Carney), nine grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held on Sunday and Monday at the Lorne & Sons Funeral Home in Delray Beach, Florida. The funeral will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 18, at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach. HTA sends deepest condolences for their loss to the Carney family. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Paul J. F. Estok, Editor Editor Stanley Bergstein, BALA SENTENCED TO 27 MOS. Susan Bala, the founder and owner of North Dakota’s Racing Services Inc., was sentenced by a federal judge in Fargo, North Dakota, yesterday to 27 months in prison for her role in what the Fargo Forum called “the largest illegal gambling case in North Dakota history.” Bala, for her part, continues to claim innocence, telling Judge Ralph Erickson, “I just want you to know, in my heart, I would never do anything illegal.” The judge chastised Bala for bringing “unsavory characters” to North Dakota, including an alleged member of the Gambino crime family now under federal indictment in New York, but also noted that in light of Bala’s past good deeds, spotless record and low risk, she deserved a sentence at the low end of the scale provided by federal sentencing guidelines, which is what she got. Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Reisenauer asked for 33 months, telling the judge that Bala has not taken responsibility for her actions. “She blames everybody but herself,” Reisenauer said. Bala, 50, and her company were convicted in February on 12 counts, including conducting an illegal gambling business, conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business, illegal wire transfer, and nine counts of money laundering. Raymundo Diaz Jr., the vice president of Racing Services, was sentenced in May to 90 days in a halfway house. He had pleaded guilty to three felony charges of illegal gambling. Jurors in February also ordered Racing Services to forfeit about $99 million, and Bala herself was ordered to pay $19.7 million of that. Reisenauer said he did not know how much of the money would be collected. SIMO AWARD DEADLINE AUG. 29 The award to honor the racing industry’s best simulcast production again will be presented at the 13th Annual International Simulcast Conference. The deadline for all entries is Monday, August 29, 2005. The award honors the best simulcast telecast by a host site July 15, 2005 and is open to all pari-mutuel breeds. The simulcast entry will be judged on technical merit, quality, and timeliness of racing and wagering information dissemination, as well as overall appeal. Entries for the award must be no more than 30 minutes in length and contain one complete race presentation, including pre-race features and graphics, the race itself, and any post-race replays or wrap-ups. Entries must have been part of a normal simulcast program and not a collection of highlights or features and have aired after August 24, 2004. For the first time, entries will be accepted in DVD format. Six copies of each entry should be sent to Thoroughbred Racing Associations, 420 Fair Hill Drive, Suite 1, Elkton, MD 21921, along with a letter of entry detailing the contact name for the entry and the date the program aired. TUCSON TRACK DEFICIENT “Serious structural deficiencies” at 63-year-old Rillito Park Racetrack in sunny Tucson, Arizona, have prompted Pima County officials to consider tearing it down and replacing it with athletic fields. That idea is drawing opposition from the horse racing community. The track needs $1 million to $1.5 million in repairs to avoid a “catastrophic failure” of the steel-and-wood grandstand, according to a consultants’s report. The grandstand, built in 1962 and considered an eyesore by many in the Old Pueblo, was “built deficiently [and] never strengthened adequately.” County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry says the county doesn’t have the money it would take to repair the facility, let alone the estimated $5 million to $6 million it would cost to replace the structure with a new one. That puts the next racing season, slated to begin in January of 2006, in jeopardy. For now, the facility remains closed, but as a result of the dire reports and in an effort to move the issue forward, a county advisory commission voted unanimously to “seek short- and long-term solutions.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond July 18, 2005 Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor HTA ART CATALOG NOW ONLINE Harness Tracks of America’s new art catalog for its Oct. 1 sale is now online on the HTA Web site. www.harnesstracks.com, and also can be accessed at www.elegantequineart.com. All 200 works are illustrated in full color, and each is enlargeable for clearer viewing. A print version of the catalog will be available free of charge by Aug. 1, and the actual work will go on display in the grandstand of the Red Mile in Lexington, KY, Monday, Sept. 26, and remain on display through Friday the 30th, when it will be moved to Tattersalls following that afternoon’s racing program for auction the following morning. This year’s auction is divided into four sections. The first is original harness racing art, numbers 1 thru 85, which will be sold starting at 8:30 a.m. This section includes the largest collection of harness art ever offered by the Polish cavalry officer-turned-artist, Zenon Aniszewski, HTA’s most popular and successful artist. Included in this section is an original early work by George Ford Morris, a beautiful painting of the trotter Baroness done by Morris in 1906. Section II consists of a superb collection of Currier & Ives trotting prints, numbers 86 thru 124, selling at 10:30, and including such exceptional prints as Central Park in Winter, Trustee, Stars of the Trotting Track, Trotting Cracks on the Snow, A Brush for the Lead: New York Flyers on the Snow, and Ready for the Trot. Also being offered, in mint condition, is Salvadore Dali’s American Trotting Horses #1 and American Trotting Horses #2, hand signed by the world renowned surrealist artist. A rare Currier, lithographed from a painting by the English master J. F. Herring Sr., also is in the auction, along with five Currier & Ives comics and an original pen and ink drawing by Robert Dickey. Section III, going under the hammer at 11:30 a.m., are truly exceptional equine bronzes by renowned European masters. Isidore Jules Bonheur, Pierre Jules Mene, Pierre Lenordez and Arthur Waagen are represented in the collection. Starting at noon, HTA offers 70 works catalogued as The Glory of the Horse, including paintings of thoroughbreds, western horses, Indian ponies, carriage horses, broncos,and show horses, and some beautiful prints as well. Work by Zenon Aniszewski, Helen Hayes, Svetlana Gadjieva, Henry Stull, Alfred Edgerton Cooper, Richard Stone Reeves, George Ford Morris, Santos Barbosa, Mostafa Keyhani, Sherry Blanchard Stuart, Alyson Champ, David Pavlak, Joan MacIntyre and other well known equine artists are featured. All net proceeds of the show, as always, go to the HTA College Scholarship Fund, a 501 (c) 3 charity. HTA tracks are invited to participate. THE END FOR HIALEAH? Hialeah Park, once one of America’s most beautiful racetracks, may have reached the end of the line. The Third District Court of Appeals in Miami affirmed an order by Florida’s Department of Business Regulation to revoke Hialeah’s racing permit. Track owner and president John Brunetti says he now will move ahead with plans to rezone the property for commercial use, and if that happens another American racing landmark disappears. THE MEN WHO OPPOSE GURAL Speculator Shawn Scott and three Florida partners, all of whom were unable to get New York licenses to run Vernon Downs and its racino, now have filed a federal bankruptcy plan to pay off the track’s nearly $30 million in debt and re-sell Vernon’s parent, Mid-State Racway. The group wants to prevent New York realtor and horse owner Jeff Gural from buying and operating the track. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor HOW ABOUT ONE ON SHAWN? With the federal bankruptcy court hearing on Vernon Downs just a week away, Shawn Scott has run ads in the New York Post soliciting information on his rival, real estate executive and harness racing owner-breeder Jeff Gural. The ad reads, “Have you dealt with Newmark & Co. or Jeff Gural? If you have experience negotiating with or doing business with either that you would be willing to share, please contact Holly.” The 800 number given in the ad, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard, rings to a voice mail, where a woman’s voice identifies herself as Holly Lackey. A Scott associate works for the Dallas law firm of Lackey Hershman. Gural might consider running a similar ad asking for information on Scott. Might as well make this fight interesting. Scott, still trying to get licensed in New York, reportedly will have another hearing Friday before the Racing and Wagering Board. While this was going on in New York, Scott’s mother Victoria, a high stakes player herself, was in the news in Alaska. The Anchorage Daily News reported that Ms. Scott, who has a residence in Anchorage, is sponsoring an initiative to bring video poker to Alaska. The story said she and Shawn have worked together in the past, including in a company that sponsored the successful effort to bring slots to Bangor Raceway, but Ms. Scott told the Anchorage paper that this project is hers alone. Calling Shawn Scott’s dealings “profitable but checkered,” the Daily News reported that “Victoria Scott bristled at the mention of her son, saying she has run several ventures without him, including a chain of video poker truck stops in Louisiana. ‘These problems existed for him long before I got my truck stop licenses,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why you’re even bringing his name into this.’” The paper reported that Scott’s July 19, 2005 original initiative draft was denied certification earlier this year by Lt. Gov. Loren Leman following an attorney general’s opinion. The AG ruled the proposal was “not of statewide interest” since it allowed just one licensee to run a full blown gambling facility through 2008 by designating a specific Anchorage parcel, a 670,824 square-foot lot, roughly 15 acres, on which Ms. Scott holds an option -- as a “gaming district,” the only place a video lottery terminal facility could be located in Alaska. A revised initiative, now under review, would require the sponsors to collect enough signatures to place it on the 2006 ballot. The new proposal would allow up to five video poker machines in bars and pulltab parlors with voter approval of them and the creation of new gaming districts. Only one in any borough of more than 30,000 would be allowed. ACCOUNT BETS IN NV CASINOS The Las Vegas Sun reports that Nevada gaming regulators have begun reviewing new regulations that would permit telephone betting accounts with Nevada casinos to be opened by out-of-state bettors. The new rules were presented to the State Gaming Control Board for consideration last week. Recommendation there would lead to a hearing before the Nevada Gaming Commission before the out-of-state telephone accounts could be opened. FIRST YOUBET, NOW AUTOTOTE First it was Youbet, buying International Racing Group in Curacao in February. Now Autotote Enterprises, a division of Scientific Games, has signed a five-year deal to supply simulcast services at Tote Investments Racing Service simulcast centers on the island of Barbados, at an estimated value of $5 million for the five years. Autotote president Rick Pullman said he hoped the deal would “extend the successes we have enjoyed in our other recent Caribbean launches in St. Croix and the Bahamas.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 20, 2005 BATAVIA DOWNS BACK IN HTA COMPUTER GLITCHES? C’MON Batavia Downs, ready to return to live racing action August 3, this time fortified by 586 VLTs, also is returning to HTA. The country’s oldest night time pari-mutuel harness track, which was first licensed in September of 1940, reopens with racing Wednesdays through Saturdays and a 7:35 post time and a busy promotional schedule. HTA welcomes track president Marty Basinait back to its board of directors, and wishes him and his Western OTB management team the best of luck with the revitalized venture. The NTRA, accused by some players that entrants had past-posted selections in an online handicapping contest, explained patiently that this was not true, and that several computer glitches had forced NTRA to take down its leader board a number of times to correct computer malfunctions. We know exactly what NTRA is talking about. One of Tucson’s famed monsoon lightning storms struck Monday night, and knocked our office modem clear into California. We were without Internet service all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and hopefully by the end of this column a new modem will have been installed. Glitches? You’re damn right. They happen. KEY NYRA MAN OUT THE DOOR The Albany Times-Union reports today that the New York Racing Association’s $200,000 a year chief financial officer will be shown the door tomorrow morning. CFO William Byrne would be the fifth NYRA executive to get the boot in the last week -- the racing secretary and director of personnel preceded him -- but the Times-Union also reported that “a source familiar with NYRA business affairs” said Byrne had renewed his contract just last month for another two years. The dismissals at NYRA come only days before the Getnick and Getnick law firm is scheduled to complete its monitoring report on NYRA, more than 18 months in the making, which will be provided to a federal judge no later than Monday. A FUROR OVER CREDIT The announcement by Maryland governor Robert L. Ehrhlich yesterday that Maryland has gone from $1 billion in debt to a surplus of more than $1 billion during his regime might be expected to generate joy. Instead, the Democrats lashed out at the Republican governor, giving credit for the turnaround to everything from the weather to interest rates and calling Erhlich’s claims of credit “outrageous and bogus.” Obviously, nothing has changed in Maryland. THE MEADOWS IS NEXT Magna Entertainment’s construction war room, located in its headquarters in Aurora, Ontario, and called DreamWorks Stronach by those who work there, is growing nervous as the next Gulfstream season approaches, according to reports from Tom LaMarra in Thoroughbred Times. Dennis Mills, MEC’s executive VP, told LaMarra the company’s construction guys “will be losing a lot of hair over this one,” but predicted, “When we make this a success, others are going to see that the modernization of the racetrack environment into a multipurpose facility is working, and hopefully others will do the same.” The good news, from a harness racing point of view, is that Charlie Thomas, an architect in MEC’s design department, said that when Gulfstream is complete Magna’s focus then will turn to its HTA member The Meadows, where the track will be retrofitted with a racino. Whether the construction crews get Gulfstream finished in time for racing is not the real issue in Florida. More important is if the state’s glacially paced legislators get off their butts and pass enabling slots regulations. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 21, 2005 A RENAISSANCE? GREAT NEWS ROBERTS KNOWS GAMING When someone reports a renaissance in racing these days, it is like man bites dog: it is news. That’s the word out of Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada, once known as the Maritimes, where new legislation and a newly built racetrack have rejuvenated the sport. To fully understand and appreciate this, you have to realize that Prince Edward Island is one of the hotbeds of harness racing anywhere, on scale. It is difficult to drive around the island and not see trotters and pacers in backyard paddocks, and the people know the sport intimately. One of the world’s greatest trainer-drivers, Joe O’Brien, hailed from there. And things had been looking grim for a while. Atlantic Lotto tried to revive things once, then pulled out, and trainer Ron Matheson says, “It was pretty dismal for a few years.” Then Atlantic Lottery Corporation stepped in, and a racino is being built at the island’s main racing venue, Charlottetown Driving Park, scene of a major racing festival each summer. The physical racetrack itself was rebuilt, casino subsidies already are in place, and purses are up some 50% since last year. One of the island’s leading breeders, Brian Andrew of Meridian Farms, says, “The standardbred industry is a very important aspect of the agriculture scene on PEI, and if it’s going ahead, then it only means it’s going to help the economy as well -- in terms of sales, feed, harness, equipment, it all filters down.” A sign of the revival is the fact that on a recent card, 107 horses were entered and drew in and another 99 that were entered did not get in. That’s a sign of renaissance. Just thought that another reminder of what alternative gaming can do -- not that one is needed -- might brighten an otherwise dull Thursday. If you ever get a chance to go to Charlottetown for the Gold Cup and Saucer classic in summer, make the trip. You’ll find it entertaining and, who knows, perhaps educational. Not sure it makes any difference, but if John Roberts is confirmed as a Supreme Court justice -anybody game enough to bet against that odds-on choice? -- it will mark an unusual occurrence, a justice who knows gaming. Roberts, while in private practice, participated in a 1999 case before the Supreme Court involving gaming, where the Court ruled unanimously that banning television and radio advertising for casinos violated the First Amendment. Roberts, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, did not appear during oral arguments, but prepared a brief and was “counsel of record” for the American Gaming Association. He wrote that an advertising ban could not be justified by “the perceived dangers of commercial casino gaming.” The briefs were filed in support of the Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Association, 26 television and radio stations that won their case against federal attempts to ban air ads for casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi. Roberts and the American Gaming Association’s president Frank Fahrenkopf both worked for the same Washington law firm, Hogan and Hartson, in 1986. Fahrenkopf said Roberts would “decide cases based on the facts and law presented,” but added, “It’s nice to know there is a member of the court who at least knows about the industry and its background. He is aware of the real picture of the industry, and not just the myths and superstitions still in the mind of some of the media. That’s a positive, but it may not help us.” INSURANCE NOT SIMPLE, BOYS Kentucky’s blue ribbon panel on jockey compensation insurance is discovering that, and has begged off meeting a September 1 deadline to make recommendations to Gov. Ernie Fletcher, saying it would be premature without further information. One member said, “A proposal is great, but if we can’t fund it, it’s not worth a whole lot.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 22, 2005 RECAPITALIZATION AT MAGNA MOHEGANS ANNOUNCE PLANS Magna Entertainment announced today that, as part of its strategic plan, its board has approved recapitalization that includes two binding term sheets for loan agreements with a subsidiary of MI Developments. The first effectively replaces the existing $77 million construction loan for a racino at HTA member The Meadows in Pennsylvania with a loan for up to $34.2 million to fund the development, design and construction of an alternative gaming facility at Remington Park in Oklahoma. It was not clear from the announcement how the transaction would affect construction at The Meadows, and a call to Magna executive VP and CFO Blake Tohana had not been returned at press time. In addition to that development, certain terms of the existing $115 million Gulfstream Park loan will be amended, with a second term sheet for a bridge loan for a non-revolving general credit facility up to $100 million. MI Developments is the controlling shareholder of Magna Entertainment, owning some 59% of MEC’s equity securities and 96% of the votes attached to its voting securities. Magna Entertainment president and CEO Tom Hodgson said he was pleased to advise shareholders “of our continuing progress in implementing our strategic plan, and our commitment to achieving debt reduction through asset sales, a possible gaming partnership, and a possible future equity financing.” The release said the recapitalization plan would include “the sale of certain non-strategic real estate, racetracks and other assets to generate some $150 million, but did not specify which racetracks Magna might sell. In Oklahoma, where Magna Entertainment has been paying $132,857 a year to lease Remington property owned by the Oklahoma City Zoo, it was announced that the company had agreed to pay at least $370,000 more a year to lease the Zoo land. The zoo had demanded an increase in anticipation of slot revenue from 650 planned machines. As promised, Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority president Robert Soper announced the Authority’s plans for The Downs at Pocono yesterday, saying they would start with a $47 million construction project in September in order to have a temporary slot machine facility ready at the track by early 2006. A more ambitious project, to build a 400,000-square-foot casino and entertainment complex, will start once the state has issued a conditional license. The entire project will cost $187 to $207 million, and when up and running would employ up to 800. In Harrisburg, meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced it had adopted licensing standards for the track parlors, and could start accepting license applications as early as September. No firm date has been set for the issuance of any licenses, but Control Board spokesman Nick Hays said no licenses are expected to be issued before early 2006. CAL-EXPO GETS ITS DATES The California Horse Racing Board has granted dates for September 23 thru Dec. 30 to the new Sacramento Harness Association, which will be headed by president Ralph Scurfield, former chairman of the California Horse Racing Board. Chris Schick, longtime Cal-Expo official who built the track’s extensive simulcasting network, will serve as general manager of the new group. HORSEMEN BETTER THINK Jeff Gural, who has loaned Vernon Downs $1.5 million in his quest to buy it, says he is “wavering” in view of a lack of horsemen’s support. Vernon horsemen and their leaders had better stop playing power games and start thinking. CONTROLLER JOB OPEN A major member of HTA is looking for an experienced controller. Call HTA at 529-2525. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SCOTT DENIED LICENSE AGAIN The New York Racing and Wagering Board on Friday again denied promoter Shawn Scott a license to operate a race track in New York, citing “lack of credibility” and misstatements in previous dealings with the board. Scott’s attorney said he will appeal. In another development affecting Vernon Downs -- and one that makes it unlikely the track will race this year -- a Bankruptcy Court judge postponed until August a hearing on the competing bids of Scott and New York real estate magnate and harness horse owner-breeder Jeff Gural. The judge delayed the hearing after a morning of deliberation in which he decided it would be unfair to allow an amended Gural plan, offered a night before the hearing, to be heard on such short notice. The judge also wants both disclosure statements to be debated at the same time, to allow creditors to examine both and vote on one or the other. The Scott plan provides for a partnership with Raceway Ventures, in which they would pay $30 million to get the track out of debt, loan it $10 million more to improve it, and then sell it to an interested buyer. Scott currently owns 52% of the track’s stock, and his plan would allow all shareholders to keep their stock. Under the Gural proposal put forward by him and TrackPower, a Canadian partner, Gural would become sole owner of the track, according to the Oneida Dispatch, and then allow previous shareholders to buy back a certain percentage, providing they can be licensed in New York. Gural lawyers were anxious to have the matter resolved, since Gural’s $1.2 million and $675,000 loans are running low, and the lawyers say they will be gone by Aug. 23. The Gural agreement also contains a clause that would allow him to back out of the offer on Sept. 15 if his plan has not been approved by that date. The judge wants to know if Gural and TrackPower can pay creditors the $32 million they are owed. July 25, 2005 In another Gural development, groundbreaking ceremonies were held in the town of Nichols, NY, of the route 17 expressway, for the beginning of demolition and construction of Gural’s Tioga Downs, which he hopes to open with as many as 750 video lottery terminals in the spring of 2006. PURDON ON TRIAL IN NZ After 14 months of investigation, during which two of the principals reportedly committed suicide, leading trainer Mark Purdon is on trial in New Zealand in the “Blue Magic” case, involving use of propantheline bromide. The two key figures who are dead are John Seaton, one of New Zealand’s most prominent owners, who also was to have faced charges, and Robert Asquith, charged with supplying the illegal drug. Australian coroners, who work at their own pace, still have not confirmed the deaths as suicides. In a sideline to the matter, assault charges were withdrawn against Purdon’s mother-in-law, who was accused of driving her car at a blue magic protester outside of Purdon’ stable last July and then assaulting him as he lay on the road. FOXWOODS IN DISPUTE Connecticut state regulators have ordered Foxwoods Resort Casino to shut down an Internet promotion, marketing a “Play Away” commercial for remote play, but the tribe has refused. The state attorney general says, “This game has to stop.” We’ll see who wins this one. WE KNOW YOU, TOM LAMARRA In an embarrassing error, Executive Newsletter last week misidentified veteran racing writer Tom LaMarra as being with Thoroughbred Times. Tom is, of course, news editor of The Blood-Horse. We are avid readers of both excellent thoroughbred publications, but like the New York Times, which never acknowledges mistakes, we attribute this to an “editing error.” You can call it a plain dumb mistake. Sorry. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 26, 2005 MEADOWS SEEMS SECURE HEY GOV, HOW ABOUT RACING Last week, when Magna Entertainment announced it was redirecting construction monies from The Meadows to Remington Park, HTA inquired of MEC CFO Blake Tohana how the refinancing might affect HTA member The Meadows. Mr. Tohana did not reply, but yesterday an MEC conference call gave a hint. The company’s chief executive, Tom Hodgson, identified five key properties as core operations “with the greatest potential for value creation,” and The Meadows was not one of them. He did say, however, that MEC would “aggressively pursue alternative gaming opportunities” at Remington Park, The Meadows and Gulfstream Park, and said results at The Meadows could jump by between $50 million and $60 million with the introduction of slots. So while MEC said it plans to sell at least $150 million worth of assets in the next 12 months to pay down debt, The Meadows is not likely to be one of those assets. MEC recently sold Flamboro Downs in Ontario for $64 million, taking an impairment charge of some $10 million, which Hodgson said was “not pleasant, but the right strategic move.” MEC also owns Thistledown in Ohio, Portland Meadows in Oregon, and Great Lakes Downs in Michigan, among other properties, along with the Horseracing TV cable network and a onethird interest in the Racetrack Television Network. The governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, has logic of his own, and we apologize if we cannot understand it. The governor now says that since video gambling machines openly operating in many of the state’s bars, social clubs and truck stops are illegal, one way to solve the problem is to legalize them. Daniels says that while he generally opposes an expansion of gambling, he wouldn’t consider that approach as an expansion. Okay, governor, if you say so. But logic would also seem to dictate that legalizing pull tabs or VLTs or whatever at Indiana’s two racetracks, which employ hundreds, would not be an extension of gambling either, since people already go there to gamble. BETFAIR SEEKS FOOT IN DOOR Nancy Hanks, world champion trotter from 1892 to 1894, will be reburied, along with 17 other great horses, at historic Hamburg Place in Kentucky. Preston and Anita Madden and their son Patrick, who own the nursery that has been in existence in the family since 1898, say the new cemetary will be more accessible to the public. HTA, meanwhile, will offer a beautiful 1897 chromolithograph of Nancy Hanks, driven by her famed driver Budd Doble, in its College Scholarship Art Auction in Lexington Saturday morning, Oct. 1. Controversial Betfair, which has circumvented Australian opposition by seeking a license in Tasmania, is seeking to do the same here. It has approached the HBPA, NTRA, Breeders’ Cup and individual tracks for partnering, but the company has been involved in another investigation in Australia after stewards found an “unusually high” amount of money bet on two odds-on favorites to lose and said the circumstances warranted further investigation. 17 PAY UP FOR $1.5 MIL HAMBO Owners of 17 3-year-old trotting colts paid $12,500 each this morning to enter the sport’s richest trotting race, the $1.5 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands. Eliminations will be raced Saturday night to determine the field for the classic on Saturday, August 6. Ken Warkentin and Classic Photo are the early favorites. The Hambletonian Oaks, the $750,000 companion feature of the Hambletonian, drew 27 filly entrants, and three eliminations will be raced on Saturday night’s Meadowlands’ card. NANCY MOVES; WE HAVE HER HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 27, 2005 SUN SHINES IN FLORIDA DARK HEADLINES DOWN UNDER The Speaker of the House in Florida, Allan Bense, now says he could call a special session in October, or possibly November, to write rules for South Florida slot machines. “I think it’s going to have to happen,” Bense was reported to have told his top deputies, a pleasant change from the legislature’s adjournment last spring without taking any action on the matter. Bense was quoted by south Florida’s Sun-Sentinel as saying House and Senate negotiators are inching closer to compromises on the two chief slot issues -- how much to tax the revenue, and whether to allow Vegasstyle slots or only bingo-style machines. Chemicals in racing are not solely a North American issue. They are commanding black headlines in New Zealand and Australia as well. Yesterday, one of New Zealand’s best known trainers, Mark Purdon, pleaded guilty in Christchurch to acting “in a manner detrimental to the interests of harness racing.” Purdon admitted to administering “a substance” twice to a pacer in his care, but said he did not know it was propantheline bromide, or Blue Magic. Purdon said he was introduced to the supplier of the stuff, Robert Asquith, by his principal owner, John Seaton. Both are dead, reportedly suicides, although the Christchurch coroner has not gotten around yet to officially confirming that much publicized fact. Purdon faces suspension from racing and a fine of up to $25,000 when he is sentenced in two weeks. BROCK COULD BE BIG PLAYER When Bob Roberts writes racing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, people pay attention. It was news, therefore, when Roberts speculated in his dispatch this morning about whether Brock Milstein, the chairman of HTA member Northfield Park and senior VP of HTA, might be interested in buying Thistledown if Magna Entertainment should decide to sell it. That possibility arose earlier this week when Magna president and CEO Tom Hodgson left Thistledown out of his list of Magna’s “premier” tracks, and hinted that some lesser Magna lights might be sold. The Meadows near Pittsburgh also was not named by Hodgson as a premier asset, although he did say its business could be grown by $50 to $60 million with the expected advent of slots in Pennsylvania next year. Roberts went farther in his speculation, asking if Milstein “would be more interested in The Meadows” if it were put up for sale, and he quoted Northfield’s CEO, Tom Aldrich, as saying, “That’s a very good question. Brock’s heart is in Cleveland, but slots are not in Ohio.” Roberts suggested that if it did, Magna “might be cradling Thistledown in its arms.” While this was going on in New Zealand, Sydney’s leading thoroughbred trainer Gai Waterhouse was making headlines in Australia. Her horse Love You Honey turned up positive for cocaine after a race April 25, and Ms. Waterhouse now says her daughter reports Sydney is “awash” with cocaine and the positive could have resulted from stable employees visiting nightclubs where cocaine use is “epidemic” according to Ms. Waterhouse’s son and daughter. One groom in the Waterhouse stable has admitted to being a cocaine user, and Ms. Waterhouse insists “nobody has given this horse cocaine.” BIG MONEY ON THE LINE Four $250,000 finals in the Classic series for older horses, and two $100,000 eliminations for next week’s $1.5 million Hambletonian, will be raced Saturday night at the Meadowlands. In addition, there will be $632,000 in purses on Mohawk’ Saturday night card. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 28, 2005 WOODBINE LIVE! AND HUGE! TWOGUNS SHOT DOWN Woodbine Entertainment Group, in partnership with The Cordish Company, a Baltimore-based development company, announced today a $310 million project to develop a 25-acre entertainment district on Woodbine’s spacious grounds near the Toronto airport. To be called Woodbine Live!, the plan is to transform Woodbine Racetrack into a thriving entertainment destination, including movie theaters, a multi-purpose live performance hall, restaurants, bars, clubs, retail shops, and a hotel with pool oasis, all in a vibrant mainstreet setting. The mayor of Toronto, David Miller, called the project “remarkable because urban design is such an integral part of the plan. These storefronts, walkways, fountains and so on have the potential to contribute greatly to the overall beauty of our city” Woodbine Live! will be located on the northwest side of the track, accessible off busy Highway 427 by two main entrance arteries. Woodbine chair and CEO David Willmot said, in announcing the project at a press conference today, “We wanted a tourist and entertainment development that is synergistic with the energy and excitement of horse racing, as opposed to a conventional development that goes dark at 5 p.m.” He said the Cordish company shared that vision and brings a wealth of experience to creating it. Willmot said some 1,100 jobs will be created over the two-year construction period, and 2,300 will be generated permanently when the complex is completed. Woodbine Live! is scheduled to open by the end of 2007. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has rejected an Indian election that was underwritten in part by Empire Resorts, the owner of Monticello Raceway. Empire, hoping to build and manage a casino owned by the Cayuga Nation, helped back an election in which three tribal members replaced the traditional government of the Cayugas, a small New York tribe without a reservation. The three -- Timothy Twoguns, Gary Wheeler and Michael Wheeler -- were told by Bureau of Indian Affairs regional director Franklin Keel that “the level of support for changing the form of government of the Cayuga Nation is insufficient,” and that the federal government would not recognize the election. Twoguns had said Empire Resorts had paid for expenses of the tribal election, which was shunned by members who only recognize traditionally appointed chiefs. The traditional sixmember governance of the tribe includes at least four members who oppose casinos, including Clint Halftown, who originally signed a deal with Empire and later announced opposition to the partnership, according to the Albany Times Union. The paper quoted Joseph Heath, a lawyer representing some of the traditional tribe members, as saying the ruling is “a severe blow for Empire,” which he said “had tried to overthrow the government of the Cayugas.” Assemblyman James Brennan, a Brooklyn Democrat who took part in the hearings on Indian land claims in New York state, said, “Empire was clearly involved in an effort to manipulate the election and sort of hijack the will of the tribe.” It was Brennan who wrote the Bureau of Indian Affairs in late June alerting them that Empire was trying to influence the Cayuga government to ensure that it would settle land claims against New York in return for rights to a casino. An Empire spokesman declined to discuss the matter beyond a prepared statement. POULIN IN DEEPER IN NY The FBI has revealed that former harness trainerdriver Rene Poulin told them that he milkshaked horses for thoroughbred trainer Gregory Martin for five months in 2003, and that one gambler said after one race, “You must have had in hi-test today.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor July 29, 2005 TAX LEGISLATION INTRODUCED OHHA DROPS OUT OF OHRIA Three U.S. senators have introduced legislation that could revitalize horse racing ownership if it passes. Republicans Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Democrat Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas have introduced the Equine Equity Act, which would put horses on an equal tax plane with other enterprises. Jay Hickey, president of the Washington, DC-based American Horse Council, said the legislation was well named, since “it would eliminate the disparate treatment that horse owners and breeders receive under several outdated and ill-conceived federal laws, including the federal tax code.” Under the proposed legislation, horses would be made eligible for capital gains treatment after 12 months, similar to other business assets; all race horses would be placed in a three-year category for depreciation purposes; and horses would become eligible for federal emergency assistance under circumstances presently enjoyed by other livestock and crop producers. The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association, long considered the shining example of effective cooperation in horse racing, suffered a serious blow yesterday when the Ontario Harness Horse Association announced its board had unanimously approved withdrawing from OHRIA. The chairman of OHRIA, Tom Deacon, said of the defection, “OHHA has always been a restless participant in OHRIA. Now OHRIA is left to redefine itself. At next Wednesday’s OHRIA meeting we will determine what will happen next. It is my hope that the remaining participants will wish to continue with the organization even without their vagabond friend.” OHRIA, under its former director, Jane Holmes -- winner of HTA’s Messenger Award in 2002 for her pioneering work in helping unite the industry in Ontario -- played a significant role in working with the Ontario Lottery Commission to bring slots to Ontario’s 17 tracks. Ms. Holmes now is a key member of the executive staff at Woodbine. Under the present tax code, gains from sales by individuals of property used in a trade or business, including horses, qualify for long-term capital gains and are subject to the maximum capital gains tax of 15%. But where they are held for breeding, racing, showing or draft purposes, they must be held for 24 months to qualify for the 15% rate, unlike all other business assets, except cattle, which qualify after being held for 12 months. Passage of the new legislation would end this discriminatory treatment of horses under the tax code and allow owners to enjoy the reduced 15% rate after holding a horse for one year, except where it was held specifically for sale. Horses also would be eligible for the same disaster assistance as other livestock, and senator McConnell says his new bill will remove that unfair tax burden “that discourages investment in the horse industry.” $90 MILLION TO GO ONLINE That’s what International Game Technology paid this week to acquire SanFrancisco-based WagerWorks, which provides content to Internet gaming sites including the World Poker Tour’s online casino and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group in Great Britain. IGT chairman and CEO T J Matthews says the purchase will let IGT distribute games across the Internet, wireless phones, PDAs and interactive television. HTA, HANOVER HONOR GROOM HTA chairman Chris McErlean and Hanover Shoe Farms president Jim Simpson will present HTA’s Caretaker of the Year Emma Johansson with a Jim Ponter oil painting of herself with her two champions of 2004, Windsong’s Legacy and Housethatruthbuilt, during the Meadowlands’ huge racing card tomorrow night. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor DOG DAYS FOR GREYHOUNDS Last week was not a good week for the greyhound industry. In Connecticut, once popular Plainfield Greyhound Park announced it would close its doors after its Aug. 12 simulcasting session. The track had given up live racing three months ago, but was continuing with simulcasting, but is abandoning even that refuge now after being unable to pay for incoming signals. Karen Keelan, executive vice president of the 30-year-old track, said live racing could return next year on a limited basis, but no applications have been filed with the state. Keelan said, “With the casinos having racebooks 15 minutes away, they took the majority of our customers. We were unable to sustain the financial losses.” The town of Plainfield, meanwhile, said it will continue to bill the track some $90,000 in annual property taxes, but has not received the $50,000 payment due July 1. Plainfield Greyhound opened in 1976 and at its zenith contributed more than $2 million a year to the town’s economy, and $4.9 million to the state in 1976. Last year Plainfield got $155,000 and Connecticut $109,394. The track’s viability began to fade when Foxwoods opened in 1992 and worsened when the Mohegan Sun began operations in 1996. A local area developer plans to build a domed auto racetrack and convention center nearby and incorporate the dog track in it, and his plans were approved by the city’s planning and zoning commission, but now are being challenged in court. In Iowa, meanwhile, the former president of the National Greyhound Association revealed that he had been a hidden 50% owner of a kennel at the Bluffs Run greyhound track in Council Bluffs. According to the Des Moines Sunday Register, well-known breeder and owner Herb (Dutch) Koerner also admitted working with his partner to have ineligible dogs falsely certified as Iowa-breds. No charges August 1, 2005 have been brought against Koerner as yet. No charges have been brought in Tucson, either, against a kennel owner who received front page treatment in local papers after dozens of dogs were discovered in flea and tick infested quarters. The Arizona Department of Racing apparently did not consider the situation serious enough to warrant penalties, but the Arizona Daily Star found it newsworthy enough to give the sport a black eye in Arizona’s second largest city. WISCONSIN GOV PULLS PLUG Jim Doyle, the governor of Wisconsin, has vetoed a Republican proposal to extend video gaming and simulcasting beyond Indian reservation borders. Doyle said in his veto message that “the expanded use of video gaming devices for pari-mutuel wagering could raise serious constitutional concerns by expanding gambling.” Wisconsin’s constitution allows horse and dog tracks and Indian casinos, but restricts the tribal casinos to reservations or tribal trust land. IN INDIANA, AMBIGUITY The Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Journal Gazette, confused by mixed signals on video gaming in the state, is asking Gov. Mitch Daniels to clarify his administration’s position. The paper noted that in one corner the Indiana State Excise Police are writing citations, confiscating money and disabling some of the 20,000 to 25,000 estimated Cherry Master machines in bars, taverns, fraternal organizations and truck stops across the state, while the Hoosier Lottery is seeking a legal opinion on whether it has the authority to offer video gaming machines. Daniels declined an interview, but did say, “I prefer frankly to see us get to a point where if these machines are going to be available recreation in Indiana that they are done above board in a regulated fashion and remove the hypocrisy of the status quo.” Your two racetracks would be a perfect setting, governor. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 2, 2005 BETFAIR AND THE BACK DOOR LOTTERIES FEELING A PINCH Betfair, the English betting exchange that is trying desperately to get a foothold in America and Australia, and is almost universally opposed by the racing industry, has found a chink in the Australian armor by hustling Tasmania, the island of 456,000 people that lies directly south of Australia. The premier of Tasmania, Paul Lennon, wants Betfair, and the harness racing chairman John Hammond recently gave his personal approval of letting the exchange operate there, although his board has not taken an official position. The thoroughbred industry strongly opposes the idea, and so does racing in Australia, and Hammond accused the head of thoroughbred racing on the island of pushing the Australian view rather than thinking of Tasmania. Hammond went farther, suggesting that Harness Racing Victoria and Australia’s other leading harness racing bodies “sit down with the Betfair people, as he did, and hear what they had to say.” John Anderson, the chief executive of Harness Racing Victoria, had a quick answer to that. He said it will never happen. “We would never even entertain the thought of meeting and talking to Betfair. Frankly, I am staggered by John Hammond’s personal view on the whole issue.” With lotto sales in what the New York Post calls “free-fall -- down 22% through July 24 over the same period last year,” speculation is that the growing popularity of VLTs are cutting sharply into Lotto, Mega Millions and keno-like Quick Draw, all of which are down from last year. Lotto sales, for example, totaled $157.4 million this year thru three weeks of July, as opposed to $201.7 million in the same period last year. The Post also said experts expect that “huge videogaming parlors planned for Yonkers and Aqueduct” will hurt Lotto and other games even more. Interestingly, scratch-off instant games have done well, showing a 10.6% increase this year over last. And no tears need be shed for the New York lottery overall, with sales up 5.3% over the same period last year. JUDGE CLEARS PA SLOTS A United States District Judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by a disgruntled applicant against Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and other legislators. Pittsburgh developer C. J. Betters, who wanted to build a thoroughbred track and racino in Pittsburgh, had filed the suit, but the federal judge tossed out the action on grounds that the state and its top officials are immune from liability. The judge also dismissed the Gaming Control Board from the suit. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the slots law last month. In a related development, Informa Telecoms & Media’s latest report, Mobile Gambling, projects that form of gambling as poised to rocket from current annual revenue levels of $1.2 billion to $7.6 billion by 2010. The author of the report, Stuart Dredge, said that to reach that goal, operators and the companies that run mobile gambling services will have to negotiate legislative, technological and cultural hurdles. The report says Europe is likely to remain the largest market for mobile gambling, followed by Asia-Pacific, with North America described as “the great unknown” because of legislative and regulatory issues. ESTOK, WOLF, FLY HTA COLORS HTA chief counsel Paul Estok and former HTA executive assistant Maury Wolf spoke on legal and rebating issues in racing today at Bennett Liebman’s Albany Law School symposium in Saratoga Springs, NY. The two appeared with Ed Martin of RCI and Greg Avioli of the NTRA, the panel moderated by New York Racing Board member Cheryl Buley. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 3, 2005 SOME SLIGHT DISAGREEMENTS LEADING TRAINER GROUNDED Bennett Liebman’s annual Albany Law School Symposium on racing drew a standing room only crowd yesterday, and produced some friendly and a few not-so-friendly jabs from participants with differing viewpoints. Perhaps most significant were the glowing remarks of Neil Getnick, the court-appointed federal monitor of New York Racing Association’s reformation movement. Getnick said, in telling how NYRA had taken steps to correct deficiencies, “Simply put, NYRA has unequivocally said ‘yes’ to racing integrity.” NYRA officials obviously were elated at Getnick’s remarks, president Charles Hayward being so pleased that he joked from the podium, “I think it might be a good idea for Neil to come up and give his speech again.” Hayward said “The monitor has been the best thing that NYRA has had in its recent history.” And NYRA co-chairman Steve Duncker greeted Getnick after his presentation by saying, “Absolutely stunning.” Not quite as enthusiastic or pleased over Getnick’s remarks was Michael Hoblock, chairman of the New York Racing and Wagering Board. He said in a written statement he was “surprised, confused and disappointed over Getnick’s remarks,” adding that “they were not neutral or impartial as you would expect from an independent monitor.” Part of Hoblock’s displeasure came from the fact that Getnick never met with Hoblock during the past year and a half of his monitoring of NYRA. Tom Precious, writing for Blood-Horse, said, “For months, industry officials have privately criticized Getnick for being too close to NYRA officials.” Also sparring were Hayward and Jim McAlpine of Magna Entertainment. McAlpine said Magna was “very interested in participating in the bidding process” for the NYRA franchise, but Hayward took strong exception to some of McAlpine’s references to NYRA’s past and counterattacked with pointed questions about Magna. Sean Campbell, the leading trainer at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, has been suspended from the track pending an investigation of charges of animal cruelty. All of his horses have been scratched for the last four days, according to CBS channel 6 in Albany. The station said the New York Racing and Wagering Board was following up on claims by witnesses who said they saw Campbell beating a horse. Chairman Michael Hoblock said such claims were the basis of many investigations, and that it could take three to six months to resolve the issue. Saratoga’s vice president of racing, Skip Carlson, told the station the matter was in the hands of the racing board, and the track would support any decision it made. Batavia Downs, meanwhile, announced that as it resumes live racing after an 18-month hiatus, it will continue its policy of not allowing family members to compete against one another. Management will not allow brothers or immediate family members to drive in the same race, a move criticized by some and applauded by others in its driving colony. Michael Kane, vice president of racing and gaming for Batavia Downs, said, “We’re not casting any aspersions upon anyone. There is the potential for things to take place that are not in the best interest of racing and by enforcing this rule we eliminate that potential.” The rule carries special significance at Batavia because brothers Kevin Cummings and John Cummings Jr. finished first and second in races won at the Buffalo Raceway meeting just concluded. John Cummings Jr. called the rule “a great injustice,” saying he drove the winners of $445,587 and his brother $480,212 at Buffalo. But trainer-driver Rob Beback complimented management for thinking of public perception. He added, “If you have to make a split-second decision of letting a guy go at the first quarter, you’re not going to park your brother.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 4, 2005 SCOTT’S LAWYER YELLS BIAS A REALLY FAR OUT TRACK IDEA Deborah Deitsch-Perez, who carries the legal briefcase for Shawn Scott, has accused the state hearing officer who found Shawn Scott “not a trustworthy person” of making false assumptions and ignoring evidence. The charges, in the Syracuse Post-Standard, said, “What the hearing officer did was he took the testimony of (racing board) staff at face value...and then found a reason to dismiss the testimony of witnesses for Scott.” The hearing officer, Russell H. Baller Jr., heard 15 days of testimony last winter, in connection with a Scott appeal of the racing board’s 2003 denial of a license to operate racing in New York. Ms. Deitsch-Perez said, “You might as well not have had a hearing.” Baller said in his report that Scott lied to state regulators on his license application and then submitted false documents to cover up his lies. He also reported that Scott had appointed a convicted felon to run the track and gave testimony that was “not credible.” Baller concluded that Scott “is not fit to be licensed as a track manager in harness racing.” In a separate development, the Washington Post carried an editorial saying “promoters of legalizing slot machines in the nation’s capital were virtually thumbing their noses at D.C. election laws. Fortunately, the board found that gambling supporters had committed ‘significant and pervasive irregularities and improprieties of a magnitude never previously experienced in this jurisdiction’ and it imposed a penalty to match: For the first time in its history, the board levied fines in the context of an initiative petition, in the amount of $622,880.” The paper said offshore gambling entrepreneurs who backed the project spent, according to the board’s counsel, at least $1.7 million. The fines, however, were against a local citizen’s committee with $3,410 in the bank. Scott’s name had appeared earlier during the Post’s coverage of Virgin Island backers of the initiative. If you haven’t been able to contact William Coplen, the former general manager of the Red Mile in Lexington, there is a good reason. He is now with an organization called Exchange Unlimited LLC, and he has been spending much of his time in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, on the northern border of China. William was a prime mover in a project undertaken by the Asia-Pacific Equine Investment company, formed last year in Lexington to establish a world-class venue and racing product. Founder Joe Flynn heads the group, which includes former Kentucky governor Martha Layne Collins, horseman Larry Richardson, architect Cheanault Woodford, and Coplen. Asia-Pacific Sports Promotion, a subsidiary of the company, will operate a racing and gaming operation in cooperation with the Mongolian company Roaring Hooves, which is comprised of numerous individuals and existing racing organizations. Horses are big in Mongolia. You remember the Mongol hordes from your history classes. Flynn got the idea when flying over a racetrack as his plane approached Ulaanbaatar, and he made inquiries of the U.S. Ambassador about racing there. Mongolia was enthusiastic, and the group hopes to hold a full race meeting there in 2007. ENTHUSIASM IN ALBERTA, TOO There is optimism in the province of Alberta, too, where councillors in Calgary approved, by a vote of 8 to 1, to allow land proposed for a major new racetrack there to be rezoned. Jonathon Huntington, writing in the Calgary Sun, said the United Horsemen of Alberta still have some regulatory matters to arrange, including submitting detailed proposals and obtaining land scraping permits, but Huntington thinks those issues will be resolved without difficulty. Dr. David Reid, chairman of Horse Racing Alberta, called the council approval “a huge day for horse racing.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 5, 2005 $1.5 MILLION HAMBLETONIAN MEADOWS A “HIGH PRIORITY” Harness racing’s biggest and most important race, the Hambletonian, takes center stage at the Meadowlands tomorrow afternoon. CBS will televise the event, as usual, starting at 2 p.m. eastern time, with Gary Seibel again emceeing the show, working with the talented Caton Bredar and Jay Privman. The presence of the three knowledgeable racing personalities, and the interesting cast that includes Chicago-area owned favorite Classic Photo, a winner of $411,801 this year, with Ron Pierce driving, as the favorite, assures an exciting afternoon. The colt, an $87,000 yearling at the Kentucky Standardbred Sale, enters the classic with four straight victories in races worth $100,000 or more. He is one of two colts by S. J.’s Photo, is trained by Erv Miller, and is owned by H. W. Wright of Morton, IL, Dennis and Kevin Lakomy of Chicago Heights, IL, racing under the nom de course of Mystical Marker Farms, and Jack and Peggy Hood of Valparaiso, IN. Another S. J.’s Photo, Vivid Photo, owned by trainer-driver Roger Hammer of Bedford, PA and Todd M. Schadel of Gratz, PA, was a $30,000 yearling at the Harrisburg, PA, Standardbred Sale and has won five straight and 9 of 11 races this year entering the Hambletonian. Others in the richest Hambletonian ever, and their purchase prices as yearlings, are Gettindownanddirty, $80,000; Mr. Dream Om, $30,000; Muscle Bound, $175,000; Muscle Memory, $17,000; Northern Ensign, $40,000 Canadian; Racino, $30,000; Self Professed, $30,000; and Strong Yankee, $52,000. In an interesting contrast last night at the Meadowlands, Keystone Savage, a $12,000 yearling, won the sport’s richest race for 2-year-old trotters, the $460,000 Peter Haughton Memorial, while the companion $390,000 Merrie Annabelle for 2-yearold trotting fillies was won by Miss Wisconsin, who cost $150,000 last fall as a yearling. Magna Entertainment president and chief executive Thomas Hodgson, in a press conference this morning, indicated that MEC is looking for a partner to operate The Meadows’ racino when it is up and running, possibly in 2006, and although he did not name names industry speculation is that Boyd Gaming may be the partner. Hodgson said of The Meadows, “There is no financing in place (for building the racino) but clearly it’s a priority.....It’s very high priority for us.” Hodgson said Magna did not intend to sell Gulfstream or Santa Anita, but that “the sale of excess real estate is absolutely the critical part of our debt-reduction strategy.” Hodgson revealed that Magna Entertainment lost $26.9 million in the three months ended June 30, bringing total losses for 2005 to $31 million, and three and one-half year losses to $215,128,000. “Our financial results for the three and six months ended June 30 are disappointing in absolute terms,” he said, “but at the same time they are in line with our expectations for 2005 and are consistent with our previously stated expectation that Magna Entertainment will continue to incur operating losses through 2006 but is expected to achieve sustainable operating profitability in 2007 and beyond.” MI Developments, the parent company of Magna Entertainment, reported earnings of $22.3 million in the three months ended June 30, up 87.3% over the same period last year. Revenues rose 16.4% for that period, and net income rose 67% and revenues were up 14.7% for the first six months of the year. In New York, the New York Racing Association reported drops of 15.17% in attendance and 11.2% in handle at Belmont’s summer meet, in part reflecting the absence of a Triple Crown bid in the Belmont Stakes. TVG, meanwhile, passed $100 million in bets during its second quarter, a first, and Youbet.com reported record second quarter net income of $1.3 million. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 8, 2005 THE SPORT’S GREATEST DAY TRY THIS FOR HORROR STORY Harness racing’s greatest day turned out to be just that on Saturday, with new racing records, unprecedented purses and the largest handle in the sport’s history -- over $9 million bet at the Meadowlands and off-track. Between its Friday night and Saturday afternoon programs, the Meadowlands offered eight races with purses of $300,000 or more, and $3.9 million total purses on Hambletonian Day. They were topped, of course, by the $1.5 million Hambletonian and its “country boy” winner, Roger Hammer, who outsmarted all of the sport’s top stars in a flawless drive with his ‘county fair trotter’ that he and his partner bought for $30,000 as a yearling and now has winnings of $846,574. Hammer has been a star at the Pennsylvania fairs for decades, and a familiar figure at the state’s pari-mutuel tracks as well. He is cagey, and he stayed away from last Tuesday’s Hambletonian press conference, opting to race at the county fairs which he dominates. Hammer credited Mal Burroughs, who became the second amateur to win the Hambletonian when he guided his Malabar Man to victory in 1997, with helping him make his decision to drive Vivid Photo himself and not use one of the Meadowlands’ elite corps of catch drivers. “After I won the elim,” he told Dave Little of the New York Daily News, “Mal told me, ‘Drive him yourself. You only get one chance in a lifetime to have a shot to win the Hambletonian.” Hammer took it, and no one could have driven the horse better. He said he figured everyone thought he would get crazy and go for the lead, but he said he planned all along to follow the favorite, Classic Photo, to the head of the stretch. “I figured I’d give my horse a breather for a change, and I knew if he carried me that far my horse could outbrush him. He never gives it up.” He was right.“I was like a politician,” Hammer said. “I fooled everybody and then I won.” Imagine finding yourself in a courtroom with more than a dozen lawyers, and a judge asking them all to agree. That was the scene last Friday in Utica, NY, where a bankruptcy judge listened to the competing plans for Vernon Downs submitted by Jeff Gural and Shawn Scott. The startling surprise was that only one lawyer had any objection, and that lawyer, representing unsecured credited Dominick Giambona, made some points that the judge thought reasonable, and which Gural’s plan already had amended. Gural is offering to raise purses sixfold at Vernon Downs if his plan is accepted, and offer high purses at his Tioga Downs, basing them on potential slots revenue at both tracks and a combined circuit. If Vernon’s horsemen cannot understand the benefit of this after sitting idle for a year, and if their advisors don’t council them to support the idea, they may live to regret it. BLUMENTHAL’S BANS The attorney general of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, does not like gambling and never did. He particularly does not like Internet gambling, considering it a violation of the 1961 Wire Act. A month ago the state shut down a Web promotion by Foxwoods Resort Casino, one of the biggest gambling operations in America. Earlier it has blocked the Connecticut Lottery from introducing a computer-based gambling game. Now it has gone a step farther, and told Penn National Gaming that it will not allow Connecticut residents to wager using eBet USA. Paul Young, executive director of the Special Revenue Division in the state, said, “In Connecticut you cannot use the Internet for online gambling. Period. Telephone gambling is okay.” In response to the Connecticut stand, Penn National has posted a notice on its eBet Web site that reads, “By order of the state of Connecticut we can no longer accept wagers from Connecticut residents.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 9, 2005 BUCCI GUILTY, SERIOUS TIME FARALDO BACKS SCOTT PLAN Dan Bucci, former general manager of Lincoln Downs, was found guilty yesterday of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud by a federal jury in Massachusetts, where his trial was moved after an earlier trial had resulted in a deadlocked jury in Rhode Island. This federal jury heard two weeks of testimony and deliberated three days before it found Bucci and Nigel Potter, the former chief executive of the British firm Wembley PLC, and the company itself, guilty. Bucci was convicted of one bribery conspiracy charge and four wire fraud counts, Potter was convicted of the bribery conspiracy and three wire fraud counts, and the company was deemed guilty of the bribery charge and two wire fraud counts. The charges involved plotting in 2000 and 2001 to bribe the law firm of former Rhode Island House Speaker John Harwood to win legislative support for additional video lottery terminals for their dog racing track in Lincoln, Rhode Island, and blocking plans of the Narragansett Indian tribe to build a rival casino. Defense attorneys claimed the pair were not planning a bribe, but rather a multi-million dollar “performance bonus” for Dan McKinnon, Harwood’s law partner who was Lincoln Downs’ legal adviser. No payment was ever made, and Harwood and McKinnon were not charged with any wrongdoing. Bucci and Potter are free on bond until their Oct. 28 sentencing, when Bucci faces up to 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine. Potter could get up to 20 years and a $1 million fine. The track, since sold, faces $500,000 on each of the three counts on which it was convicted. Lawyers for both Bucci and Potter said they plan to appeal. The trial had been moved to Worcester, Massachusetts at the request of defense attorneys after the first trial in Providence, Rhode Island, produced no verdict. Potter testified this time in his own defense, but Bucci never took the stand. The chairman of the United States Trotting Association, who also serves as attorney for the Harness Horsemen’s Association of Central New York, was quoted today as preferring Shawn Scott’s plan for purchasing Vernon Downs to one put forth by harness horse owner-breeder Jeff Gural. UticaOD.com quoted Joe Faraldo as saying, “If someone comes in and buys Shawn Scott and Vestin out, this thing ends tomorrow, plus two weeks for a new license.” He also said Gural had failed to meet some promises he made, such as returning racing by June 1, which seems strange since a federal bankruptcy court currently is weighing the competing plans and neither Gural, Scott or anyone else could have fulfilled such a promise. Gural told UticaOD.com there was no way he could have started racing June 1 because the New York Racing and Wagering Board said it would not grant Vernon a racing license as long as Scott, who it has twice denied a license, owns 52% of the track. Faraldo also said Gural had promised to repay money that had been taken from the horsemen’s purse account to pay track operating expenses, but Gural says he already has paid about $120,000 to cover bounced purse checks from last year, as well as $55,000 owed to the horsemen’s association. Gural says he has lent Vernon $1.5 million, and added that some horsemen appreciate what he has done and some don’t. The news service quoted trainer Jim Cruise as saying, “Until Shawn Scott’s out of here, we’re done. I believe our only hope is Jeff Gural.” HUGE WEEKEND IN JERSEY Somebody still loves racing. Last weekend more than 75,000 turned out at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, and bet more than $21 million. The Hambletonian drew its biggest crowd in 15 years -- 31,245 --and a record single day handle of $9,015,019. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 10, 2005 MEADOWS READY FOR ADIOS EVERYWHERE BUT HOME Thirteen 3-year-old pacers dropped in the entry box for Saturday’s $421,800 Coors Delvin Miller Adios, feature attraction of Grand Circuit week at The Meadows. That called for eliminations -- two $50,000 events -- with last year’s colt champion Village Jolt and driver Ron Pierce the 7-to-5 favorite in the first and the swift P-Forty Seven, driven by the Meadows’ perennial champion Dave Palone, top choice in the second. The top four in each elimination advance to the final. The Ohio division of HBPA, which recently talked Thistledown management into not sending its simulcast signals to Northfield Park, now has approved transmission of thoroughbred signals from Ohio to TVG, XpressBet and Youbet.com, but has not yet come to terms with the Ohio-owned AmericaTAB, which is owned by Beulah Park and River Downs, both Ohio tracks. The chairman of the Ohio HBPA’s purses and wagering committee, Bob Reeves, has issued statements that Ohio harness track operators have called “absolutely false.” Charles Ruma, the president of Heartland Jockey Club, which owns Beulah Park in Columbus, wrote to Dan Theno, the executive director of the Ohio HBPA recently, and called its termination of simulcast signals “a sad day for Ohio racing, especially in Cleveland.” He too called Reeves’ statements erroneous, and said “the Cleveland racetracks, and mostly Thistledown, receives the major share” of the purse pool as determined under Ohio racing laws. Ruma told Theno, “There are four harness tracks in this state, all of which send their signals to thoroughbred tracks that are open at the same time. The purses generated from wagering on harness racing ontrack goes directly into purses generated for the horsemen at that track. I suspect that Thistledown is taking wagers on Scioto Downs, and Toledo Raceway, as well as Lebanon, throughout the whole year. I also suspect they even take some of Northfield’s races.” Ruma told Theno he was “dealing with a double-edged sword,” and said he thought it inappropriate that Theno and Reeves were “absolutely delighted” over cutting off Thistledown’s signals to Northfield. Ruma said they had “dug the grave another foot deeper as it pertains to Ohio racing... the industry’s inability to deliver fans a consistent, quality product is simply turning them away from Ohio racing, and maybe from racing in general.” FREEHOLD OPENS BIG MEET The New Jersey harness racing scene shifts tomorrow from the Meadowlands to Freehold Raceway, the nation’s oldest pari-mutuel harness track, where the 2005 meeting marks the renewal of the sport first conducted there 152 years ago, in 1853. The new meeting is loaded with rich stakes, including two Triple Crown events for 3year-olds, the $390,000 Yonkers Trot and $450,000 Cane Pace. Also on the schedule is the $275,000 James B. Dancer Memorial, the $150,000 Shady Daisy, the $150,000 Battle of Freehold and the $125,000 Molly Pitcher. A host of stakes for New Jersey-sired horses also will be featured, on a Tuesday through Saturday schedule of afternoon racing with a daily post time of 12:30 p.m. and free admission for the entire meeting. GEWERTZ TO HAMBO, MUSEUM Ted Gewertz, the New York lawyer who is a senior partner at one of the city’s major law firms -Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz -- and a part owner, it seems, of every other top harness horse that hits the track, has new honors. He was named Owner of the Year by harness writers last year, and now has been elected to the board of the Hambletonian Society and as a trustee of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 11, 2005 GREAT CANADIAN DIVERSIFIES A LAWYER’S DREAM CLIENT Although casino business is going straight through the roof everywhere, one casino operator thinks the variety and appeal of his company’s properties will both expand the size of the market and increase his company’s share. That’s the view of Anthony Martin, president and COO of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, which has extended its business beyond slots and table games in acquiring racetracks, hotels and theaters. Great Canadian already has purchased Fraser Downs and Sandown on the Pacific coast, and is buying Flamboro Downs and Georgian Downs in Ontario. Great Canadian expects to open a 222-room hotel and theater expansion at its Rock River Casino Resort in suburban Vancouver later this year, along with a second theater and casino there next year. It also purchased casinos in Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, in May. The company reported earnings of $10.5 million for the three months ended June 30, compared to $5.4 million a year ago. Quarterly revenue rose from $37.5 million to $68.5 million. She is the busiest lawyer in Scottsdale. Not upscale Scottsdale, Arizona, but Scottsdale as in the world of Shawn Scott. Her name is Deborah Deitsch-Perez, and although she is from Dallas, she shows up everywhere from Utica, NY, to Washington, DC, and beyond. In Utica she accused a New York Racing and Wagering Board hearing officer of dismissing testimony favorable to Scott in his two unsuccessful attempts to get licensed in the state. In Washington she is trying to get an attorney-client arbitration board to decide whether Scott suffered monetary damages as a result of the representation of an attorney who represented a slots initiative in the nation’s capital involving a group from the Virgin Islands including Scott. That group has spent nearly $2.1 million on the Washington slots campaign, and the attorney who the Washington Post says “served as the public face of the slots initiative” now says the Virgin Island crowd owes him and his law firm $533,118 in fees. The Virgin Island folks, in turn, have accused the lawyer -- former council member and four-time mayoral candidate John Ray, of legal malpractice. The Post story this morning calls a $622,880 fine levied against the slots campaign “a tiny fraction of the vast sums Scott and his friends stood to gain if Ray had successfully navigated the elections board. Had D.C. voters given their consent, Scott would have won the right to build a gambling hall with 3,500 slot machines in Northeast Washington, a project that would have generated an estimated $765 million a year in revenue. That plan must have sounded awfully good when Scott and his associate, Rob Newell, showed up in Ray’s office in April, 2004.” The paper said Ray racked up huge legal bills, and Scott and his associates paid about $340,000 when the checks stopped coming. Ray’s lawyer said she hopes to resolve things “so that John Ray doesn’t have to deal with these people anymore.” NJ CASINOS SET NEW RECORDS The headlines were different, but all said the same thing: “A.C. casinos set new revenue high,” “Casinos win record $504.8 million during July,” “Casino win sets record in July,” and, 1000 miles away from Atlantic City, in Kansas City, “July casino revenues go through the roof.” Atlantic City’s 12 casinos won $504.8 million from gamblers in July, a 6.5% increase over July 2004. During the month, slot revenue rose 5.3%, to $376.1 million, and table games were up 10.2%, to $128.7 million. One analyst said that “when you dive into the numbers a little, it shows that slots are pretty weak on a year-toyear basis and reflects an overall shift in strategy to table games.” Either way, it was the biggest July in 26 years of A.C. gaming. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor GARLAND, MITCHELL HONORED Bruce Garland, senior VP for racing industry relations for the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, and Hugh Mitchell, now COO of Western Fair Raceway in Ontario after seven years as senior VP for harness racing at Woodbine Entertainment, have been honored by the Hambletonian Society. The pair shared honors as recipients of the 2005 Frederick Van Lennep Memorial Award for “exceptional support of the harness racing industry in general and specifically their endorsement and support of classic racing events owned by the Society.” Garland was honored in particular for his staunch support of the Hambletonian at the Meadowlands during his tenure as senior VP for racing of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and Mitchell for his support of the Breeders Crown championships. In another Meadowlands development, it was revealed that nearly $1 million of the more than $9 million record handle on last Saturday’s Hambletonian day program came from international betting. The Nordic Pool consisting of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark bet on five of the Meadowlands’ 15 races, including of course the Hambletonian, and added $213,876 to the total pool. Canada contributed another $711,075 on the full program. Big M vice president for racing operations Chris McErlean said the track hoped that both Europe and Canada would be betting directly into Meadowlands pools next year. August 12, 2005 Gutterman is not likely to remain idle long, as he knows and handles publicity and PR as well as anyone in world racing, and horse racing executives - if not Bay Meadows Land Company -- has known that for years. IT’S NOT ALL WINE AND ROSES Yesterday’s Executive Newsletter chronicled the record new numbers being posted by casinos nationwide, and today Nevada joined the cast, announcing record June winnings of $954.2 million, up 11.7% from last year. Gambling on the Las Vegas strip was up 16.4%. The casino picture was not all pleasant, however. In Connecticut, the state Division of Special Revenue ruled that the Foxwoods Resort Casino’s new Internet-based PlayAway game violated state and federal gambling laws. In Florida, former Washington bigwig and Tom DeLay buddy Jack Abramoff was indicted, along with his business associate Adam Kidan, by a federal grand jury on five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy for their purchase of the SunCruz fleet of gambling boats from Konstantinos (Gus) Boulis, a multimillionaire owner of the Miami Subs chain of sandwich shops. Boulis accused Kidan of connections with organized crime, according to the Washington Post, and he later was killed in gangland style driving home from a business meeting. A CLASSIC DUMB DECISION Bay Meadows Land Company may or may not make it as a racing operation in its new role as owners of Hollywood Park, but they are off to a stupid start. As one of its first moves, Bay Meadows Land cut loose one of racing’s all-time top publicity men, Allen Gutterman, who served in the same capacity previously at both the Meadowlands and New York Racing Association. In Tasmania, the Turf Club says it is confident it can persuade the Premier not to grant a license to the online betting exchange Betfair, which is trying to reach the Australian market through the Tasmanian back door. Officials from the Australian Racing Board and Racing Victoria, who bitterly oppose Betfair, met yesterday with Tasmanian horsemen and Turf Club members. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 15, 2005 QUEBEC TO SELL THE STORE THE BETFAIR THREAT GROWS The entire store, lock, stock and barrel. SONACC, the governing body of Quebec racing, in collaboration with the Quebec government, published a Request for Proposals on Friday, inviting bidders to begin the process to buy the province’s four racetracks, 19 Hippo Clubs, or OTBs, and an interest in 1,900 VLTs located at the four tracks. The full notice is on the HTA Web site, www.harnesstracks.com, and also in a weekly Track Topics being mailed today. Requests for proposals must be accompanied by a $500 nonrefundable payment, sent to Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT) at 140, Grande-Alee East, Suite 200, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada G1R 5P7 and then, following an initial review of the requests for proposals, interested parties must send by Sept. 2 at 5 p.m. eastern daylight savings time, a document indicating their interest in participating in the due diligence process and eventually submitting a proposal for the acquisition of the four tracks and Hippo Clubs. Those proposals must be received in Quebec before Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. Additional information can be obtained from Mr. Jean Chiasson of RCGT at 418-647-3151, fax at 418-647-9279, or e-mail at [email protected]. Betfair, the British betting exchange, moved closer to getting in the backdoor of the Australian market last week. Although the premier of Tasmania has not made a decision on licensing the outfit in that island state, and although Australian tracks and horsemen strongly oppose the idea, the chief executive officer of the Australian Racing Board announced that while he still is opposed to Betfair operating in Australia, his board will not exclude Tasmania from interstate betting should Betfair be licensed there. The CEO, Andrew Harding, said, “The question is, will there be changes to the way the industry operates in Australia if a betting exchange is licensed? The answer to that must be yes, there will be changes; there will be ripple effects, but there won’t be ripple effects in the sense of retaliation or retribution.” interactive gaming news reported that Harding also said he would still try to convince Tasmanian premier Paul Lennon that Betfair shouldn’t be given a license. The president of the Queensland Racehorse Owners Association, Wayne Milner, had a much stronger statement than Harding concerning the issue. As quoted by IGN, Milner said, “The fact is that betting exchanges can’t match the returns TABs (OTBs) provide to the industry throughout the land, so if Tasmania goes it alone with this, then they do so in the knowledge there is a real danger they may be cutting a large hole in the revenue available to national prize money. Betfair has been strongly opposed by the Queensland government and most other states. A decision by the Tasmanian government to go ahead would be a massive act of betrayal of the racing industry.” Interest is expected to be high for the unprecedented package. Magna Entertainment had expressed deep interest earlier, but has been in a selling rather than buying mood of late. Remstar, a Montreal conglomerate that produces motion pictures, owns a hotel and rents refuse containers, has been interested from the start. It is not unlikely that Great Canadian Gaming, which in the last year has bought Sandown Park, Fraser Downs, two casinos in Atlantic Canada, and is in the final process of acquiring Georgian Downs and Flamboro Downs, could be interested in the Quebec package as it expands its holdings in racing and gaming. NOV. BANGOR SLOTS, SORT OF Penn National Gaming, which is turning a Bangor restaurant it bought into a temporary slot facility, hopes to have the operation open in November. The gutting and renovation will cost $17 million, its new racino $75 million. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor A VICTORY FOR RACING IN KY In a victory for horse racing everywhere and particularly in Kentucky, the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority yesterday unanimously approved new drug rules for the state, over the objections of horsemen. It also was a triumph for common sense. The Lexington Herald-Leader, in its Kentucky.com online news, got it right. The service headlined a story by business writer Janet Patton “Fewer drugs will be at the post.” The new regulations give Kentucky rules that closely follow those adopted by the national Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, and Connie Whitfield, vice chair of the Racing Authority and chair of the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, was on target in her assessment of the significance of the Authority’s action. “These changes,” she said, “not only advance the integrity of racing in Kentucky, but also protect the health of the horse and the safety of the rider.” Racing Authority chairman Bill Street noted that “these amendments will create the most comprehensive drug rule in the country and will help protect the integrity of horse racing in Kentucky.” Street said he would ask Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who appointed the new Authority, to sign emergency regulations that would put the rules and penalties into immediate effect. Street said of the Authority action, “I think it’s the right thing to do for horse racing in this state. The next challenge for us will be to make sure the rule is administered as intended. That means enforcement.” If Authority executive director Jim Gallagher has his way, there will be no question about that. He said, “The former Kentucky Racing Commission adopted internal policies in 1998 and again in 2002 which made Kentucky the most liberal and permissive state in the country for equine medications. Those policies never went through the proper administrative review process, were not subject to public review or comment, and were never re- August 16, 2005 viewed by the appropriate legislative committees. But they were applied as if they had been.” Gallagher, a disciplinarian with long experience in New York, is the man to make sure Street’s mandate is carried out. Toward that goal, he will work with retired jockey Patti Cooksey, the new deputy executive director of the Authority, on enforcement issues. The new rules limit use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to one of three allowed, and then not later than 24 hours before a race. Only Salix and either phenylbutazone, banamine or ketoprofen will be allowed under the new rules. Kentucky had allowed them to be used as cocktails up to 4 hours before post time. To no one’s surprise, Marty Maline, the executive director of the Kentucky HBPA, objects to the rule changes. Our congratulations to the Kentucky Authority for its firm and progressive action in turning Kentucky from a racing joke on its former permissiveness into a respected leader in medication reform. A VEXING PROBLEM REMAINS While Kentucky moved ahead on the medication issue, it still struggles with the problem of insurance for participants against catastrophic injury or disability, and how it will be handled. An 11member committee appointed by the governor deliberated for two and one-half hours yesterday, but came to no definitive agreement on the form of coverage, who should be included, and how to pay for it. One two-tier plan suggested would make jockeys employees of trainers rather than independent contractors, with workers’ compensation coverage, and with trainers obtaining workers’ comp coverage of their own for exercise riders. The governor asked the panel to finalize its proposals by September 1, and it adjourned yesterday with another meeting scheduled for that date to resolve differences, if possible, between jocks, legislators, horsemen’s organizations and tracks. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor WELCOME TO THE CLUB Another gaming company has moved to enter the racing field, following Harrah’s, Mohegan Sun and Great Canadian Gaming. Millenium Gaming Inc. and Canner Casino Resorts LLC have purchased an option to acquire HTA member Rockingham Park in Salem, NH> Bill Wortman, president of Millenium Gaming, told the New Hampshire Union Leader, “We are not purchasing an interest in the track as we speak, but we have within our agreement the ability to do so.” Wortman said if the state passes expanded gambling, which Millenium and Rockingham will pursue, Millenium most likely would exercise its option to buy the track. He added, however, that the option is not dependent on the legalization of expanded gambling. Ed Callahan, Rockingham’s general manager, said, “We’re working together to try to educate the people of the state about this issue and to do some lobbying.” Callahan said Millenium would make a full-fledged effort to convince elected state officials of the economic benefits of expanded gambling, including newspaper space and broadcast time for advertisements. He said the arrangement was “in essence a working relationship in which they will bring in their expertise to help design facilities and educate the public and Legislature.” When the Union Leader’s senior political reporter, John Distaso, asked Wortman the duration of the option, Wortman said it was “multi-year” but that he “couldn’t recall” the duration. Wortman said, “We want to show the benefits it can create for jobs and for taxation to the state. We want to show what Rockingham could be, which is what it used to be.” The track, which now conducts only harness racing, would return thoroughbred racing to the scene. Callahan said, as other track operators have, “Down the road, without slot machines, you have to be looking at other development here. I think that would be sad.” August 17, 2005 That same theme was echoed by Bob Elliston, the president of Turfway Park in Kentucky. He told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “We have a 200-acre asset of tremendous value, but we are not obtaining the most return on that asset as a pure racing facility. So we’ve got to look at augmenting the gaming environment with alternative gaming. And if that doesn’t happen, then we’ve got to start looking at what that asset would be.” TWO PURSE SPLIT DISPUTES Track management at two venues are wrestling with purse distribution problems. At HTA member Prairie Meadows, president and general manager Bob Farinella is dealing with disgruntled harness and quarter horse representatives who want a larger share of the track’s 2006 purses. Iowa set minimum purses of 11% of casino revenue last year, and this season quarter horses and harness horses will get about 10.7% each of the $16.7 million in purse money. Both want more, the quarter horsemen asking for 20% and the harness horsemen wanting 15.4%. Farinella first offered 75.58% to thoroughbreds, 13.42% to quarter horses, and 11% for harness racing. The offer was refused, and now he is offering 78% to the runners, 12.5% to quarter horses, and 9.5% to harness racing, answering their protests for more by saying, “Why didn’t you sign at 11?” At River Downs in Ohio, the track -- which is a partner with Beulah Park in AmericaTab -withdrew its signal from that account wagering site after the state’s thoroughbred horsemen’s consent to simulcast expired and no agreement had been reached on purses from the simulcasting, the runners wanting all revenues from thoroughbred signals. Jack Hanessian, River Downs’ general manager, said, “We’re not interested in getting into a breed war in Ohio,” and said the track would rescind its approval for TVG to take its signal today. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 18, 2005 DAN PATCH RETURNS, AS BOOK MORE GOOD NEWS, TOO The greatest American sports hero of the first decade of the 1900s, the unbeatable pacer Dan Patch, is returning a century after his greatest triumphs as a Simon and Schuster book. Charles Leerhsen, executive editor of Sports Illustrated and author of best selling books on Donald Trump, famed test pilot Chuck Yeager, and former NBC president Brandon Tartikoff, is writing the story of the pre-automobile era hero. Leerhsen’s book on Trump was number one on the best seller list for seven weeks. Richard Shapiro, president of Western Harness Racing in the early 1980s and a member of the California Horse Racing Board since last October, has been unanimously confirmed in that role for a term that expires July 26, 2008. Shapiro has been an activist on the California board, sitting on some of its most influential committees, including those on medication, security and licensing, and the allocation of racing dates. His grandfather, L. K. Shapiro, founded Western Harness Racing and owned the outstanding thoroughbred Native Diver, and Richard’s father, Marvin, was responsible for legislation that legalized night horse racing in California. Shapiro was appointed to the racing board by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and appreciation for his work on the racing board was indicated by the 5-0 confirmation vote by the Senate Rules Committee. A contemporary book on the great pacing champion is long overdue. Dan Patch’s popularity from 1900 to 1910 was so widespread that washing machines, tobacco products, a railroad and innumerable children were named for him. Leerhsen plans not only to tell his story and that of the people who surrounded him, but also plans to place the horse and harness racing in the context of sports history, and to discuss the changes that were happening to sports in general during the early years of the 20th century. Leerhsen is no stranger to harness racing, and is superbly qualified to tell the Dan Patch story. A brilliant writer, his first professional job was working with the editor of this newsletter at the U.S. Trotting Association from 1976 to 1982, when he left to work for Newsweek, where as a senior writer he covered sports and, later, general news. He left that magazine in 1992 to become the entertainment editor, and later assistant managing editor, of People. Six years later he joined Wenner Media, and was editor of Us magazine. He also has written for Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, TV Guide, and other major magazines. He expects to complete his book on Dan Patch in 12 to 18 months, and welcomes suggestions, research materials, stories or other materials on Dan Patch at [email protected]. AND SOME NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS In another wife or sweetheart beating -- the third reported in the sport in recent years -- trainerdriver James R. Pantaleano was arrested by New Jersey State Police after beating a former lady friend in Colts Neck, NJ. The victim required 30 stitches in her face to close her injuries. Pantaleano first was charged with Simple Assault, with bail set at $1,500, but after the extent of the victim’s injuries were determined the charge was amended to Aggravated Assault, and bail raised to $5,000. MORE HEAT ON JOCKS’ GUILD Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee of Oversight and Investigations, has notified Jockeys’ Guild president Wayne Gertmenian that information provided to the committee on Guild operations was “inadequate,” and threatened a subpoena if better documentation is not provided by Aug. 31. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor WHERE’S THE BEEF..AND CASH? Richard Shapiro, who was confirmed for another three years as a member of the California Horse Racing Board earlier this week, has asked the California deputy attorney general to recommend the proper recourse in a matter involving now departed Capitol Racing and some $1.5 million in unpaid purses. Capitol, headed by Alan Horowitz, operated racing in Sacramento for 10 years before relinquishing its license. The California board had ordered it to redistribute $1.5 million in the form of purses to horsemen, as settlement of a dispute over promotional funds. Capitol apparently ignored the board’s order. A representative of the California Harness Horsemen’s Association had expressed concern that horsemen could wind up “holding a fistful of tickets they can’t cash,” but Shapiro said the board still has $2 million in bonds and letters of credit from Capitol Racing, and he reassured horsemen who raced there that “there is ample security to pay for any shortfall.” Horowitz and an associate reportedly have been exploring a working relationship with Shawn Scott in seeking to purchase Vernon Downs. Shapiro and board member Marie Moretti also had some questions for Jack Liebau, president of both Bay Meadows and the newly created Hollywood Park Racing Association. Ms. Moretti asked, “What assurances do we have that you are going to be or even want to stay around?” and Shapiro asked about Bay Meadows’ budget for marketing, advertising and promotions. He said he was “uncomfortable” determining that California would be better served by the Bay Meadows’ acquisition when he didn’t know what they planned to do to market horse racing. “I want to know what you are going to do to improve things from where they were,” he told Liebau, who said a $4 or $5 million installation of Polytrack is planned. August 19, 2005 The board, after hearing Bay Meadows’ plans, determined that the state would be better served allowing Bay Meadows to proceed with the purchase of Hollywood Park from Churchill Downs, thus assuring continuity of operations at Hollypark. GREEN LIGHT IN MAINE Across the country, in Augusta, Maine, the racing commission approved final licensing for Penn National to operate slots at Bangor Raceway, which it acquired from Shawn Scott. The board voted 50 to approve licensing, and also approved International Gaming Technologies as the slot machine distributor. Penn National spokesman Eric Schippers called the events “an exciting and historic day.” COLONIAL BUYS OUT MAGNA Colonial Downs, owned by Jacobs Entertainment Inc., is buying out its partner, Magna Entertainment, paying $7 million in cash and issuing a $3 million one-year interest-bearing note for the Maryland Jockey Club’s Maryland-Virginia Racing Circuit, Inc. That entity was established a decade ago, and partnered with Colonial in operating harness and thoroughbred meets at the Virginia track and its seven OTB facilities. The transaction also calls for pro-rated 2005 management fees and repayment of some $145,000 plus accrued interest under an existing promissory note. JUG OPEN TO CANADIAN BETS The Ohio Racing Commission has approved common pool betting from Canada on the Little Brown Jug, using net pool pricing methods under Association of Racing Commissioners’ International model rules. Jug marketing director and HTA director Phil Terry called the move “another step in the right direction for the sport of harness racing and the Delaware County Fair.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 22, 2005 DECISION TIME FOR RACING TO NY HARNESS: BEWARE The North American horse racing industry now faces a monumental choice. The industry finally has faced the real challenge -- detecting what is being used on horses and developing tests for them -- with a world class expert at its head. Dr. Don Catlin, founder and head of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, who will be a featured speaker at the HTA-TRA-USTA Racing Congress at Bellagio in Las Vegas in February, has agreed to head a non-profit laboratory to be called the Equine Drug Research Institute. Secret negotiations -- getting to be a passion in the racing industry -- have been underway at Keeneland in Kentucky for two years, and surfaced Sunday with the announcement that Dr. Catlin was on board. Catlin told the Jockey Club Round Table in Saratoga Springs yesterday, “The issues you face are very similar or identical to the issues I’ve faced in sport. Your sport offers some unique opportunities.” With Catlin at the helm, the project can be far and away the most significant in racing in years. Catlin, respected worldwide, has been involved in solving Olympic drugging problems and was a key player in unraveling the Balco THG issue. Unlike the Racing and Medication Testing Consortium, which has been concerning itself primarily with developing uniform rules, the Equine Drug Research Institute will focus on developing tests for presently hard-todetect drugs, and some yet to be identified. Until these tests are developed, racing’s frequent selfserving statements that only a minute number of positives have been found in testing are meaningless, since if there are no tests for substances being used in racing obviously there will be no positives for them. The new project will be expensive -- a $3 million price tag was mentioned for starters yesterday -- but this is one project racing needs desperately to rally behind and fund. It is a potential turning point for the sport. All the talk in Saratoga Springs yesterday was thoroughbred -- the Jockey Club Round Table is, after all, sponsored by the Jockey Club -- but harness racing interests in the state of New York had better stay focused on what is being kicked around. NYRA is concerned about NYRA, and the Friends of New York Racing, whether New Yorkers or not, are really at this point the Friends of New York Thoroughbred Racing. There still are six harness race tracks operating in New York State, with a huge agriculture breeding industry behind them, and one of them -- Yonkers Racway, has the best location in all New York for VLTs, smack on the Deegan Expressway. It would be folly for the owners and operators of these tracks to let Friends (or Enemies) get too far down the road without keeping them in the loop for their ambitious plans. Tom LaMarra’s coverage of the Friends’ plans in bloodhorse.com say the group “proposes formation of an industry advocacy group to represent all factions in the effort to develop a new structure for the pari-mutuel industry in the Empire state.” It would be comforting to know what “all factions” embraces. Hopefully it is just that, all-compassing. TO ALL RACING: BIG BEWARE To those who have put the World Trade Organization challenge to U.S. simulcasting on a back burner, better move it further front. The WTO has announced an April, 2006, deadline for U.S. action, and a spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative was quoted in Middle East Times as saying, “The United States has already announced its intention to comply with WTO findings. In order to implement the findings all we need to do is clarify one narrow issue concerning Internet gambling on horseracing.” It may be “one narrow issue” for US Trade Representatives, but it is one very wide one for American horseracing. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor ANOTHER SPLASH IN THE POOL Everybody in the water! Eric Spector is back seeking to buy Vernon Downs, which he ran briefly during the bankruptcy merry-go-round of the last year. Spector, now based in San Diego, has backing from a group called Plainfield Asset Management, and he joins Jeff Gural and Shawn Scott in the chase for the prize. Lawyers for Gural and Scott can file objections to Spector’s proposal by tomorrow if they wish. HERE COMES DE JUDGE Circuit Judge Leroy Moe in Broward county, Florida, has not changed his mind. In June he ruled that the wishes of voters in south Florida were being ignored by the legislature, which adjourned without providing for rules for slots at Broward county’s tracks. The Broward state attorney argued against that, which triggered an automatic stay. Yesterday Moe reconfirmed his order, lifting the stay and saying the will of the voters could not be disregarded. He ruled that the county’s three tracks, including HTA member Pompano Park, could install slots before their legal appeals are finished or the state legislature drafts rules. Track executives, however, said they still preferred to work with state lawmakers and Broward county commissioners to draft regulatory guidelines before installing the machines, and they expect governor Jeb Bush will convene a special session this fall to have that done. KY HORSEMEN WANT TO FIGHT The governor of Kentucky, Ed Fletcher, has signed an emergency order putting Kentucky’s new drug rules into effect, but the Kentucky HBPA still is unwilling to go along. They still want to be able to use the former medicine cabinet, and they are threatening to go to court, arguing this time about whether medication rules warrant emergency legislation. August 23, 2005 Kentucky’s vets, who administer all of the stuff previously used, also reportedly are considering legal action. Kentucky horsemen are arguing the new rules will create short fields and harm their horses by depriving them of needed medication. Amazing how horsemen everywhere but Kentucky are getting along with versions of the new rules. NZ’S TOP TRAINER SUSPENDED Mark Purdon, the leading harness racing trainer in New Zealand, has been suspended for four months and fined $15,000 by the Judicial Control Authority for his role in the “Blue Magic” scandal that has rocked the sport Down Under. The case was bizarre in a number of ways. Purdon said his principal owner, the millionaire John Seaton, had introduced him to Robert Asquith, a manufacturer and supplier to horsemen of Blue Magic, or propantheline bromide. Asquith told Purdon the substance would not test positive, and Purdon bought 10 vials for $1,500 and injected the pacer Light and Sound six hours before a race on two occasions. The horse won his first race with the substance, but did not race as well on the second administration, finishing third. The purse has been redistributed on both races. When Purdon decided his action was inappropriate after the Blue Magic scandal heated up, he telephoned the general manager of Harness Racing New Zealand and apologized. He also visited his local police and told them what he had done. Both Asquith and Seaton, who Harness Racing New Zealand said was involved in the use of the illegal substance, were later found dead, Asquith a suicide. Seaton’s death also was reported to be a suicide, but no coroner’s report has been issued, more than eight months later. Harness Racing New Zealand, which had asked for a year’s suspension of Purdon, said it would consider appealing the four month penalty as inadequate. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor IT’S AN EMERGENCY, MARTY The Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association filed a lawsuit yesterday to prevent the state of Kentucky from enforcing new medication rules similar to those being adopted or in use in most of the rest of North America. The rules were unanimously approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority and signed into law by governor Ernie Fletcher on an emergency basis last week. Marty Maline, the executive director of the Kentucky HBPA, says his group does not think the governor met the necessary criteria to sign emergency regulation. “We’re not confident that it met those criteria, and furthermore, why is it an emergency?” The fact that the Kentucky HBPA does not recognize -- or acknowledge -- that drugging on the backstretches of America is an emergency for horseracing in this country is reason enough for the governor’s actions. The HBPA position itself is an emergency. A hearing has been set for September 1. CROWNS IN COURT, TOO It’s a litigious jungle out there in racing, folks. While the Kentucky horsemen were trying to undo what their racing authority and governor want them to do, the owners of the top flight pacer Canyon Wind are going to court over a bitter dispute over the horse’s rejected supplemental entry in the $590,000 Breeders Crown, upcoming Sept. 3 at Mohawk Raceway. The horse was entered on time for the event, but the conditions required the $62,500 supplemental entry fee to be on hand by noon yesterday. The owners of the horse, Marty Granoff’s Val d’Or Farms and Howard Schoor’s School Racing Stable, say the check arrived at 12:02 p.m. and the entry was rejected. Granoff and Schoor, both veterans of decades of ownership, are su- i n g the Hambletonian Society and its president, Tom Charters, over the denied entry. August 24, 2005 The race itself drew 15 entries, and two $45,000 eliminations will be raced this Saturday. Boulder Creek, defeated last week by Canyon Wind, is the likely favorite. The $800,000 Breeders Crown Trot drew seven horses, led by $2.4 million winner Mr. Muscleman, so no eliminations are needed in that event. Nine trotting mares, led by the brilliant Peaceful Way, undefeated in six starts this year, will race Sept. 3 in the $250,000 Crown for their division, and 11 pacing mares will face the starter in the $331,500 Crown for their gait and sex, without eliminations. Oh, before leaving the litigation department, Shawn Scott is back, suing again, this time in Oneida county, New York, in a case that he lost in his resident Virgin Islands against Paul Noyes of Mid-State Raceway. FUROR OVER PURDON PENALTY There is unhappiness in New Zealand, too -- both ways -- over the four-month suspension and $15,000 fine handed the nation’s leading harness trainer, Mark Purdon, for his involvement in the Blue Magic scandal there. Harness Racing New Zealand, which wanted him suspended for a year, accepted the lesser suspension but will decide tomorrow whether it wants to appeal the fine. The maximum for the offense he is charged with is $25,000. Purdon’s lawyer wanted only a fine, but the chairman of the Judicial Control Authority, which issued the penalty, said the suspension was needed “to emphasize the seriousness and foolishness of the defendant’s actions.” A source close to Purdon called his legal fees “frightening.” A REQUEST FOR A RESPONSE HTA has faxed all track action officers a marketing and exotic betting survey. Please take the time to complete and return these valuable survey requests ASAP. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 25, 2005 WILLMOT TO HALL OF FAME A TIP FOR YOUR MAITRE’D David Willmot, chairman and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group and past president and vice chairman of Harness Tracks of America, will be inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at the Toronto Congress Center in Toronto tonight. Better keep your hand in your pocket, Captain. Manuel (Manny) Alvarez, who has had his hand out in New York Racing Association restaurants for 49 years, most recently as maitre’d at Saratoga Race Course, has been fired. Manny accepted one too many tips when he allegedly accepted $200 from a pair of NYRA security officers posing as customers seeking good seats for The Terrace or The Porch, Saratoga’s havens where the elite meet to eat. Alvarez, speaking of the bust that ended his NYRA career, said, “I told them I don’t take any money for a table. They gave me what anybody would give me for a tip, and I put it in my pocket. They went through my money and they found marked bills. That’s what I did. I know I didn’t do anthing wrong.” If $200 is the going price for a good table at Saratoga, as Manny indicated with his “They gave me what anybody would give me for a tip,” I think I’ll eat across the street at Saratoga Raceway. The food is probably cheaper, and the tables definitely are. Add to the quotes of the week, incidentally, that of Mike Billows, regional manager of Centerplate, which caters Saratoga, Belmont Park, Aqueduct and Yankee Stadium. He said he was unaware of complaints of track regulars who say shaking down of customers in exchange for seating privileges at The Terrace and The Porch has been a longtime abuse. Willmot, one of world racing’s most eloquent speakers and progressive thinkers, also operates at the top levels of both harness and thoroughbred ownership. His 3-year-old pacing filly Cabrini Hanover, owned in partnership with Bob Anderson, was the co-champion juvenile of last season, and will be racing in the upcoming Breeders Crown at Mohawk Raceway Sept. 3. Willmot’s understanding of racing’s needs and his progressive and aggressive leadership of Woodbine played a large role in rescuing its financially troubled Ontario tracks. David’s father, D. G. Willmot, built Kinghaven Farms into one of Canada’s premier thoroughbred breeding and racing stables, and he was the first Canadian named to the presidency of HTA. The association, its directors and track owners and operators salute him on the occasion of his entry in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Also being inducted tonight are veteran trainer Stew Firlotte, trainer of a host of top harness horses including the pacing Triple Crown winner Ralph Hanover, the champion filly Town Pro, and standouts including Historic, His Mattjesty, Brees Brief, Strong Clan and Rare Review. The top trotting stallion Garland Lobell and the $2 million winning trotter Glory’s Comet also are being honored, along with pacer Armbro Omaha and thoroughbreds Norcliffe, Canada’s Horse of the Year in 1976; Cool Reception, second in the 1967 Belmont Stakes finishing with a broken foreleg that ended his life, and Anita’s Son. A NEW STAR FOR BETHLEHEM? It took more than four hours of heated debate, but the city planning commission of Bethlehem (Pennsylvania version) yesterday rejected a proposed ban on gambling for the 135 acres of the old Bethlehem Steel works, once the largest steel producer in America. Starting next year, slots instead of steel could be ringing out there, under a redevelopment plan proposed by Las Vegas Sands Corporation, owner of the Venetian in Las Vegas. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 26, 2005 ORC SAYS NO TO CANYON WIND KATY’S GONE, POMPANO BACK Marty Granoff and Howard Schoor got the bad news this morning: the Ontario Racing Commission denied their appeal to allow Canyon Wind to race in the $560,000 Breeders Crown for older pacers. Granoff’s Val d’Or Farms and Schoor’s Schoor Racing Stable own Canyon Wind, who could have wound up favored in the Crown. The conditions of the Crown are clear, specifying that entry and supplementary checks had to accompany the entry and, in this case, were due by noon Monday. Trainer Steve Elliott showed up a few minutes late with the check, and the entry was refused. Granoff and Schoor appealed, and in turning down their appeal the Ontario commission chairwoman, attorney Lynda Tanaka, noted that prudent horsemen had the responsibility to keep themselves informed of conditions and regulations governing events. With Hurricane Katrina come and gone, Pompano Park resumes simulcasting this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The track, which cancelled simulcasting yesterday, suffered only minor structural damage, but lots of debris, from Katrina’s visit. Calder Race Course, also escaping with minor property damage but much debris, cancelled today’s card but hopes to resume racing tomorrow afternoon. ADD ANOTHER CASINO TO MIX Earlier in the week we mused about the new partners in racing, casino interests now involved from giants like the New York Racing Association’s racino operation to the latest, little Tioga Downs near Binghampton, NY. Nevada Gold and Casinos, Inc., headed by president W. Thomas Winn, has announced his company wants to buy a 50% interest in Tioga Downs, owned jointly by Jeff Gural and Trackpower, Inc. Beyond that, Winn says he wants to partner with the two in their pursuit of Vernon Downs, where proposed financial plans went under court scrutiny today. Winn said Nevada Gold and Casinos would invest in Vernon -- he did not say how much -- if Gural’s bankruptcy plan is accepted by the court. If not, he said Nevada Gold will proceed with Tioga Downs alone. “Two would be better,” Winn said. “It would be good synergy and give us economy of scale.” Eric Spector of California also is in the chase for Vernon, along with Shawn Scott and friends. A PR PAYOFF AT AMERICATAB AmericaTab, the Ohio-owned, Oregon-hubbed betting service, which informed a bettor his bet was accepted but then refunded it after a glitch in which the company’s bet processing system did not connect with Del Mar’s tote, has decided to pay the bettor the $540 his winning pick four paid. AmericaTab refunded all bets on the fifth race at Del Mar Monday after the malfunction, but Tom Ranftie, a Syracuse, NY, bettor using AmericaTab, declined the refund and demanded payment. AmericaTab said it had no obligation to pay, but did so, according to Ranftie, “as strictly a customer-service courtesy.” And, we suspect, to avert a PR disaster. TO ALL PUBLICITY DIRECTORS IMPORTANT NOTICE: HTA is updating and revising its computerized database, including the mailing lists for individual HTA track media sources. If you have a current list of media you would like to receive Track Topics, HTA news releases, and other materials distributed to media by this office, please send them ASAP to Jessica Carner at the HTA office. Also, to aid Jessica in her compilation of Promotions at HTA Tracks, please ask your program department to add her to their mailing list. And if you have a promotion you would like mentioned or think noteworthy, let Jess know at jess@ harnesstracks.com, and send graphics. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor TODAY’S MORNING LINE Have your morning line maker lengthen the odds on the New York Racing Association keeping its franchise on New York racing. The two most important men in New York state --- Gov. George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno - made clear at a press conference in Saratoga Springs that they are inclined to convert NYRA into a for-profit enterprise with professional leadership when its franchise expires in two years. As each announced their choices for a state-appointed Committee on the Future of Racing, they made clear they are unhappy with the nearly $40 million in losses at NYRA tracks in the last two years. Pataki said, “This is a multibillion-dollar business and it has to be run professionally and efficiently.” Bruno said, “I hope in January ‘08 you’re going to see an entirely different approach. Bruno’s three appointments to the Committee on the Future of Racing are Jack Knowlton, best known as the owner of Funny Cide; real estate investor Edward P. Swyer; and real estate developer John Nigro. Gov. Pataki appointed J. Patrick Barrett, chairman of a private investment company and former president of Carrier International and ex-chairman and CEO of Avis; Bernadette Castro, his parks commissioner and former chief executive of Castro Convertibles; and Fredric Newman, founding partner of the Hoguet Newman and Regal law firm. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver also has three choices on the committee, still unnamed. Have your morning line maker shorten the odds on slots in Ohio. After release of a study by Strategic Partner Management Consulting which said casinos in Ohio could generate up to $12 billion in revenue a year and create 85,000 jobs (and a 43% increase in people with gambling problems) optimism has risen among what the Cleveland Plain Dealer called “pro casino heavyweights.” August 29, 2005 The Plain Dealer story said the study done by the Michigan firm encouraged the power brokers to “believe they can craft and win a ballot initiative in November, 2006, to change Ohio’s constitution and allow casinos, most likely at the state’s seven racetracks and in a handful of big cities, including Cleveland.” One related story said that if Lebanon Raceway were to get slots, it would likely relocate from its longtime Lebanon fairgrounds location to a new site. The story also referred to Raceway Park in Toledo, recently purchased by Argosy Gaming. Argosy itself is being acquired by Penn National Gaming in a $2.1 billion deal, but that transaction was sidetracked indefinitely when the Illinois Gaming Board last week delayed approval because of antitrust concerns. Penn National operates a casino in Aurora, west of Chicago, and Argosy operates two in the state, in Alton and Joliet. GALLAGHER TO DELAWARE Hugh Gallagher, with a long career as a state steward and presiding judge in Ohio, Minnesota, Kentucky and at the Meadowlands, and in management at Ocean Downs, has been named Administrator of Racing for the Delaware Harness Racing Commission. He starts Oct. 17. RED MILE, CANADA COMMINGLE Starting September 15, Canadian wagering outlets will begin betting directly into pools at the Red Mile in Lexington with commingled wagers and net pool pricing. SORRY WE’RE LATE WITH THIS We would have invited you earlier, but we just learned of today’s press conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A Kentucky group that includes former Red Mile GM William Coplen is opening a simulcast center in the Bayangol hotel, and also is having a groundbreaking ceremony for a track project with a Mongolian group called Roaring Hooves. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor August 30, 2005 RTIP GETS $100,000 GIFT JACK, WE HARDLY KNEW YE The University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program got a big boost in its quest for endowment of a $1.5 million chair for racing business research when America Tab, the Ohio-owned, Oregon-based betting service, announced it was contribution $100,000 to the fund. Oak Tree Racing Association and Youbet.com previously had contributed $100,000 each. Doug Reed, the RTIP’s director, said, “America Tab’s contribution will help further our mission of education and service to the industry. The impact will be felt in the classroom as well with the addition of a highly qualified educator to our faculty for the express purpose of enhancing graduate level study and research.” Mike Weiss, America Tab’s executive vice president and a graduate of the RTIP program, said, “We can all benefit from the kind of independent and in-depth study of our issues and opportunities envisioned by the RTIP.” Jack Abramoff, friend of the mighty in Washington, pleaded not guilty yesterday -- in absentia -to federal conspiracy and wire fraud charges in Florida. He was missing because his attorney convinced the court it would be too hard on Jack to brave the aftermath of Katrina to get to Miami, which was largely spared from the storm. Abramoff and his business partner Adam Kidan were indicted in connection with their $147.5 million acquisition of SunCruz Casinos five years ago. They face charges of giving lenders a counterfeit $23 million wire transfer to make it look like they had a financial stake in the deal. Two banks lent them $60 million to buy the casino cruise line. Abramoff and Kidan could get five years on each of six charges, and be ordered to pay back the $60 million, if they are convicted. A trial date could be announced today. The Fort Lauderdale police also have asked to interview Abramoff concerning the killing of the SunCruz Casinos, Konstantinos Boulis, who was gunned down gangland style in 2001 during bitter arguments over the sale of his cruise line. No one has suggested Abramoff was involved, but the police are interested in what he might know about Boulis’ murder. GIVING AWAY THE FARM Pompano Park, which opens its 42d season of harness racing Friday night, is joining with Florida’s Dreamfinder Farms Horse Rescue in a season-long raffle with a first prize of a million dollar “farmette” in south Florida or $750,000 in cash. Second prize will be a choice of a new car, the winner getting his or her pick of five new 2006 vehicles from King Auto Mall in Fort Lauderdale, and third prize $2,500 in cash. Tickets will sell for $100 each, with the prize drawings held at Pompano Park Saturday night, March 4, 2006. The “farmette” is in Davie, Florida, one of two locations of the Dreamfinder Horse Rescue, which also has a facility in Ocala. Dreamfinder is a not-for-profit organization that provides care for horses of all breeds that have been neglected, abused, abandoned, or retired and are in danger of being sent to slaughter or euthanized. TENANT WANTS THE HOUSE In an interesting turn of events in Chicago, the National Jockey Club, which lost Sportsman’s Park after a hugely expensive conversion from a horse track to automobile racing, and leased space at Hawthorne Race Course next door, now is applying for the same racing dates as Hawthorne. Making the deal more bizarre is the fact that the two families involved -- the Bidwills of Sportsman’s and the Careys of Hawthorne -- have a long history of close friendship and association. Patricia Bidwill, chair of the National Jockey Club, says she “deeply regrets” the end of the once happy merger. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THE PRICE OF DISASTER No one can put a dollar amount on the devastation and disaster, and certainly not on the human suffering and agony inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, but it is obvious that the huge gambling industry centered along the Mississippi-Alabama coastline has taken a tremendous hit. Churchill Downs has not yet had any way to determine the damage to its Fairgrounds in New Orleans, and president Tom Meeker says it “could take several days or weeks before we have an accurate assessment.” The track is not scheduled to race until Nov. 24. Other operators along the Gulf Coast know already of the monstrous damage inflicted on their facilities. At least three of the floating barge casinos in Biloxi were torn from their moorings and washed 200 yards from shore. Gary Loveman, chairman of Harrah’s Entertainment, told CNBC that its Grand Casino was “probably ruined,” having washed ashore and landed on the other side of busy U.S. 90. Loveman said he thought it would have to be cut to pieces just to be moved away. At Biloxi’s most lavish casino, Beau Rivage, the first and second floors were blown out. Bernie Burkholder, president and CEO of Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi, told the Associated Press the casino was “a total loss,” with damage in excess of $100 million. The first two floors of the Hard Rock Casino -- due to open Sept. 8 -- were blown out. Harrah’s Grand Casino Gulfport was swept inland. The Copa Casino in Gulfport was destroyed. Aside from the huge property damage, and loss of $400,000 to $500,000 a day to the state of Mississippi, The gambling industry in Mississippi employs some 30,000 workers, who could be idled for weeks or months. Loveman said Harrah’s would guarantee its 8,000 workers at its Grand Casino, Harrah’s New Orleans and the Grand Casino Gulfport for up to 90 days. Mississippi has 27 state-regulated casinos, which together generate $400 million in tax revenue each year. With at least 17 of them closed by the storm, and the others virtually shut down by the elimination of tourist trade, the impact is clear, beyond the tragedy itself. August 31, 2005 In another distant ramification of the Gulf disaster, reflecting possible heavy damage to oil platforms in the Gulf, gasoline prices in Canada were raised some 20% this morning, rising to $1.20 a liter in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. That translates to $4.54 for a U.S. gallon, or $5.45 for a Canadian gallon, which is one liter larger than its U.S. counterpart. The immediate impact was indicated by an announcement by Jeff Doyle of Doyle Bloodstock Transportation in Ontario, one of Canada’s largest horse transporters, who said the company was discussing a fuel surcharge for hauling horses. With the season’s major yearling sales ahead in Lexington and Harrisburg, the issue adds one more economic burden for yearling buyers in Canada, or Americans shipping horses to race for Canada’s rich slot-fueled purses. BETTING ON THE IF COME “Everybody’s wondering what’s going on,” said Ted Connors, chairman of the New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission, about the sudden rush to invest in New Hampshire racing. Millenium Gaming has purchased an option on Rockingham Park, and Mississippi casino mogul Marlin Torguson is about to buy the Lakes Region Greyhound Park in Belmont. There is no mystery about “what’s going on,” and a spokesman for Torguson made it clear: “We’re planting the seed for the future,” he said, meaning that Torguson expects, as Millenium obviously does, that New Hampshire legislators eventually will legalize slots, hopefully from their standpoint sometime soon. They may know something others don’t. There has been little action or inclination in the New Hampshire House for such action, and the most recent proposal in the Senate failed last April, losing 18 to 6. Despite that, hope still apparently springs eternal among the suitors, who hope to convince the legislature of the error of their ways. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 1, 2005 WORLD’S BIGGEST BET TO U.S. MICHIGAN COMMISSIONER OK’D Sweden’s V75 -- the most popular bet in the world on the basis of pool size, according to Scientific Games -- is coming to the United States in the form of commingled betting to be offered by Philadelphia Park. In Sweden, V75 accounts for 40% of total pari-mutuel wagering and has grown at an annual rate of 10% over the last five years. A weekly pool, the seven races of V75 are held on Saturdays in Sweden, with betting beginning on Wednesdays. The average weekly pool is $11 million, but can grow to $20 million with “Super Pool” jackpot carryovers. Philadelphia Park will offer not only V75, but its popular quick-pick companion pool, Harry Boy, which is based on bets already accumulated in the V75 pool. Scientific Games CEO Lorne Weil thinks the introduction of V75 and its potential huge jackpots “will appeal to both the experienced and the casual race fan.” Philadelphia Park’s CEO Hal Handel says, “Given the fact that the base bet is 10 cents and the payoff on July 30 was $290,000 on a 10-cent base wager, this will be a popular pari-mutuel bet for our racing customers. In the long term, we expect the V75 to attract interest from non-racing customers who have an interest in wagering into this commingled pool with the potential for major payoffs.” Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan yesterday made it official, and announced that Christine White, who has been acting commissioner since January, now is the full fledged permanent racing commissioner in the Wolverine state. Ms. White, former deputy director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, will serve until Dec. 31, 2008, under yesterday’s action. NEVADA GOING TO PHONE BETS SIMULCAST CONFAB TO MOVE You can bet on this one. The state of Nevada’s Gaming Commission has conducted a public hearing on allowing people in other states to set up accounts at Nevada books for telephone account betting. The Nevada Pari-Mutuel Assn. had a heavy hitter, Las Vegas gambling specialist Tony Cabot, representing them, and he told the commission Nevada was in “a perfect position” to join 17 other states already accepting phone bets. N o one offered testimony opposing the proposal, which bars Internet bets...for the moment. The joint TRA-HTA-AQHR International Simulcast Conference, scheduled for Oct. 3-5 at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans, obviously will have to be moved. TRA is exploring three alternate sites and will make an announcement in the next few days. JESSE TELLS IT AS IT IS..FOR $$ You remember Jesse Ventura, Minnesota’s pro wrestler turned former governor. He started a new job yesterday, as pitchman for an offshore Internet gambling outfit. The site, BetUs.com, licensed in Canada and Costa Rica, decided the colorful Ventura could help round up bettors, just as he rounded up voters in Minnesota a few years ago. In one of the commercials, Ventura says, “As governor, Jesse Ventura told it like it is, and now I’m telling you that BetUs.com is the only place to bet.” Ventura told the Associated Press that, “I don’t know why I’m attracted to gambling, considering I don’t do it myself very often.” Could it be money, Jesse? He had a different explanation: “Bob Dole had the pills, Viagra. I prefer to endorse gambling. To each his own......it’s entertainment.” SECURITY DIRECTORS OK The 8th annual Security Directors Conference sponsored by SIS will be held Oct. 17-19 at The Woodlands Resort in the Pennsylvania Poconos. More details tomorrow. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 2, 2005 HTA JOINS NTRA RELIEF FUND SETTLEMENT OF SORTS IN OHIO Harness Tracks of America will join the Racing to the Rescue Fund being established by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association as an industry-wide response to the national disaster in Louisiana. HTA chairman Chris McErlean notified Keith Chamblin, who is organizing the NTRA fund, that HTA will be part of the effort. Plans are being formulated for an Oct. 8 special “Racing to the Rescue Day,” with tracks and horsemen participating in a fundraising drive that will include on-site donation centers where track patrons also may make contributions. HTA track members that wish to contribute or participate through the HTA effort should contact the HTA office, 520-529-2525 and ask for general counsel Paul Estok or Stan Bergstein. The problems of racing pale into insignificance in comparison with the devastation, misery and chaotic anarchy rampant in New Orleans, but the racing industry needs to join the rest of the nation in attempting to alleviate the suffering that better national, state and local planning could have averted to a large degree with any foresight. With River Downs’ biggest weekend of racing coming up, members of the Ohio HBPA have struck an agreement with River Downs and Beulah Park that will at least allow River Downs to offer its signal to account wagering services, including Beulah’s America Tab operation. No details were available, but Beulah general manager Mike Weiss minimized the arrangement, telling the Blood-Horse that “It wasn’t anything that drastic. We just ended up sitting down and coming to an agreement.” What impact the temporary fix might have on Ohio racing in general was not known at press time. HEARING TODAY ON KY CRYING A Kentucky circuit court judge will continue a hearing today prompted by thoroughbred horsemen and veterinarians in Kentucky who want to continue to play by their liberal rules rather than join the rest of the country in uniform medication reform. The hearing began yesterday and was expected to end around 2 p.m., but attorneys representing several groups were permitted to cross-examine witnesses, dragging out the proceedings. Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden of the Franklin County Court called a halt and said the hearing would continue at 1 p.m. today. A veiled threat arose about a boycott at Turfway Park, with HBPA chief Marty Maline quickly pointing out that his group could not promote a boycott, but that he was merely repeating what he had heard. AND RECOMMENDATION IN KY The state appointed panel in Kentucky named to attempt to break the impasse on compensation insurance for jockeys yesterday unanimously agreed that a three-way split would be the most equitable approach. Under the 11-member panel’s recommendation, tracks, horse owners and jockeys themselves would share the cost. Tracks would pay what they are currently contributing toward accident insurance, estimated to be $400,000 to $450,000 a year. Horse owners would be assessed $20 for every starter they owned. First place money paid to jocks would decrease from 10% to 9%, with the difference going to the fund. All trainers would have to have a workers’ comp policy to cover exercise riders, whether the rider was a salaried employee or independent contractor. The panel, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports, wants to formalize the splits rather than dollar amounts, but estimates that at present premium rates the plan would cost between $1.25 and $1.5 million. The head of the Jockeys’ Guild, not surprisingly, did not like the solution. He said that “to say that the jockeys need to pay into the system flies in the face of the definition of workers’ comp. Jockeys shouldn’t be paying a penny.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 6, 2005 JUDGE SAYS NO TO KY HBPA IN BRITAIN, $4.4 BILLION DROP A state circuit court judge in Kentucky has refused to enjoin the state from implementing and enforcing its new medication rules, as requested by the Kentucky HBPA. Judge Roger Crittenden said the new rules, which ban horses from receiving most therapeutic drugs on race day, would not cause irreparable harm to horsemen in Kentucky. A few horsemen based at Churchill Downs declined to enter Wednesday’s opening night program at Turfway Park, but the track filled its 10-race card and has a full field in its feature. The threat of a boycott would have cast a pall over Turfway’s introduction of its new Polytrack surface, the first to be tested under actual race conditions in the United States. Gibraltar-based PartyGaming Plc, the online poker operator that shook Britain with its most explosive stock offering ever in June, has fallen as much as 37% below its initial offering price, according to Bloomberg.com. The report said the stock drop wiped out some $4.4 billion in U.S. dollars. One fund manager in London for Barclay’s Private Clients, which manages $45 billion, said, “There were some clear dangers in relation to the valuation of this company and our concerns have been realized.” Another analyst, at Seymour Pierce in London, said, “The market has misinterpreted what’s actually happened in the same way that it misinterpreted that poker was going to the moon ad infinitum initially.” Whatever, it’s a big hit. ANOTHER SAYS NO TO NIAGARA THE RIGHT AIMS AT ROMNEY In Niagara Falls, New York, a state Supreme Court judge dismissed a suit filed by Niagara county, seeking 75% of the local share of Niagara Falls’ Seneca Niagara Casino revenue. The judge ruled that the $11.2 million cut for the locality hasn’t been allocated as yet by the New York legislature, and called the county’s suit premature. Speaking of big gambles, Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts and a presidential hopeful for 2008, has drawn the ire of midwestern and other conservatives with talk of slots in the Bay State. Right wing mobilizer Stacey Cargill, who organized thousands of voters last year to soundly defeat a slots proposal in Iowa, now says she will seek to join the Iowa Christian Coalition and Iowa Family Policy Center against Romney’s hopes in Iowa caucuses. Cargill was quoted in the Boston Globe’s Boston.com as saying, “If Mitt Romney is going to engage in incorporating casino slots as a form of economic development for the state of Massachusetts, we will spread the word and ask the state of Iowa to vote for another candidate in the caucuses. It’s that big an issue.” Although Romney said two years ago he would support slots if they were auctioned off to the highest bidders and the licenses had limited terms, the matter never reached his desk, and a Romney spokeswoman now says, “Expanded gaming is not something Gov. Romney has proposed or is even considering.” MORE DARK CLOUDS FOR NYRA Thoroughbred racing at Saratoga still is the best and most successful handlewise in the nation, but the New York Racing Association, which runs it, continues to catch flak regardless of its successes. Although this year’s meeting was down in handle by 5.47% from last year, and attendance was down 3.17%, the meeting still averaged almost $15 million a day. But it no sooner closed than a state controller’s draft report surfaced that it had failed to pay the state $40.4 million in franchise fees between 2000 and 2003, a figure NYRA says is not true. NYRA also caught fire for spending some $17,000 for a press party the day before the Travers. A NYRA spokesman argues, with some logic, that it makes money for the track in coverage. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 7, 2005 CLARIFICATION ON N.O. RELIEF MAGNA PULLS BACK IN MD In the welter of confusion, from the very top down, over the New Orleans disaster, a number of tracks have inquired about HTA’s participation in the NTRA Racing to the Rescue Fund. The governor of Maryland, who has been frustrated for more than two years in his efforts to bring slots to Maryland’s tracks, announced today that Magna Entertainment was cutting its racing days in the state by almost one half. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich said, “Magna is pulling back from Maryland. They are letting legislators and the general public know it today. They are going from 200 racing days down to 112. We have 20,000 jobs at risk.” The governor made clear, in his announcement during participation on a Baltimore radio show, that the Magna decision did not mean that the Preakness was gone, nor that horse racing was gone, from a state where it once was a national power. “I’ve been told they don’t want to leave,” Ehrlich said. “I’ve been told they most likely will be here next year. I have no guarantee they will be here in two years, three years.” The governor said Magna does not want to leave Maryland, but the company is losing money just about every day of the year except for Preakness day. There was no early comment from House Speaker Michael E. Busch, who has almost single handedly killed slots legislation for tracks in Maryland in the last two sessions of the legislature. It is a two-part program. Tax deductible contributions can be made immediately via mail to NTRA Charities, Inc. - Racing to the Rescue Fund, c/o Bessemer Trust Company N.A., attention Robert Elliott, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10111. Wire-transferred funds can be sent to Bessemer Trust Company N.A., Federal Reserve Symbol ABA#0260-0875-6, user name Bessemer Trust NYC-for account NTRA Charities Inc. -Racing to the Rescue Fund. 100% of all contributions will be passed through to existing charities established to aid in recovery efforts. The second part of the program, in which HTA has offered to solicit its tracks for participation, is a Racing to the Rescue Day scheduled for Oct. 8 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Tracks can participate in this in whatever fashion they consider appropriate or desire to do. Many HTA tracks already have implemented relief programs of their own. All are encouraged to contribute, and to encourage drivers, trainers, breeders and owners to contribute a part of their purse winnings on Racing to the Rescue Day Oct. 8. There is nothing obligatory about the program, but a concerted national racing effort appears an appropriate industry response to the tragedy. If you schedule special events for fundraising on Oct. 8, the proceeds can be forwarded as above to the NTRA Charities - Racing to the Rescue Fund, which is a special division of the NTRA’s nonprofit 501 (c) (3) subsidiary NTRA Charities. Bessemer Trust has agreed to establish and administer the fund at no cost, and all contributions are tax deductible. If you have further questions, contact HTA. O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM The mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, former home of Bethlehem Steel, has problems similar to the governor of Maryland. Bethlehem mayor John Callahan supports the idea of converting the huge deserted Bethlehem Steel works into a $300 million entertainment complex, with a casino, as an economic boon the city. Now a bitter gambling opponent has used a city council meeting to launch a write-in campaign against the mayor, saying he was “emphatically and categorically opposed to gambling.” The gambling foe, Karl Fluck, says he will challenge Callahan, who has no Republican opponent this fall. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 8, 2005 WE LOSE OUR GREATEST NAME GURAL, SCOTT IN VERNON PACT Harness racing lost its brightest star today, when Stanley Dancer died at 78 at his home in Pompano Beach, Florida. The best known harness horseman of the modern era -- some outsiders thought he was a horse, but all knew his name, and many knew nothing else but that about harness racing -- he has suffered in recent years from the effects of numerous back injuries and surgeries suffered during his spectacular racing career. He drove the winners of five Hambletonians -Egyptian Candor, Nevele Pride, Super Bowl, Bonefish and Duenna -- and won harness racing’s Triple Crown of trotting twice, with Nevele Pride in 1968 and Super Bowl in 1972. He also won pacing’s Little Brown Jug four times, with Henry T. Adios, Lehigh Hanover, Most Happy Fella and Keystone Ore. To the generation that followed harness racing in its halcyon years in the 1960s at Roosevelt Raceway and Yonkers Raceway in New York, he was the sport. He went to the big city from his farm home in New Egypt, NJ, in the 1950s and revolutionized the game, breaking the back of single file racing with his bold aggressiveness. At the height of his career he appeared on television’s number one program, the Ed Sullivan Show, with Cardigan Bay, the sport’s first million dollar winner that he had bought for $100,000 in New Zealand. He developed Nevele Pride into a three-time Horse of the Year, and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with that horse in the August 25, 1968 issue. He was a guest of President Lyndon Johnson at the White House the same year. Dancer won 3,781 races during his driving career that ended, appropriately, with an 11 1/2-length stakes win with the trotter Lifelong Victory at Garden State Park in his native New Jersey on Sept. 21, 1995. HTA extends its sympathies to his wife Jody, his son Ron, a legislator in New Jersey, and the entire Dancer family. The sport was enriched by Stan’s legacy. The long battle for Vernon Downs may be over, and the track could reopen as early as November if a court approves an agreement between New York breeder-owner Jeff Gural and Las Vegas entrepreneur Shawn Scott. Gural, who has loaned Vernon some $1.5 million and has court permission to loan another $600,000, told UticaOD.com, “We have reached a deal. We are in the final stages of exchanging checks and signatures.” Deborah Deitsch-Perez, an attorney who has been representing Scott in the negotiations, said, “We think it will resolve virtually all disputes between virtually all parties.” Although neither side revealed details, Gural did say that almost all secured creditors will be paid back between 90% and 100% of their debts, and he added, “We’re still talking to the non-secured creditors.” Details of the Gural-Scott agreement will be made public Tuesday, when it is submitted to a Bankruptcy Court judge for approval. A hearing on the plan is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16 before U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Gerling. At that time Gerling also will hear a proposal from Eric Spector of California, who is trying to buy the track and once served briefly as its chief executive. Joe Faraldo, representing the Harness Horsemen’s Association of Central New York, said of the deal, “We only like one thing, and that is getting racing back as soon as possible. If racing can get back sooner by Shawn Scott and Jeff Gural making peace, we can live with that.” The horsemen have another choice, of course: suicide. SIMULCAST TO SAN DIEGO The TRA-HTA-AQHR International Simulcast Conference, originally scheduled for New Orleans, has been moved to the Hilton LaJolla Torrey Pines in LaJolla, California. The dates remain the same -- Oct. 3-5 -- and details are available from Tony DeMarco at TRA, 410-392-9200. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor MD HORSEMEN UNHAPPY In a burst of wrath that would have been helpful if directed earlier at House Speaker Michael Busch, Maryland’s thoroughbred horsemen have lashed out at Magna for its plans to cut racing dates in the state. The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association president Richard Hoffberger, using strange allegory, said “I’m not prepared to say everything we’re going to do. Did Gen. Rommel tell the world his battle plan? Our options are somewhat limited, but they are severe and significant.” Hoffberger undoubtedly remembers that Rommel lost the war, not won it, but regardless the Baltimore Sun speculated that Hoffberger’s “options” included denying simulcasting privileges to Magna’s Maryland Jockey Club, or withholding entries and racing elsewhere. The horsemen plan to raise the roof at a Maryland racing commission meeting next Tuesday. Commission chairman Tom McDonough, told the Sun, “Magna gave what I thought was significant justification for the actions they’re taking. But I’m not sure it’s significant enough, given the amount of trauma and hardship it’s going to cause the grooms, the hotwalkers, the trainers.” Hoffberger, still apparently impressed with Rommel, said, “Let’s see how the commission responds to this scorched earth policy.” Speaker Busch and his colleagues in the House are, according to The WBAL Channel.com, “looking at ways to prop up the state’s horse racing industry without approving slot machines.” BIG PLANS IN BETHLEHEM A group called BethWorksNow, hoping to develop a $350 million slots parlor and hotel in the deserted Bethlehem Steel Works in the Lehigh Valley city of southeast Pennsylvania, is prepared to make the Bethlehem City Council an offer it can’t refuse when it meets Sept. 20 to vote on the issue. BethWorksNow principal Michael Perrucci September 9, 2005 told Bethlehem businessmen at a meeting yesterday that his offer would “include everything from preserving the hulking blast furnaces to hiring local labor to building a $200 million mall,” according to mcall.com, the Allentown Morning Call’s Web site. The service also quoted Perrucci as saying he was prepared to agree by contract to doing what he proposes. The offer was formidable enough that one city councilman who supports a zoning change to ban gambling from the steel site called it, “Very impressive, very interesting.” He said he wasn’t ready to change his view, but “I’m interested in hearing more.” DANCER ARRANGEMENTS Stanley Dancer will return to his roots in New Jersey next week, when he will be buried in the Maplewood Cemetary, across the street from Freehold Raceway. Visitation will be Monday, Sept. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Freeman’s Funeral Home, 47 Main Street, Freehold, NJ, with services there on Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. Following the services the hearse will take Stan on his final mile, circling the Freehold track before interment. A special memorial service will be held at HTA member Pompano Park at a later date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Stanley Dancer Memorial Museum building fund at the New Egypt Historical Society, P.O. Box 295, New Egypt, NJ 08533, the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, 240 Main Street, Goshen, NY 10924, or Hospice Care of Southeast Florida, 309 SW 18th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316. CONFERENCE CALL ON RELIEF HTA is setting up a conference call for next week to clarify participation by our member tracks in the October 8 Racing to the Rescue program of the NTRA. Day, date and time of the call will be announced here Monday. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor ‘SURVIVAL’ IS NEW BUZZ WORD All of a sudden, survival is on everyone’s mind, in racing as well as in Louisiana. Maryland is worrying about the survival of its racing industry, and getting a lot of suggestions from the Baltimore and Washington press, both of whom define horse racing as thoroughbred racing, and scarcely seem to know there also is a major harness racing industry in Maryland. The Baltimore Sun, editorializing on this, calls the night racing exclusivity, designed to separate the days and nights into their long-established domains, unreasonable. It bemoans the fate of the “Average Joe,” who generally finds himself working at 1 p.m. on weekdays, as “out of luck.” He can, of course, go to the harness races at night, but the Sun does not consider that as “worth saving.” Magna-bashing has become a popular journalistic sport in Maryland and the District of Columbia, as if this big company has some huge responsibility to Maryland to continue to lose money. Magna may have made mistakes in what it has done or not done in Maryland, but destroying one racing industry to help another is not the answer to Maryland’s racing problems. In Iowa, the Racing and Gaming Commission has rejected a claim by the National Cattle Congress that it still holds a gaming license issued in the early 1990s at the now shuttered Waterloo Gaming Park. The NCC called its bid “an act of desperation,” saying that without the license the National Cattle Congress fair in Waterloo, a fixture since 1910, is doomed. Elsewhere on the “survival” front, the State Board of Horse Racing in Montana is discussing the possible consolidation of Montana’s five minor racing meets into one to help save the sport in that state. Racing days in Montana have dropped from 120 to 37, and tracks from 12 in 1982 to 5 today. September 12, 2005 In California, where doom is less imminent, controversy thrives. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last Friday that he might allow two Indian tribes to set up Vegas style casinos in Barstow, far from their ancestral homes. Barstow is in favor of getting both casinos for its economy, but southern California tribes that already have casinos are not. The chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which owns a large casino just out of the city limits of San Bernardino, called Schwarzenegger’s move, “Reservation shopping at its worst.” The geographic discrepancy involved is interesting. The Los Coyotes, 380 strong, have a 27,000-acre reservation in Warm Springs in San Diego county, but in rugged country that is relatively inaccessible. The Big Lagoon Band, 18 members strong with 20 acres in Humboldt county in northern California, are 600 miles from Barstow, but the state insisted they be allowed to have a Barstow casino as a condition to the Los Coyotes, and both will get 2,250 slots. Barstow is a small city of 23,000, but is located on U.S. 15, the main highway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and about midway between the two cities. One estimate, repeated several times in the Los Angeles Times, estimates that 60 million motorists pass thru every year, a highly improbable number since it breaks down to almost 165,000 a day. Its gas stations have 25 to 30 pumps each and reportedly are busy all day, and its McDonald’s franchise is one of the five largest grossing in the entire chain. In case where you wonder where two little tribes would get the money to build $160 million dollar casinos, the answer is in BigWest Gaming, way out West in Detroit. BigWest is Marian Ilitch, who made her money selling pizza, founded the Little Caesars chain, and now owns much of Detroit, including the Red Wings, Tigers, Olympia arena, theaters, and other scattered activities. She also had west coast power broker Willie Brown as consultant. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 13, 2005 CONFERENCE CALL TOMORROW NYRA OFF HOOK, FOR NOW With the welter of relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina flowing all over the place, willy-nilly, including some scams, HTA and the NTRA will host a conference call tomorrow, Wednesday, at 3 p.m. eastern daylight savings time, to update member tracks on the NTRA Charities - Racing to the Rescue Day October 8 and attempt to coordinate plans as far as possible by all tracks participating in the effort. If you plan to participate -- and we hope you do -- join the conference call at 3 tomorrow eastern time, by calling 1-800-486-3317, with a conference ID number of 6814000#. The New York Racing Association has been spared prosecution for past sins, after the Acting U.S. Attorney Eric Corngold and state comptroller Alan Hevesi announced that the federal government was dismissing the Dec. 4, 2003, indictment against NYRA. The action on the deferred prosecution issue followed NYRA’s compliance with demands for restructuring senior management, appointment of an independent monitor, and payment of $3 million in fines. The dismissal followed a favorable report from the court appointed monitor, the law firm of Getnick and Getnick, which found reforms and remedial measures by NYRA warranted the government’s action. Hevesi, in announcing the dismissal, said, “The franchise to operate Saratoga, Belmont aned Aqueduct race tracks will be worth much more when it is put up for bid if the reforms achieved at the New York Racing Association over the last two years are preserved and sustained.” FIRST STEP TO OBLIVION? The city planning commission of San Mateo, California, after 15 meetings extending over several months, has voted to recommend to the city council that 71-year-old Bay Meadows racetrack be demolished to make room for housing, shopping and office space. The Bay Meadows Land company, which recently bought Hollywood Park, wants to redevelop the 83.5-acre San Mateo track into 1,250 residential units, 1.25 million square feet of office space, and 150,000 square feet of retail space, with 15 acres of open space for aesthetics. Bay Meadows was built in 1934 and its Bay Meadows Handicap was won in 1937 and 1938 by Seabiscuit. Talk of redevelopment of Bay Meadows has been going on for at least 13 years, and track president Jack Liebau indicated there will be horse racing there for at least several more, since in addition to city council approval, design plans and environmental reports are required, and the Land Company itself must determine that housing and office space are the best use of the property. Liebau said, “The market must be there,” and Daily Racing Form noted that much of the office space built when the old stable area and training track were sold in the 1990s remains unoccupied. $200 MILLION TO STAY PUT Detroit’s Greektown Casino, which has been talking about moving out of downtown Detroit, has changed its mind and decided to spend $200 million to upgrade its facility in the heart of the downtown district. Greektown plans to build a 15-story, 400-room hotel with 25,000 square feet of convention space; a 3,500-car parking garage; a 1,500seat theater; and expand its gambling floor from 75,000 square-feet to 100,000. RENDELL ACTS ON SCHOOLS After only 111 of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts agreed to accept slots money with strings attached, Gov. Ed Rendell has asked for legislation to override the other 390 and make them take it, so he can carry through on his property tax reduction law. The school boards are not happy, one member calling Rendell “a dictator.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 14, 2005 AH YES, FLORIDA & MARYLAND A MILLION FROM RICKMANS More stormy weather in those two racing states. The Rickman family, which owns Delaware Park and Ocean Downs in Maryland, has contributed $1 million through a newly created Delaware Good Neighbor Fund, to relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Bill Fasy, COO of Delaware Park and HTA member Ocean Downs, said the Rickman family approached Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and helped jump start the Good Neighbor Fund with their donation. Fasy noted that Bill Rickman Jr. had been a helicopter pilot in the Army, and had flown over the devastation of an earlier disaster caused by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and has seen firsthand what havoc a hurricane can wreak. Fasy said the Rickmans hoped that if their million dollar donation, at the midsized level of their enterprises, might encourage other businesses, larger and smaller, to follow suit. Horsemen at Delaware Park obviously were encouraged, donating $250,000 of their purse money to the NTRA Charities, which HTA tracks will join Oct. 8 in a Racing to the Rescue Day organized by NTRA. In Florida, the chairman of the House Business Regulation Committee, Frank Attkisson, said he sees no reason “to rush” the issue of slots for Broward county tracks, although it now is 10 months since voters approved the idea. Attkisson says he doesn’t want to rush the issue, telling the Associated Press, “I feel no compulsion to push this into a special session.” We have a solution to the problem. Put a track in Kissimmee, near Orlando and where Attkisson is from, and offer it slots, and Attkisson would get the matter resolved tomorrow. Meanwhile, although a judge has told them they can start offering slots anytime they want, with or without Frank Attkisson and the legislature, no one in track management in Broward county has ordered any, preferring to wait for the legislature’s decision on revenue splits, hours and type of equipment. In Maryland, the racing commission listened to representatives of track management and horsemen, and then punted, postponing until Oct. 6 a decision on whether or not it will approve Magna Entertainment’s proposal to cut racing dates in the state dramatically. Joe DeFrances, president and CEO of the Magna-owned Maryland Jockey Club, told the commissioners that if they granted the cut in dates Pimlico and Laurel could raise purses to $303,571 a day instead of the $197,877, enabling them to compete with West Virginia, Delaware and, in the next year or two, Pennsylvania. Magna lost $95.6 million last year on its Maryland operations. Alan Foreman, general counsel for the Maryland thoroughbred horsemen, said Magna was “emboldened by what they see as a compliant racing commission that will rubber-stamp whatever they want to do.” He was not quoted as to whether he agreed with that view. MORE ON THE VERNON DEAL More details have surfaced on the Vernon Downs purchase deal being proposed by Jeff Gural after a compromise with Shawn Scott. If approved by the bankruptcy judge hearing the matter and creditors, Mr. Gural’s new group would take Scott entirely out of track ownership by acquisition of his shares and repayment of an outstanding $2.8 million loan. Gural and TrackPower each would a 25% share in Vernon, and the other 50% would be owned by Nevada Gold, which despite its name is a Texas company that owns gaming facilities around the country. The bankruptcy judge, Stephen Gerling, will weigh the Gural proposal Friday along with one from Eric Spector, the California entrepreneur who briefly was Vernon’s chief executive after the track declared bankruptcy. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SOMEONE IS MISTAKEN Angry words in New York and Maryland, as officials issued differing opinions of events. The widest gap came in New York, where the New York Racing and Wagering Board and the courtappointed monitor of NYRA, the law firm of Getnick and Getnick, issued statements that cannot be reconciled. One of the parties must be in error. The dispute started Tuesday, when Neil Getnick, after issuing a report that NYRA had reformed, lashed out at the racing board, criticizing it for failing to act on pending simulcast contracts and proposed rule changes regarding rebates for NYRA. Getnick said, “Right now, the regulated is leading the regulator.” Yesterday, the board fired back, claiming it never was contacted by the Getnick firm as it was examining mismanagement charges at NYRA. Dan Toomey, a spokesman for the racing board, issued a statement saying, “It’s unfortunate that the independent monitor, in the course of his monitorship, chose not to consult with us despite our many requests to fully share the concerns we had about NYRA’s practices.” That brought an immediate charge from Getnick that the statement was not accurate. “We did contact the Racing and Wagering Board right from the start of the monitorship and that is referenced in the first report,” which was issued in June of 2004. “We’ve had numerous meetings with the board including highly substantive and, frankly, helpful meetings with the board staff in the early months of our monitorship and more than a half-dozen meetings over time where NYRA was also in attendance.” Either Toomey or Getnick is mistaken. Newsday reported yesterday that Toomey had no immediate comment in response to Getnick’s remarks. September 15, 2005 In Maryland, another case of disputed testimony. The chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission, Tom McDonough, contradicted a statement made at a Tuesday meeting by Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association executive secretary Wayne Wright and attorney Alan Foreman that a preexisting agreement between the MTHA and track owners required Magna to run five days of live racing each week through Belmont Stakes day in June 2006. McDonough said, “Alan misspoke. The agreement says, up to five days. As I read it, that means Magna can fulfill its obligation by running as few as one day. It’s a matter of interpretation. What I think Alan was talking about was the intent of the parties at the time the agreement was made.” Foreman in effect agreed on the intent issue, calling the agreement “very technical,” but also saying it was an argument over nothing. It seemed doubtful McDonough would agree with that, and he cannot be pleased with Foreman’s statement that, “In the first place, the chairman shouldn’t be weighing in. He wasn’t in the room when this document was drawn up. But every year since it was agreed to, the tracks have raced five days a week, which speaks to the intent. Tom is arguing Magna’s case, saying they can run less than five days and be in compliance. We read it as saying not more than five without permission.” Foreman also said there could be no debate that Magna was proposing to stop racing on Preakness Day, but the agreement said they must run through Belmont Day 2006, three weeks later. QUOTE OF THE WEEK The Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve having the mayor apply for a slots license within city limits. One councilman, William Peduto, questioned the wisdom of the city running slots. “We have a difficult time running rodent control,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s really local government’s job to run casinos.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 16, 2005 SECURITY ROOMS DEADLINE BIG DOINGS SATURDAY NIGHT Tomorrow, September 17, is the deadline for room reservations for the 8th annual Harness Tracks Security Directors Conference at the Woodlands Inn and Resort in Wilkes-Barre, PA, hard by the Mohegan Sun at Pocono harness track. The Woodlands Inn is located on 40 acres of lush greenery in the heart of the Pocono resort area. To make room reservations, at $85 a night, single, including breakfast, call 570-8249831 or 1-800-762-2222 and ask for the Standardbred Investigative Services room block. The Security Conference dates are Oct. 17-19, and the registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 3. The registration fee is $35, and registration can be handled through the SIS office at 410-3922287. The agenda includes slot operations, medication issues, interaction with Canadian security operations, conducting internal investigations, and terrorism updates, among other subjects. If you are flying to the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton airport, there is complimentary shuttle service to the Woodlands by calling their phone listed above. If you are renting a car, take Interstate 81 south from the airport to the WilkesBarre exit (170B), then get off at exit #1. If driving from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York or Baltimore contact SIS. Big money and dramatic racing on the line on tomorrow night’s harness racing calendar. ‘BOLD INITIATIVE’ BY KEEP The Kentucky Equine Education Project, or KEEP, announced its “ bold legislative initiative” for Kentucky today, but the revelations were sparse. KEEP, which includes the Red Mile, with Joe Costa as a director, said earlier that “Kentucky is in dire need of additional revenue to provide services to its people,” and its plan would raise revenue “without a broad-based tax increase.” That means casinos and slots, but there was no word about how the monies raised would be divided, what tracks would get, or where casinos would be located. At Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, the track offers its richest night ever, with eight $150,000 New York Sire Stakes Finals on a card billed as the Night of Champions. Saratoga is offering a unique betting format on the rich program, with rolling pick threes, two pick fours and superfecta wagering on all eight of the championship races. The evening’s program carries $1.2 million in purses. At Mohawk Raceway, a phenomenal card, led by the $1 million Metro Pace for 2-year-old colts, with Palone Ranger the 2-1 favorite. The real highlight of the program, however, is the $918,500 Maple Leaf Trot, with the world’s best trotting mare, Peaceful Way, facing the sport’s best male trotter, Mr. Muscleman. “ In addition, Mohawk’s program includes the $688,200 She’s a Great Lady for 2-year-old pacing fillies; a $50,000 consolation for that event; a $100,000 Metro consolation; two $40,000 eliminations for the Canadian Trotting Classic for 3-year-old trotters, including American-National winner and Hambletonian runner-up Classic Photo; and a $45,000 open event for pacing mares. The Saratoga Night of Champions had one dark cloud thrown over it when Four Starz Dlivery was scratched from the $150,000 championship final for 3-year-old pacers after testing positive for milkshaking at Batavia Downs Sept. 10. Dave Sabatelli, Four Starzzzz Stable’s regular trainer, was training Four Starz Dlivery for owners Jeff Cohen and Mike Sudaley in the Batavia race in which he turned up positive. Sabatelli also was trainer of Four Starz Cacti, another CohenSudaley horse that came up with a positive at Batavia Sept. 8. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor CREDITORS GET THEIR SAY Some 1,000 creditors and stockholders of Vernon Downs get their say next week, when they will vote on the proposals of Jeff Gural of New York and Eric Spector of California as to who gets to operate the shuttered track. They have until Oct. 31 to express their preference on the plans, and probably will need most of that time to digest the 300 pages of information that the document they receive will contain. After the creditors and shareholders vote, federal bankruptcy judge Stephen Gerling will rule on the winner at a Dec. 16 hearing. Although Gural has been the driving force in working for new ownership, it turns out he will be a minority partner if his group wins, with a 25% share to the 50% share that would be held by Nevada Gold, a Texas outfit that operates gambling facilities. The remaining 25% would be held by TrackPower, a Canadian-owned company that has dabbled in a number of bids for racing roles. Although the two proposals are similar in a number of respects, and both were approved to go forward by Gerling, the Gural plan guarantees creditors at least 90% of their claims, while the Spector bid does not. YOU CAN BE DUMB AND DRIVE It takes skill and courage and timing and coordination to drive harness horses, but it does not necessarily require brains. A case in point is that of driver Todd M. Kolbe, who walked up to a parimutuel clerk stationed in the paddock of Plainridge Racecourse before the seventh race on Aug. 30 and bet $18 against his own horse, favorite in the race, and then finished fifth. Track president Gary Piontkowski, on hearing of the bets, marched to the paddock and ejected Kolbe from the track. The Massachusetts racing commission, which Piontkowski once headed, was not quite a s decisive. It suspended Kolbe for 90 days and fined him $250 for “an unsatisfactory drive.” September 19, 2005 Asked by Boston Globe reporter Bob Hohler if that penalty was severe enough, acting state racing commissioner Jack Magee said doing more would have been “a little premature” because the judges hadn’t even signed their decision. Magee claimed the commission “took this seriously,” but obviously not seriously enough for Piontkowski, who said, “Whether the racing commission suspends him for 90 days or 900 days, we threw him out and we won’t let him come back.” SARATOGA’S BIGGEST NIGHT Quality pays handsome dividends in racing, and if you need to confirm that you can ask Skip Carlson, who runs Saratoga Gaming and Raceway’s racing operations. He called Saturday’s “Night of Champions,” which featured eight $150,000 New York Sire Stakes, “a fantastic night. The energy and enthusiasm that was generated was tremendous for the horsemen, owners and personnel at the track. It shows if you have great horses and great racing, the fans will come out.” Carlson said many in the crowd of more than 4,000 -- Saratoga’s biggest in recent memory -- told him how excited they were to be back, and Carlson says that excitement validated that the mix between racing and gaming works well at Saratoga. He said many of the patrons stayed in Saratoga Springs overnight, enjoyed the gaming, and took in what Saratoga has to offer. Five track records were set or equaled, and four of the races featured times that were the fastest in the 16-year history of “Night of Champions,” which previously were raced at Yonkers Raceway, now being reconfigured as a racino. Carlson hopes to host the event again. He thinks the excitement and quality of the night will inspire new owners to enter the sport, and he predicts the $9 million in purses for New Yorkbred trotters and pacers will double over the next two years, when slots at Yonkers should be underway. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 20, 2005 TANNER TO RUN CHESTER NO UNANIMITY IN SAN MATEO Mike Tanner, director of marketing at Gulfstream Park, where he has worked for 12 years, has been named by Harrah’s to run its harness racing operation at Chester Downs. Tanner served for eight years as assistant director of communications at Gulfstream under veteran publicist Joe Tanenbaum. He also took over simulcasting operations at the track four years ago, and served one year as special assistant to track president Scott Savin before replacing David Rovine as director of marketing last year. Tanner, 39, says he loved his time at Gulfstream but called Chester “an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.” He is a native of southern New Jersey and said the new job allows him “to go back home.” He will start at Chester next month. Two hundred people turned out for a public hearing before the San Mateo, California, City Council on the fate of Bay Meadows racetrack last night, but they left with as much indecisiveness as before the meeting started. Bay Meadows Land company, which owns the 71-year-old track and now also owns Hollywood Park, wants to tear Bay Meadows down and replace it with 1,250 homes, 1.25 million square feet of offices, 15 acres of parkland and 150,000 square feet of stores and restaurants on the track’s 83 acres. Supporters of the plan think it will help stop development of San Mateo’s hills and provide better access to transportation and Highway 101, which serves San Mateo. Opponents say the housing plan would cause congestion, gridlock and school overcrowding, and that if the track must go, the land should be put to better use than housing. The San Mateo Chronicle’s SFGate.com reported this morning that the proposal to tear down the track and build the homes “received about as much opposition as it did support.” If the City Council approves the move, a group called Save Bay Meadows says it will launch a referendum drive, with 30 days to gather the signatures needed to get a referendum on the ballot next fall. BIDDING QUESTIONED IN PA Slots are still a long way off in Pennsylvania, but the process of getting them started already has created controversy. A Pittsburgh publication, the Tribune-Review, reports that the first major gambling-related contract, worth an estimated $6.3 million a year to GTECH, which was awarded the contract, was let by the state’s Department of Revenue without normal procurement process, and that Revenue refuses to identify nine other bidders or reveal how it selected GTECH. The paper quoted Barry Kauffman, executive director of Pennsylvania Common Cause, the public policy nonprofit agency, as saying, “It’s clearly not an appropriate way to conduct the public’s business. The public can’t evaluate if the government is doing a good job in the selection process if it only knows the winner.” The story detailed GTECH’s negative publicity and problems in recent years, saying the contract “could put a company embroiled in a federal bribery investigation in charge of the computer tracking activity at slots casinos.” NY BOARD MULLS REBATES Although the court-appointed monitor of the New York Racing Association strongly recommended rebates as an aide to racing, the New York Racing and Wagering Board has no immediate plans to approve the idea, according to Daily Racing Form. Dan Toomey, a board spokesman, told the Form’s Matt Hegarty that “NYRA is only one of the many entities that the racing and wagering board regulates,” and the board was still collecting input on the programs from racing interests in the state. With all the political and business considerations involved in even the smallest decision concerning New York racing, don’t expect quick action on rebates. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 21, 2005 SENATE ACTS ON SLAUGHTER TASMANIAN BETFAIR ON HOLD The U.S. Senate yesterday passed, by a decisive 68-29 vote, an amendment to the Department of Agriculture Appropriations Bill that could, in effect, end the slaughter of horses in this country for foreign consumption. Under provisions of the bill -- a similar version passed the House on June 8 by a 269-158 vote -- funds would be cut off for inspection of horse meat and would end for one year, starting Oct. 1, the exportation of horse meat overseas. The bill has been pushed hard in the House by Reps. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, John Sweeney of New York and John Spratt of South Carolina, and Whitfield, husband of Kentucky racing commissioner Connie Whitfield, called yesterday’s vote “a great, great victory.” It increases the chances of passage of H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which currently is before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and would permanently end commercial horse slaughter in the United States. The Senate amendment was introduced by former veterinarian Sen. John Ensign of Nevada. Betfair’s bitter battle to gain a foothold in the southern hemisphere by gaining approval to open betting exchanges in Tasmania were delayed again yesterday, when the issue was put on hold until Oct. 18. The premier of Tasmania, Paul Lennon, was expected to endorse Betfair’s bid yesterday, and says he thinks he has enough support in both houses of Parliament to get it done. But Tasmania’s racing industry wanted more time, and the delay for discussions was extended. If Betfair is approved, Tasmanian racing would be deleted from the Super TAB, TAB Limited and UniTAB betting pools in other Australian states and territories, and could affect the scheduling of the Inter Dominion, harness racing’s biggest event Down Under. That racing carnival currently is scheduled for Tasmania in March. Harness racing authorities are expected to urge Tasmania to be stripped of the event if Betfair is licensed. Robert Nason, chief executive of Racing Victoria and a strong opponent of Betfair, thinks Lennon will have a difficult time getting approval through both houses of Parliament. “There is a way to go,” he said, “and it will be months away.” Australian racing opposes the idea because of the primary concern over Betfair, the fact that it allows bettors to back a horse to lose as well as win. BETHLEHEM OKS SLOTS Before a standing room only, turnaway crowd, the City Council of Bethlehem, PA, voted 4-3 yesterday against a plan that would have prohibited gambling at the huge abandoned Bethlehem Steel company plant. The vote came one day after a six and one-half hour public hearing, and opens the way for BethWorks Now and the Sands corporation of Las Vegas to seek a gaming license for their project to develop 126 acres of the Bethlehem Steel site into a huge entertainment and recreational area that would save 23 of 33 buildings on the site and bring 3,000 slots to it. The mayor of Bethlehem, who supported the idea of a casino at the steel site, told the Council last night, “Gambling is the law of the land in Pennsylvania, and no action tonight is going to change that.” MORE TROUBLE AT NYRA? The New York Post reports that “a group of top New York Racing Association officials has been indicted on charges they ‘altered the outcome of races’ by lying about the weight of jockeys....”The paper said Mario Sciafani, NYRA’s chief of scales, and his deputy, Hall of Fame jock Braulio Baezam were expected to surrender today when a 190-page indictment is formally unsealed in Albany. The story says the indictment claims officials failed to report the accurate weights of jocks and then lied about the matter afterward. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THE RITA AND BRAULIO SHOW There is no levity to what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico, but to read New York sports pages this morning Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza gets equal billing with the evil lady Rita who is rampaging toward Galveston. Baeza, assistant clerk of scales for NYRA, was fired yesterday, along with his boss Mario Sclafani, after a 291count indictment charged the two with defrauding bettors, trainers, and other jocks by conspiring with some jockeys to falsify their actual weight in stakes and other races on 67 occasions. Jockeys Jose Santos, who rode Funny Cide to his much publicized victories in the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and Robby Albarado, Heberto Castillo Jr., Ariel Smith and Cornelio Velasquez were named as co-conspirators in the suit, but do not face criminal action. They could, however, face sanctions from the New York Racing and Wagering Board. Sclafani and Baeza are in much deeper water. The charges brought by state attorney general Eliot Spitzer, state comptroller Alan Hevesi and state police superintendent Wayne Bennett include scheme to defraud, conspiracy, falsifying business records, tampering with a sports contest and grand larceny. Although Spitzer said the charges resulted from a yearlong investigation by the AG’s Organized Crime Task Force, and Hevesi acknowledged that the new management of NYRA had brought the matter to light immediately on discovering it, one had to read as far as 13 paragraphs or more into most stories to discover that fact. NYRA itself went farther, and made its role clear in a press statement, that read in part: “NYRA initiated the investigation into these alleged improprieties two years ago and we have cooperated fully with all government and law enforcement agencies.” The press damage to racing integrity, nevertheless, has been, like Rita’s potential impact in the Gulf, enormous. September 22, 2005 The negative publicity involving one of racing’s greatest former jockeys was not the only press blow yesterday. Newsday and others jumped on the story of NYRA trying for a quick sale of 80 acres near Aqueduct, even though state officials claim NYRA’s assets belong to the state. NYRA may turn out to be right or wrong in what it is doing, but you wouldn’t know it from the stories, which imply deep, dark acts of impropriety. One such implication was cast by attorney Donald Kinsella, representing -- according to Newsday -- “one of several entities that seek to replace NYRA when the state franchise expires.” Kinsella, who would not identify his client, which to some journalists would disqualify any objectivity connected with the story, wrote a letter to comptroller Hevesi calling NYRA’s action “remarkable.” Some might think newspapers printing charges by lawyers refusing to identify their clients also classify as “remarkable,” but they get printed, sell papers, and do their damage to the accused long before adjudication. BETTER NEWS ELSEWHERE There were happier developments yesterday on other fronts. In Washington, the American Horse Council revealed that thanks to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, language making horses eligible for federal disaster assistance now is included in the Department of Agriculture 2006 appropriations bill in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In Maryland, a very positive story in Gazette.com, the online newsletter of Maryland Communication Newspapers, on the strong economic recovery of Rosecroft Raceway. And in Pennsylvania, Mohegan Sun president Bob Soper says he expects Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs to be the first track slots operation in the state. Pocono already is building a temporary racino, and Soper thinks they will be ready to roll by spring. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 23, 2005 THE NET WIDENS IN ONTARIO PRIORITIES IN FACE OF RITA The battle against illegal medication took a new and important turn yesterday in Ontario, when the trailblazing Ontario Racing Commission notified licensees and participants in horse racing -- harness and thoroughbred -- that any horses treated by two veterinarians would be prohibited from racing in the province. You might think people living on the Gulf coast of the United States would be concerned most about survival, whether the economic devastation of the killer hurricanes can be reversed in the next decade or whether some of the damage to ports and residential areas are essentially irreversible and inevitable with global warming, which the federal government has long ignored. That undoubtedly is true with the vast majority of people living there, but Missisippi’s largest religious group -- the Mississippi Baptist Convention -- apparently has other priorities. It is trying to make sure that casinos do not use Katrina and Rita to rebuild on land, rather than over the waters of the Mississippi River or Gulf of Mexico to which they now are limited. There are 13 of those casinos, and the Convention’s fear is that “once the casinos are land-based, attempts to move inward to other locations will follow,” according to Jimmy Porter, executive director of the Convention’s Christian Action Commission. The Convention is not exactly without political power in Mississippi. One out of every four Mississippians is a Baptist. The Daily Mississippian, commenting editorially on the situation, noted that “immoral or not, the fact is the state needs money....Granted, some in-state dollars did feed the casinos; but even more money poured in from our Southern neighbors, of which approximately $500,000 a day ended up in Jackson; not in Atlanta, not in Baton Rouge and not in Montgomery, but in Jackson....Too much money and too much of our tourist appeal will be lost if we don’t rebuild the casinos. If we’re going to have gambling, and we are, then we should go ahead and embrace it.” The commission on Wednesday issued a lifetime suspension to Dr. Blaine Kennedy, revoking his license because he “will not act in accordance with the law, or with integrity, honesty or the public interest.” The commission said Dr. Kennedy had “placed the integrity of the horse racing industry in Ontario in question and, in particular, the quality and integrity of veterinary care of horses, and the public interest requires that the licensee be suspended immediately.” Dr. Kennedy held Ontario commission licenses to treat both harness horses and thoroughbreds, and was found to have purchased and used controlled substances from the late Fred Rogers. Rogers had been the subject of investigation for years by Standardbred Investigative Services. In issuing its ruling, the Ontario Racing Commission notified all Ontario participants in racing that any horse treated by Dr. Kennedy on or after Saturday would be ineligible to be declared in any race at any raceway in Ontario, and that any participant attempting to enter a horse treated by Dr. Kennedy after Sept. 24 would be found to be in violation of Ontario rules, regardless of breed. The same penalties apply to horses treated by Dr. Martin Ian Levman. Although not an Ontario Racing Commission licensee, horses treated by him also will be ineligible to race in the province and will be found to be in violation of Ontario’s racing rules. SEE YOU FROM LEXINGTON The Daily Executive Newsletter will reach you next week from Lexington, KY, where the staff will be operating the HTA art auction. The home office will be manned. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor FUMBLING AROUND IN PA Racing is working at solving its many problems these days, and the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission has a very big one, whether it knows it or not. It is communications, or more accurately the lack of them. The commission issued a suspension order dated last Wednesday for the nation’s leading money-winning driver, Brian Sears, saying he would have to undergo six months of rehabilitation on drug matters and that he was barred from racing or its premises in the meantime. Sears then drove last Thursday in the halfmillion dollar Little Brown Jug, and on Saturday at both Freehold in the afternoon and at Mohawk that night in the Canadian Trotting Classic, worth $1 million in Canadian dollars. He drove, presumably, under appeal. We say “presumably” because when we called the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission this morning trying to find out what the story was, we were given gobbledygook and the runaround, both inappropriate for a racing commission anywhere, and particularly for a state about to become a major power when slots kick in. Anton Leppler, the executive director of the commission, was “too busy with meetings” to talk with us. The commission’s director of enforcement, Walt Remmert, took our call and said the commission was in the process of “sorting things out” and had no comment, that we should call back later in the day. Meanwhile, the USTA Web site carried the suspension, and chat lines all over North America were buzzing with the story. This involved the sport’s leading driver, not some minor light. As this is written, Sears has driven the winners of $11,508,612, this year, and the racing commission that issued a suspension notice on him five days earlier was still sorting things out and has no comment on the situation. We hope they get it figured out before the Grand Circuit meeting starts tomorrow at the Red Mile in Lexington. September 26, 2005 AND CHECKING UP IN NY Still smarting under attacks of inaction by the court appointed monitor of the New York Racing Association, the New York Racing and Wagering Board announced over the weekend that it would seek a meeting with the attorney general’s office “as soon as possible” to review the licenses of the unindicted coconspirators in the latest NYRA problem, that of inaccurate jockey weights. A spokesman for the board said it would go over any information attorney general Eliot Spitzer might have on five jockeys already named, but not charged, and perhaps four others who the AG’s office reported rode more than five pounds over announced weights. NYRA issued a statement that “at this time, it is NYRA’s intention to reserve judgment on the allegations contained in the indictment concerning the named jockeys until more facts and information become known through the Racing and Wagering Board’s investigation. Meanwhile, NYRA reserves all of its rights in this matter, including the right to deny access to the NYRA racetracks on anyone whose actions or reputations are deemed to be detrimental to the sport of thoroughbred racing.” NYRA already fired its clerk of scales, Mario Sclafani, and his assistant, Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza. CANDOR IN DELAWARE The Delaware Harness Racing Commission also was in the news, in a lengthy interview of chairwoman Beth Steele by the Wilmington NewsJournal’s veteran racing writer Jack Ireland. Asked about reducing the use of illegal drugs, Ms. Steele - who has been a racing commissioner for 12 years -- said, “All we get to do is put our finger in the dike. There is no quick fix, but I think racing is cleaner and safer in Delaware right now. The horsemen tell us they want things cleaned up, but they don’t want us coming on the farm to investigate. We can’t do anything to stop the drug problem until we can get on the farms and the training centers.” She is 100% correct. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 27, 2005 CONVENIENCE PENALTIES BALA DENIED NEW TRIAL The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, which yesterday was “sorting things out” in the matter of its suspension of the nation’s leading driver Brian Sears five days earlier for a drug problem, decided at the end of the day that although Sears will be suspended for six months, his suspension won’t start until Oct. 3. This conveniently allows him to drive in eight Grand Circuit events, ranging in purse value from $200,000 to $400,000 including the Kentucky Futurity, at the Red Mile in Lexington, KY, if he chooses. In that historic race, the two leading 3-year-old trotters of 2005, Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo and Canadian Trotting Classic winner Classic Photo, meet again. Concerning Sears, there was no public word as to whether the Oct. 3 date was the result of a plea bargain, a stay, an appeal or whatever. It seems strange that if an offense warrants six months suspension, the offender is given the grace of making substantial amounts of money plying his trade before he pays the price for his misdeeds. A federal judge has denied granting a new trial to convicted gaming operator Susan Bala. The former operator of Racing Services in Fargo, North Dakota, had claimed “newly discovered evidence” in requesting a new trial last month, and had submitted 150 documents to U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson. He brushed them aside, saying they did not constitute new evidence, and let stand the conviction on 12 felony charges returned by a jury last February. Ms. Bala, still very much a beauty at 51, is scheduled to begin a 27month prison term Friday. GURFEIN, THOMSON IN HALL Trainer Ron Gurfein and executive Tom Thomson have been elected to harness racing’s Hall of Fame, the United States Harness Writers Association announced yesterday. Gurfein, who has trained some of the sport’s finest horses, is known in particular as a master developer of top trotters. His pupils have included Continental Victory, Victory Dream and Self Possessed, all winners of the Hambletonian, and the world record holding trotting mare Beat the Wheel. Thomson, president of the Grand Circuit for 14 years, is the impresario behind the Little Brown Jug, the sport’s classic event for 3-year-old pacers, a race created by his father Hank Thomson and Hank’s associate Joe Neville. Elected to the Hall of Fame’s Com- municators Corner are photographer Ed Keys, writer Bill Heller, newspaperman Jack Ginnetti and innovator Virginia O’Brien. NO HELP FOR SALLY, EITHER Another federal judge, this one sitting in Lexington, KY, has ruled for the Jockey Club and Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, and against thoroughbred breeder Garrett Redmond of Paris, KY, in the case of naming a thoroughbred filly Sally Hemings. Hemings is known in history as the slave lover of Thomas Jefferson, and the filly in question is out of Jefferson’s Secret, by Colonial Affair. Somehow Alan Marzelli, president of the Jockey Club, thinks naming the filly would contravene “the right of a private organization to make and enforce rules for the integrity of racing.” He says solemnly that “the responsibility falls upon us to enforce those rules,” and the Jockey Club claims Hemings was a famous or notorious person, and such names require special approval. The Jockey Club also invokes the matter of what it considers poor taste, or names that may be offensive to religious, political or other groups. We could fill the rest of this column and an entire special edition with names the Jockey Club has approved that are in poor taste, including some with strong sexual innuendo approved for a major owner in recent years, but that also might be in poor taste, and we do not want to incur the wrath of those who enforce the integrity of racing. Redmond says he may appeal. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SEARS GETS EXTENDED STAY Brian Sears, the nation’s leading harness driver in money winnings with more than $11 million earned by his mounts this year, has denied all charges of drug use and has received an extended, indefinite stay of his six-month suspension from the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission pending confirmatory tests, according to his attorney, Howard Taylor. Sears now is in Lexington, KY, and will drive in the rich Grand Circuit stakes that will feature the Red Mile racing program now through Saturday, culminating with the $400,000 Kentucky Futurity Saturday afternoon. POMPANO PLANS DANCER NITE Pompano Park is hosting a Stanley Dancer Tribute Night on Saturday, October 15 to honor the memory of the great Standardbred trainer/driver. Dancer, who passed away at age 78 on Thursday, September 8, was a fixture at Pompano Park for more than 30 years. The tribute evening will feature a special memorial service before the first race followed by live interviews with family members and friends during the racing program, a special photo page and video clips of races and special events during Dancer’s illustrious career, many of which have never been seen before by the general public. LEGISLATORS DEFY VOTERS Under our system of government, legislators are supposed to represent their constituents, not defy or deny their wishes. In Florida, a move is afoot in the legislature to attempt to repeal the constitutional amendment passed by voters last year which permits slots for four pari-mutuel operations in Broward county. Steve Geller says the Re- publican leadership of the legislature “is treating the constitution and the will of the voters as advisory opinions.” September 28, 2005 The Sun-Sentinel.com reported on the situation today, saying, “With hopes dimming for a special legislative session on slots, there’s a renewed attempt to seek repeal of the constitutional amendment that allowed expanded gambling in Florida.” The story quoted Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush, as saying, “If the legislators can’t come to agreement, there is no sense calling them up here in special session.” The tracks’ lobbyist, Ron Book, said he was not optimistic that legislators could reach agreement in time for a special session, but hoped they would in the regular 2006 session that starts in four months. Dan Adkins, vice president of Hollywood Greyhound and spokesman for the tracks, was even more optimistic. “The voters addressed the issue and it passed by a pretty good margin. We’ve been in discussion with the Legislature. I’m more than hopeful. I’m confident they intend to implement the will of the people.” A major opponent of slots, state senator Randy Johnson, a leader in the fight for repeal, says, “People do change their minds with more information.” Perhaps legislators who oppose slots should too. BAD NEWS IN MASS, TOO Although Suffolk Downs gave its employees today off to rally at the Massachusetts legislature, where a joint House and Senate committee is debating the future of simulcasting in the state, there will be no discussion of slots at Bay State tracks. The co-chairman of the joint committee, Rep. Vincent Pedone, ruled out any action on that issue. “The committee is not going to hear anything having to do with slot machines,” he said. “People who come up to testify, they are going to be talking to a committee that cannot deal with the slot issue.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor ORC SUSPENDS THIRD VET A third veterinarian has been barred from treating racehorses in Ontario. Dr. John Flanigan joins Dr. Blaine Kennedy and Dr. Martin Ian Levman on the suspension list of the Ontario Racing Commission. The ORC issued a ruling that “any participant entering or attempting to enter a horse for whom Dr. Flanigan provided such services on or after Sept. 30, 2005 may be found to be in violation of the Rules of Standardbred or Thoroughbred racing, whichever applies.” The three veterinarians have been linked to the purchase of illegal substances supplied by the late Fred Rogers, long the subject of an investigation by Standardbred Investigative Services. Flanigan, it turns out, permitted Rogers to use his name and registration number with the College of Veterinarians in Ontario for the purpose of obtaining pharmaceuticals and veterinary supplies. He admitted he treated horses with products purchased from Rogers. In another ORC development, the commission’s six month suspension of ownertrainer-driver Jean Chretien was upheld for failing to report the deaths of the horses Armbro Miracle and Don’t Ask Chris, both trained by Chretien. He also was fined C$5,000, with half stayed for one year and vacated at that time unless he violated rules on whipping and keeping both feet in the stirrups. WHEN THE TROOPS REBEL It may not be a first, but it’s unique, when state police sue their state over who gets to conduct background checks. That’s the situation in Pennsylvania, where the state police union has sued because the Gaming Control Board is negotiating no-bid contracts with three private firms to check as many as 30,000 people who could be subject to investigation in connection with slots jobs. Governor Ed Rendell’s office does not think it will result in further delay, but it seems it might slow down policing other matters while troopers pour over 30,000 applications. September 29, 2005 Tad Decker, chairman of the State Gaming Control Board, described the state police lawsuit as “a power play” with no legal grounds, saying, “This is more about money and power and control than it is about the merits of the case.” In politics, Mr. Chairman? Surely you jest. A LOCAL BAN IN MARYLAND In Frederick county, Maryland, a first for the state. County commissioners there voted 4-0 to amend the county zoning to bar video slot machines, but did not get a favorable vote on the issue of slots within the city of Frederick. As a result, the county ban would not prohibit HTA director William Rickman from building a casino on land he owns near the Frederick Municipal Airport, which is within the city limits of Frederick. First, however, the General Assembly will have to approve slots. We hope Frederick is still there when they get around to it. APPEALS COURT OK SLOTS A state appeals court in Florida yesterday ruled that there is no reason four pari-mutuel operations in Broward county cannot operate slots. This is the second court to rule for the tracks, but they still say they would like legislative approval before moviog ahead building racinos. UP AND DOWN IN BEANTOWN Race track employees and horsemen from HTA member Plainridge Racecourse and Suffolk Downs, some 500 strong, paraded outside the State House in Boston yesterday, carrying placards and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “Save Our Jobs.” The demonstration was intended to influence legislators considering slots at tracks for Massachusetts, and one legislative supporter of the idea, state senator Michael Morrissey, said he thought there probably was a Senate majority in favor of slots, but not overwhelming support. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor September 30, 2005 MORE ONTARIO SUSPENSIONS MAJOR LEAVITT DISPERSAL The fallout from the investigation of illegal drug sales by the late Fred Rogers continues in Ontario with the suspension for five years of the leading trainer at Rideau Carleton Raceway, Sherry Korniski. Her husband, Robert McNamara, also has been suspended by the Ontario Racing Commission. The commission has made no announcement of details of the case, but before his lawyer clamped a “no comment” gag on McNamara, he told Trot Insider on Standardbred Canada’s Web site that the suspension was linked to dealings with Rogers. McNamara said he and his wife had “bought products off a man who was licensed to sell them,” and claimed they bought only products that were advertised for sale to everyone. McNamara says he intends to fight the suspensions in court. Alan Leavitt, who with his wife Meg Jewett Nichols operates one of harness racing’s major breeding farms at Walnut Hall Ltd. near Lexington, announced yesterday that they will be dispersing their broodmare band and weanling crop at Harrisburg in November and operating only as a stud operation. Walnut Hall manages stallions standing in Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. Leavitt, who broke with other breeders this fall by selling the 90 Walnut Hall Ltd. yearlings at Tattersalls, while all other consignors moved to the Fasig-Tipton arena across town, averaged $32,992 Wednesday night, up almost 18% over a year go, with 17 yearlings failing to bring reserve prices. The sale topper was Allstar Hall, a Like a Prayer half-brother to the outstanding Conway Hall, Angus Hall and Andover Hall, which was purchased for $270,000 by a partnership led by John Erik Magnusson of Sweden, who operates a farm near Paris, KY. HAMBO SOCIETY HIT BY SUIT Daniel Waxman, son of prominent owner Bob Waxman and owner of the outstanding pacing mare Loyal Opposition, is suing the Hambletonian Society for withholding the purse money from the Breeders Crown, won at Mohawk Raceway by Loyal Opposition. The ownership switch from father to son came while Bob Waxman and the Standardbred Horse Sales Company were battling over alleged nonpayment by Waxman for horses purchased at the company’s Harrisburg sale. Tom Charters, president of the Hambletonian Society, said the purse money has been placed in an escrow account at the request of the Ontario Racing Commission and will be paid after the commission concludes its investigation of the ownership change on Loyal Opposition. The mare is scheduled to start in the Milton stake at Mohawk tomorrow night. In other Ontario news, Woodbine Entertainment has requested 179 racing dates at Woodbine and 81 at Mohawk for 2006. CONGRESS CHECKS ON JOCKS The Congressional subcommittee chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky will hold a hearing Oct. 18 that will include investigation into the Jockey’s Guild, according to bloodhorse.com. The magazine says the Guild inquiry is “part of an ongoing investigation by the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight” and that the hearing will include management practices and finances of the Guild. The committee is awaiting information on those items due by Oct. 3 from the Jockey’s Guild president Wayne Gertmenian. HTA ART SELLS TOMORROW Harness Tracks of America’s 28th annual auction of equine art gets underway tomorrow morning at 8:30 at Tattersalls in Lexington. More than 200 works, featuring 19th century European bronzes and 40 Currier & Ives prints, along with contemporary art, is being offered. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 4, 2005 ART AUCTION GROSS $319,525 A WORLD RECORD FOR HTA? HTA’s 28th College Scholarship Art Auction grossed $319,525 for 210 paintings, prints, bronzes and woodcarvings. The $1,521.55 average price was the highest in the history of the event. Full results will be published later this week. The HTA art auction ended Saturday afternoon, at 2:30, and HTA general counsel Paul Estok and research analyst Brody Johnson helped sort things out for the remainder of the day and evening. Then, at 5 a.m. Sunday morning, they hopped in Estok’s truck and drove nonstop to San Diego, California, for the TRA-HTA-AQHR-AGTOA International Simulcast Conference. By noon they had passed St. Louis, by late afternoon they sailed past Tulsa, by early Monday morning they were in Arizona, and they arrived at the simulcast conference around 1 p.m. Monday, in time for the afternoon opening session. There is something called “above and beyond the call of duty,” and this qualifies. It is also, until someone proves us wrong, a world record for a nonstop KentuckyCalifornia crossing. Opening session activities at the conference, with more than 300 attendees, included gaming and racing authority Gene Christiansen discussing future trends in racing and Tim Sullivan of the security firm of Safir-Rosetti discussing financial integrity and anti-money laundering policies. Appropriately, in view of the Meadowlands’ request for Choose Six wagering, Christiansen stressed the need for racing to embrace change, technological and philosophical, to remain viable. The conference continues today and tomorrow. MLANDS ASKS FOR CHOOSE 6 The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has asked the New Jersey Racing Commission for permission to introduce Choose Six and Group Bet wagering at the Meadowlands, and at its next meeting at Monmouth Park. Choose Six is the new wager introduced by Scientific Games Racing and Cantor Index, in which the bettor chooses the winner of any six races on the card. It differs from Pick Six wagering in that the bettor, not the track, chooses the six races in their Choose Six, and has the option of buying back into the pool if they are eliminated, as long as there are at least six races remaining on the card. The bet was introduced at Delaware Park in July. The Group Bet offers fans a one-in-three chance of winning each race by placing horses into three different categories, all within the win pool. The morning line favorite remains a separate win bet, while the remainder of the field is placed into either Group A or Group B. Group A includes “contenders” while Group B consists of “longshots,” or every other horse in the race. The bettor does not have to be concerned which member of his or her Group wins, as the payout will remain the same. The Group Bet will debut in April of 2006, but the Choose Six will be introduced just as soon as it receives commission approval. Joe Asher, managing director of Cantor Index LLC, and Lorne Weil, chairman and CEO of Scientific Games, feel the availability of the new bet types is important to the growth of racing, and lauded the Sports Authority for its “visionary spirit.” SLACK, RUBINETTI, DIE Harness racing has lost two prominent figures. Bill Slack, the personable and popular former simulcast coordinator and PR spokesman for Hippodrome de Montreal, and a baseball scout for many years for a number of major league teams, has died of cancer. Owner Frank Rubinetti, who campaigned more than 60 horses over 30 years of racing, including the 1997 3-year-old trotting filly champion No Nonsense Woman, died at 76. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 5, 2005 NYRA GOING BROKE: HAYWARD O CANADA! The president of the New York Racing Association, Charles Hayward, told a state oversight panel yesterday that NYRA will be out of money by the third week of November if it cannot sell off some 80 parcels of land near its Aqueduct operation. The land is in dispute, with the state of New York claiming it is state property, and NYRA claiming it owns the land because it holds the deeds and has paid property taxes on the properties for years. NYRA says it needs between $15 million and $20 million from a sale of the land to avoid bankruptcy, with Hayward saying “the franchise is in jeopardy.” Things are so bad that NYRA is considering cutting health care benefits for employees and retirees and selling paintings that have been given to it over the years. Carole Stone, a member of the state oversight panel recently named by governor George Pataki, said she believes NYRA must obtain permission from the oversight panel, the New York Racing and Wagering board, and the legislature before it can sell any of the disputed land. Hayward wants a rebate program, saying, “Money is not leaking out of New York. Money is pouring out of New York.” He said purses may have to be reduced and race dates may have to be curtailed to prevent NYRA from sinking, and also suggested possible repeal of NYRA policy to allow employees to retire at 50 fully vested and with 100% of health care costs covered. Speakers at yesterday’s second session of the TRA-HTA-AQHR-AGTOA International Simulcast Conference in San Diego verified what both Canadian and American tracks predicted would happen with the legalization of common pool wagering between the U.S. and Canada. Arlington Park’s director of mutuels, Jack Lisowski, reported handle from Canada increased 23%, and noted that Canadians were betting more in trifecta and superfecta pools than American bettors. Sean Pinsonneault, vice president of wagering operations at Woodbine Entertainment Group, said Arlington’s increase in handle from Canada since merged pools began translated into a $1.3 million gain. And Susie Sourwine, vice president of marketing at Emerald Downs in Washington state showed a 57% increase since the introduction of common pool betting. J. Curtis Linnell, wagering analyst for the TRPB, suggested that proposition bets and fixed odds betting, available in England and Australia, had proved attractive to bettors with access to wagering in those countries. WILLIAM RICKMAN SR. DIES William Rickman Sr., who rose from a machinist in a two-car garage to a fortune as a developer and major figure in American racing, died last Friday at 84. An owner and breeder, his racing holdings included Delaware Park and HTA member Ocean Downs. HTA extends its deepest sym- p a thy to his son, HTA director William Rickman Jr., and the entire Rickman family. GUILD STANCE “TROUBLING” Kentucky congressman Ed Whitfield, chairman of the House subcommittee investigating the Jockeys’ Guild, says he is doubtful that the Guild and Matrix Capital Associates, associated with it through Guild president L. Wayne Gertmenian, have produced all records subpoenaed by his committee. Whitfield said Gertmenian’s “continued lack of cooperation is troubling.” A hearing on Guild management and finances is set for October 18 in Washington. YOU CAN’T RIDE THEM, MAL The guy with the big smile given half a page in Thoroughbred Times had to be Mal Burroughs, saying he was going to give the runners a try as an owner. You can’t win the Kentucky Derby riding them, Mal. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 6, 2005 SOMETHING NEW IN INDIANA IT’S ALL IN THE GENES Answering the call that something new and different is needed in racing, HTA member Indiana Downs has announced it will hold a one mile $20,000 Indiana Sires stakes for trotters on the turf Oct. 29. Racing trotters on grass is not new in Europe -- turf races are held in Normandy -but it is rare here. Oct. 29 is Breeders’ Cup day, and Indiana Downs will race Saturday afternoon rather than night that day, with the turf race scheduled to follow immediately after the last Cup event. Racing director and racing secretary Jim Ewart thinks the novelty is well worth the try. If you ever have wondered where entrepreneur Shawn Scott got his talent for wheeling and dealing and persistence, the answer is clear. He got it from his mother. Victoria Scott, undaunted by two rejections earlier this year, is trying for a third time to place an initiative on the 2006 ballot to legalize video gaming halls in Alaska. Ms. Scott’s previous applications were denied because they would have created a video gambling monopoly in Anchorage for one person -- Victoria Scott -- and assistant attorney general Sarah Felix found that a bit inappropriate. The earlier Scott proposals would have established two “gaming districts” which could not be within 75 miles of one another, and only in cities with populations over 30,000. That meant Anchorage, and when the Associated Press looked into the proposal, it discovered that a parcel of land detailed in the proposed law designated where that district would be. It turned out that Victoria Scott had an option on the land. The latest Scott proposal eliminates the 75-mile buffer zone between districts, but still designates Scott’s parcel as Anchorage’s first gaming district. Voters would have to approve any additional gaming halls in Anchorage. Juneau and Fairbanks also could have halls, with voter approval. An effort is being made to collect the 31,451 signatures needed for the initiative before the January legislative session begins, but a Scott co-sponsor says the time frame is tight. RACING TO THE RESCUE Rosecroft Raceway is the latest HTA track to join the NTRA’s Racing to the Rescue Relief Fund for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The event, to be held this Saturday, coincides with Rosecroft’s Showcase of Champions night, and all grandstand admissions will be donated to the fund. Hoosier Park, Northfield Park, and Pocono Downs/Mohegan Sun also are participating in the charity event. Some tracks are taking voluntary contributions from patrons, some are using automatic check-off by owners, trainers and drivers, others are raffling off prizes with ticket receipts earmarked for the fund, a few are matching employee contributions, and still others are using autograph sessions with leading drivers and jocks. Dunking booths for the latter also are being tried. SENATE VOTES IN BAY STATE SUSAN IN THE SLAMMER Susan Bala, president and founder of Racing Services in Fargo, ND, has reported to a minimum security federal prison in Pekin, IL, to begin serving her 27-month term for taking some $99 million in unlicensed betting between Oct. 2002 and April 2003. She is still appealing to a higher court. The Massachusetts Senate was to vote on slots at tracks today, and is expected to pass the measure, since the Senate president supports the bill and the votes appear there. That would be only onethird of the way home, because the House is not likely to follow suit, and the governor, Mitt Romney, has promised to veto the bill if it should pass. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor SCHOLARSHIP ART VICTIMIZED In the first such incident in the 28-year history of the HTA College Scholarship art auction, a buyer, either unable or unwilling to pay for his purchases, has defaulted, leaving HTA with 28 of its best works of art to be resold or carried over to next year’s auction. The unsold works are being listed as “Available” on the result sheet of the auction, being released today on the HTA Web site and to media. October 7, 2005 When a reporter asked Bruno if ending NYRA’s franchise early could benefit his son Kenneth, who is paid $15,000 a month by Magna Entertainment to represent it in Albany in its quest for the NYRA franchise, Bruno bristled, calling the question “dumb.” Magna also retained Patricia Lynch, once the top aide to House speaker Sheldon Silver, and former Senator Alfonse D’Amato in pursuit of that goal. MORE DELAYS IN MARYLAND BRUNO DROPS THE HAMMER In a move ominous for the New York Racing Association, one of its staunchest supporters -- and New York state’s most powerful legislator, Senate majority leader Joe Bruno -- has announced he is urging governor George Pataki and House speaker Sheldon Silver to create legislation to accelerate bidding for the racing franchise currently held by the New York Racing Association. Bruno also suggested, however, that the state consider a bailout for NYRA to help it out of its current dire financial crisis and allow it to continue operations. Bruno said, “We’re going to do everything we can through the oversight committee,” recently appointed by Pataki, “to shore up NYRA short term.” But he added that selling assets, which NYRA has proposed doing to save itself from bankruptcy, “is no way to run anything.” Bruno wants New York to award a new thoroughbred racing franchise within the next six months, and if his view prevails, as it usually does in New York state, NYRA could be out of the racing business well before its franchise expires Dec. 31, 2007. Bruno says he expects the legislature to return for a special session before January and he hopes it will consider his racing proposal at that time. NYRA senior VP Bill Nader called that time frame unrealistic, saying, “To implement these changes that fast would be as unexpected as Upset beating Man O’War at Saratoga. The Maryland Racing Commission yesterday rejected the Maryland Jockey Club’s request to race four days a week instead of five from January 1 through June 10. Magna Entertainment COO Don Amos and MJC president Joe DeFrancis told the commission such a move would provide larger fields and boost daily purses from $194,000 this year to $304,000 next year, but the commission ruled against that proposal after an assistant attorney general said the MJC was contractually bound to race five days a week for the first five months of the year. Magna sought to have its 2006 racing dates cut from 200 to 112, then compromised at 129, but the commission delayed a vote on that proposal and ordered management to sit down with horsemen and attempt to resolve their differences before the next commission meeting in November. MASS SENATE OKS SLOTS The Massachusetts Senate yesterday voted, 26-9, to allow 2,000 slots at each of the state’s four racetracks, including HTA member Plainridge Racecourse, but the battle is far from won. The House has shown no inclination to take up the bill, and governor Mitt Romney has threatened a veto. The Senate’s six Republicans rebelled against Romney in yesterday’s vote, and with two of the body’s members recusing themselves the 26 votes for slots would be the magic number for a veto if the bill gets that far. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 10, 2005 YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS PELLING, MORGAN RELOCATE After stumbling and fumbling for days with the original announcement of a six-month suspension of Brian Sears, the nation’s leading harness racing driver, then extending the penalty’s effective date to Oct. 3, allowing him to drive in and win major races including the Kentucky Futurity at the Red Mile in Lexington, the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, without comment, today announced the penalty had been rescinded. There was no explanation, no clarification, no rationale, nothing, except the bare bones announcement, which reads: “Ruling No. 050907C dated September 29th, 2005, issued against driver Brian Sears, is hereby rescinded.” That’s it. U.S. harness racing may have seen the last of trainer Brett Pelling, or will soon, and Chicago harness racing may have seen the last of its stormy star, Tony Morgan. When asked in Lexington about reports of his move to Australia at the end of the racing season, Pelling replied brusequely, “Well, you’ve heard it officially now, from the source.” Pelling told Canada’s The Harness Edge that he was disappointed with the lack of leadership in U.S. racing, and that he disagreed with some racing jurisdiction rules as well as legal action taken against him by a major client. He also told the magazine that he wanted to educate his two children in Australia, and that his extensive stable at White Birch Farm in New Jersey will be taken over by his assistant, Richard (Nifty) Norman. The original suspension ruling, dated Sept. 26, stated that Sears “must complete a Pennsylvania Department of Health approved drug treatment program” and upon successful completion of the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program he might be issued a conditional license for five years, to be reviewed annually. As a condition of continued license, the ruling stated that Sears will be additionally required to sign a waiver and release consent authorizing the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission to obtain personal information in order to ensure compliance with the ruling and conditional license. The original suspension also denied him privilege of the grounds of Pocono Downs and The Meadows, the two harness tracks in Pennsylvania. Presumbly, since the new notice calls for rescinding and not amending of the original suspension, those terms presumably no longer apply. It is difficult to reconcile -- and to explain to the racing public -- how an alleged offense serious enough to draw a sixmonth suspension suddenly is rescinded without comment. One conclusion is that the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission desperately needs a public relations director or counselor. In Chicago, where he has been a dominant driving figure for years and the forceful de facto leader of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, driver Tony Morgan said he is leaving to relocate his base of operation at Dover Downs in Delaware. Morgan told the Northwest Indiana Times that “after I saw the dates for 2006, there was no way I was going to stay in Chicago and race.” Morgan has fought with track management over the years, and says he has “served my time....it’s time to let someone else battle.” He also is troubled by the creation of a new horsemen’s group, the Illinois Standardbred Association, which represents owners and breeders primarily, rather than trainers and drivers, and which Morgan says “has compromised our position terribly.” He predicted that the first of the year “is going to be a disaster here...with the horsemen divided into two groups....we just don’t have the leverage we used to have with the racetracks, the Illinois Racing Board, or the legislature. He said cutting the amount of days raced would have been the smart thing to do, for purses and racing. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 11, 2005 RACING LOSES THREE STARS SPECIAL SESSION ON NYRA The death of three stellar figures in the racing world has left the sport poorer. Capital News9.com in New York reports that a special session of the Senate will be called in November or December to discuss an early end of the franchise of the New York Racing Association to operate New York’s Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga Racecourse, and energy issues in the state. Joe Gerrity, chairman of the board of Saratoga Gaming and Racing and an owner of both harness horses and thoroughbreds for years, has died at 88. His greatest racing thrill, he once said, was winning the Breeders Crown 2-yearold pacing classic in 1986 with Sunset Warrior, a horse he kept and visited daily at his farm in Loudonville, NY. Tony Sisti, a sports reporter and harness racing writer for 40 years for Newsday, died in South Nassau Communities Hospital in New York at 80. Sisti covered harness racing from its halcyon days at Roosevelt and Yonkers Raceways until the late 1980s, and was elected to the Writers’ Corner of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1988. Richard Stone Reeves, one of the best known equine painters of the present era, died Oct. 7 in Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, NY, at the age of 85. Reeves began painting racehorses after leaving the Navy following World War II, and became an immediate success, receiving innumerable commissions to paint the great horses of both thoroughbred and harness racing. Most of his paintings are owned by private collectors, with the Aga Khan owning the largest, and a dozen hanging in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. GOLDSTEIN MOVES UP AT CAPRI Robert S. Goldstein, son of chairman and chief executive Bernard Goldstein of Isle of Capri Casinos, has been named to the new role of executive vice chairman of the company. He also is chairman and CEO of Alter Trading, a scrap metal recycler. YOU SHOULD LIVE SO LONG It is becoming apparent that horses that currently are yearlings, and human beings of any advanced age, may not live to see slots in Pennsylvania. When the pols who inhabit the state’s Gaming Control Board get done their internal bickering and backbiting, the current crop of yearlings may be retired from racing, and the potential bettors gone to their eternal reward. After hemming and hawing over almost every administrative issue before it, the board now is deadlocked over how to license the companies that will provide the slots. The chairman of the board, Thomas A. (Tad) Decker, solemnly announced, “This is a major problem. I don’t want to kid anybody, because I don’t see any end in sight.” The governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is counting on $1 billion in tax revenue from 14 racinos and casinos that he wants to use to reduce property taxes by some $340 a household. He is going to have to wait. The law passed in the state requires operators to get their games from in-state suppliers, but the board can’t issue casino licenses until 90 days after it licenses the manufacturers and suppliers. It hasn’t even begun taking applications, but already is fighting tooth and nail over how to do it, and to whom. Board chairman Decker says it will take his investigators months to complete the necessary background checks on potential suppliers after applications are accepted, so April now is the earliest any licenses might be issued. Oh well, there always is Delaware and New Jersey. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor A LOT OF NEWS...MOSTLY BAD The nation knows by now that very strange things go on politically in Florida, and it received more evidence yesterday. The governor, Jeb Bush, says it is wrong not to make a good-faith effort to have the slots bill for Broward county implemented, since the voters of Broward voted for it, but that once it is implemented he will move to have it repealed. Bush was joined by Senate president Tom Lee and House Speaker Allan Bense, who told activists for the Christian Coalition of South Florida they support asking voters in November, 2006, to repeal the citizen initiative that was voted in by constitutional amendment last November and affirmed by Broward county voters last March. This affront to public will is one more sign of political arrogance in Florida, and effectively postpones any chance of slots at Broward’s four pari-mutuel operations unless they choose to follow a state appeals court decision that ruled they could install slots any time they choose. To go to that expense now, in the face of Bush’s actions and his legislative support, would seem unlikely as well as unfortunate. MORE ON JOE GERRITY Yesterday’s bare-bones obituary notice on Joe Gerrity, chairman of the board of Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, needs amplification. Gerrity died Monday at 89, a longtime owner and breeder of both trotters and pacers and runners. A Harvard graduate who was involved in horses even in his college days as manager of the Harvard polo team, he later earned a license as a harness driver and drove occasionally at Saratoga. He owned two Little Farms, one at Kinderhook, NY, and another at his home in Loudonville, where he personally cared for his 21-year-old pride and joy, the pacer Sunset Warrior, which gave him his greatest racing thrill winning the $819,600 Breeders Crown as a 2-year-old at Garden State Park in 1986. October 12, 2005 Still actively involved at the time of his death, Gerrity had 6 standardbreds at Vernon Downs and 12 thoroughbreds at Belmont Park and Finger Lakes, including the stakes winner Dave, which captured the $113,000 West Point handicap at Saratoga Racetrack this year. He was majority owner of Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, personally helping finance its opening as the first racino in New York state when legal challenges to the law made conventional financing difficult, and he was that HTA track’s chairman for the last 18 years. A philanthropist with business interests including real estate, investments and a car dealership, he loved horse racing with a passion to the day he died. HTA extends its deepest sympathy to his son Daniel, involved in management of Saratoga, to five other sons and daughters, and the entire Gerrity family. VERNON DEALS CHALLENGED Carl Greenberg, a minority shareholder in MidState Raceway, has filed objections with the Assistant U.S. Trustee handling the Vernon Downs sales transactions, complaining that the majority shareholder, Shawn Scott, is receiving preferential treatment under the purchase plan offered by Jeff Gural, and alleging that undesirables are involved with the proposal. Greenberg, whose family has owned Vernon Downs stock for 40 years, says he also is “uncomfortable” with the second purchase plan under consideration, questioning the rationale for the proposed $4 a share value offered for the minority shareholders’ holdings. MLANDS, BELMONT CANCEL Heavy rains in the New York area have forced cancellation of thoroughbred racing at both the Meadowlands and Belmont Park. The Meadowlands ran only one race Saturday night and three on Tuesday afternoon before cancelling today’s card. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor PLAINRIDGE GOING TO HOUSE HTA member Plainridge Racecourse has cancelled its Tuesday, October 18 card in order to permit members of the Massachusetts harness racing community to be heard in the halls of the Bay State legislature. That day, a state House committee will conduct a hearing on a measure that would permit the installation of slot machines at the state’s four pari-mutuel racetracks. That legislation passed the state senate last week by a 26-9 margin. Next week’s hearing will begin at 9 a.m. at the State House in Boston. Plainridge will provide transportation free to Boston for all interested parties. The cancelled race card will be made up on Saturday, October 22. BANGOR TO OPEN NOV. 4 Penn National Gaming plans to open its Bangor Raceway slot machine facility to the public on November 4, with an invitation-only party to be held two days earlier, according to a company official. The casino, called Hollywood Slots, will house up to 475 slot machines, and will open two years to the day after voters approved a statewide referendum legalizing slot machines at Maine’s commercial harness racing facilities. Still, the facility is only temporary; Penn National plans to replace the slots parlor, which is located at the site of a former restaurant, with a permanent casino with up to 1,500 gaming machines. October 13, 2005 Miller); Up Front Jerry (Bradley Hanners); Speed Demon (Jim Morand); Gryffindor (David Miller); Beretta Hall (Mike Lachance); and Whelan Mike (Kevin Sizer). The second division, in post position order, includes: Load the Dice (Mike Lachance); Weiss Hanover (George Brennan); Revolutionary Foe (Cat Manzi); Cam’s Fool (Brian Sears); Secret Weapon (Bradley Hanners); and Royal Flush Shark (Eric Ledford). GAMING ATTENDEES WARNED Public health officials in a number of states are offering preventative shots to those who attended the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas the week of Sept. 12, after learning that a worker at the Schwan’s Food Co. booth who served free ice cream to attendees had hepatitis-A. Hepatitis-A is a viral infection of the liver that can cause jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. The virus most often is spread through fecal-oral contact, such as touching hand to mouth after using the bathroom or shaking the hands of infected people who did not wash properly. Those infected usually develop symptoms 15 to 50 days after exposure to the virus. Officials in Nevada said that there is no evidence the free ice cream was tainted. “It’s important to make clear that the individual was the exposure, not the product.” ATTENTION HTA DIRECTORS TWELVE IN MESSENGER A total of 12 3-year-old pacing colts are entered for the third leg of pacing’s Triple Crown, the Messenger Stakes, to be run on Monday at Harrington Raceway. Two fields of six will contest $72,825 divisions (to be raced as the 5th and 6th races on the card), with the top four coming back for a third and final heat for a purse of $281,475 (to be contested as the 10th race). The first division includes, in post position order: Dawn of a New Day (David Today, along with the press release soliciting nominations for the 2005 Hanover Shoe Farms/HTA Caretaker of the Year Award, Jessica Carner, HTA’s editorial coordinator, e-mailed to each member racing association program ads (1/4-page, 1/ 2-page, and full-page versions) announcing the award. HTA asks that whenever and wherever possible, member associations use these ads in their programs to promote the caretaker award. The deadline for nominations for the 2005 award is December 31, 2005. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 14, 2005 CAL BOARD TAKES OVER TESTS UNHAPPINESS IN IOWA Milkshakes in California may cost a bit more starting next Wednesday, when the California Horse Racing Board takes over high bicarbonate level testing. Licensees with high bicarbonate readings now can face fines and suspensions, and purse money earned in such instances would automatically be forfeited. The board will test all horses at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields and will test standardbreds at Cal Expo on a random basis. Thoroughbred samples will be collected prerace, standardbred samples post race, and trainers will have the option of having a duplicate sample collected at the same time the primary is collected, but tested at a different laboratory than the Kenneth Maddy lab at the University of California-Davis, which the CHRB uses. A duplicate sample will cost trainers $165, and must be paid in advance. If Maddy tests show high levels of carbon dioxide, and are not contradicted by duplicate tests done elsewhere, a complaint will be filed against the trainer and other licensees implicated by the evidence. During processing of the case, horses from the trainer’s barn will have to race out of a track detention facility. Either stewards or an administrative law judge will hear the case, and potential sanctions include disqualification, fine, or suspension. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission has stepped into the dispute between harness horsemen in the state and HTA member Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino. The track and horsemen have not been able to agree on a contract, and the commission has refused to renew casino and racing licenses for 2006 until they do. The commission ordered representatives of both sides to sit down again at the bargaining table, and resolve the issue, and said they would consider licenses next month if the issue is settled. Prairie has settled with thoroughbred and quarter horse interests, proposing purses totaling $14.3 million for thoroughbreds and $2.3 million for quarter horses, but the Iowa Harness Horsemen’s Assn. is asking for $2.5 million and 17 days of racing next year. Commission chairwoman Diane Hamilton has said of the impasse, “Our interest is to encourage the working together of the three horse breeds.” Track president and general manager and HTA director Robert Farinella says Prairie Meadows has negotiated in good faith with the harness group and is trying to offer a fair and competitive purse structure for all three breeds. The track has proposed 45 days of thoroughbred racing for next year, 45 days of mixed thoroughbred and quarter horse racing, and a 12-day harness meeting Sept. 24 thru Oct. 14. The horsemen’s association president, Royal Roland, says its goal “is to get some additional funding to sustain the increased growth and investment in Iowa’s agricultural economy.” RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY New Jersey is underwater, or parts of it, and the Meadowlands has not been spared. Unrelenting rain has forced cancellation of Wednesday’s and Thursday’s night thoroughbred cards at the track, and tonight’s racing program has been cancelled as well. The Meadowlands has not raced a complete card since Oct. 7. DON’T FORGET GROOMS Directors and action officers: Please ask your program directors to use the Caretaker of the Year solicitation ads we have provided. BERMAN OUT AT MONTICELLO Robert Berman, who built Empire Resorts, the owner of Monticello Raceway, and stepped down as CEO a few months ago, now is leaving the company altogether. Although his 49-year-old brother died recently, news releases implied Berman’s controversial and sometimes confrontational stances also played a role. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor A VICTORY FOR GOV. CODEY A two-judge appeals panel in New Jersey has spelled out the pecking order of political chess in the state. It ruled that a governor can capture a queen, not the other way around, and that a judge cannot stop him from doing it. Gov. Richard Codey had attempted to remove Linda Kassekert, the state’s top casino regulator as chairwoman of the Casino Control Commission, from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority board. The Authority oversees distribution of millions of dollars of casino revenue for development projects in New Jersey, and a state Superior Court judge issued a temporary injunction preventing Codey from removing Kassekert. Codey appealed, and Judge Francine I. Axelrad, writing the decision for the two-judge appeals panel, sustained his power. “The trial judge does not have the jurisdiction to review and enjoin the final decision of the governor,” she wrote. Kassekert had clashed with the governor over the appointing of a former state Labor Commissioner, Thomas Carver, to the position of executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. Kassekert turned up a double loser. Carver has been appointed to the position, and she is off the authority board. She still can appeal to the state Supreme Court. GERTMENIAN IN THE GLARE Out of the shadows and into the light comes L. Wayne Gertmenian, the president of the Jockeys’ Guild. He is expected to testify tomorrow before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Kentucky congressman Ed Whitfield. The Guild, preparing for a public performance by the controversial Gertmenian, took the offensive, issuing a press release asking, among other things, why tracks and their lobbyists pretend Gertmenian is the source of the industry’s problems. October 17, 2005 We weren’t aware that they had, but if they did we can guess at the answer: lack of transparency. Gertmenian has shrouded the doings of the Guild in secrecy. People have had enough of that these days. Maybe tomorrow’s hearing will pull aside the curtains a bit. But don’t bet on it. One hundred jocks are scheduled to show up for the hearing, packing the House to protest what they call “the one-sided nature of the subcommittee.” A HEARING IN BOSTON, TOO A House committee in Massachusetts meets tomorrow in Boston to follow up on the Senate’s decisive approval of slots last week by a 26-9 vote, and Plainridge Racecourse is taking it seriously. The track has cancelled its Tuesday racing card so employees, fans and others can be heard in the halls of the legislature. The hearing begins at 9 a.m. in the State House, and Plainridge is providing free transportation to Boston for all interested parties. Buses will leave the track at 6:30 a.m. That’s interested!! Tomorrow’s cancelled card will be made up with a special program this coming Saturday, with a 10 a.m. post time. They get up early in Massachusetts. MESSENGER AT HARRINGTON Harrington Raceway hosts the 49th edition of the Messenger Stake for the second time tonight, and the track is pulling out all the stops for the third leg of pacing’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. An invitational dinner for VIP friends of the raceway kicks off the event, with a cocktail party starting at 5 p.m. and a buffet dinner served from 6 to 8 in a weather-conditioned hospitality tent at the west end of the grandstand. The track is providing bus shuttle service from the State Fair carnival parking lot to the hospitality tent. Two well-matched fields of six race in two $72,825 eliminations as the 5th and 6th races, and the top eight return for the $218,745 final in the 10th race. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 18, 2005 STRONG FEELINGS IN FLORIDA A FAMILIAR NAME IN THE NEWS If sentiments expressed in the Sun-Sentinel in south Florida today are any indication, George Bush is not the only family member losing public support. His brother Jeb is catching it too, being called a hypocrite by columnist Michael Mayo. Writing about Bush’s duality -- the governor said he would like to see a special session of the legislature to implement slots in Broward and then an anti-slots amendment to repeal them, Mayo wrote, “A simple question for the governor and State Representative Randy Johnson, a Republican legislator who’s leading the crusade against slots: Why not push to ban the state lottery, too? Only a hypocrite could pick on one without the other.” Broward county residents were unhappy, too. The paper quoted one as saying, “Why should we even vote? I’ve voted straight Republican all my whole life, but no more.” Mayo quoted Bruce Rogow, an attorney representing Broward county tracks, as saying, “If you or I violated a mandate such as this, we’d be in jail. It’s a slap in the face to the democratic process. If anything, they ought to repeal the lottery because it’s the worst bet in town. It targets the poorest and most vulnerable, promotes the notion of striking it rich quick, and it’s the state that advertises and markets it.” Mayo wrote, “Funny, Bush doesn’t seem to have any problems relentlessly growing the lottery, even though he says he’s opposed to the expansion of gambling in all forms. A hypocrite? Well, maybe just a little. Jeb Bush’s most recent pronouncement on issues involving gambling was an admission that it was “inappropriate” for four Republican legislators to accept a $48,000 trip to Toronto from Magna Entertainment, which owns Gulfstream Park. The Republican party of Florida decided to pick up the tab, “in the hopes of sparing the four lawmakers a possible ethics problem” according to the St. Petersburg Times. France is cracking down on illegal medication, and a nine-month undercover operation has resulted in the indictment of a leading thoroughbred trainer, Yann-Marie Porzier, and his right hand man, a Paris pharmacist, and Bernard Sainz, dubbed “Le Docteur Mabuse” after a bogus doctor portrayed in the 1932 Fritz Lang movie, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. Porzier blazed to prominence last year with unexpected victories in both flat and steeplechase racing. His stable at the great racing center at Chantilly was raided by police. A string of arrests and searches also was made in Normandy at the stable of Jean-Philippe Dubois, a trainer-driver well known in harness racing circles in the United States. The prosecutor in the Normandy town of Alencon said numerous substances were seized during the Dubois searches and are being analyzed. The daily Le Monde reported, “The racing world is reeling,” saying horses have died in mysterious circumstances, tests have come back positive, and some performances have been what the paper called “surprising.” Sainz, “Dr. Mabuse,” is involved in the current scandal. He reportedly was jailed for two months some years ago for practicing medicine illegally, and for handling performanceenhancing substances. He was released on probation on condition he not leave France, but was stopped for speeding in Belgium in 2002, and vials of phamaceutical products were found in his car. He said he was driving to see Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke, and police then found EPO, morphine and Clenbuterol at Vandenbroucke’s home, and Sainz was jailed for a month for breaching probation. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ED Ed Decker, a longtime HTA director from Lebanon Raceway in years past, celebrated his 95th birthday yesterday. HTA sends its warmest good wishes. Go for 100, Ed. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 19, 2005 “AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE” THE END OF AQUEDUCT? That’s pretty strong language for the usually decorous members of Congress, but that is how Texas Republican representative Joe Barton characterized the conduct of Wayne Gertmenian, president and CEO of the Jockeys’ Guild, in a hearing in Washington yesterday. Barton went farther, questioning Gertmenian’s claims to have been a shadowy agent of high intrigue during the Nixon and Ford administrations. Barton asked Gertmenian if his resume was correct, and after Gertmenian said it was Barton said, “We think it’s a complete fabrication. You need to provide some documentation.” Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron, who was responsible for Gertmenian being hired to replace John Giovanni -- fired by fax -- told the House subcommittee checking into Guild management and finances that he had been duped by Gertmenian. He called his decision to bring him into the Guild “the worst mistake I ever made,” and apologized to Giovanni and other members of the Guild staff who had been terminated and locked out of their offices. Paralyzed jockey Gary Birzer and his wife told the subcommittee they were unaware the Guild’s $1 million catastrophic injury insurance had been terminated, and talked of the callous treatment they received from Gertmenian and the Guild’s COO Albert Fiss. The Birzers said repeated phone calls to the pair were ignored, and that when Gertmenian and Fiss finally visited Birzer in a rehabilitation center their conversation was not about helping Birzer, but on discussing how he should sue Mountaineer Park, where he was injured in a spill. Mrs. Birzer said Fiss had told her the Guild wanted to use her husband as a ‘guinea pig’ in the matter, and Fiss admitted, under oath, that he had said that and apologized to the Birzers. Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak said of the investigation, “This thing is really a hornet’s nest and it’s starting to unravel.” A story in today’s Thoroughbred Times.com quotes New York Racing Association president Charles Howard as saying he favors an end to racing at Aqueduct, and instead using the track purely as a gaming facility. “You don’t need two tracks,” Hayward said, concerning NYRA racing at Aqueduct and Belmont Park. Hayward raised the question, however, of whether MGM Mirage would continue with its agreement to loan NYRA $170 to build its racino and then run it “if there’s no one at the other end to pay back the loan.” He said NYRA thought it could pay the $170 million back in five or six years once Aqueduct got its 4,500 slots late next year. CLASSIC PHOTO FINISHED The winner of the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic, Classic Photo, has been retired after suffering a paddock injury. Vying with Vivid Photo and Strong Yankee for honors as 3-year-old trotting colt of the year, Classic Photo was hurt in New Jersey. The colt also won the Goodtimes, American-National, Dancer Memorial, and Review Futurity, and finished second to Vivid Photo in the Hambletonian. Owned by H. H. Wright, Jorgen Jahre and the Classic Photo Stable, Classic Photo will be retired to one of Kentuckian Farms’ stallion facilities with earnings of $1,447,004. SHAKING THINGS UP IN TEXAS The Texas Racing Commission is likely to introduce milkshake testing at its next meeting in December. The commission yesterday proposed a rule, using 38 millimoles of carbon dioxide per liter of plasma -- one millimole higher than most jurisdictions -- that would carry graded penalties for first, second and third offenses, with the third carrying a $5,000 fine and one-year suspension. In all cases, purse money forfeitures would be part of the penalty. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 20, 2005 MAGNA, GCGC IN THE NEWS OH NO! SHAWN SCOTT AGAIN Magna Entertainment and Great Canadian Gaming Corporation were in the news yesterday. First they jointly announced closing of Magna’s sale of Flamboro Downs to Great Canadian, with Magna getting $23.6 million in cash and assumption of existing debt by Great Canadian. Magna also announced it had increased its capital budget for construction at Gulfstream Park to $171.5 million (all numbers in U.S. dollars) much of which will go to clubhouse construction costs in the huge rebuilding project. Magna also is borrowing up to $13.5 million for the clubhouse construction from BE&K, parent company of the general contractor on the Gulfstream project, and pledging land owned by Magna in Ocala as security for the loan. Magna also announced the retirement of Jim McAlpine, vice chairman of corporate development. McAlpine, former CEO at Magna Entertainment, had been the company’s longestserving chief executive, serving in that capacity for four years, as well as being a member of the company’s policy making executive committee. Magna said McAlpine will continue to make himself available as a strategic advisor and consultant. On the GCGC front, its completely refurbished Fraser Downs operation was unveiled after $35 million and 22 months of construction. GCGC’s vice president of racing operations, Chuck Keeling, said “not one square inch” of the facility -- which GCGC bought along with Sandown Park on Vancouver Island for $42.5 million Canadian last March -- hasn’t been touched by a hammer or screwdriver, from the grandstand to the far reaches of the parking lot. Included in the package are more than 400 slots, which will give Fraser a new lease on life. Great Canadian president and COO Anthony Martin, enthused over both developments, called the acquisition of Flamboro “an ideal property for our continued expansion into central and eastern Canada.” The latest in the seemingly never-ending perambulations of Shawn Scott takes place in Maine, where Scarborough Downs has sued the Las Vegas-Virgin Islands promoter, saying he manipulated voters, state laws and horsemen to create a monopoly on slot machines in the state. The suit, according to Scarborough Downs owner Sharon Terry, is an attempt to ensure that Scott “doesn’t walk away from this a rich man after doing what he did.” We’re not sure Ms. Terry can prevent that, or may be a little late in doing so. Ms. Terry’s suit says Scott, although professing to help Scarborough Downs secure slots, always intended to block the track from getting them. A Scott attorney said the suit had no merit, and that neither Scott nor his Capital Seven company had done anything wrong. A judge refused on Oct. 3 to freeze an upcoming final payment to Scott by Penn National Gaming, which bought Bangor Raceway from Scott for a reported $50 million after Scott got slots legalized there. KEY VOTE AT NORTHLANDS Members of the board of directors of HTA member Northlands Park are scheduled to make a decision next Wednesday on the fate of a $21 million expansion project. The decision -- called “historic” by Dr. David Reid, chairman of Horse Racing Alberta, involves expanding Northlands’ current five-eighths mile track to seven furlongs. Reid says the expansion would make Northlands competitive in selling simulcast signals and promoting major races. Dr. Reid also said the new $80 million racing facility near the Calgary airport still is scheduled to open in spring of 2007. ACTION OFFICERS: PLEASE! Four new HTA surveys, on revenues v. expenses, player rewards, handicapping tournaments and comparative pricing, are in your hands. Please return ASAP. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 21, 2005 “THE POLITICS ARE VOLATILE” CALLING ALL SHAREHOLDERS No kidding. That was the assessment of Florida Senate president Tom Lee when asked about what his august body planned to do about the will of the voters of Broward county, who voted twice to have slots at the four pari-mutuel operations in their county. Lee said, “The politics of this issue are volatile,” not mentioning the will of the people. Lee, his counterpart House speaker Allen Bense and governor Jeb Bush all are in agreement that they have “a constitutional obligation” to carry out the voters’ wishes, and then negate them by having the constitutional amendment repealed in November of 2006. The issues will be discussed at a special session of the legislature likely to be called in December or January. Officials of Mid-State Raceway, owners of Vernon Downs, are scouring the woods for shareholders, urging those found to vote before an Oct. 31 deadline on whether they want Jeff Gural or Eric Spector to get their track. Their vote is non-binding, but presumably will be considered by the federal bankruptcy judge who will make the call. Gural, who according to the Syracuse Post-Standard already has lent some $2 million to Mid-State, is reported ready to lend another $437,000 to keep Vernon afloat. The track spends around $200,000 a month to pay its ongoing bills. HOW TO CHANGE ATTITUDES Getting legislators to change their minds about gambling, particularly in Florida, is not easy, but we have a suggestion. Try the Judd Gregg approach. Gregg, a U.S. senator from New Hampshire, stopped for gas last week and, lured by the $340 million Powerball jackpot, bought $20 worth of tickets One was one of 47 with five winners, worth $853,492. N’FIELD GETS MORE DATES HTA member Northfield Park, overflowing with horses, has struck a compromise with the Ohio State Racing Commission in its dispute over dates. The track sued the Commission after it was awarded 17 dates less than it asked for this year. It now is filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit after the commission granted it nine extra dates -Tuesday nights in November and December, normally dark -- to help ease a shortage of racing opportunities. Northfield spokesman Dave Bianconi said Northfield had 250 horses in the box for Monday’s card and could program only 144 of them. KEEPING TIME IN ONTARIO Ontario has become the first Canadian province to go along with the U.S. decision to extend daylight savings time in 2007. The U.S. will go on that energy-saving plan on the second Sunday in March that year and stay on it until the first Sunday in November, and Ontario said it would agree to coordinate business activity with its largest trading partner, according to The Harness Edge. The Canadian harness racing monthly reports that Quebec is likely to follow the switch too. DEFYING WILMA With hurricane Wilma hesitating in the western Caribbean about making up her mind, Pompano Park officials have decided to ignore her and hold the track’s richest night of racing as scheduled Saturday night. Pompano will be open for live racing and poker and present its $517,550 Super Night program, featuring rich Florida Breeders Stakes finals. In addition to the racing, Pompano will offer free miniature horse rides for kids, free T-shirts, and free drawings for raffle tickets for Dreamfinder Farms’ $1 million home giveaway. In Toronto Saturday night, $2.6 million in purses will be on the line in Woodbine’s Fall Four classics for 2-year-old trotters and pacers, colts and fillies. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 24, 2005 MAGNA’S DREAM MOVES AHEAD NY ALSO SEEKS CONSENSUS Frank Stronach has said, from the start, that his idea for racing’s future included state-of-the-art communities surrounding racetracks, with high end condominiums, retails shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and offices. His Magna Entertainment has announced a major step toward that goal with the development, with Forest City Enterprises, of “The Village of Gulfstream Park.” Forest City, Cleveland-based, will build the complex, which will cost $350 million, and if it works as Stronach expects it will become the prototype for other major Magna tracks around the country. The Village is stage two of a three-stage project that began with the rebuilding of Gulfstream Park and will conclude with a 500room hotel and casino that is expected to cost around $400 million. The overall completed project is expected to cost $1 billion, according to Magna Entertainment vice chairman Dennis Mills. Bennett Liebman, coordinator of the Racing and Gaming Law program at Albany Law School’s Government Law Center, will take a shot at herding cats in mid-November. Bennett is convening a conference hoping to bring together a diverse sector of the state’s racing industry in an attempt to develop consensus on seeking new racing legislation in the state. CONSORTIUM TO SEEK FUNDS The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, of which HTA is a member, is preparing to launch its bid for funding for the future through a $5 per start assessment of owners and horsemen, and matching funds from tracks based on average purses per race. The Consortium hopes for 25% participation in 2006 and 100% by 2009, in its effort to develop uniform national guidelines based on scientific research as to when trainers and veterinarians should stop administering certain therapeutic drugs to avoid positive tests. The Consortium also is seeking to establish uniform penalties. Both objectives are needed critically in racing, regardless of breed, and HTA’s board and members will be asked to support the Consortium effort at the association’s annual meeting scheduled for Bellagio in Las Vegas starting February 6. Dr. Rick Sams of Ohio State will be lead scientist in the Consortium project. BROWARD NOT WAITING While governor Jeb Bush and his key legislators mess around talking about implementing and then repealing slots in Broward county, the county itself is moving ahead with or without them. County commissioners have unveiled a 422-page framework for regulating racinos, and the Miami Herald reports that even if the legislature finally gets around to acting, Broward leaders will continue discussing, and most likely passing, the regulations that a consultant spent all summer developing. A Broward county circuit court judge earlier ordered the county commission to develop its own operating regulations after track owners sued when the legislature failed to act on rules during its regular session. He also gave the tracks the authority to operate without state guidelines, an order being appealed by the Broward state attorney’s office. Dan Adkins, speaking for the pari-mutuel interests in Broward county, said the tracks were pleased at the county’s action, but preferred to have the legislature resolve the issue. HOW LONG IS ETERNITY? The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission has again put off its decision on whether Centaur Inc. of Indiana or Carmen Schick of Pennsylvania gets the fourth and final track license in the state. The commission has studied the matter for more than a year, and now is expected to rule “in a few weeks.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 25, 2005 UH-OH, HERE WE GO AGAIN WHO WILL BELL THE CAT? Racing’s resolve to solve its medication problems --and the problems affecting that resolve --surfaced again yesterday, with the Louisville Courier-Journal pinpointing the issue with its headline, “Racing authority may scale back penalties in medication policy.” It was referring to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, which has begun backsliding from its former determined stance to end permissiveness in medication in Kentucky. The paper reported that, “The racing authority will take public comment on the rules through Monday and then is expected to file an amended regulation with the Legislative Research Commission. From there, it goes before two legislative committees before becoming permanent.” The modifications represent a victory for Kentucky’s hardboot thoroughbred horsemen, who have vehemently fought changes in tougher raceday medication rules since they first were announced. Jim Gallagher, the Authority’s executive director, said the proposed penalties will reflect the guidelines for common anti-inflammatory drugs established by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, but Kentucky thoroughbred horsemen have not agreed with the raceday provisions of those guidelines, and still object to them. The Breeders’ Cup, worried about possible further declines in betting this coming Saturday, is calling for criteria in barring secondary parimutuel operators (SPMOs) from its pools. Ken Kirchner, senior vice president of product development for the NTRA, was quoted on Blood-Horse.com as saying, “We agree wholeheartedly with the need for full disclosure as far as ownership of SPMOs and information regarding their players, and we want tote security at the highest level possible. Our complaint has been we’re not seeing a written policy from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board on what criteria was used for disallowing these sites.” New York has a ban on SPMOs, which reportedly produced some $7 million in handle on last year’s Breeders’ Cup. “A STACK OF AMENDMENTS” It appears there will be changes in Pennsylvania, too, but on slots instead of medication. State senators plan to vote tomorrow on “a stack of amendments” but one omission from the stack has raised the ire of Pennsylvania’s governor, Ed Rendell. The issue of multiple slot machine distributors, which offers the opportunity for political patronage payoffs, is red hot, with no resolution in sight. Rendell has grown impatient with the delay it is causing in getting slots up and running, and says he is ready to legislate the issue. DAMAGE AT POMPANO PARK Pompano Park, which defied Hurricane Wilma on Saturday night by presenting its half-million dollar Florida Sire Stakes Super Night card, paid the penalty for fooling Mother Nature when it was blasted as Wilma raced across Florida Monday. Although direct communication apparently has been cut off, phone calls indicate roof damage at the track, and Jane Murray, executive director of the Florida SBOA, told The Horseman’s harnessracing.com that “we have suffered major damage on the backstretch.” No injuries to people or horses have been reported at press time. YOU HAVE IT WRONG, JOHN Senator John McCain of Arizona, speaking to nine main tribes in Oregon at Portland State University, said the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 “must be revisited, and we will.” McCain said gambling had a long history of corruption. Reading the DeLay-Abramoff-Libby reports, we thought he was referring to Washington. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 26, 2005 A MICHIGAN TOWN SAYS NO LIGHTING UP DOVER DOWNS Dorian Lange is a Michigan entrepreneur and promoter with a dynamic personality and persistence. Neither was enough, however, to convince the trustees of Michigan’s Windsor Township, near Lansing, to let him build a horse park -- with racing and simulcasting and a hotel -- on 200 acres in the township. Lange has been talking for several years now of developing the project, and showed up at the Racing Symposium in Tucson to discuss it. Yesterday the township trustees took only 30 minutes to shoot down Lange’s proposal, saying they had enough information after months of controversy to resolve the matter quickly. Lange says he is not discouraged by the vote. He acknowledged that it will make it difficult for him to have a racing component, but says he still can have a rodeo and other viable options to continue to push the project through. Lange says despite the rejection, the door is not fully closed on the idea. “It’s a great project,” he says. “We have been at it for a number of years, and we will stay the course.” Just not a race course. When Dover Downs opens its 37th season of harness racing next Monday night, it will be a brighter place by far. Dover has replaced its lighting system, installed for its opening in 1969, with 26 new lighting towers around the racing property. The installation triggered rumors that Dover was planning night auto racing on its “Monster Mile,” as NASCAR fans know it, but Denis McGlynn, CEO and president of Dover Motorsports, quickly ended that speculation. “There is no truth to the rumor that lights will be added in 2006 at Dover International Speedway.” SLOTS IN MAINE BEGIN NOV. 4 Two years and $50 million or so after voters approved slot machines at harness tracks in Maine, Penn National Gaming will open its Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Maine. The operation will not be at the harness track in the center of town. It will be a 475-slot operation in a former restaurant, with Hollywood glitz, a temporary home until Penn National’s permanent racino, with 1,500 slots, gets going in two to three years after renovation of Bangor Raceway. The racino may not be at the track even then. The law specifies it has to be within 2,000 feet of the track, so it could be as much as almost half a mile away. The president of the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Assn. asks, “How can you call it a racino? You can’t even see a horse.” SIS PLAYS ROLE IN CUP Agents from Standardbred Investigative Services will join their counterparts from the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau this week in security operations on the backstretch of Belmont Park, scene of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup. The coordinated team effort is part of the “BET” task force assigned to major racing classics to assist and enhance stable area security. BET was in operation at both the Hambletonian and Little Brown Jug, and at the request of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium BET investigators are developing a “best practices” manual on track security. The Consortium will make the manual available to participating tracks and state racing commissions to assist in development of more effective and cost efficient track security, and to help provide more uniform security practices from state to state and track to track. For the first time in 21 years of Breeders’ Cup racing, all horses in all eight races will race out of six-hour retention barns. THINGS STILL GRIM IN FLORIDA An e-mail from Steve Wolf, marketing director at Pompano Park: “Wolf family ok. Cell no good. House damaged, track worse. Will call when able.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor FOUR NEW TRACKS IN HTA The four harness tracks now owned and operated by Great Canadian Gaming Corporation -- Fraser Downs, Sandown Park, Georgian Downs and Flamboro Raceway -- are joining Harness Tracks of America, and will officially be welcomed at the HTA board meeting February 7 during the Racing Congress at Bellagio in Las Vegas. Chuck Keeling Jr., whose family founded Fraser Downs and who now is vice president of racing operations of Great Canadian Gaming, will serve as director on the HTA board for the four GCGC tracks. WILMA CLOSES POMPANO Battered and lashed by the winds of Wilma, Pompano Park announced today that it is going to be closed “indefinitely,” until the damage can be assessed and repairs get underway. General manger Dick Feinberg reported, “We are happy to report that all of our horses survived the storm and are safely housed, and that all of our horsemen and women made it through okay.” GERTMENIAN ON THE GRIDDLE After a United States congressman said his subcommittee could not verify the supposed credentials of the Jockeys’ Guild president Wayne Gertmenian, the Guild has begun its own internal investigation to see if it can. Gertmenian supposedly held high secret posts during the Nixon and Ford administrations, but neither the present House subcommittee nor earlier efforts have been able to substantiate those claims. Daily Racing Form’s Matt Hegarty reports that the Guild’s nine-member executive committee approved the investigation Tuesday night after a telephone conference call, during which New York rider John Velazquez urged the committee to fire Gertmenian. Seven of the nine members did not support the suggestion. October 27, 2005 Velazquez declined comment on whether his reported motion was accurate, saying, “I can’t talk about that right now. We are having meetings, and we want an investigation. We want some questions answered.” Gertmenian has not been having a good month. His veracity was challenged last week by House member Joe Barton of Texas, who called his conduct “an absolute disgrace”; Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron said getting Gertmenian hired was “my worst mistake”; and this week Gertmenian was called “a bully who finally met his match in the halls of Congress” by editor-inchief Ray Paulick in his column in Blood-Horse. Paulick wrote that Gertmenian “brought what he thought would be hapless ‘yes’ men and women onto the board and into leadership positions, then manipulated the membership and its finances to do as he pleased.” Paulick also came down hard on McCarron, writing that he was “as responsible for the current mess as anyone. He traveled the country with Gertmenian in 2001, introducing him to jockeys from coast to coast as the future savior of the Guild.” Paulick said McCarron was “hoping the mess would go away, but it hasn’t,” adding that McCarron has the influence and stature to help right a wrong, and “It’s time he stood up and did just that.” EQUINE EQUITY ACT OF 2005 The American Horse Council reports that Representatives Ron Lewis, Hal Rogers, Ed Whitfield and Geoff Davis, all Republicans of Kentucky, have introduced the Equine Equity Act in the House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 4151, has been referred to the House Agriculture Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. The bill would end disparate tax treatment of the horse industry versus other industries, by making horses eligible for capital gains treatment after one year, depreciating racehorses over three years, and providing federal emergency assistance for horses. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor October 28, 2005 HOUSE VOTES TO KILL CASINOS GUILD LAWYER HAS ENOUGH It isn’t going to happen, but the Illinois House yesterday voted to close the state’s riverboat casinos, 15 years after they opened. The speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, said the existing casino system has produced huge amounts of money for a few people, and needs to be overhauled, and House Democrats voted overwhelmingly to support abolition. The president of the Senate, Emil Jones, had a sharp reaction to the House action, making it clear the House proposal was going nowhere in the Senate. “The Senate is a very responsible body,” he said. “It doesn’t do irresponsible things. Riverboat gambling provides about $780 million for schools every year. How is that revenue going to be replaced? I can’t see a member voting to take money away from their schoolchildren.” Madigan proposed starting over with new gambling legislation, saying, “I think we should go back to the drawing board.” The bill passed the House 67-42, with 7 members voting “present.” Its sponsor, Rep. John Bradley, said the casinos encourage addiction, lead to crime and take money away from the people who can least afford to lose it, and said, “Let’s take this scourge out of our communities.” The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, called the House bill “intriguing,” but would not say whether he would sign it if it reached his desk. “I just think if you’re going to do something like having riverboats and licenses where you can make all kinds of money, that people have to get their fair share.” The Republican House minority leader, Tom Cross, said he thought the move was designed to help downstate Democrats fend off Republicans in next year’s elections. A suggestion to Rep. Bradley: After you get shot down by the Senate, why not try to do away with the Illinois Lottery? If you’re concerned with addiction and taking money from people who can least afford it, that would be a great place to start. A lobbyist and lawyer for the Jockeys’ Guild has quit, saying he cannot continue to represent the Guild with the present management team in place. Daily Racing Form reports that Barry Broad resigned because of concerns raised in the Oct. 18 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, primarily about the Guild president, Wayne Gertmenian. He draws a yearly salary of $165,000 and the Guild also pays his company, Matrix Capital Associates, $335,000 a year. Gertmenian is the owner and sole employee of the company, according to the Form. SPLIT DECISION FOR TRIBES Indian tribes on the east and west coast were not only geographically miles apart yesterday, but also far apart on results of their negotiations. In Utica, NY, a federal judge ruled that Madison county cannot seize Oneida Indian Nation property over unpaid taxes. In the state of Washington, Gov. Christine Gregoire rejected the Spokane Tribe’s proposed gaming compact. In the New York matter, U.S. District Judge David Hurd said that although the Oneidas owed property taxes to Madison county, the county “must find an alternate method to satisfy the Nation’s debt to the county,” because the Oneidas are a sovereign nation. The judge said there was “a vast difference” between requiring property owned by a sovereign nation to be taxed and allowing property to be seized from that sovereign nation. Hurd said such seizure should require, at the very least, a specific act of Congress. FRANK WHITE DIES Frank White, former president and CEO of MidState Raceway and Vernon Downs, died last week in Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton, NY. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor Oct. 31, 2005 BUCCI GETS 3 YEARS 5 MONTHS ILL WINDS BLOW SOME GOOD Dan Bucci, the veteran and well-known former general manager of Lincoln Downs, or Lincoln Park as it now is known, was sentenced to three years and five months in a federal prison Friday for conspiracy involving bribery. In sentencing Bucci and Nigel Potter, CEO of Wembley PLC, the track’s former owners, U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi said it was clear to her “that Mr. Bucci was the instigator of these offenses,” and she gave Potter three years and fined Wembley PLC $1.5 million. The crime was conspiring to bribe the speaker of the Rhode Island House, John Harwood, by funneling $4 million to him through his law partner Dan McKinnon, attorney for Lincoln Downs. The bribe was never paid, and Harwood and McKinnon were not charged, but a paper trail through faxes in 2000 and 2001 indicated the idea was to bribe Harwood into blocking a Narragansett Indian Nation bid to build a competing casino, and at the same time add 1,000 more slots to Lincoln Downs. Wembley no longer owns the track, having sold it in July. That’s if you’re a casino operator on the Gulf coast. They were devastated, of course, by Katrina, but it appears they will be bailed out of some of their agony by being allowed to move onshore in Mississippi and Louisiana. Mississippi already has set the process in motion by approving 15 acres on Back Bay Boulevard in Jackson for construction of a new Golden Gulf Casino. The ill wind turned out to be followed by sunny clouds for one Christopher A. Ferrara of Baton Rouge, LA, who owns the property on which Golden Gulf will build, and he will be the builder as well, with financial partners. He already has environmental and city permits to begin construction. ANOTHER CRIME DOES NOT PAY In another “crime does not pay” narrative, a lady named Christina Goodenow discovered good luck can be obliterated totally by bad judgment. Ms. Goodenow, 38, of White City, Oregon, bought a state scratch-it ticket and won $1 million. She is not likely to receive the money, however, and is sitting in jail without bail on charges of theft, forgery, identify theft, credit card fraud, possession of methamphetamine, computer crime and a parole violation. It seems that Ms. Goodenow bought the winning ticket with a stolen credit card -- actually that of her mother-in-law, who died more than a year ago -- and police began tracking her last Wednesday. She picked up a first installment of $33,500 of the $1 million, and the cops, who found the meth in her house, can’t find the money. CLOSED DOORS IN CONGRESS? Nah. Couldn’t be. Someone must be mistaken. On the other hand, the charge is being made by two congressmen, Republicans Ed Whitfield of Kentucky and John Sweeney of New York, prime movers in the horse antislaughter bill passed recently in the House at their instigation. The pair now say a last minute change in the language, making it ambiguous and confusing, was done behind closed doors. It appeared that the National Cattleman’s Beef Association may have been behind the doors, since their newsletter reports that the new language will allow horse slaughter plants in Texas and Illinois to pay Agriculture Department inspectors to check horse meat for sale. The original bill intended to cut off horse slaughter by withdrawing funds for federal inspection, without which it cannot be sold. Whitfield says, “We had four different lawyers look at this (new) language, and we’ve come up with four different answers.” Even Agriculture Department lawyers admitted the provision was vague. Sweeney said, “Someone made the decision to change 100 years of congressional precedent without debate.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor VIABLE, DRAMATIC AND DUMB We do not know Carole Stone, the chairwoman of the state oversight board in New York created to help avoid the projected demise of the New York Racing Association, but we can guess that Ms. Stone does not know racing. After a closed door meeting yesterday on NYRA’s desperate financial situation, Ms. Stone said there were “viable, dramatic measures” that NYRA might take to allow it to operate until spring, when revenues rise. She did not identify them, but the press did, saying they included raising takeout. Three men who do know racing -- NYRA co-chairman C. Steven Duncker, NYRA spokesman Bill Nader, and racing law expert and former racing commissioner Bennett Liebman, quickly foretold what raising takeout was likely to do. Duncker said bettors would take their gambling dollars elsewhere. Nader said, “If’s it aimed at helping NYRA, it would do just the opposite.” And Liebman noted that handle dipped when takeout rose in the past, and said, “The notion that raising takeout is going to help NYRA has very little historical basis.” All three are right. The argument continues, meanwhile, as to whether NYRA has the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the 15 paintings worth $2 million or more and sell $20 million of property near Aqueduct. One man who has been noisily saying they don’t is an attorney named Donald Kinsella of Albany. He wrote Ms. Stone objecting to NYRA selling that property “to pay for costs caused by its misconduct.” We’re not sure what standing Mr. Kinsella has, but he says he represents a potential competitor to NYRA that he won’t identify. If New York and NYRA need transparency, as very expensive measures taken so far claim, it might be nice either to identify who people like Kinsella represent or ignore them. Competition is healthy, but should not be clandestine. One “viable and dramatic” way Ms. Stone Nov. 1, 2005 and her colleagues might help racing is to help collect the more than $23 million in taxes that are owed to New York by the more than 3,000 licensed lottery machine operators, 350 of whom owe the state more than $10,000 each. Some of them sell more than $1 million a year in lottery tickets, and state comptroller Alan Hevesi needs to crack down on these people instead of campaigning on the NYRA issue. One New York City lottery retailer, according to Hevesi, collected $72,763 in commissions on sales of $1.2 million, and owes New York $43,504 in taxes. You might solve your problem in one stroke, Ms. Stone, with a little enforcement in the state. TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, after more than a year of deliberation, will announce Thursday whether Centaur and Jeff Smith or Ambrosia and Carmen Shick get the fourth and final harness track in the state. New HTA member Fraser Downs will pay up to $2,000 shipping on horses bought for $8,000 or more at eastern sales to help owners defray the expense of shipping them west to British Columbia and encourage purchase of better stock. Saginaw Harness Raceway in Michigan has closed for good after 25 years of racing. A study group has been formed to conduct a fullscale, extensive feasibility study on the future viability of Rockingham Park without slots. More than 90 members of the Massachusetts House are reported ready to approve slots, but face a time bind in this year’s session. The betting exchange Betfair is expected to get an Australian foothold this week in Tasmania. Bay Meadows is planning to move from its San Mateo home to a location with slots. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor AROUND THE TRACKS POMPANO PARK, still digging out from the fury of Wilma, may be able to resume simulcasting in less than two weeks, according to general manager Dick Feinberg. The return of live racing is more distant, hopefully sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is some potential good news, however. The U.S. District Court of Appeals has ruled that the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, which serves as a racing commission in Florida, overstepped its authority in attempting to limit poker jackpots and special events. If the decision holds, Pompano will be able to compete on more equal terms with the Seminoles and other Indian casinos, which have held a competitive advantage with their exotic jackpots and special games. POCONO DOWNS will join Freehold Raceway as a major daytime harness track when it opens April 1. The Pennsylvania mountain resort track will conduct its entire 143-day meeting with afternoon programs. SARATOGA GAMING AND RACING is introducing a 10-cent superfecta, on its own supers and on any simulcast from tracks that also offer them. THE ONTARIO HARNESS HORSE ASSN. is relocating its offices, moving from the offices it has rented for some $60,000 a year from Standardbred Canada to a new location in Campbellville. According to The Harness Edge, the OHHA also is taking back in house administration of its membership duties, which had been performed for it by Standardbred Canada at a reported $40,000 a year. BEDFORD DOWNS or VALLEY VIEW DOWNS will learn their fate as Pennsylvania’s final harness track tomorrow. November 2, 2005 THE NEW YORK RACING ASSOCIATION’S co-chairman, Peter Karches, has called the proposal to raise takeout to save NYRA “a nonstarter.” Karches says raising takeout won’t work because it could increase revenues only on bets made at NYRA tracks, which would bring in only about $140,000 a month in extra revenues, presuming handle wouldn’t fall as a result. Karches called the idea “a bad solution” and said, “It doesn’t solve the problem; it doesn’t generate money.” THE MEADOWLANDS and PENNWOOD RACING handled almost $41.5 million in account wagering in the first year of operation. Big M senior vice president for racing Dennis Dowd said first year operations “far exceeded our expectations” and called account wagering “the good news in New Jersey horse racing.” The phone betting produced $475,000 in purses, the monies going to each track on which the wagers were made. Hal Handel, CEO at Philadelphia Park, also expressed delight at the first year results and said his track was “appreciative of the fine work the NJSEA has done with the account-wagering system.” HOOSIER PARK and INDIANA DOWNS are hopeful that reconsideration of pull-tabs for the state will result in installation at tracks. The idea resurfaced after the Indiana Licensed Beverage Assn. launched a major push to legalize the machines for taverns and bars. One state representative, Scott Reske, raised the question of how the state would regulate 2,000 taverns, and said there is growing support among lawmakers to allow alternative gaming at the two HTA tracks. State senator Tim Lanane suggested the tracks may have to join forces with the tavern owners to get legislation passed, but Rick Moore of Hoosier Park said Hoosier prefers a stand-alone bill that supports the racing industry, which touches all 92 counties. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 3, 2005 PA VOTE: NO ONE GETS TRACK THE TAIL WAGS THE DOG The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, after more than a year of deliberation, announced its decision today in the long battle between Centaur’s Valley View Downs and the Schick family’s Bedford Downs for the final harness racing license in Pennsylvania. It turned down both applications and did not award the license, and it did so without comment or explanation, saying their rationale would be issued in the next few weeks. The two applicants have spent tons of money and three years of effort in their applications to build a western Pennsylvania track. The racing board said it would start anew on the licensing process, with Bedford Downs and Valley View Downs eligible to re-apply despite the board’s denial today. The board’s action can be challenged in court, but no word on that as yet. When you can’t get in the front door, try going around to the back. That’s what Betfair did Down Under, where it was rebuffed by seven state and territory governments and then wooed the premier of the eighth, Tasmania, Australia’s smallest state with 484,000 people. The premier, Paul Lennon, partnering with the Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. of Australia’s richest man and biggest bettor, Kerry Packer, announced Tasmania would grant the British betting exchange a license to operate in the country, despite vehement opposition from the local racing industry and other racing groups throughout Australia. The Tasmanian government issued multiple media releases trying to justify the move, including defending the integrity of a system that includes betting on horses to lose. The chairman of the Australian Racing Board, Andrew Ramsden, issued a long and blistering response in which he said, in part, “The Tasmanian Premier’s decision today doesn’t beat anyone to the punch - it gives a green light to something that every other State and Territory has already rejected. That surely tells its own story....The views of the wider Australian Racing Industry seem to have been a poor secondary consideration. For the Australian Racing Board the issue is squarely about the integrity of racing -- our capacity to run the sport in a way that the public has confidence in its integrity. It is an unshakeable fact that the presence of betting exchanges undermines this. The easy facility to make money out of horses losing is an undeniable temptation to cheat.” YOUBET REBATE SHOP GETS OK Youbet.com broke new ground in U.S. racing yesterday, when the Oregon Racing Commission approved a license for Youbet’s International Racing Group subsidiary, International Racing Group, an off-shore high volume rebate shop operating out of Curacao. Known as Holiday Beach, the shop was acquired by Youbet in June. It had been named but not charged in an 88-count federal indictment earlier this year, and handled $140 million in 2003 and $210 million last year, according to Youbet, whose CEO Charles Champion called the Oregon action “an important step forward for U.S. racing.” Champion said, “Now there is a regulated entity in this segment of the horse racing industry that meets the compliance needs of tracks and the demands of customers. Clearly, ORC has once again demonstrated its leadership and appreciable understanding of issues facing the racing business and ADW.” IRG currently accepts races on 90 U.S. tracks of all breeds. ILLINOIS SENATE SAVES BOATS Forget the Illinois House and its vote to end riverboat casinos in the state. The Senate took care of that matter in short order, when its sponsor of the abolition legislation, John Cullerton of Chicago, said he had no intention of asking for a vote on the issue. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor HTA MEMBERSHIP UP TO 41 Four more tracks will be welcomed to HTA membership at the annual meeting. Rejoining HTA are Batavia Downs in New York and Cal-Expo in California. New members are Western Fair Raceway in Ontario and Harrah’s Casino and Racetrack in Pennsylvania. Joining HTA’s board of directors will be Martin Basinait for Batavia, Chris Schick for Cal-Expo, Hugh Mitchell for Western Fair, and Anne Allman for Harrah’s. We welcome all four warmly. NYRA SLOT SPLIT ANNOUNCED Slots are still a long way off at Aqueduct Racetrack, but the New York Racing Association and its thoroughbred horsemen and breeders have reached a revenue-sharing agreement for when they do arrive. In the first three years of slots operation, horsemen will receive 7.5% of gross gaming revenues. In years 4 and 5, they will get 7.75%. And in the sixth year and afterwards, they will get 10%. They will dedicate $3.5 million of their share annually, however, to capital improvements on the backstretch for as long as NYRA retains its franchise. The New York Breeding and Development Fund will get 1.25% of gross gaming revenue for the first five years, and 1.5% after that. All parties to the agreement expressed satisfaction with the split, which will begin when 4,500 slots start operating at Aqueduct. THE PENNSYLVANIA MYSTERY How and why the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission operates is a secret shared by the three commissioners who constitute it, and to the executive director who runs it, but public relations seemingly is not one of their concerns. Yesterday, after agonizing for more than two years over which of two applicants should receive the final harness license in Pennsylvania, November 4, 2005 they stunned everyone concerned by deciding to give it to neither. That decision, coming on the heels of the fiasco of a six-month suspension of the nation’s leading harness driver, and the quick rescinding of that penalty, would have seemed enough to make the commission conscious of public relations, but instead the commission made its announcement with little comment and no explanations. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, among others, was mystified, reporting, “Commissioners refused to explain their decision and said their rationale would not be available until next week.” One might think that if a racing commission had finally made up its mind on something after two years of deliberation, it would be able to announce its reasoning when it announced its decision. Not in Pennsylvania. LIFE & DEATH IN HOLLYWOOD There are things that are hard to believe in California as well as Pennsylvania. One is Hollywood Park operating without a fall turf stakes schedule. The once-storied track, now in a threeyear life-and-death cycle that could wind up with it becoming a housing or business complex under its new owner, the Bay Meadows Land Company, announced it was cutting back live racing dates from 31 to 27, without turf stakes. It cut 11 of them worth $2.3 million as a result of not having a raceable turf course. With the cutback, overnight purses will increase between 12 and 14%. In better news, the California Racing Board heard from Norm Towne, representing Cal-Expo, who said that even though handle and attendance dropped during the summer lead-in harness meeting to Cal-Expo, that summer harness meeting still was desirable, and the CalExpo board was considering adding a turf course and 5-furlong dirt track to accommodate runners and harness horses in afternoon and night racing, in the pattern proved workable by Woodbine. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor BUCCI, POTTER GET 3 YEARS The scheme to get more slot machines and stifle competition that was hatched four years ago by former general manager Dan Bucci of Lincoln Park in Rhode Island, and Nigel Potter, CEO of the track’s former owner, Wembley PLC of England, came to a sorry end Friday, when both were sentenced to a federal penitentiary by U.S. judge Mary Lisi. Bucci received three years and five months as the instigator of the conspiracy, and Potter, the English CEO of the major gaming company in Great Britain, was sentenced to three years. They are due to report to the court Nov. 25. Faxes between the two men played a key role in the indictment on 22 counts in September, and Friday’s sentencing. In addition, Lincoln Park was fined $1.5 million for allowing the scheme to take place within the company. According to the trial testimony, Bucci had suggested -- and Potter had agreed -- to channel $4 million to Rhode Island’s then speaker of the House, John Harwood, by disguising the money as merit bonuses to Harwood’s law partner, Daniel McKinnon, who has been a lawyer for Lincoln Park for ten years. In return, it was hoped Harwood would use his political influence to get Lincoln Park an additional 1,500 slot machines, and block efforts of the Narragansett Indian Tribe to build a competing casino. The bribe money was never paid, and Harwood and McKinnon were not charged in the matter. PA COMMISSION UNDER FIRE Pennsylvania state representative Mike Veon, one of the architects of Pennsylvania’s racino law, has urged Gov. Ed Rendell to remove all three members of the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission. Veon was outraged by the commission’s decision not to award a license t o either Centaur Inc.’s Valley View Downs or the Schick family’s Bedford Downs in his district. November 7, 2005 “These applicants have now spent several years and millions of dollars that has resulted in absolutely nothing for western Pennsylvania,” Veon told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The commission gave no explanation or rationale for its decision when it was announced last Friday, saying a written document would be issued in a week or so. BUSH CALLS SPECIAL SESSION Jeb Bush, that is, the other half of the family and the governor of Florida. He has ordered state legislators to return to Tallahassee next month to overhaul Florida’s $15 million Medicaid program and draft rules and regulations for Broward county’s four racinos. Although track executives were heartened, there is no reason for celebration just yet. Bush apparently still plans to call for November 2006, repeal of the legislation approved by voters in Florida last November. NO JOY IN INDIANA, EITHER The governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, has made it clear again that he remains a stumbling block to passage of any legislation that would provide for alternative gaming at the state’s two tracks, HTA members Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs. Daniels’ press secretary, Jane Jankowski, says no proposal to legalize pull tab machines or slots will be part of Daniels’ agenda at next year’s legislative session. In southern Indiana, nature’s 2006 assault that includes hurricanes Katrina and Wilma continued, when a tornado killed 22 people and skipped across the Ohio river to kill three horses and do major damage at Ellis Park in Henderson, KY. An Ellis trainer, Larry Jones, said, “It’s wiped out a lot of people’s lives as they know it.” In Wisconsin, a stable fire killed nine harness horses owned by Carol and Bob Yohn. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 8, 2005 BAD NEWS IN BOSTON GOOD NEWS AT GCGC HTA member Plainridge Racecourse and the three other tracks in Massachusetts got bad news yesterday. The speaker of the House, Sal DiMasi, announced that it is likely that body would ignore slots-for-tracks legislation passed last month by the state Senate. DiMasi said in a City Hall Plaza interview that, “I can’t say for sure that I’m going to say, ‘No,’ for this year, but it doesn’t look likely -- it looks highly unlikely.” The president of the Senate, Robert E. Travaglini, a strong supporter of slots for tracks (he has Wonderland Greyhound Park and Suffolk Downs in his district) said there was little he could do to prod the House into action on the bill. Responding to DiMasi’s statement, Travaglini said, “The Senate took the action they felt was responsible and appropriate at the time; if the House doesn’t concur, that’s totally within their rights. There are a lot of things that aren’t going to get done, and tomorrow’s another day.” Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, owners of HTA members Georgian Downs, Flamboro Downs, Fraser Downs and Sandown Park, reported a nearly 50% increase in quarterly profits yesterday. The Vancouver-area based company said it earned C$9 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of C$6.3 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, a year ago. Quarterly revenue rose from C$51.1 million to C$75.1 million. Ross McLeod, GCGC’s chairman and CEO, said, “Our assessment of the Canadian gaming market is proving accurate and our strategy for developing that market continues as planned.” Perhaps, but Wonderland owner Charles Sarkis said he would likely have to shut down temporarily, sending 300 employees onto the street, until a simulcast proposal was passed. HTA director Gary Piontkowski said Plainridge is prepared to let more than 100 employees go, “We couldn’t last paying everyone full boat,” he said. TWO TRACKS REACH THE END The end has arrived for two more racetracks. Geneva Lakes dog track wound up operations Sunday with 550 on hand -- a larger than normal crowd -- and general manager Milt Roth said, “A lot of people come to see a train wreck.” Simulcasting will continue temporarily, but Roth said only about 20 of 185 employees will remain on staff. Developers have expressed interest in the property. In San Mateo, California, the city council unanimously approved a plan for development that spells doom and demolition for the 71-year-old track. BAD NEWS AT POMPANO, ELLIS Damage from hurricane Wilma at Pompano Park and from a tornado that tore into Ellis Park in Henderson, KY, has left racing uncertain at the two tracks. Pompano’s backstretch was badly damaged and still is without power 16 days later, but Isle of Capri is shipping in generators and service should be restored in the next 72 hours. The track hopes to resume live racing early in December if all goes well with replacing downed light poles. Ellis Park may not race its 2006 schedule, accord- i n g to reports from its owner, Churchill Downs. Power has been restored, but damage assessment continues. OAKLAWN AWAITS VOTE Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs will know before midnight tonight if it is getting slots. Voters are deciding today whether “electronic games of skill” can be added to Oaklawn’s menu. MOHAWKS WANT MONTICELLO The St. Regis Mohawks have decided they don’t want to build at famed Kutsher’s resort, but at Monticello Raceway, and they claim they have federal approval and just need Gov. George Pataki to give them the go ahead. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 9, 2005 MAGNA SELLS THE MEADOWS A “WHOA” FOR BETFAIR Magna Entertainment has sold HTA member The Meadows to Millennium Gaming Inc., which is partnering in the deal with what The Deal.com calls a “Los Angeles-based buyout shop,” Oaktree Capital Management LLC. Under terms of the agreement, the news source says Magna Entertainment will continue to manage the track for at least five years for the new owners. The sale is conditional on approval by the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission and granting of a Conditional Category 1 slot license. Magna also, through its Palm Meadows Estates whollyowned subsidiary, has sold 157 acres of its excess real estate in Palm Beach county, Florida, to Toll Brothers, a Pennsylvania real estate development company for aggregate consideration of $51 million in cash. Magna announced it had cut its third quarter loss to $34.5 million, compared to a loss of $50.3 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue during the period fell 12.4% to $83.2 million. Betfair’s backdoor approach to Australia betting, through the nation’s smallest state or territory, Tasmania, hit a bump in the road yesterday. After the premier, Paul Lennon, had approved the deal, the House of Assembly tabled the matter after the Opposition claimed that Lennon had accepted the hospitality of Kerry Packer’s PBL publishing and broadcasting empire, calling his behavior “arrogant and inappropriate.” The charges said Lennon had been entertained in the PBL marquee while at the races in Melbourne and had stayed in the Packer-owned Crown Casino. The House outlined 15 points on probity, including a prohibition for owners to bet any of their horses or greyhounds to lose, and a $1 million fine and four years in jail for cheating. The bill is due for debate later this week. In Maryland, meanwhile, where Magna controls the Maryland Jockey Club, the racing commission gave the company, horsemen and breeders until Dec. 1 to resolve expense-sharing issues, and until Dec. 13 to agree on racing dates for next year. MJC COO Lou Raffetto said he hoped “we can behave like grown men and make a deal -- or the commission will step in and make one for us.” Alan Foreman, lawyer for the thoroughbred horsemen, said his group was ready to finalize an agreement on dates last Wednesday, but that it didn’t happen “only when Magna introduced expense sharing” as an issue. GURAL WINS BIG IN VOTE It doesn’t assure how the bankruptcy judge will rule, but more than 99% of Mid-State Raceway’s u n secured creditors voted for a Jeff Gural takeover of Vernon Downs, with less than 1% favoring the Eric Spector plan. A WIN AND A BOOST In the closest of possible photo finishes, Oaklawn Jockey Club won public approval yesterday to install more “electronic games of skill” at the track. Of 9,401 votes cast, Oaklawn won by 89. In West Memphis, voters approved expanded electronic gaming for Southland Greyhound Park with a 64% approval vote. What “electronic games of skill” means will be determined by the Arkansas Racing Commission. In Kentucky, the lieutenant governor, Steve Pence, said that state legislators need to consider legalizing casinos and warned that Ellis Park may not survive its tornado damage without additional gambling. He told the Louisville Courier-Journal in an interview initiated by his office that the General Assembly “needs to be willing to face the consequences that failing to expand gambling could have on Kentucky’s horse industry,” adding, “The consequences may very well be that we don’t have an Ellis Park, that we don’t have those jobs, and that we don’t have tourists coming in.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 10, 2005 THIS DECISION CANNOT STAND TOUGH TALK IN BOSTON That was the pronouncement of Pennsylvania state representative Mike Veon of Beaver Falls, who hosted a meeting of legislative officials in western Pennsylvania to increase pressure on Gov. Ed Rendell regarding the state harness racing commission’s decision not to grant either of two license applications to build a track in the region. Massachusetts state representative Brian Wallace has blasted the state’s Catholic Conference for sending letters to legislators urging them to vote against slots for tracks. Wallace told the Boston Herald, “For an organization which raised millions of dollars through bingo to now say they are against gambling is hypocritical and shortsighted.” HTA, meanwhile, has published the full 87-page commission report denying the two licenses on the home page of our Web site, for the entertainment of our readers. The commission wrote that “neither applicant’s project will best serve the interests, convenience and necessity of the public by developing a firstclass gaming facility with integrated harness racing.” It based its decision on the Bedford Downs application on financing and alleged past associations with undesirables, and the Centaur Valley View Downs proposal because it was concerned about the design of the track, a traffic entrance and topography of the land, as well as “what appears to be ongoing compliance/regulatory problems with Valley View’s parent corporation.” It did not, however, find evidence “of any improper or illegal activity.” Centaur said it spent $3.2 million to buy 217 acres for its proposed five-eighths mile track. Rep. Veon said the commission operated “with a double standard and an undeniable bias toward eastern Pennsylvania when it comes to awarding licenses.” He noted that the commission had licensed Chester Downs, which sits on 60 acres, a little more than one-fourth the size of the Centaur property. CONGRATULATIONS, ERIC USTA executive vice president Eric M. Sharbaugh was married Sunday to his longtime love, Mary Ann McNally. HTA extends its warmest good wishes. MORE ON THE MEADOWS SALE Millenium Gaming, one of the purchasers of HTA’s member track The Meadows, is a Lakewood, Colorado-based partnership of Las Vegas casino executives William Paulos and William Wortman. Millenium’s partner in the $225 million purchase from Magna Entertainment is the Los Angeles investment management firm Oaktree Capital Management, and The Meadows’ five OTB parlors in the Pittsburgh area are included in the sale. Paulos, who met with horsemen at The Meadows yesterday, said plans are to build a temporary 60,000-square foot slots facility, which would be timed as closely as possible with the state’s granting of a temporary license. Don’t grow old waiting for that, Mr. Paulos. The commission doesn’t work on a very fast schedule, as Valley View Downs and Bedford Downs can testify. TWO JOBS OPEN IN DELAWARE The Delaware Harness Racing Commission is seeking an experienced presiding judge and associate judge. Applicants must have previous harness racing experience of not less than 45 days during 3 of the past 5 years, or 5 years experience as a driver who has served as a licensed official for more than 1 year, or 10 years as a trainer who has served as an official for a year. The job carries competitive salary and benefits. Applications to Hugh Gallagher, Delaware Harness Racing Commission, 2320 S. Dupont Highway, Dover, DE 19901, to be received by Nov. 25. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor AROUND THE CIRCUIT... In MICHIGAN, all three Detroit casinos reported increasing revenues, with a total to date in 2005 of more than $1.025 billion. In PENNSYLVANIA, in the wake of the harness racing commission’s denial of track licenses to Valley View Downs and Bedford Downs and the subsequent call by legislators and others for the removal of the members of the racing commission, Gov. Ed Rendell issued a statement saying that he and his staff are reviewing the actions of the commission. In responding to cries that the commission was showing an “eastern Pennsylvania bias,” Rendell said that he believes “it is in the best interest of Pennsylvania that this harness license be awarded to a location in western Pennsylvania.” Also in the Keystone State, public hearings on two proposals to establish thoroughbred tracks in western Pennsylvania are scheduled for next Tuesday. Commissioners will first hear from 1935 Inc., which proposes to build a one-mile dirt track in South Versailles, Pennsylvania. The track, to be named Oak Park, is being proposed by the Biros family, who envisions a small track with a grandstand seating 1,800 customers. The second proposal comes from businessman Charles Betters, who wants to build a racetrack in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Hays on a bluff overlooking the Monongahela River. Should Betters’ application for Pittsburgh Palisades Park be approved, the track would be run by Churchill Downs. In one other note from PENNSYLVANIA, the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission reports that on Thursday, the state’s Secretary of Agriculture, Dennis Wolff, became the “newest of new” standardbred owners after agreeing to purchase the Balanced Image broodmare Yankee Dallas for $22,000. The mare, in foal to 2004 champion Windsong’s Legacy, had been consigned by Hempt Farms to the Standardbred November 11, 2005 Horse Sale at Pennsylvania’s Farm Show Complex. Paul Spears bought the mare but later sold her to Wolff. The National Cattle Congress closed the Waterloo Greyhound Park in 1996 after experiencing financial difficulties. It’s been trying for several years to get a license to reopen the Waterloo, IOWA, track. Now the group is suing the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, alleging it should get a license under expanded gambling measures in the state. The lawsuit comes a month after the Commission voted unanimously to deny the group’s application to reopen. Darrell Haire, a leading member of the Jockeys’ Guild, called for the immediate resignation of embattled organization president Wayne Gertmenian, whom Haire had previously supported. The Guild board also imposed strict financial controls on the organization’s officers and staff. FORMER DRF STAFFER DIES Art Krawitz, a former advertising executive for the Daily Racing Form, died Wednesday at his home in Santa Monica, California. The cause of death was cancer. Krawitz was 53. HTA DIRECTORS, ACTION OFFICERS HTA Directors and Action Officers are reminded that update information for the 2006 HTA World Racing Directory currently is being collected. Forms have been sent to HTA members as well as racing commissions and other organizations; please make necessary changes and get them back to HTA as soon as possible. In addition, registration materials for the 2006 Harness Racing Congress are in the mail. The deadline for hotel reservations if December 30, 2005, so make your plans now. Fax registrations to HTA at 520-529-3235, or call 520529-2525. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 14, 2005 POMPANO SETS REOPENING IT WILL BE BUFFALO OR NADA Pompano Park, lashed and closed by Hurricane Wilma, will resume simulcasting Thursday and expects to present live racing again starting on Friday night, Dec. 2. Live matinees with purses, open to the public without charge, will be held this coming Saturday and a week later, on Nov. 26, to help ease the financial strain on idle trainers and owners. General manager Dick Feinberg, announcing the dates, said, “After assessing all of the repairs that will be needed to reopen the facility from the damage, we are happy that we should be able to reopen ahead of schedule.” The second, third and fourth floors of the clubhouse and grandstand, and the poker room, suffered considerable damage. The tote board and paddock suffered direct hits, and more than 10 barns on the backstretch will have to be replaced. It appears that the drivers’ room building, which also houses the racing secretary’s office and security, judges’ and state offices, will have to be demolished, as will the outdoor bleacher area. Feinberg said Pompano hoped to be able to race a full schedule when it reopens Dec. 2, racing Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The Appelate Division of the New York State Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that says if the Seneca Nation of Indians wants to build a casino in Erie county, it has to build in the city of Buffalo. The Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, near the airport, appealed a June 2004 ruling to that effect, but the Supreme Court said it was the legislature’s intent to have the casino build within the city limits of Buffalo. The Senecas have acquired nine acres along Michigan avenue in downtown Buffalo and are planning to locate their casino on the second floor of a rail terminal there. The Supreme Court, despite its name, is not the highest tribunal in New York, and Cheektowaga says it will carry its fight to the Court of Appeals, which is the ultimate arbiter. STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN It is difficult to tell how much money -- private and public -- has been wasted by the decision of the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission not to license either applicant for the state’s final harness track, but it is in the millions. Neither applicant -- the Shick family or Centaur of Indiana -- has been daunted, Carmen Shick is protesting that Bedford was judged “for transactions that occurred 20 years ago and for which none of the principals had any responsibility,” and vowing to beef up financial backing, and Centaur is saying that topography and entrance plans that didn’t please the three commissioners are “issues that are easily resolved.” AN AUSSIE BETFAIR INQUIRY The English betting exchange Betfair still is not licensed in the state of Victoria in Australia, but that did not prevent one $30,000 bet on the favorite to lose in a race at Sandown there Saturday. The horse, Vengo, finished ninth, as a $31 outsider won. In addition to the single $30,000 bet, another $40,000 was bet on the favorite to lose. The chief steward took the word of the jockey that the horse did not race well in front, and “hit a brick wall at the top of the straight (stretch)” as a result. Because Betfair is not licensed, the stewards were unable to ascertain the identity of the Betfair account holder. The jockey said, “All we can put down to is that the horse is better off ridden quieter than today.” Okay, if you say so. In this country, the Jockeys’ Guild’s Senate meets tomorrow to discuss ways of amending its bylaws as a prelude to an attempt to remove its embattled president, L. Wayne Gertmenian, who vows to fight the move. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 15, 2005 KY BACKS OFF ON MEDICATION CHREBET GETS A “Q” LICENSE It’s better than it was, but not as good as it could have been. That’s the verdict on Kentucky’s new medication rules, which -- like the Old Gray Mare -ain’t what they used to be, but unlike Lady Suffolk, the mare of that song, they are better than they once were. The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority unanimously approved changes yesterday limiting raceday medication to furosemide and two of four permitted “adjunct bleeder medications.” That’s better than unregulated furosemide and corticosteroids and assorted painkillers, as before. The new rules will allow some anti-ulcer medications, some topical liniments, antiseptics, ointments, leg paints and antibiotics, and 24-hour restrictions on alkalizing substances that could alter serum or plasma and high bicarbonate readings. The final result is a compromise, the best the new Authority could get, and it hopefully now will pass legislative muster without further messing around. Wayne Chrebet, the New York Jets wide receiver whose sixth concussion has ended his NFL career, has received a qualifying license from the United States Trotting Association that will permit him to drive in qualifiers at the Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway. Chrebet owns Double Down Stables, with 11 horses trained by his good friend Kevin McDermott, who says Chrebet enjoys driving as a hobby at the moment “and is good at it.” The “Q” license is a first step toward acquiring a provisional license after winning 10 races in one year’s time, and that “P” license, when obtained, would enable him to drive at Freehold. Once he completed 25 satisfactory parimutuel starts, he could apply for an “A” license and after receiving one could drive at the Meadowlands. That could be the goal for the high achiever, who lives in Garfield, NJ, not far from the Big M. ONE TRACK FOR NJ RUNNERS? That’s what senior VP for racing Dennis Dowd told the New York Daily News would be best for New Jersey racing, and it seems clear he was talking about Monmouth Park. It also is clear that the Meadowlands should remain harness racing’s preeminent track, which it is not in thoroughbred racing. Dowd told the paper he thought that racing runners at more than one track in New Jersey was “quite frankly, 1976 thinking,” dating back to the Meadowlands’ first meeting. “Our costs are escalating and our handle is going down on the thoroughbred meet,” Dowd said. “It’s something we’ve obviously got to look at, but it couldn’t happen before Monmouth hosts the Breeders’ Cup in 2007.” It was interesting to read how the Thoroughbred Times handled the story. After reporting Dowd’s remarks, the magazine said, “The Meadowlands also conducts harness racing.” They sure do, TT, the biggest and best in this country. GERTMENIAN AT RISK TODAY The senate of the Jockeys’ Guild is meeting today, and could vote to change the Guild’s bylaws to allow it to elect a new board of directors, which in turn could act on the reign of L. Wayne Gertmenian, president of the Guild for the last four years. The tide began to turn against Gertmenian after a House of Representatives’ subcommittee questioned financial operations of the Guild, including Gertmenian’s yearly salary of $165,000 and another $335,000 he received annually through his Matrix Capital Associates, which he owns and operates. Business First also reports that Congressional records indicate the jockeys themselves were in arrears by more than $700,000 in premiums paid to the Guild health plan. Posted on a Congressional Web site, the information said that of 320 covered jockeys, 251 -- or 78% -- were delinquent in paying monthly premiums, with 50 owing more than $5,000. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor FORM BUYS SPORTS EYE In what could be a significant development for harness racing, Daily Racing Form has acquired the publishing assets of Sports Eye, the New York-based publisher of a number of sports publications. Brent Diamond, CEO of the Form, said of the acquisition, “Sports Eye has done a tremendous job producing publications for the casual and new horseplayer, which is an area that we haven’t focused on with the Daily Racing Form products. We believe there is an opportunity to provide information to the full range of horseplayers and this will allow us to do so. We’re very excited about expanding our current business with these products. This acquisition also provides us with the opportunity to extend our franchise into sports publishing, which is something we planned when we acquired Daily Racing Form as our platform asset in May, 2004.” Harness racing, in this corner’s opinion, never gave Sports Eye the support it deserved from the day it was founded back in 1964. The original founders appeared at an HTA meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona that year and outlined their plans, but fought an uphill battle for support from that time on. Attacks on management policies weakened the publication’s case under one editor, but under Daily Racing Form control and with the Form’s plans to expand the reach of the publication, Sports Eye is likely to deserve industry support. AROUND THE CIRCUIT...... L. Wayne Gertmenian is gone from the JOCKEYS’ GUILD. The Guild’s senate changed their bylaws yesterday, appointed a new board of directors, and fired Gertmenian for alleged mismanagement. Darrell Haire, a guild regional representative for the last six years and a protege oft h e former national manager, John Giovanni, was named to head the organization on a temporary basis. November 16, 2005 PENN NATIONAL’S Hollywood Slots in Bangor, Maine, are off to a bangup start. After $1.76 million was bet on opening day, the crowds continued to pour in, and more than $8 million was pumped into the machines during the week that ended Sunday. The Maine Gambling Control Board reported that Penn National’s share from the first 10 days of operation was $435,000. In other Penn National news, Richard Schnaars, general manager of the company’s Penn National Racetrack, resigned after six years in that role. BARRY SCHWARTZ, former chairman of the New York Racing Association, has resigned from the NYRA board, saying, “My views on racing in New York are very different from the views of the current management.” NYRA, meanwhile, was told by state regulators not to sell $2 million in racing art at Sotheby’s next month because the paintings are owned by New York state. KEEP, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, has proposed a racino plan that would provide money to each of the state’s 120 counties based on population, and would provide thoroughbred racing with 14.65% of casino revenue and other breeds, including harness racing, 1%. QUEBEC’s government has delayed its decision on racing once again, this time postponing a verdict on which one of five proposals on the province’s four tracks will be accepted. DEATHS: Wayne Shumate, former member of the Kentucky Harness Racing Commission and a past president of the Association of Racing Commissioners, at 71. Tom Ivers, author of nine books on training race horses, all espousing interval training, at 61. RECOVERING: Race-caller Roger Huston, at home after suffering a torn esophagus. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 17, 2005 AN EXCEPTIONAL HTA ‘CLASS’ AROUND THE TRACKS..... Harness Tracks of America’s 2005-6 scholarship winners, individually and as a group, represent some of the strongest academic achievers in the 32-year history of the annual awards. Two of the winners, Amy Beth Todd and Ryan John O’Mara, each awarded $10,000 scholarships, are straight A students in tough academic settings. Ms. Todd is a senior at Cornell Veterinary College, ranking third in a class of 85, and Dr. Nena J. Winand, assistant professor of pathology in the department of molecular medicine, wrote HTA, “I anticipate that Amy will be a leader in the field of equine internal medicine. She is poised to make great contributions to the performance horse industry.” Ryan, injured in a stable accident as a child, was inspired during his recovery to become a surgeon, and remains on course, maintaining an all-A record in pre-med at the University of Florida, aiming for Harvard Medical School. Ms. Todd is the daughter of trainer Art Giambrone and his wife Mona, a teacher. O’Mara is the son of Debbie Garofalo, a respiratory therapist, and trainer Mark O’Mara. POMPANO PARK reopened for simulcasting today, its first day of operation after Hurricane Wilma. Eighteen different signals were being offered as the day’s simulcasting fare, and things were lively in the racing secretary’s office as well. Non-betting matinee races with purses were scheduled for Saturday to help idle horsemen, and when the entry box was opened, slips for 299 horses spilled out. Rounding out the $50,000 in scholarships are four other outstanding students, each receiving $7,500 grants. They are Jennifer Marie Ashby of Maquoketa, Iowa, an accounting major at the University of Northern Iowa, daughter of trainer Brad Ashby and his wife Laurie, a pharmacy technician; John Bradbury, St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, a trainer and senior in the veterinary school at the University of Montreal; Michael John Latessa of Amherst, Ohio, member of a longtime Ohio harness racing family, a second-year student at Ohio State’s Veterinary School; and Jo Ellen Proctor of Chesapeake Beach, MD, executive assistant to Cloverleaf Enterprises chief executive Tom Chuckas at Rosecroft Raceway, pursuing an associate’s degree in Human Services at the College of Southern Maryland, with a perfect 4.0 grade average. PRAIRIE MEADOWS and its harness horsemen were meeting today in an effort to close a $700,000 purse gap in negotiations. The horsemen were expected to ask the racing commission to order arbitration. Harness racing currently is to get $1.8 million out of a purse pool of $18.4 million. VERNON DOWNS’ parent, Mid-State Raceway, wants Eric Spector and his Oneida Entertainment partner out of the picture, and have asked a federal judge to toss out Spector’s plan to take over Vernon. No more than 4% of any category of creditor approved Spector’s plan, the rest opting for that offered by Jeff Gural. JUDGE: REVOKE THEIR LICENSE Abner Mikva currently is an administrative law judge in Chicago, but his resume includes five terms as a U.S. Congressman, former White House Counsel, and chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit. Given that background, he used pretty strong language this week when he recommended that the Illinois Gaming Board revoke the gambling license of the Emerald Casino, saying its leader Kevin Flynn “flat-out lied and others dissembled” when it first attempted to move its gambling operation to Rosemont, near O’Hare airport, in the late 1990s. The gaming board is expected to vote to revoke the license when it meets in December. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor INTERNET BETS ON 60 MINCBS turns its “60 Minutes” spotlight on Internet UTES betting this Sunday night at 7 p.m. eastern standard time, and the coverage is not likely to be pretty. Lesley Stahl handles the segment, and you can get an idea of what it will be like from a pretelecast blurb from CBS, saying, “Legalizing Internet gambling would bring billions in U.S. tax dollars, but critics say it cannot be regulated and can corrupt youth....The federal government says Internet gambling is 100% illegal, and people who want to keep it that way believe that the sites -legal in more and more foreign countries -- can never really be effectively regulated.” If you can’t catch the show, you can view clips online at CBS.com. MORE NON-EXPERT ADVICE Gov. George Pataki’s racing oversight panel in New York is telling the financially embattled New York Racing Association how to dig itself out of the hole it is in. As might be expected, it does so without much racing expertise. Chairwoman Carole Stone’s solution includes raising the cost of the product, deferring dues to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association for a year, and settling pending lawsuits “in order to achieve a timely cash settlement.” While all of this is going on, the state of New York has ordered NYRA not to try to sell 80 acres of valuable land or 19 pieces of equine artwork, claiming both are the property of the state and not NYRA’s to sell. MEADOWLANDS REOPENS The Big M, back in harness with its fall meeting, opens with eliminations tonight and tomorrow night for next week’s $4.3 million Breeders Crown championships for 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers, colts and fillies. The races play a major role in seasonal championships. The Meadowlands will race from now through the end of the year. November 18, 2005 WHAT A SORRY MESS THIS IS Chris McCarron wasn’t kidding when he told a congressional committee that hiring Wayne Gertmenian as president of the Jockeys’ Guild was “the worst mistake of my life.” Here’s where it has wound up: After Gertmenian was fired Tuesday, his temporary replacement, Darrell Haire, and seven riders including Laffit Pincay Jr., Alex Solis and Kent Desormeaux, got a locksmith to let them in the Guild offices in Monrovia, California, to access the Guild’s books. While there, Gertmenian and the Guild’s COO, Albert Fiss, showed up, and a scuffle broke out in which Gertmenian reportedly pushed Haire to the floor. Monrovia police were called, and Guild counsel Barry Broad settled the matter by phone. Yesterday the Guild reported that while the Guild’s new board was giving Gertmenian the boot Tuesday, he was writing and cashing checks totaling $217,000 to himself, his Matrix Capital Associates, and Fiss. The Guild on Nov. 8 had invoked controls on all checks over $200 unless approved by treasurer Jeff Johnston, and attorney Broad says, “It is the view of the Guild that the funds were stolen and that a crime has occurred.” Monrovia police are investigating. In Washington yesterday, the jockeys’ insurance mess surfaced, and U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield raised the specter of federal legislation over racing, or at least that portion of it. “A lot of interest groups do not want their turf touched,” Whitfield told Associated Press, “but there are strong arguments for some uniformity and for some federal oversight and involvement.” Happily, Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the full Energy and Commerce Committee, said he thought voluntary action would be preferable to “last resort” legislation. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 21, 2005 GUILD SUED FOR $10 MILLION LESS RACES, HIGHER PURSES Their woes never seem to end. After having the exiled Wayne Gertmenian write himself and his colleague Albert Fiss checks for $217,000 last week after being fired by the Jockeys’ Guild, the Guild, Gertmenian and Fiss now are being sued for $10 million by jockey Gary Birzer, who is paralyzed from the waist down after an accident at Mountaineer Race Track last year. The 30-yearold disabled jock, who says he was told that he would be a poster boy in a campaign to get tracks to pay for jocks’ insurance, is accusing the Guild, Gertmenian and Fiss of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. The jocks’ attorney, Barry Broad, whose phone call to Monrovia, CA, police last week resolved a brawl involving Gertmenian and his successor, Darrell Haire, and other jocks including Lafit Pincay Jr., Alex Solis and Kent Desormeaux, says Birzer’s suit for $10 million is $10 million more than the Guild has. Daily Racing Form’s Matt Hegarty, writing about a second hearing in Congress on jocks’ insurance, says it drew far less interest from legislators than the first meeting, and Hegarty called the possibility of federal legislation “remote.” That’s the order of the day in Iowa, where the Racing and Gaming Commission unanimously approved reducing racing days at HTA member Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino for all three breeds racing there. The commission cut thoroughbred and quarter horse dates from 95 to 81, and the abbreviated harness meeting from 17 days to 14. Purses will go up $1.3 million over the projected $18.3 million that Prairie Meadows is required to pay under the 2004 law that fuels purses with a mandated share of casino revenue. The harness meeting will pay out $630,000 in the two weeks of racing, with another $1.3 million set aside for county fair racing in Iowa. Veteran executive director Jack Ketterer announced the commission plan after the track and harness horsemen reached an impasse. “We’re trying to be regulators, not the manager of the racetrack,” Ketterer said. “I feel like we were put in a situation where we had to make a decision.” NO INJUNCTION IN FLORIDA A federal appeals court in Florida has denied six dog tracks an immediate injunction to stop the state from making changes in gaming rules that ended chances of high stakes poker tournaments for the moment. The request denial means Florida’s 17 dog and horse tracks will have to wait at least until next month, when an appeals court in Tallahassee is expected to make a final ruling. The tracks challenged the $45 limit on entry fees for poker tournaments a year and a half ago. An administrative law judge agreed with the tracks that the state did not have the authority to set poker tournament rules. The Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering appealed and lost in federal court. MILLSON LEAVES WINDSOR John Millson, longtime president of Windsor Raceway, has resigned, effective February 7 of next year. Patrick M. Soulliere, who has held management positions in accounting and finance at the raceway, will replace Millson the following day. ANYONE HAVE SOME ASPIRIN? If you’re going to make a mistake, you might as well make it a big one. That’s what the direct marketing vendor for Harrah’s Joliet Casino in Illinois did, when instead of the customary $15 and $20 betting coupons the casino distributes, the vendor sent out coupons good for $525. How many went out? Try 11,000. Harrah’s Illinois regional president, Joe Domenico, said the company will honor the coupons, after the Illinois Gaming Board was deluged by coupon holders’ complaints. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 22, 2005 McERLEAN JOINS USTA BOARD MORE ABOUT MILLENIUM At the annual membership meeting of District 12 of the United States Trotting Association, held in Freehold, NJ, HTA board chairman and former president Chris McErlean was elected a USTA director. McErlean fills the spot formerly held by Bruce Garland. A few more details about the purchase of The Meadows from Magna Entertainment for $225 million have surfaced in Las Vegas, including the not-surprising news that the entire deal is contingent on the new owners getting a slots license. Those new owners, Bill Paulos and Bill Wortman, operate as Millenium Gaming, and own the Cannery Casino and operate the Rampart Casino there. They and private investor Oaktree Capital Management out of Los Angeles agreed to purchase 100% of Magna’s interest in the track, but have Magna’s present management team run the track for five years. When slots come to Pennsylvania -- and that does not appear imminent -- The Meadows would wind up with 3,000 slots, and could extend that number to 5,000 under present state law. The Millenium-Oaktree partnership hopes to obtain a temporary license and open a casino as early as the third quarter of 2007, but it apparently has not dealt with the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, which does not do things quickly. It is now 16 months since governor Ed Rendell signed the slots bill in the state, and that long or longer since the commission began studying two applications for the final harness racing license before deciding that it liked neither one. Paulos acknowledged as much when he said, “It’s been a very slow-moving process,” noting that each part of the state wants to get their fair share. He claimed that “there are things happening behind the scenes, and the state is still taking applications.” Paulos says Millenium won’t close on the deal until it is licensed, and consequently is not fronting a lot of money. He called the Pittsburgh area a major feeder market “with great demographics.” Although Harrah’s already is in Pennsylvania, and the Venetian and Planet Hollywood are hoping to be with free standing casinos, Boyd Gaming says it looked at The Meadows and passed. AUSSIE STAR SERIOUSLY HURT Ted Demmler, the first Australasian harness racing driver to win 3,000 races and winner of the 1987 World Driving Championship in Germany, has been injured seriously in a racing accident at the Warragul ‘country track’ in Australia. A four-time Australian champion, he was listed in serious condition with a broken bone in his neck, a punctured lung and several broken ribs, according to a report in The Harness Edge. DOGS FACE MUSIC ONCE AGAIN Greyhound racing in Massachusetts, which survived a 51-49 per cent vote for survival five years ago, may have to fight another attack next year. The Humane Society of the United States, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the greyhound protection group GREY2K, and the Animal Rescue League of Boston have joined forces and told the Boston Globe they have collected almost twice as many signatures as the 65,825 needed to put a measure to ban the sport on the ballot in November, 2006. The chairwoman of the ballot committee formed by the anti-dog racing groups says they have collected more than 110,000 signatures since Sept. 21, when the drive started. The petition is due to be submitted to the municipal clerk’s office in Boston tomorrow evening. As the proposal now reads, it would phase out greyhound racing in Massachusetts entirely by Jan. 1, 2008. Gary Guccione, executive director of the National Greyhound Assn., called the group’s claims of cruelty “ludicrous.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor GUESS WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES We thought we had problems at the HTA art auction, when a wild man showed up bidding until we discovered Amex disavowed him. Fortunately he never laid a hand on any of the art, and we got Humpty Dumpty put back together again. That pales in comparison with the problems the New York Racing Association is encountering in trying to sell its art to stay afloat. The 19 NYRA works, including old masters, are still scheduled to be sold a week from tomorrow at Sotheby’s, but it is questionable if that auction house will proceed after receiving a copy of a letter sent by New York Racing and Wagering Board chairman Mike Hoblock to NYRA president Charles Hayward. Hoblock reportedly told Hayward the sale was “unauthorized” and threatened legal action against NYRA and Sotheby’s if the auction was held. New York’s recently appointed Racing Oversight Board, which speaks for governor George Pataki, followed suit. Sotheby’s has issued a $50 catalog for the sale, which can be viewed on their Web site www.Sothebys.com. The price estimates range from $10,000 to $400,000 for John Frederick Herring’s painting of The Flying Dutchman, although a lone harness racing piece is estimated at $5,000 to $7,000. There are nine works by famed American equine artist Henry Stull, a star of the late 1890s. If you bid and don’t get any of these, we’ll be happy to oblige you with HTA art for far lower prices, and with no court action involved, as it appears it might be in New York. If HTA track participation in its own art auctions is any indication, NYRA had better not count on that source for its hoped-for bailout. At last report, Sotheby’s still plans on going ahead with the auction. A spokesman, Matthew Weigman, said, “The sale hasn’t been canceled. There were issues that were raised. Sotheby’s is waiting for these issues to be resolved.” November 23, 2005 SOME FUN FOR LIBERTY MEDIA Liberty Media, John Malone’s huge media empire that includes The Discovery Channel, The Shopping Network and QVC, has agreed to pay some $195 million for a 51% share in Fun Technologies, a Toronto-based online game developer. Fun was developed three years ago by Lorne Abony and Andrew Rivkin, two co-founders of CyrptoLogic Inc., a software company. It runs an interactive television game-show service for the U.S. cable TV channel GSN, and it now employs 200 people. Fun’s games, unlike online poker and other interactive games that are the mainstay of Cryptologic’s business, are not considered online gambling. One of its biggest hits has been Lingo, an interactive, real-time online spelling game show. Abony, Fun’s CEO, says the company is the market leader in two of the fastest growing sectors of online gaming, skill gaming and fantasy sports. The Liberty investment gives Fun a market value of some $480 million. 8 BREEDERS CROWNS AT BIG M The Meadowlands takes over harness racing’s spotlight again Saturday night, when it presents eight Breeders Crown championships for 2- and 3-year-olds of both gaits and sexes. The purses for the eight races total $4.3 million, and as usual some season’s champions+hips could be clinched or lost in the big show. HTA racing secretaries, incidentally, will be polled early next week for their choices for their champions, since time is needed to notify owners in time to obtain room reservations for the Night of Stars Wednesday, Feb.6, at Bellagio in Las Vegas. The gala awards dinner will be part of the quadrennial Racing Congress, and HTA executives are reminded that room reservations at our special convention rate will remain open only through Dec. 31. The HTA staff is being given a holiday breather. Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll see you Monday. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 28, 2005 BETFAIR GETS ITS FOOTHOLD THE CHIEF VET SPEAKS OUT It took a marathon session of the Legislative Council -- the upper house of the Tasmanian Parliament -- to get it done, but the English betting exchange Betfair, backed by the premier Paul Lennon and the multi billions of Kerry Packer, Australia’s richest man, won its foothold into Australia last week. The Council approved Betfair after amendments to ensure, as far as possible with a program where you can bet on horses to lose, that the system would be monitored for its social and economic impact. Other Australian racing interests were dismayed, but their pleas to defeat the bill were rejected by the Legislative Council, and Betfair plans to begin Australia operations by January 1 in a joint venture in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, with Packer’s media giant, Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. Using some very strong language, the chief veterinarian in Kentucky, Dr. Gary Wilson, lashed out at the state’s racing authority last week, calling current conditions “appalling” and saying the funding and staffing crisis is so severe it puts the welfare of horses racing in the state at risk. Wilson apparently reached his boiling point after a thoroughbred died of heat stroke at Turfway Park in September, when a horse ambulance had no medication or water to treat the animal. He wrote a letter asking, “Is the administration and Kentucky Horse Racing Authority committed to developing a program that sets industry standards, or are they interested in just getting by?” LaJuana Wilcher, whose Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet oversees racing in Kentucky, and the woman who recommended Wilson for his job last summer, was not happy. She said Wilson might not appreciate the complicated process of state government, and called her staff “the most competent anywhere.” She said Kentucky employs more regulatory vets than ever. Jim Gallagher, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, said of Wilson’s remarks, “A lot of this is being blown a little bit out of proportion.” WILL MIKE STAY OR LEAVE? Nothing happens in racing in New York unless George Pataki says it will, so the odds are that Racing and Wagering Board chairman Mike Hoblock will wind up somewhere else. Gov. Pataki apparently wants another friend of Senate majority leader Joe Bruno -- businessman John Simoni, 74 -- to replace Hoblock, but according to the Albany Times-Union’s capitol bureau writer James M. Odato, Hoblock is not sure he wants to leave. He may have to, for in addition to Simoni it appears Pataki would like Bernadette Castro, now Parks Commissioner, to replace Hoblock as chair of the racing board as well as having Simoni serve. Racing commissioners in New York receive $101,600 a year, with the chair receiving $120,800. Board member Cheryl Buley will survive the changes, and is expected to be reappointed to another six-year term. Hoblock has been chairman for almost nine years, and his term does not expire until 2008. VERY BAD NEWS FROM BOSTON Apparently taking his cue from the parent New York Times, the sports editor of the Boston Globe, Joe Sullivan, announced yesterday that the Globe would no longer publish entries and results from three of four tracks in Massachusetts -- HTA’s member Plainridge Racecourse and Raynham and Wonderland dog tracks -- and Rockingham Park in neighboring New Hampshire. Sullivan said, “Interest in dog racing and harness racing is no longer great enough to warrant daily entries and results in the sports pages.” HTA has invited Sullivan to explain how he measures that interest at the Racing Congress. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 29, 2005 SUPREME COURT ENDS NY TRY POMPANO BACK, BEATS WILMA The persistent effort of attorney Cornelius Murray of Albany and Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce executive director Joseph Dalton to have expansion of gambling in New York state declared unconstitutional ended yesterday, when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the challenge. The high court’s action was a victory for governor George Pataki and his colleague Senate president Joe Bruno. The court, by its action, ended the effort to prevent more Indian tribes from opening casinos in the state. Murray, who led the legal challenge, acknowledged defeat, saying, “The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear this case effectively concludes this aspect of the war against the spread of commercialized gambling in this state. There’s nowhere else to go.” Shares in Empire Resorts, which hopes to have a St. Regis Mohawk tribe casino at its Monticello Raceway, rose 69 cents, or 13.3 percent, to $5.89 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq after the Court’s announcement. Empire stock has traded between $3.25 and $12.21 over the past year, and is down 47% since the year began. It may not be nice to fool with Mother Nature, but Pompano Park has tried it and survived. The track reopens for live racing Friday, recovered and cleaned up in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma that devastated its stable area and other areas of the track. The tote system and teletimer infield board have been repaired, and last minute repairs are being made on the sound system in the backstretch. Lighting was checked out Monday night and general manager Dick Feinberg reported tests worked fine. The Top of the Park restaurant on the 6th floor will reopen Friday along with the rest of the track, but the children’s playground area is closed until new fencing arrives. The 4th floor box seats and Players’ Room Buffet will not be ready for the reopening, and the 2nd floor leading to the track apron will be open air temporarily, its glass-etched doors having been destroyed by Wilma. Two 100-stall makeshift barns also are being constructed until new permanent barns, destroyed in the hurricane, can be rebuilt. In another New York development, the Albany Times-Union reports that “the Pataki adminstration on Monday continued to push for the nomination of Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro as the new chairwoman of the Racing and Wagering Board, but the Senate seems to be resisting.” One possible reason is that Joe Bruno apparently wants his friend John B. Simoni, 74, to get the chairmanship. It now appears that Mike Hoblock may have lost his bid to remain on the board, and may be leaving soon. If he does, and either Castro or Simoni gets to chair the board, it would mean that the chairmanship of the racing board of one of America’s most important racing states would have no racing experience at all. Also in Florida, at the Embassy Suites in Deerfield Beach, the nation’s harness racing secretaries begin their three days of deliberations on Thursday. The gathering, held since 1966, is used to set stakes schedules for the following year and coordinate dates to minimize conflicts as far as possible. HOW ABOUT A HELPING HAND? HTA’s editorial coordinator Jessica Carner is deep in work compiling our 2006 World Racing Directory, but could use a little more cooperation from our member tracks. You all have the forms, so please take a few minutes to fill them out and return them to Jess. We take great pride in the Directory, and want to have the new edition for the Racing Congress, so your help will be appreciated. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor November 30, 2005 ARE YOU SURE NOW, GEORGE? BRUNO’S SON QUITS LOBBYING If our reports of the doings of Gov. George Pataki and his New York Assembly on the issue of the New York Racing and Wagering Board have seemed contradictory and confused, take solace in the fact that Albany itself was hopelessly confused. What Pataki and Senate president Joe Bruno wanted and what they got apparently are two different things, but what they got made a lot more sense than what they wanted. Bruno wanted a buddy, John Simoni, to be put on the board and made chairman, and was quoted as saying, “We have some confusion” at the end of a long day of futile hustling. Pataki wanted Bernadette Castro, who once sold convertible daybeds as her racing qualifications. Neither, it turns out, was appointed. Present board member Cheryl Buley, who although a purely political appointee when she was named to the board to replace the veteran racing man Bennett Liebman five years ago, did her homework well, and at least knows which end the hay goes in and which end it comes out, now switches jobs with Mike Hoblock, chairman for the last seven years. Pataki spokesman Saleem Cheeks, who was left to handle this mess with the media, reported that “Mr. Hoblock has indicated to us his desire to leave the Board and we expect him to resign in the very near future.” That is not what Hoblock had to say about his demotion, however. He said he had been replaced as chairman but would stay on the board, calling the situation “circumstances beyond my control.” Unlike most racing commissioners, Hoblock does not serve at the pleasure of the governor, and apparently is not interested in pleasing Pataki at the moment. Hoblock’s term does not expire until 2008, and we now will have to see whether he or Saleem Cheeks is right about his plans. If he stays, the New York board will enter 2006 one member short, as it has been since 2002. If you want to be a lobbyist when you grow up, it doesn’t hurt to have your father be the president of the state Senate. That has been the situation in New York in recent years, where Kenneth Bruno, son of the legislature’s most powerful man, has operated as a successful lobbyist. His clients have included Madison Square Garden and Magna Entertainment, each of which, according to Associated Press, paid him $15,000 a month for his services. The younger Bruno had been district attorney of Rensselaer county, where he and his father live. He resigned that job in May of 2003 to join one of Albany’s most successful lobbying firms, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman and Dicker, and he stayed there until March of this year, when he left to open his own lobbying company, Albany Strategies. That move created controversy and criticism of the father-son relationship, and Kenneth now says he plans to return to practicing law. SHAWN’S MOM LOSES AGAIN Victoria Scott, mother of the well known promoter Shawn Scott, has lost for a third time in her bid to open a gambling den in Alaska. The lieutenant governor of Alaska, Loren Leman, denied certification for a ballot initiative that would have created a gambling monopoly for Ms. Scott in Anchorage. She was the main sponsor of the bill, and although Leman’s action marks the third time this year the proposal has been rejected, backers say they plan to try again within two months. C’MON, GIVE JESS A HAND If you would like your 2006 HTA World Racing Directory early next year, complete your information forms (they’re somewhere on your desk) and return them to Jess Carner so she can complete her compilation of the valuable guide. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 1, 2005 YOUBET BUYING UNITED TOTE THEY’RE STILL AT IT IN FLORIDA Youbet.com announced today it was buying United Tote for $49 million, and expected to close on the acquisition within the next 60 days. United, founded in 1959, supplies tote systems that handle more than $7 billion a year, 90% of that amount in North America, where its more than 90 customers include the New York Racing Association and Churchill Downs. Youbet chairman, president and CEO Charles Champion called the purchase “an excellent strategic and financial opportunity for Youbet,” which earlier this year acquired the Curacao rebate betting service International Racing Group, and more recently was licensed by the Oregon Racing Commission to operate a betting hub through that state. The Miami Herald reports today that a state representative who was part of a $48,180 Canadian junket paid by Gulfstream Park in July has been advised not to cooperate with a Senate investigation. The paper says the representative, Frank Farkas, who made the trip with three state senators, including two who sit on the committee that regulates parimutels, is refusing to cooperate with an investigation ordered by the president of the Senate. His refusal is backed by the Speaker of the House, Allan Bense, who said through a spokesman that Farkas “is advised to maintain the integrity of the Legislature and independence of the two chambers.” Nothing changes under the sun. TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION Is Philadelphia big enough to hold the egos of both Donald Trump and Pat Croce? The two announced a partnership yesterday, with local investors, which will seek one of Pennsylvania’s 14 slot licenses in the city of brotherly love. Croce, former president of the Philadelphia 76ers, was called “a great guy with great vision” by Trump, and Croce, for his part of the lovefest, said, “I’m psyched to work with the Donald and his new executive team.” Croce, a native Philadelphian, has rounded up restaurateur Pete Ciarrocchi, owner of the Chickie and Pete’s restaurant chain in Philadelphia, and three members of the musical group Boyz II Men, as partners. Slots are still a year or so away in Pennsylvania, but at least the Gaming Control Board got seven of them yesterday from suppliers to play with in Harrisburg until the long wait ends. The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, meanwhile, says Pennsylvania should have auctioned off its licenses, rather than selling them for $50 million each. It said the state left $2.1 billion on the table, basing its numbers on the $225 million sale of The Meadows and the $280 million sale of Pocono Downs. In what could be better Florida news, the SunSentinel reports that Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican legislative leaders have decided not to press their plan to push for repeal of the citizen initiative that cleared the way for slots at Pompano Park and Broward county’s three other pari-mutuel operations. Rather than trying to persuade the legislature during next week’s special session to approve a repeal plan, Republican leaders now think it is better to delay that debate until spring. The leader of the anti-slot movement, Rep. Randy Johnson, had introduced a bill to repeal the slots during the special session, but the Sun-Sentinel says he now acknowledges that without support of the GOP leadership he has no chance of getting that done. TRY HTA; WE’LL SELL OUR ART And do it legally, we might add. Sotheby’s announced yesterday that it has withdrawn the 19 paintings the New York Racing Assn. had hoped to sell after new Racing and Wagering Board chairwoman Cheryl Buley said, “We remain unconvinced that this is an appropriate way to address NYRA’s fiscal situation.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 2, 2005 POMPANO BACK, POST-WILMA SCREWING IN A LIGHTBULB Pompano Park reopens for live racing tonight, six weeks after being devastated by Hurricane Wilma. The poker room opened at noon, first post is 7:25, and admission and general parking are free. The track will race Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and will be open seven days a week for simulcasting. How many racing organizations does it take to screw in a lightbulb? At least three or more, if you’re talking about lighting up racing security. There is, of course, the existing combination of Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and Standardbred Investigative Services. Then there is the Association of Racing Commissioners, which would like to get in on the act. And there is the NTRA, which hopes to finally get around to its Office of Wagering Integrity, which stumbled when the redhead first appointed to run it quit in short order, and Rudy Giuliani stepped in for a million or so to consult and guide, and recommended NTRA go forward with that idea. Racing loves this multiple approach to problems. It has two separate organizations of racing commissioners, so why not three security organizations? There is comfort in numbers. SPECTOR STILL IN HUNT A federal judge has ruled, over objections of MidState Raceway, the parent of Vernon Downs, that Oneida Entertainment can stay in the race for the beleaguered central New York harness track. Oneida, which is backed by a Connecticut asset management company and Eric Spector, who briefly was the track’s CEO. received only minimal votes in a poll of shareholders, but the judge said it would be inappropriate to dismiss their reorganization plans before a hearing on Dec. 16. The judge presumably will choose a winner in the competition on that date. In another development involving Jeff Gural and Tioga Park, which would be tied into Vernon as a circuit under Gural’s plan, his Southern Tier Acquisition and TrackPower closed on their financing deal with Nevada Gold & Casinos, Inc. to form American Racing and Entertainment. The two companies each contributed $1.5 million to American Racing for membership interests in that group, which nominally will own and operate the track and racino at Tioga in Nichols, New York. Nevada Gold will own a 50% interest, Southern Tier Acquisition a 25% share, and TrackPower 25%. Nevada Gold, under the agreement, will contribute $10 million in new equity to American Racing, and American Racing is seeking senior note financing for $70 million to complete the buildout of Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs. If they don’t get Vernon, they will continue plans with Tioga on a reduced scale of financing. GERTMENIAN THE LANDLORD In the aftermath of the downfall of Wayne Gertmenian as leader of the Jockeys’ Guild, it turns out that under the contract now abrogated the Guild has been paying $4,000 a month to Gertmenian to rent their own offices and an adjacent office for Gertmenian’s one-man company, Matrix Capital Corporation. The Guild’s lawyer, Barry Broad, called this “oppressive,” and the Guild has moved from Monrovia to Duarte, rented a 2,000-square foot office instead of Gertmenian’s 1,800-square feet, and costs $1,706 plus utilities instead of $4,000 a month. See what a PhD can do for you? SHAPIRO NEW CAL CHAIRMAN Commissioner Richard Shapiro has been elected by his colleagues to take over as chairman of the California Horse Racing Board in 2006. It was his second vote of confidence in three months. On Sept. 1, he was confirmed by the California Senate by a 39-0 vote. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 5, 2005 WILL SUN RISE IN FLORIDA? DECISION WEEK IN NY, TOO The Florida legislature reconvenes today in day one of their five-day special session, and slots in Broward county will be one of their principal concerns. No one really knows what will happen between today and Friday, and even Allan Solomon, executive vice president and general counsel of Isle of Capri Casinos, which owns and operates HTA member Pompano Park, isn’t certain. He told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “I’m not sure I can make the best wager on how all this gets done.” Leaders in the House released a 44page bill last Friday that would allow for Vegasstyle slots, but limits them to no more than 1,000 per venue, with a 55% flat tax, proceeds that would by law be spent on education by the state. The Senate is considering a 45% tax rate and possible sliding scale, which could help tracks by providing a greater share in the first few years of operation. The House wants a minimum age of 21, with 16 hours of play a day, year-round, and 85% returned to players. The St. Petersburg Times is predicting legislative approval. No one is talking much about the threat of enabling legislation being passed this week and then having it nullified by a statewide repeal vote next November, something Gov. Jeb Bush and the leader of both houses support. When Dan Adkins of Hollywood Greyhounds was asked about it, he said, “The only way I can address that is that I’m in a race with blinkers on. I’ll deal with the next race after this one’s resolved.” Bush claims voters in Florida didn’t know that in voting to allow slots in Broward county they also were opening the door to expansion at seven Indian casinos in that county and four others. The proposed tax rate, whether House or Senate version or a compromise, would be the highest in the country other than Rhode Island, which has a 61% rate, according to a Florida legislative staff report, that also says seven states allowing slots average 35% in taxes. Florida is not the only racing state with much hanging in the balance this week. In New York, the New York Racing Association should know by the end of the week if it will have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to continue operating. President Charles Hayward showed up in the Aqueduct press box Saturday and told writers that if the association did not get help from the state this week -- something he will appeal for tomorrow before Carole Stone, chairwoman of the oversight panel appointed by Gov. George Pataki -- it was likely NYRA would file for bankruptcy protection this month. Hayward said filing would “give us a little room to breathe, and I think in terms of running the races, it should just be business as usual.” Breathing time was not on the mind of Senate majority leader Joe Bruno, however. He called for the NYRA franchise to be awarded in the next six months, rather than waiting for it to expire at the end of 2007. “Let’s do it sooner rather than later,” he told Tom Precious of Blood-Horse. AND A DEADLINE IN MD, TOO Actually, the deadline in Maryland was missed. The racing commission had given the Maryland Jockey Club until last Thursday to reach agreement with horsemen, but that date passed without success. Now the issue hopefully can be resolved before the commission’s next meeting a week from tomorrow. Expense-sharing reportedly is the major sticking point, with tracks wanting to be reimbursed for expenses in producing the show. ARNEAULT, BLACK WANT MTR Ted Arneault, CEO of MTR Gaming Group, and executive vice president Robert Blatt have extended a takeover offer of some $258.4 million to shareholders of MTR Gaming Group. MTR shares rose $1.84, or 23%, closing at $9.73 on the Nasdaq. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 6, 2005 IS THIS JUST POSTURING? OIL AND STEROIDS DON’T MIX That was the question asked yesterday by Lee Woodard, bankruptcy lawyer for Mid-State Raceway, the parent of Vernon Downs, after the horsemen’s lawyer, Joe Faraldo, asked a bankruptcy court judge to have Vernon reimburse them $9.6 million that Faraldo says the horsemen have lost since the track closed 16 months ago. Woodard said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the move, and added that “I’m hopeful that this is nothing more than just posturing.” Faraldo said it was done “to protect the horsemen.” Given the precarious status of Vernon, and the money Jeff Gural and his associates have dumped into it in the hope of reviving the track, a second question besides Woodard’s might be if the horsemen really want Vernon to return to racing. Certainly horsemen have lost money by Vernon being closed, but so has Mid-State Raceway, which is bankrupt. The track has not been licensed in New York, its majority shareholder Shawn Scott is not licensed in New York, and the overwhelming majority of shareholders voted to have the Gural group take over. Scott’s principal lawyer, Deborah DeitschPerez, has written a 42-page brief blasting the New York Racing and Wagering Board for not licensing Scott, but board chairwoman Cheryl Buley said the board has no selective bias against Scott. “It’s not the board’s responsibility to make Shawn Scott licensable. That’s Shawn Scott’s responsibility, and he failed to meet those standards.” The board’s hearing officer, Russell Baller, told the board that Scott had lied on his application and submitted fraudulent documents. Scott’s lawyer called them “minor errors.” The leading trainer in the Emirates Racing Association for the last two seasons has been suspended for four months after four of his seven winners tested positive for the steroid bodenone. BloodHorse.com reports that Mazin Al Kurdi, who trains some 120 horses, mostly for top owner Sheikh Rashid, will miss the remainder of the UAE racing season, which includes the Dubai International Racing Carnival that starts on Jan. 19. Unless the suspension is reversed on appeal, Kurdi is down for presenting horses to race with banned substances in their systems. We are not alone. 55%: FLORIDA HOUSE FIRM The Florida House is holding firm on its demand for a 55% tax on Broward county slots. A frustrated state senator Steve Geller said of the House stance, “We can’t negotiate with people who aren’t negotiating.” WE’RE NOT KIDDING, FOLKS If you plan to race at the Racing Congress at Bellagio in February, you had better get your stall application in now. You have only the rest of December in which to make room reservations with Cindy Knox in the HTA office. After the beginning of January our special room rate will not apply, and you will be on your own both as to rate and availability. Also, we’re again asking our action officers to respond to Jessica Carner’s request for Directory information. We take great pride in this unique book, which we consider the most comprehensive directory in racing, but we need your cooperation to have it produced in time for the Congress. You have the forms. Please fill them out and return to Jess. Or request new ones if you have lost those sent to you. RACING SYMPOSIUM BEGINS The annual University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program symposium gets underway in Tucson today. Harness folks spotted early include Chris McErlean of the Meadowlands, Ed Ryan of Scioto Downs, Conrad Sobkowiak of Pocono Downs, and Eric Sharbaugh, executive vice president of the USTA. We’ll bring you daily highlights here. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 7, 2005 HALLELUJAH! RCI, NAPRA JOIN DRUGS, THIS TIME IN INDIANA It took 8 years, but the absurdity of two separate associations of racing commissioners ended yesterday with the announcement that Racing Commissioners International and the North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association had voted unanimously to merge. Although the official merger date is January 1, the two groups said they have begun working as one immediately. Paul Bowlinger, executive director of NAPRA, will become executive vice president of RCI. The split between the two organizations occurred over salary issues and other matters, and has taken this long to heal. Ed Martin, president of RCI, who seeks to fold racing security into the organization, said the merger will help that effort. First, however, RCI will have to figure out how to technologically keep all jurisdictions informed immediately of suspensions and penalties, something it does not do currently. Illegal medication has raised its ugly head again to plague racing, this time in Indiana. A county prosecutor has said the Indiana Horse Racing Commission waited for nearly two years to do anything about vials of suspicious drugs that were seized at HTA member Hoosier Park. The incident involved two women vets, one of whom turned against another in her employ. The second was arrested and charged with unregistered dispensing of a controlled substance, Dormosedan, a tranquilizer. The second vet was cleared, according to her attorney. Commission executive director Joe Gorajec said some of the medication was seized at Hoosier in November, 2003, but said the investigation was still ongoing. Hoosier Park president and general manager Rick Moore expressed full confidence in the commission, saying he was confident it would take swift action if the county prosecutor’s allegations proved valid. Horsemen contacted in Indiana sided with the second vet, some with uncomplimentary comments on the first. AND THEN THERE IS FLORIDA If there was good news on the racing commission front, there was none to report yet in Florida, where the House and Senate are toiling in special session to resolve the slots in Broward county issue. There has been no compromise so far. Here is how the plans differ: HOUSE - Tax rate 55%, 1,000 slots at each facility, 16 hours of operation a day. SENATE - Tax rate a sliding scale, starting at 35% up to $125 million, 40% between $125 and $250 million, 45% between $250 and $500 million, and capping at 55% on slots revenue over $500 million, with 2,000 slots at each facility and 16 hours of operation a day. One senator, Republican Bill Posey, obviously understands the issue. “If we limit the number of machines and set too high a tax,” he said, “all we’ll do is kill what little golden goose we have, if we overregulate.” Regardless of outcome, slots are nine months away, according to the Miami Herald. HELP MAY BE ON WAY IN NY There may be a softening of position on the part of the rulers of New York concerning the New York Racing Association and its financial woes. Following a three-hour meeting yesterday, a spokesman for Gov. George Pataki said the governor has not ruled out allowing NYRA to sell 80 parcels of land near Aqueduct, or defer $32 million in tax and fee payments for the year, which is NYRA’s preferred solution to its cash-flow problems. NYRA president Charles Hayward said other new and different options are being pursued, but would not give details. He called the session between himself, other NYRA representatives and the governor’s NYRA Oversight Board “productive, with no conclusions.” He said NYRA either needed to sell the land or find a “commensurate solution.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 8, 2005 A FLORIDA SLOTS DEAL? SOLUTIONS MAKE PROBLEMS Progress in Florida, with caution. House and Senate leaders, meeting in a five-day special session, struck a deal yesterday to bring slots to HTA member Pompano Park and three other Broward county racing operations. The compromise calls for a 50% tax rate on net profits and 1,500 machines for each location, down from the 55% the House wanted on the tax rate and down from the 2,000 machines and sliding tax rate the Senate proposed. The machines could operate 16 hours a day, and each track would pay a $3 million license fee for regulation. The House and Senate are expected to vote today on the matter, and one opponent of gaming, Rep. Marco Rubio, said, “I met with the Senate president Wednesday, and we have an agreement that I think both chambers can support.” And then he added that the deal could fall apart if too many changes are made when the House Fiscal Council discusses the agreement today. “You just never know what happens overnight,” Rubio said. The Senate’s lead negotiator, Ken Pruitt, also sounded optimistic, saying, “We’re very close to a product everybody can sign off on.” What happens next November, when Gov. Jeb Bush wants to repeal the whole slots deal, is another matter, but the Florida tracks are playing things one move at a time. Their next decision is whether a 50% tax rate, if that deal holds, is viable. While Martin deserves loud plaudits for his merger success, he faces an interesting problem in another major move he announced yesterday in Tucson. In what he called “a dramatic move to fill a long discussed void and vulnerability for the U.S. racing industry,” he said his board had voted to partner with technology suppliers for independent monitoring systems to provide a national monitoring service and database for pari-mutuel wagering. The new entity will be known as RCI Integrity Services, Inc. and will be a strategic partnership between RCI, ESI Integrity Inc. and Monitor Technology. Under the plan, monitoring services will begin in the second quarter of 2006 with services to be provided to wagering system operators and regulators. Martin said, “It’s time to stop talking and start doing. We have the talent, we have the expertise, and we have a desire to do something everyone in the racing industry has said needs to be done and do it right.” That’s a noble sentiment, but not answered is the question if RCI has the money, or where it will get it. MARTIN MAN OF THE YEAR? Ed Martin, who left the New York Racing and Wagering Board to run Racing Commissioners International, has put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Martin, working cooperatively with his North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Assn. (NAPRA) colleagues, announced in Tucson this week that after eight years of dual operation the two commissioners’ organizations are merging. In a year without too many scintillating performances, this one deserves loud applause. There also is the question of what happens with the integrity plans of the NTRA, which also has talked about a national integrity program for several years. One solution might be to merge those two plans, which could end the NTRA’s search and provide funding at the same time, but no mention of that was made in RCI’s release. GREAT! WHO BELLS THE CAT? During yesterday’s Symposium sessions Greg Avioli, exec VP of NTRA, addressing the issue of the World Trade Organization April 3 deadline for the U.S. to comply with WTO commitments, said the best long term solution would be for the U.S. to authorize and regulate Internet gaming. Obviously the best solution. Now to bell that damn cat. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 9, 2005 FLORIDA SLOTS, SORT OF BAD NEWS FOR THE JOCKS The Florida House passed Broward county’s slot bill yesterday, 110-8, and the Senate followed suit, approving the compromise measure 33-7. Gov. Jeb Bush says he will sign the bill, reluctantly. “It’s not going to feel good,” he said. “I just don’t think this is right for our state....The fact that there’s going to be a bunch of slot machines in Broward county doesn’t warm my heart.” In fact, it chills his heart enough that he still plans to seek repeal of the voter’s wishes next November, and one strong supporter of the measure, who knows racing better than all of his colleagues in the Florida Senate, is alarmed. Senator Steven Geller, founder and president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, said he is concerned that the bill contains a tax rate so high -- 50% -- that “we’re getting something up with the intent of failure.” Jim Horne, lobbyist for HTA member Pompano Park, said, “We’re not jumping for joy over it, but we’re glad to get a bill. Certainly the rate of tax, the amount of machines (1,500) has a dramatic effect on our plans. All four venues are probably going to have to go back and revisit what their plans were and see to what extent they have to be modified to fit this kind of environment.” L. Wayne Gertmenian is gone, but so, apparently, are much of the funds of the Jockeys’ Guild following his departure. The Guild released results of a preliminary financial review yesterday that said Gertmenin and former COO Albert Fiss appeared to have “inappropriately” used $2.1 million in Guild funds to cover daily operating costs and pay health insurance premiums, and that $442,000 earmarked for individual savings accounts apparently had been used to cover operating costs and medical expenses. The review, according to the Los Angeles Times, “suggested an apparent pattern of increasing fiscal neglect extending for at least the past 18 months.” A health fund account that is supposed to hold enough money to cover two and one-half months of claims is nearly depleted, the story said, with the Oct. 30 balance of $6,029, down from $860,000 in April of 2004. Some utility bills and other obligations had not been paid in six months, and various bank statements had not been reconciled in several months, according to the report. Janet Patton, business writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky, reported in her story that more than $1.1 million that should have been set aside to cover health claims is missing. Patton wrote that although the Guild had moved quickly to stop payment on checks written the day before Gertmenian and Fiss were ousted, it had not moved quickly enough. Four checks totaling $104,000 made out to Gertmenian’s Matrix Capital were stopped, but one made out for $69,000 to Gertmenian and another for $44,000 to Fiss had cleared the bank. The FBI now is investigating the discrepancies. MORE ON RCI INTEGRITY IDEA Yesterday, reporting on the announcement of Racing Commissioners International’s formation of RCI Integrity Services, we asked where the group would get the money. Later in the day we found out. Youbet.com and Scientific Games Corp. are going to foot the bill, at least initially. In lauding RCI president Ed Martin for merging RCI and NAPRA, we failed to do justice to NAPRA president Paul Bowlinger, who becomes executive VP of the new unified RCI. And behind the entire package and security effort are the major contributions toward reconciliation and rebuilding by former RCI president Lonnie Powell. MTR BUYS JACKSON RACEWAY MTR Gaming, through its Jackson Racing Inc. subsidiary, has bought 90% of Jackson Raceway from Dan Rakietin and his mother Nan. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor FLORIDA: SIX MONTHS, MAYBE The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering has six months to produce rules for slots in Broward county, now that the legislature has finally signed off on the bill and Gov. Jeb Bush says he will sign it, reluctantly. But at least one authority on the subject is skeptical. Florida senator Steve Geller, founder and president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, says he expects Bush to make the rule-making process as difficult as possible for the pari-mutuel operations. “The governor’s already said he’d try to throw up all the regulatory roadblocks he can,” Geller told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. A spokesman for Bush told the paper that Bush would not be involved in preparation of the rules. Bush himself said, “I’d rather be creating jobs in ways people’s lives are improved, but the voters did vote for this.” Those voters apparently think gambling is one of the pleasures of life and does improve it in a country where grimness has become commonplace. Dan Adkins of Hollywood Greyhound, who has been speaking for the Broward tracks through all this mess, is an optimist. “I’m not concerned,” he says. “I think there will be a good-faith effort.” We hope you’re right, Doug. The entire Florida racing bill is online on the home page of our HTA Web site, for those who may wish to download and peruse it. IN MAINE, VINDICATION It is rare when a newspaper gives gambling the benefit of the doubt, but the Bangor News did over the weekend when it acknowledged that the promises of slots as a possible salvation for Maine’s harness racing industry and other social, cultural and educational needs are being fulfilled. The paper said that official figures show that in the first five weeks of operation, the slots in Bangor have generated $775,000 for the 10 beneficiaries spelled out in the slots law. December 12, 2005 Under the Maine formula, Hollywood Slots -- the name Penn National Gaming gave its operation -pays 1% of total slots wagering to the state. Eightnine percent is returned to players. Of the remaining 10%, 39% goes to the state for distribution among the 10 beneficiaries, 10% goes to supplement purses, and 3% goes to the Maine Sire Stakes. The executive director of the Maine Harness Racing Commission, Henry Jackson, says he expects purses will rise from $1.3 million in 2004 to $2.1 million next year. FAIL SAFES ARE JUST THAT Or at least that’s what they are supposed to be. The New York Times has a big story today on Yonkers Raceway continuing to receive payments from New York City OTB even though there is no live racing at Yonkers. OTB chairman David Cornstein called it a disgrace. Bob Galterio, Yonkers’ general manager, saw it a bit differently. “I’m not arguing that it’s right or wrong,” he said. “I’m just arguing that they have a responsibility to pay.” The original legislation that created the situation was a fail safe arrangement under which OTB was given the right to broadcast fewer races from Yonkers and Monticello but in return for bringing in simulcast signals from thoroughbred tracks around the country, but continue to pay the tracks the same amount as previously. In a rare display of courage on the part of a legislature on a gambling matter, state senator Nicholas A. Spano defended his actions against critics. Spano noted that Yonkers Raceway was one of the city’s largest employers, and said, “I will continue to work as hard as I can to make sure the track remains economically viable. I am proud of the fact that they think I am the protector of Yonkers Raceway, because in fact I am.” Man of the Year material. If you haven’t already sent your room reservations for the Bellagio, or your HTA Directory information, please do so. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 13, 2005 DAYS OF DECISION AT VERNON ELECTRONIC PROP BETS The first of two days of hearings got underway today on the fate of Vernon Downs, with the second scheduled for Friday. The bankruptcy judge who has been handling the contentious issue will listen to more testimony today, then again on Friday, and presumably will announce then who gets the track, the Jeff Gural group or one fronted by Eric Spector of California, who ran Vernon for a short time earlier in the proceedings. The judge must determine, under federal bankruptcy law, that the successful applicant meets 13 criteria, including having creditors support the plan, good faith intent, and assurances that the plan won’t lead to another bankruptcy. Gural, who received heavy creditor support, wants to link Vernon and his fledgling Tioga Downs meeting as a central New York racing circuit. Racing hasn’t adopted much in the way of proposition betting, but Las Vegas is moving forward with technology geared to that end. The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday on a system called Rapid Bet Live, which allows gamblers to bet on individual plays throughout a game. As the Journal’s Peter Sanders put it, “Gamblers watching an Indianapolis Colts game in Vegas may have a hunch that, on the next play, Peyton Manning will throw a long bomb to receiver Marvin Harrison for a touchdown. But right now there is nothing they can do about it - casino sports books don’t accept bets on individual plays.” The Palms Hotel and Casino says it is in final negotiations to test Rapid Bet Live’s touch screen kiosks which will enable them to bet on scoring, punts, whatever. A company called Progressive Gaming International has developed the system, one more move linking Vegas with technology. PR THAT GARNERS SPACE Luc Ouellette is one of harness racing’s greatest drivers, but he is far more than that. He consistently has championed charitable causes, working with various groups and on his own. This week his latest initiative gained exceptionally positive space for harness racing in the toughto-crack Toronto Star. Ouellette rounded up Woodbine’s leading drivers, including Chris Christoforou, Rick Zeron and Paul MacDonnell, then added Jody Jamieson, Phil Hudon and red hot Mark MacDonald to the mix, getting them to donate their driving fees for one night to the Jim Proudfoot corner of the newspaper’s Santa Claus Fund, which for 100 years has been providing gift boxes to kids at Christmas. Some 45,000 will be handed out this year. Proudfoot was a widely read sports columnist for the Star, and today’s story on contributions to his fund included not only the Woodbine drivers but a list of other contributors from the world of Woodbine Racing. Good stuff, the best possible kind of PR. GOODRICH LEAVES ARLINGTON Cliff Goodrich has announced he is leaving his presidency of Arlington Park to take it easy and spend a little happy time with his family. Goodrich, 62, told Daily Racing Form, “Sometimes, it got to the point where I really felt I had done as much as I could do. We had a brand new granddaughter, and I asked, ‘Do I really need to work this hard?’ He answered no, and ends an active racing management career that included 19 years at Santa Anita Park as president and COO and 3 years at Arlington. D-DAY IN MARYLAND TODAY The Maryland Racing Commission meets today, a week after its deadline demand on an agreement between management and horsemen passed without resolution. Commissioner John Franzone said the commission could “beat up an industry that already is in dire straits,” but he preferred reasoning. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 14, 2005 MORE FOOT-DRAGGING IN KY SWEDEN, TEXAS, YOU NAME IT Kentucky’s thoroughbred horsemen and their veterinarians were still battling reform and progress yesterday, but thanks to a legislator who recognized their ploy the commonwealth’s new drug rules were passed by the legislature’s Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee and moves on to House and Senate committees. The horsemen and vets and their lawyer tried to block passage, but a motion by Rep. Jim Bruce, a Hopkinsville Democrat, brought quick passage. Bruce said he made the motion because he believes the opponents of the regulation are a vocal minority who wouldn’t accept anything. The horsemen’s and vets’ attorney called the victory “just round one,” indicating the fight is not over. In a strange development, the executive director of the Racing Authority, Jim Gallagher, apparently made an offer to put off consideration of the rule for a month, a move that happily Rep. Bruce’s successful motion made moot. Gallagher called the passage “a good day for Kentucky,” but still looming are three banamine positives during the fall Grand Circuit meeting that have drawn no action for 60 days. A positive sign on the legislation was a statement by Darrell Haire, interim national manager of the Jockeys’ Guild, who supported the new rules, saying some pre-race medications can mask physical problems in horses and jockeys “need to know what they have beneath them.” Breaking of rules, or legislation to prevent it, is in the holiday air. In Texas, the racing commission has adopted a milkshake rule, setting 38 millimoles of carbon dioxide per liter of plasma as the cutoff point. Over that would be a violation which would bring a $1,000 fine and 30-day suspension for the first offense, a $2,500 fine and 90-day suspension for a second, and a $5,000 fine and one-year suspension for a third. All of the penalties include loss of purse money, with testing random, pre or post race. The rule will become effective next month. ANABOLIC STEROIDS IN NEWS The American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Task Force on Medication has recommended the banning of anabolic steroids in horses being sold at public auctions. The recommendation provides that in addition, no stimulants, muscle relaxants or diuretics should be allowed at any detectable level in sale horses, with sales companies to be the “principle enforcers.” More will be heard about steroids in coming months. In Sweden, the Swedish Trotting Association confiscated the license of trainer Michael Demmers, conditioner of the $800,000 winner Vasterbo Daylight, according to The Harness Edge. Demmers has been fined more than $45,000 for false breeding reports, and a Ms. Kathrin Biderman has been fined $30,000 for signing false mating certificates. Demmers plans to appeal, saying he doesn’t think his training license should be linked to his breeding operations. COMPROMISE IN MARYLAND Thoroughbred horsemen and management have reached an accord in Maryland, with both sides giving a little in a compromise that headed off commission action. Magna’s Maryland Jockey Club will conduct 180 days of racing next year and keep stable areas open at Pimlico, Laurel and Bowie for all of 2006. According to the Washington Post, there still is disagreement on how much horsemen, including breeders, should contribute to the cost of satellite and simulcast operations. Magna has submitted a proposal to the horsemen’s leadership, and the board of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Assn. is expected to review and respond by next week. With a tentative agreement in place, the commission approved Jan. 1 - April 16 winter dates for Laurel. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor QUEBEC PRIVATIZES TRACKS The long-expected hammer fell yesterday in Quebec, where the Minister of Finance, Michal Audet, announced the transfer of management of the province’s four racetracks to private ownership. Winner in the competition is Attractions Hippiques Quebec, owned by Senator Paul Massicotte, currently attending the World Trade Organization summit meeting in Hong Kong. Under the transfer, $100 million will be spent on relocating Hippodrome de Montreal from its present in-city location to the northern suburban ring surrounding Montreal. Purses will receive $153 million over five years, raising them from $17 million to $25 million in the first year of the agreement, and increasing them each year after that to $35 million in the fifth year. Another $5 million a year will be allocated to promotion and marketing of the racing industry in the province. No mention of the fate of SONACC, which has run racing in the province, was made, but SONACC’s chairman, Gilles Dubreuil, a member of the independent committee that worked out the transition plan, said, “Thanks to today’s decision, the entire horse racing industry, which employs 3,000 people in Quebec’s regions, will benefit from the injection of these new investments.” The Minister of Finance added that the agreement met the government’s objective of doing everything possible to secure the long-term viability of the racing industry in Quebec, and the infusion of purse money could signal a new era for harness racing in the province. The minister, Michal Audet, will determine the role of SONACC in the reorganization. Massicotte, a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, is in addition to his senatorial duties the president and CEO of Alexis Nihon Real Estate Investment Trust and a board member of a number of civic groups in the Montreal area. An accountant, he was lead director of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada. December 15, 2005 He also has been a major real estate developer in Montreal. A rival bidder for the tracks of Quebec, Remstar corporation, filed for the tracks of Quebec, Remstar corporation, filed for a temporary injunction blocking the government’s announcement, but a Quebec Superior Court judge denied that request. Andre Marier, a former president of Blue Bonnets, the predecessor of Hippodrome de Montreal, is associated with the Remstar group. DISSENT REARS ITS UGLY HEAD More troubles all over the map: In Massachusetts, Raynham/Taunton dog track owner George Carney stormed out of the State House summit meeting with other track owners, just weeks before a looming legislative deadline that threatens Massachusetts racing. Carney wants expanded simulcasting at his Brockton Fair. The three other track owners in the state want a roll over of the current law. Plainridge president and HTA director Gary Piontkowski said of Carney’s carnage, “What you have here is a single person...stopping a billion dollar industry.” In Illinois, the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association and Balmoral and Maywood Park management have been meeting on contract negotiations, but despite exchange of various proposals an impasse is reported and no compromise has been reached. In Utica, New York, a federal bankruptcy judge has scheduled final hearings tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. to determine whether Jeff Gural and his Nevada Gold backers of Vernon Downs Acquisition, or Eric Spector’s Oneida Entertainment and his Plainfield Asset Management of Connecticut, get Vernon Downs. Mid-State Raceway, the track’s parent, paid $107,000 in county taxes today, forestalling possible foreclosure proceedings. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor HTA’S NOVA WINNERS OF 2005 The racing secretaries of Harness Tracks of America’s 41 members have chosen their 12 divisional champions of 2005, whose owners will be presented with bronze Novas at Bellagio in Las Vegas during the Racing Congress on Wednesday, Feb. 8. The winners are: 2-year-old pacing colt: Jereme’s Jet, winner of $1,039,376 and 6 of 7 starts, owned by Jolene Leahy’s Genesis Racing Stable, Plainfield, IL. 2-year-old pacing filly: Darlin’s Delight, winner of $560,404 and 9 races, and first or second in all 14 starts, owned by Joseph Parisi’s White Birch Farm, Allentown, NJ. 3-year-old pacing colt: Rocknroll Hanover, winner of $2,223,257 and 12 races, and first, second or third in all 18 starts, owned by Jeffrey S. Snyder, New York City; Phyllis Campbell’s Lothlorien Equestrian Centre, Mississauga, Ontario; and William J. Perretti, Cream Ridge, NJ. 3-year-old pacing filly: Cabrini Hanover, winner of $917,440 and 8 races, and first, second or third in all 18 starts, owned by David S. Willmot, King City, Ontario, and Bob M. Anderson, St. Thomas, Ontario. Older male pacer: Boulder Creek, winner of $978,645 and first, second or third in 15 of 25 starts, owned by Clifford D. Siegel, Staten Island, NY; Lee S. Wasserman, Brooklyn, NY; and John A. Fodera, Staten Island, NY. Pacing mare: Loyal Opposition, winner of $673,525 and 14 of 20 races, owned by Daniel Waxman, Ancaster, Ontario. December 16, 2005 2-year-old trotting colt: Chocolatier, winner of $508,250 and 8 of 10 races, owned by Doug and Ada Jean Ackerman’s Doug Ackerman Stables, LaPorte, IN. 2-year-old trotting filly: Passionate Glide, winner of $638,947 and first or second in 10 of 11 races, owned by George Segal’s Brittany Farms, Versailles, KY. 3-year-old trotting colt: Vivid Photo, winner of $1,481,020 and first or second in 21 of 25 races, owned by Roger R. Hammer, Bedford, PA, and Todd M. Schadel, Gratz, PA. 3-year-old trotting filly: Blur, winner of $867,453 and 7 of 12 races, owned by Barry Goldstein, Hewlett, NY. Older male trotter: Hellava Hush, winner of $522,720 and first, second or third in 15 of 21 races, owned by Joseph Chnapko, Livingston, NJ. Trotting mare: Peaceful Way, winner of $660,804 and 9 of 10 races, owned by Joseph and Barbara Myers, Jamesville, VA; Sam A. Goldband, Toronto, Ontario; Marvin Katz, Toronto, Ontario; Al Libfeld, Pickering, Ontario; Linda Ann Worrell, Warrington, PA; David S. Tingley, Guelph, Ontario; and Angie M. Stiller, Arva, Ontario. ARE YOU ON THIS LIST? Cindy Knox has no room reservations for Bellagio for the following tracks: Batavia, Buffalo, Cal Expo, Hippodrome de Montreal, Lebanon, New York City OTB, Northville, Northville Racing Corp., Plainridge, Red Mile, Rockingham, Rosecroft, Saratoga, Suffolk OTB and Western Fair. Happy New Year, but after Jan. 1 our special rate expires. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor DO THEY KNOW, OR CARE? The U.S. Harness Writers have announced some recipients of their Dan Patch awards over the weekend, and their winners include Mr. Muscleman, trained by Noel Daley, who is under six-month suspension for the use of illegal medication. HTA will not honor the horse or its owner or trainer with its Nova award, pursuant to our association policy of not presenting awards to owners of horses trained by trainers under suspension, or by their second trainers acting as “suspension” trainers. To do so and talk or write about integrity seems an anomaly. LAYOFFS IN MASSACHUSETTS? Internecine warfare in Massachusetts, with one track operator endangering all others with his refusal to reason or negotiate, has brought threats of layoffs for hundreds of track employees next month. In the face of what the Boston Herald calls “a fierce battle over an extension of lucrative simulcasting laws,” Wonderland Dog Track and Suffolk Downs are preparing letters, to be sent out after Christmas, informing employees of imminent layoffs unless the simulcasting dispute is resolved. It does not appear to be an idle threat or bluff. HTA’s Plainridge Racecourse is holding off on letters, but said it would have to pink slip 130 employees if a simulcast deal cannot be cut. The current law expires Dec. 31, and its renewal has been stymied by George Carney, owner of the Raynham/Taunton dog track, who claims the current simulcasting laws are unfair to his track. Carney calls his obstinance “a matter of principle” and complains that the other three track owners “are trying to make it look like I am the bad guy.” He is able to forestall renewal of the simulcasting laws because of legislative rules that require unanimous consent for any bill to be passed in “informal session.” The legislature does not reconvene officially until January. December 19, 2005 Plainridge, Suffolk Downs and Wonderland called on the legislature Friday to correct the situation, calling Carney’s move “special interest legislation” that would unfairly impact their three tracks. Their letter to legislators noted that their tracks “already are facing financial difficulties from declining revenues as a result of billions of Massachusetts dollars that are annually flooding over the border to Connecticut, Rhode Island and now Maine.” The House Ways and Means Committee endorsed an extension of the current simulcasting legislation Dec. 14, but legislation introduced by Rep. David Flynn on Carney’s behalf threw a monkey wrench into the proceedings. President Richard Dalton of Wonderland said, “It’s outrageous that one man could cavalierly put thousands of people out of work.” NO DECISION YET ON VERNON After a day of tough questioning of prospective owner Jeff Gural by a lawyer for a rival group, the hearing on the future of Vernon Downs was continued until after Christmas, resuming Wednesday, Dec. 28. Gural acknowledged to the lawyer that he did not have $70 million to reopen Vernon and open his Tioga Park, and get their racinos operating, but he pointed out that he did have a commitment for a $15 million temporary loan that could get Vernon underway, since some $45 million of Vernon debt would not come up for a year under his plan. He told his questioner, “A year from now this casino is going to be up and running, and I would expect it won’t be very difficult to get that money. We all think Vernon Downs is going to be a success. Your client wouldn’t be here if they didn’t think so.” Gural says he plans on racing in the spring, and that he has broken off talks with the current horsemen’s association after their attorney, Joe Faraldo, filed a suit demanding $9.5 million reimbursement for lost purses. “If the horsemen want to keep mediocre racing, if they want to keep Vernon Downs the way it is, I guess they have to hope I don’t get Vernon Downs,” Gural said. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 20, 2005 WOODBINE SAYS NO TO IRG 8 POSITIVES AND YOU’RE OUT Woodbine Entertainment Group, restating its views on non-racetrack rebate operations, has denied International Racing Group access to pools hosted by Woodbine, the major racing circuit in Canada. David Willmot, chairman and CEO of WEG, said of the decision, “We, as an industry, cannot afford to continue to legitimize these non-racetrack rebate operations. Our long term success depends on a significant reinvestment in the racing industry which is something that these organizations do not deliver.” Woodbine’s announcement yesterday said, “The racing business relies on substantial contributions from wagering revenues to fund breeding programs, purses and overall infrastructure. Non-racetrack rebate operators are not contributing enough to achieve these objectives, even with their claims of generating increased handle.” The action is not Woodbine’s first attempt to shut rebaters out of Woodbine pools. WEG stopped selling to similar operators in early 2004 after track customers were actively solicited by some rebate operators. Steve Mitchell, senior VP and chief financial officer of WEG, said the effect on handle from barring the rebaters “has been inconsequential. We have been able to recoup that lost handle and more.” Well, out for half a year, anyway. Illinois turned up eight positives from winners sent out by trainer Ken Rucker at Balmoral in October and early November, and sent Rucker to the sidelines for 180 days. His winners all showed Indomethacin, a powerful painkiller also known as Indocin. Rucker is third nationally in wins among trainers, and sixth in money-earnings. On the thoroughbred front, the New York Racing and Wagering Board suspended top trainer Todd Pletcher for 45 days and fined him $3,000, and an appeal was rejected by a hearing officer. Mepivacaine, a local anesthetic, was the villain here. Pletcher leads the nation in money winnings and is a candidate for an Eclipse award. How about a Rucker-Pletcher-Noel Daley tri? HELP FOR A LEGENDARY LOVER Not Viagra, but a painkiller, and an illegal one -Flunixin -- at that. The Harness Edge reports that former U.S. trotting star Legendary Lover K, a $1.75 million winner, tested positive for Flunixin in Denmark following a race at the Charlottenlund track in Copenhagen. The positive is the first in Denmark in several years, and is embarrassing because the trotter’s co-owner is Knud Erik Ravn, president of the Danish Trotting Association. The horse was given high doses of Flunixin in September after a much publicized encounter with a heifer, but none recently, according to his trainer. A TOOTHLESS TIGER IN KY? If you can’t stop them one way, try another. The staff of Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission now takes the stance that Kentucky law does not give the Kentucky Racing Authority the power to fine violators of its proposed drug rules. The Authority plans to go to the legislature, which convenes next month and will be in session through April, and ask for specific language authorizing fines and penalties. If they don’t get it, they might as well go home and play golf, and let horsemen and vets run racing in the Bluegrass. PERSONNEL CHANGES Executive vice president Steve Molnar has left Youbet.com.....Nick Salvi is the new racing secretary at Pompano Park....Art Manuel, former general manager of Pocono Downs, has been named to the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, effective immediately. He replaces Ed Rogers, who resigned after 10 years to race his own harness horses, and will be missed on the commission....Glenn Cademartori has left the Meadowlands, where he was director of marketing and development. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor BRUNO CALLS FOR BAILOUT Joe Bruno, majority leader of the New York Senate and a man who usually gets his way, has called for a $30 million bailout of the economically distressed New York Racing Association. Bruno proposes an immediate $7 million advance to the oversight board appointed by Gov. George Pataki to help straighten out New York racing, and another $23 million for subsequent use in revitalizing NYRA. The money would come from the state budget and apply only until NYRA gets slots, hopefully by next fall. Bruno, who in the past has called for quick privatization of NYRA, now says in a letter to Pataki, “It is urgent that the state act immediately to implement a plan which will ensure the continuity of world class thoroughbred racing in the state, secure the livelihood of all individuals involved with the industry, enhance the economic benefits derived from thoroughbred racing and restructure the industry to assure its viability and competitiveness in future years.” It seems clear that “racing” to Bruno, whose district includes Saratoga Racetrack (and Saratoga Gaming and Raceway) means only thoroughbred racing, and he rejected the use of “bailout,” although that is precisely what his proposal is. He said NYRA would need to repay the money. “A STAIN ON THE INDUSTRY” That was the contemptuous appraisal of the Emerald Casino in Chicago of Rosemont yesterday, as the Illinois Gaming Board voted unanimously, 5 to 0, to revoke its license. The action followed a ruling by former Judge Abner Mikva saying Emerald did not deserve the license. A board member, Charles Gardner, said, “The record is clear - is it replete with deceit, misdirection, dissembly, lies and untruths.” It is now eight years since this battle started, and Emerald indicated it would a p peal to the Court of Appeals. Look for another two to five years of hassling. Following yesterday’s revocation, Isle of December 21, 2005 Capri, which had been awarded the license earlier, had this to say: “Nothing in the Gaming Board’s finding involves Isle of Capri. We were invited to participate in a fair and open auction process and, unfortunately, two years later we find ourselves caught in the middle of issues that predated our participation in the auction. Isle of Capri’s financial condition is strong -- just as it was at the time of the Rosemont application. And Isle and its officers have one of the best regulatory records in the gaming industry.” Isle of Capri owns HTA member Pompano Park in Pompano Beach, Florida. PENN NAT’L WANTS VALLEY Penn National Gaming, which was forced to sell its Pocono Downs holding to Mohegan Sun a year ago because Pennsylvania law prohibits an entity owning two tracks for racino purposes, now wants a trackless casino outside of Allentown, where Pocono maintains an OTB site. Penn National can own up to one third of another gambling location, and has a potential partner in the Allentown venture in UCH Venture Capital. TIME RUNNING OUT IN MASS The simulcasting situation in Massachusetts is nearing its year-end deadline, with three track operators held virtual hostage by the fourth, Raynham/Taunton boss George Carney. No decision as of the moment. RIGHT CHURCH, WRONG PEW Yesterday’s newsletter had veteran racing official Steve Molnar leaving his post as executive VP of Youbet.com. Steve worked for Youbet four or five years ago, but the job he has left now is executive VP at United Tote, soon to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Youbet.com. We had the right church but the wrong pew, and hope Steve lands in another high racing job soon. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 22, 2005 MARYLAND STILL IN MUDDLE ISLE IN DEAL WITH PENGUINS Maryland’s war between the states, or at least between the main parties, continues. The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association rejected the latest compromise from Magna Entertainment, which owns Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, leaving the dates situation in Maryland for 2006 still unresolved. Magna had proposed 180 days of live racing, year-round stabling and a request for contributions to help cover operating expenses. The horsemen accepted the 180 days, but not the dates. They want local racing in Maryland during the summer, while Magna prefers to keep its tracks closed then because of prime seasons at competing tracks in surrounding states. The horsemen also agreed to contributions to expenses, but not the plan presented by Magna. Richard Hoffberger, president of the Maryland horsemen’s association, took an optimistic view, saying, “We’re not in agreement, but we’re agreeing to continue to talk and that is a good thing. We did approve the continuation of simulcasting, which could have been a huge problem for tracks, the breeders and the horsemen if not approved. The world isn’t going to blow up on Jan. 2 or 3 because we don’t have a deal. There are difficult decisions to be made by all parties.” The chairman of the racing commission, John Franzone, also sounded optimistic, saying, “Let’s focus on a business plan for Magna. There is no burning fire to get this deal done. Even the racetrack seems to be taking a ‘let’s see what happens’ approach.” That attitude was a pleasant change from earlier commission threats to resolve the issue unilaterally. Isle of Capri, still stymied in its quest to open a casino in Chicago, has switched gears and destinations. The company announced today it has signed a joint development agreement with the Lemieux Group, owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League, to fund a new multi-use area and pursue a Pennsylvania gaming license in Pittsburgh. Isle president and CEO said the proposed arena “will become the best entertainment venue in the region, and keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh. If awarded a gaming license, Isle said it would begin the construction phase in early 2007. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that at least four other groups, including Alco Parking and MTR Gaming, are considering including money for an arena in their slots proposals. POST XMAS SESSION IN IL Harness horsemen in Illinois, still wrapped in controversy with the management of Balmoral and Maywood Parks, have called a meeting of their Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association for Dec. 27 to discuss current negotiations. IT’S XMAS, AND ELLIOTT STAYS Stewart Elliott, the jockey of Smarty Jones who faced deportation for a 2001 aggravated assault charge, has been spared. An immigration judge in Newark, NJ, provided a waiver yesterday allowing Elliott to stay. The judge said Elliott’s celebrity did not affect his decision. Okay, judge, if you say so. After all, Elliott only used a beer bottle, a pool cue and a wooden stool in beating a friend into senselessness. Elliott was ordered to serve a year of probation, pay the victim, Alexander Kovalik, $13,900 in hospital bills and $50,000 to settle a civil lawsuit. Lucky Kovalik was a friend; think of what Elliott may have done if he was an enemy. AWARDS AND REWARDS Dr. David Reid, chairman and CEO of progressive Horse Racing Alberta, is the recipient of Canada’s Cam Fella award for meritorious service to Canadian harness racing. The Harness Horse Youth Foundation has recognized Brittany Farms, which provides off-season homes for its pony racers; Living Color Cabinetry, for providing trunks; Jim Taylor, for trucking the ponies 14,000 miles on their youth driving tour; and Ellen Harvey of Harness Racing Communications, a facilitator for much of HHYF’s needs and efforts. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 23, 2005 GOOD NEWS FOR GURAL GROUP CURRIER & IVES TO CONGRESS Federal bankruptcy judge Steve Gerling ruled yesterday that there was no “ulterior motive” that would invalidate the agreement between Jeff Gural and his financial backers, and a Mid-State Raceway lawyer said the decision effectively ends any chances of Eric Spector’s Oneida Entertainment group taking over Vernon Downs. “With this decision in place,” it says Oneida Entertainment can’t do anything further.” The Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame’s traveling Currier & Ives exhibit will get an exclusive showing the first week of April, in the halls of Congress. With persistent and untiring work by Museum curator Gail Cunard, strong senatorial help from Senators Hilary Clinton and Lincoln Chaffee, and the good offices of Jay Hickey’s American Horse Council, the exhibit of Currier & Ives trotting prints will be shown in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building from April 2 through 7. The dates coincide with the American Horse Council convention in Washington, offering conventioneers an opportunity to see American sporting history in a truly historic setting. Spector disagreed, saying his group thinks there are a variety of ways it can continue pursuing the track, and they would do so when the bankruptcy hearing resumes next Wednesday. Gural’s plan won overwhelming support from creditors and stockholders, and the matter hopefully will be concluded this coming week as a belated Christmas gift for Vernon and its horsemen. FARALDO ACCUSES YONKERS Joe Faraldo, busy trying to derail the Vernon proceedings by asking for $9.5 million in lost purses from a bankrupt company, now has turned his attention to Yonkers Raceway, accusing the track of being “intentionally misleading” in its target of an April 1 reopening date. Yonkers has been dark six months while construction continues on its racino, and Faraldo now says of the April 1 date, “I don’t believe it. And furthermore, I don’t believe the racetrack was candid with us from the beginning of this entire process.” Bob Galterio, Yonkers general manager, told Dave Little of the New York Daily News, “We had lawsuit issues with the city of Yonkers over what they thought was a flawed environmental study. Then we had to close on our $230 million loan with Merrill Lynch, who then had to syn- d i cate the loan. All of that took a month and a half. Does that sound unreasonable to you?” NO MERRY XMAS AT WINDSOR There is no holiday cheer at Windsor Raceway. The union representing hotel and restaurant workers at the track, UNITE HERE, reports that management will lay off dozens of employees indefinitely by Feb. 12, and 10 more, including five bartenders and five program and admissions staff, will be terminated with no chance of recall. Calls by the Windsor Star seeking information on the layoffs were not returned. Employees affected by the layoffs will be bartenders, snack food vendors, wait staff and coat check attendants. USTA TO HONOR THREE The United States Trotting Association board of directors will honor three racing veterans at its upcoming meeting during the Racing Congress at Bellagio in Las Vegas Feb. 6-9. Software executive and former USTA activist director Creighton Britell, longtime successful harness racing owner Vic Zeinfeld, and Prince Edward Island pioneering owner and breeder Paul A. McKinnon will receive USTA honors. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THE RACE BEGINS IN PA More than 20 applicants were scrambling to get their applications in by tomorrow’s deadline for lucrative gaming licenses in Pennsylvania. That doesn’t mean the glacial pace will pick up on deciding who gets the 61,000 slots that will be available at 14 locations around the state. It just means that an army of state employees will begin to paw over the applications, some of which - like Mohegan Sun’s -- run to as many as 400 pages of information. The tracks will each get a racino by law, although who will get the sixth harness license still is an open question. Among the other applicants panting for Pennsylvania are Donald Trump, who wants to build a glitzy casino in North Philadelphia; Harrah’s Entertaiment, which already has Chester Casino and Racetrack well underway and would like a standalone casino in Station Square in Pittsburgh; Boyd Gaming, partnering with Patrick Rooney Jr. and David Sweet, a friend of Gov. Ed Rendell, to get a nontrack casino west of Philadelphia; Ted Arneault, already building a thoroughbred track and racino in Erie and wanting a standalone on Pittsburgh’s North Shore; 100% Purses, still seeking a thoroughbred track near Allentown; Charles Betters and the Biros family, both of which want to cash in on the Pittsburgh area; the Pittsburgh Penguins, partnering with Isle of Capri, with plans for a $290 million arena if they get a casino license to go with it; and parking magnate Merrill Stabile, who wants a license but, unlike Isle of Capri, is not ready to fully fund a new arena for the Penguins. In the Poconos, a developer named Greg Matzel has submitted an application for a slots license to go with a $1.2 billion, 750-room hotel and 100,000-square-foot casino he proposes to replace Pocono Manor, a 104-year-old Pocono resort he bought “to continue a great tradition,” not to mention making a few million bucks. Ah, for springtime in the Poconos. December 27, 2005 The New York Times, meanwhile, reported Sunday that “blue-chip investment houses like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity now hold hundreds of millions of dollars in shares of online casinos and betting parlors, which are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in places like Costa Rica or Gibraltar.” The paper says the growing participation by American investors underscores a striking gap between the federal law-enforcement position on online gambling and the realities behind what has emerged as a booming business. It also noted that the situation “highlights the difficulty of policing cross-border activity in the Internet age at the same time that electronic commerce and a global economy are creating fast economic partners across national boundaries.” TWO INTERESTING IDEAS A state senator in Maryland has prefiled a bill calling for a non-binding vote next November asking voters if they would approve of six designated slot locations in the state, three at racetracks and three elsewhere. The legislator, Sen. Richard Colburn of Dorchester, says he doesn’t think the vote would be close, but that if it were “no” then the issue needs to be dropped. In Kentucky, a state senator, Tom Burch, says if the commonwealth really wants to ensure racing is conducted fairly, the logical solution is pre-race testing of all horses before they compete. “If that is what they actually believe, this is what we should do,” Burch said in filing his bill. CONNORS USHWAN OF YEAR Longtime publicist Jerry Connors, national secretary of the U.S. Harness Writers Assn., has been named the group’s USHWAN of the year. He will receive his honor on the Night of Stars in Vegas. KERRY PACKER DEAD AT 68 Australia’s richest man, media tycoon Kerry Packer, has died at 68. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor THINGS STILL GRIM IN ONTARIO According to The Harness Edge, live racing will be halted after Saturday at both Windsor Raceway and HTA member Western Fair. Both tracks’ contracts with the Ontario Harness Horse Association expire then, with the last day of the old year, and neither track has hammered out a new contract as of press time. According to The Edge, OHHA members from both areas overwhelmingly voted not to enter horses until a new contract is in place, and asked other OHHA members and horse people to support their decision. Western Fair has offered the horsemen 130 racing dates and a 50-50 purse split on the first $3.9 million of all wagering commissions, which Western Fair COO Hugh Mitchell says is the equvalent of 2005 revenues on 112 race dates. The OHHA wants 142 dates, and apparently is willing to shut down racing rather than yield. This willingness on the part of horsemen to take nothing rather than something also is evidenced at Vernon Downs, where under Joe Faraldo’s legal guidance the horsemen are demanding more than $9 million in “lost money” and using the claim to block transfer of the track to Jeff Gural. Faraldo and Gural do not see eye to eye, and Faraldo calls the offer of Eric Spector’s “a better deal.” Spector’s group, Oneida Entertainment, filed a new plan after creditors overwhelmingly rejected their first bid, and Faraldo claims the new Oneida bid came after the horsemen’s claim. The horsemen are contending their suit takes precedence over Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen D. Gerling’s decision on who gets Vernon, and Gerling today delayed ruling on the Central New York Horsemen’s Assn. claim. DON’T BLOW WHISTLE IN KY Fair warning to potential whistleblowers in Kentucky. Don’t. A month ago, on Nov. 28, the Executive Newsletter reported that the December 28, 2005 commonwealth’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Gary Wilson, had fired off a letter complaining that the state was operating without adequate veterinary supervision, supplies and equipment. He called the situation “appalling,” and asked, “Is the administration and Kentucky Horse Racing Authority committed to developing a program that sets industry standards, or are they interested in just getting by?” Dr. Wilson got a partial answer last week, telling him that whatever Kentucky did, it would do it without his services. Mark York, the deputy secretary of the state’s Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, headed by LaJuana Wilcher, who originally recommended Wilson for the job last July, sent the pink slip to Wilson, and then refused to discuss the matter with the press, calling it “a personal matter.” Personal, we presume, between Ms. Wilcher and Dr. Wilson, but regardless Dr. Wilson is out. FOUR DOES NOT GO INTO TWO Four entities -- three of them identified and a fourth shrouded in secrecy -- are vying for two casino licenses in Philadelphia. The four are: The SugarHouse Casino, a partnership of Midwest Gaming and Entertainment of Illinois and a group of local Philly investors. Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners (your guess is as good as ours who they might be). New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz and developer Ron Rubin, and -- according to Phillynews.com -- Harrahs’ as landowner or mortgage holder and some very well placed Philadelphia political figures. Donald Trump and Pat Croce. With the Eagles out of it, this should make an interesting playoff in Philadelphia. HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 29, 2005 A REPRIEVE FOR MASS. TRACKS BANAMINE BAGS 3 BIG NAMES The Massachusetts House and Senate agreed yesterday to extend the state’s current simulcasting bill for another 90 days, averting a shutdown of the state’s four tracks. The bill was sent to Gov. Mitt Romney for signature, and could be signed before the end of the week. State Rep. Vincent Pedone, the Democrat who played a key role in pushing the extension, said, “The foremost thought in people’s minds was how do we keep people at the racetracks working until we come to some sort of an agreement on simulcasting legislation.” House speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a Boston Democrat, said the simulcasting issue must be resolved before the issue of slots for Massachusetts tracks can be debated in the House. The Senate already has approved a slots bill. Three top harness racing trainers -- Bob McIntosh, Erv Miller and Casie Coleman -- have had their horses disqualified and have been fined $250 each for banamine positives during the recent Red Mile Grand Circuit meeting in Lexington, KY. Dr. Richard Mather, who administered the Banamine, has been fined $1,500. Presiding judge Marc Guilfoyle said a lengthy investigation showed the presence of the prohibited drug was “not the result of malicious intent.” NO REPRIEVE AT BAY MEADOWS Across the country, backers of old Bay Meadows in San Mateo, California, lost their fight to save the racing landmark when the San Mateo County Elections Office ruled that there were too few signatures on a referendum petition, thus paving the way for the track’s destruction and redevelopment. The Bay Meadows Land Company, which owns the track, said it was “relieved” by the result of the county’s verification process. The results would seem to end five years of meetings and debates over the future of the track, but diehards still were talking about legal challenges. THERE GOES THE ‘HOOD’ Lasix, the root of much evil in racing in America, has been illegal in Australia. Until now. South Australia has voted to break the country’s drugfree policy by legalizing it. The Sydney Herald Sun said the move “is sure to spark a massive backlash from other Australian racing officials. NO RERUN OF MAPLE LEAF Owner Joseph Chnapko’s appeal to the Ontario Racing Commission to have the $918,500 Maple Leaf Trot raced over again has been denied. Chnapko’s horse, HTA’s older trotting horse of the year, Hellava Hush, was one of three whose drivers pulled up their horses after the starter had first flashed recall lights and then turned them off, creating confusion at the start of the rich race. The commission ruled that it was a driver’s decision to pull up, noting that seven other drivers did not do so, and said, “There is no guarantee that the running of a horse race, from any...perspective, will be free of or unfettered by human error.....Even with appeals and replays, human error on the part of officials cannot be eradicated as a factor sometimes affecting the outcome of such contests.” SHE KNOWS MORE THAN WE Gov. George Pataki still wants Bernadette Castro to be chairwoman of the New York Racing and Wagering Board, and apparently has told her to sit tight and she’ll get the job. Ms. Castro was quoted in ocala.com as saying, “My role is to see that racing and wagering in New York is the most honest in the country, that any wager is an honest wager.” Pataki says he wants her because “she’s a tremendous public servant who would have that open mind as she looks to the future of racing.” HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor December 30, 2005 ANOTHER CHICAGO CLOSURE THE BAILOUT AND HOBLOCK Deja-vu all over again in Chicago. Illinois harness horsemen have declined offers from the Johnstons, owners of Balmoral Park in Crete and Maywood Park in Maywood, and those tracks will go dark after the current horsemen’s contract expires tomorrow night. Balmoral and Maywood will not race Sunday or Tuesday. No future negotiations have been scheduled, and the horsemen’s president, Martin J. Engel, was quoted as saying, “The industry has been hurting for a long period of time. The horsemen are hanging on by a thread. They’d rather not race at all. It’s also a matter of principal.” We find principal is not legal tender at the groceries and gas stations and department stores we patronize, but that’s Mr. Engel’s call, and that of his members. The last horsemen’s strike in Chicago, in 2003, lasted two and one-half months. It’s almost impossible to recoup losses like that, regardless of settlements. It depends on who you talk to in New York as to where the bailout of NYRA stands. Senate majority leader Joe Bruno says it is a done deal. NYRA senior VP Bill Nader says “the dialogue is continuing” between NYRA and the governor’s office and Bruno’s office, but said “We don’t have a final deal yet. We’re cautiously optimistic that a deal will get done. We’re not there yet.” Reports indicate that NYRA will receive a $1 million down payment on a piece of unspecified property at Aqueduct, which could run as high as $5 million. There also would be a $5 million loan from the Empire State Development Fund, contingent on NYRA assuring the state it would race at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga without interruption next year. Another $24 million would be voted by the legislature. Apparently the state would like to dole out the money as needed, while NYRA would like it in a lump sum. The same nothing-is-better-than-something sentiment is being expressed at Western Fair in Ontario and at Vernon Downs. The Western Fair situation is likely to be resolved with reasonable negotiation, but the Vernon situation is turning ridiculous. The horsemen’s demands for getting blood from a stone yesterday delayed the bankruptcy proceedings again, this time until January 6, as judge Stephen Gerling did not rule on either the horsemen’s motion for $9 million in damages or the winner of the contentious battle for the track and its racino. The court heard yesterday from Thomas Winn, chairman and CEO of Nevada Gold, who said his company is seeking $80 million in financing to help bring Vernon out of bankruptcy. “There is no shortage of capital out there looking for a home,” Winn told Gerling. “We just need to convince them that this is a good home.” Vernon horsemen are not making his job easy. Regardless of how the financing takes place, former Racing and Wagering Board chairman Mike Hoblock has been treated roughly by Albany in this poorly handled mess, caught between Pataki’s and Bruno’s wishes for a new board member. For Mike Hoblock to be blamed for NYRA’s problems is unfair to a good man. Hoblock has run the Racing and Wagering Board honorably and diligently during his years at the helm, and he says the people trying to get him out have been giving the governor incorrect information. He calls the situation “the most confusing, disappointing experience I’ve had in my 35-plus years in public service,” and he says he won’t quit. DESPITE ALL THIS..... the sun is shining brightly in Tucson, and from all of us at HTA to all of you, wherever you may be, Happy New Year. We will see you next week, and next year.