Executive Newsletter - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

Transcription

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
SOME HELP AND MUCH TRAVAIL
Help arrived in time for the new year for the New
York Racing Association, which got its $30 million
loan to keep the ship afloat, but things are not as
rosy elsewhere.
In Chicago, no new negotiations were reported in
the impasse between Balmoral and Maywood
Parks and the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association over recapture provisions, the amount of
money track operators can withhold by law from
purses. Horsemen are boycotting the entry box,
and Balmoral cancelled its Sunday card and
Maywood will not race Tuesday night.
In Windsor, Ontario, Windsor Raceway announced
it would be unable to conduct live racing on
Wednesday or Thursday because there were not
enough horses entered to conduct a competitive
card. Windsor says it offered a 50-50 split on wagering from all sources, including intertrack betting, but said it found itself “in the middle of a territorial dispute between local horsepeople.” The
track said its agreement with the Ontario Racehorse Association was non-restrictive, and that
“horsepeople from any and all associations, including the Ontario Harness Horse Association,” were
welcome.
At Monticello Raceway, horsemen, claiming they
are owed $3 or $4 million, on Friday voted not to
approve simulcasting from the track. The track
reportedly responded by cutting purses 50%.
Horsemen claim Monticello withholds mandatory
contractual payments due the horsemen’s association for hospitalization and medical insurance. A
horsemen’s release said, “The horsemen of
Monticello have no intent of allowing management
to hold their own money hostage.” The track issued a release saying in effect everything
is wonderful for all, and its officers said
they were “shocked and surprised” at the
simulcasting ban.
January 3, 2006
At HTA member Western Fair, talks resumed between the track and the Ontario Harness Horse
Association, and the London Free Press reported
a settlement was near. John Walzak, chief operating officer of the horsemen’s association, was
quoted as saying, “I think we’re close to a deal.
We are optimistic we will get it done this week.”
The impasse there is an issue of number of racing
dates, Western Fair offering 18 more than last year,
the OHHA demanding 30 more. If extra dates are
added, Western Fair wants to maintain its present
50-50 split of all wagering commissions but only
on the first $3.9 million, then shift to a 75-25 split
in favor of the track for the 18 additional dates it
is offering.
INCENTIVE OFFER FROM BIG M
The Meadowlands National Harness Handicapping Championship, which drew more than 140
entrants from 17 wagering establishments last year
competing for a guaranteed $50,000 first prize, is
underway again. To participate, track partners
send two players to the final, paying the $600 entry fee and a $400 live bankroll, or $2,000 for their
two players plus travel expenses for each. If a
track wishes to send more players than two, after
holding its own qualifying tournament any time
between now and March 22, the Meadowlands is
offering a 15% discount for a third player and a
25% reduction for a fourth. HTA members are
urged to participate, with or without additional players beyond two, in this unique promotional opportunity.
LATER CLASSIC FINAL IN ‘06
The Classic Series for older horses will race a later
schedule this fall, with preliminaries in late October and the $250,000 finals at Dover Downs in late
November. Nominations will close April 15. Director Nick Salvi also advises owners of open class
trotters and pacers that nominations for Pompano
Park’s rich Isle of Capri and Mack Lobell
series will close January 9.
January 4, 2006
BIG CROWD IN PENNSYLVANIA
ON THE BOYCOTT FRONT
Twenty-four companies and individuals have applied for casino licenses in Pennsylvania. Here
they are, both racing, metropolitan and standalone
applicants:
Western Fair Raceway and the Ontario Harness
Horse Association met again yesterday in their
contract negotiations, with no accord reached, but
were scheduled to meet again today on the number of racing dates at the HTA track. If the dispute is settled, racing could resume early next
week.
RACETRACKS:
Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
Penn National at Grantville
Philadelphia Park, Bensalem
Presque Isle Downs, Erie
The Meadows, Meadow Lands
PHILADELPHIA:
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation
Midwest Gaming & Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment
Planet Hollywood
Trump Entertainment and Pat Croce
PITTSBURGH:
Don H. Barden
Forest City Ent. and Harrah’s Entertainment
Isle of Capri and Pittsburgh Penguins
Merrill Stabile
STANDALONES, NON-METROPOLITAN
Aztar Corporation, Allentown
Boyd Gaming, Limerick Township
David LeVan and Morgan Stanley & Co.
Greg Matzel, Pocono Manor Inn & Golf
Jerome Finefrock and James Nettleton
Las Vegas Sands
Louis A. DeNaples
EXISTING RESORTS:
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (Joe Hardy)
Seven Springs Mountain Resort
Today’s trivia question: How long do you
think it will take to sort these out?
The president of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s
Association, Martin Engel, responding in a letter
to an item here and in Track Topics that “principle” is not accepted as legal tender, says there
are no members in their organization that wish to
be boycotting the entry box, acknowledging the
hardship in doing so, but saying, “we must hold
out for an acceptable purse level and not have to
mortgage our future with debt.” Mr. Engel concluded that he understands that “when situations
like this occur, there are no real winners -- everyone is hurt....but that in order for harness racing
to continue in the State of Illinois, we must adhere
to the position that we are taking.” The boycott
continues at Balmoral and Maywood.
Windsor Raceway remains closed for live racing.
The track announced last week that it had signed
an agreement with a new organization called the
Ontario Racehorse Association, but an Ontario
Harness Horse Association official says he is unaware of any owners having signed with the new
group, and trainer Bob McIntosh said local horsemen remain united and would not enter at Windsor
as long an agreement exists with the newly formed
group.
A Nichols, NY, horseman, trainer-driver Joseph
Osmeloski, has announced that a new horsemen’s
organization, Southern Tier Harness Horsemen’s
Assn., is being formed to provide representation
for all horsemen who plan to race at Tioga
Downs.
January 5, 2006
ADD WEIRD RACING ACTIONS
FLORIDA SLOTS BY LATE JULY?
In today’s weird world of how racing penalties are
announced, extended, rescinded, or investigated
after the fact, add this one: Ken Rucker, suspended 180 days and fined $3,000 for six positives
on six different horses for indomethacin, otherwise
known as the painkiller Indocin, has had his penalty suspended indefinitely by the Illinois Racing
Board. Board projects manager Mickey Ezzo told
harnessracing.com yesterday that the extension
was “because Rucker had so many positives for
the same drug we are looking at contamination.
We are testing for contamination of feed and things
like that, and testing just hasn’t been done yet.
That’s why we’ve extended the stay.” We have
no idea how or why the six horses tested positive,
but it seems reasonable to expect that contamination would be checked before the barn door was
closed, literally. At the moment the extension
makes little difference, because Balmoral and
Maywood Park remain closed, horsemen having
boycotted the entry box.
The other Bush, the one who is governor of
Florida, signed the enabling legislation for slot
machines in Broward county yesterday, reluctantly. He said he did it only because he felt he
had “a constitutional duty” despite personal obligation, since the voters of his state approved
it more than a year ago. The Miami Herald says
the four pari-mutuel operations in Broward
county -- HTA member Pompano Park,
Gulfstream Park, which reopened yesterday as
a rebuilt facility; Hollywood Greyhound Track;
and Dania Jai-Alai -- could be operating slots
as early as late July. Isle of Capri, which owns
Pompano Park, plans to spend some $160 million to build a 150,000-square-foot state-of-theart racino.
In other unusual doings, a lawsuit initiated by the
Monticello Harness Horsemen’s Association calls
for immediate suspension of performance testing
for milkshaking, on grounds that it is being conducted improperly. Monticello management, which
is involved in a deep dispute with its horsemen -who pulled the plug on out-of-state simulcasting
last Friday -- called the suit “a serious blow to the
credibility and standards of the sport,” and characterized it as “appalling and shameful action that
could seriously undermine the credibility of racing
at Monticello Raceway.”
Joe Faraldo, who is representing the horsemen,
was quoted as saying, “There are drivers escaping who should be caught and people who are being told they are violating the levels and
they’re not. We don’t mind them doing
testing, but they’re not doing it properly.”
9 OF 10 IN KY WANT SLOT VOTE
A survey conducted for KEEP, the Kentucky
Equine Education Project, shows that 92% of 801
Kentucky voters surveyed think they should
have the opportunity to vote on the issue of slots
as a constitutional amendment. Those in favor
of a vote included opponents as well as proponents of slots, and only 46.2% of respondents
said they would vote yes to slots if slots were
limited to tracks without specific earmarking of
revenues. When the question was broadened to
slots limited to tracks and a guaranteed portion
of revenue going to education, health care, environment and local government, 65.2% said
they would vote yes and only 32.9% said no.
Also in Kentucky, Churchill Downs has initiated
a formal succession-planning procedure in anticipation of the retirement of Tom Meeker,
Churchill’s president and CEO for 22 years.
Meeker’s contract expires in March, 2007, and
he has announced he will step down then, or
sooner if a satisfactory successor is found,
either from internal or external sources.
January 6, 2006
WILLMOT WINS MESSENGER
CHICAGO STRIKE IS OVER
David S. Willmot, chairman and chief executive
officer of Woodbine Entertainment Group, is the
winner of HTA’s Stan Bergstein Messenger Award
for 2006. Brilliantly articulate and far-seeing,
Willmot has built Woodbine Entertainment into a
world leader in racing and gaming, and is expanding its horizons with a $310 million multi-purpose
entertainment, shopping and sports complex, to be
called Woodbine Live!, on 25 acres of Woodbine’s
spacious track property near the Toronto International Airport. Owner of major harness horses and
thoroughbreds, Willmot and his father, the late D.
G. (Bud) Willmot, campaigned five Queen’s Plate
winners, and Willmot and his partner Bob Anderson have in five short years as harness horse owners have raced two HTA Nova champions, the
Hambletonian Oaks winner Southwind Allaire,
which earned $733,534, and the pacing filly Cabrini
Hanover, winner of a Nova at both 2 and 3, with
$1,294,790 in purse winnings. Willmot will accept
the Messenger, and he and Anderson will receive
Cabrini Hanover’s Nova, at the Night of Stars
awards dinner at Bellagio in Las Vegas Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Harness racing will return to Chicago tomorrow at
Balmoral Park after a weeklong interruption by a
horsemen’s boycott of the entry box. The Illinois
Harness Horsemen’s Association and the Johnston
family that controls both tracks agreed on a oneyear contract that permits ‘recapture’ of 30%, and
deferral of 70%, of the monies the tracks can recoup against benchmarks set by Illinois law. During the last three years, the tracks waived or deferred 80% of recapture monies. Tomorrow’s return of racing features a Balmoral doubleheader,
a matinee card with a 1 p.m. post time, and an
evening card starting at 7:20.
MANZI HTA DRIVER OF YEAR
The bankruptcy hearing of Mid-State Raceway
resumed in Utica, NY, today, with horsemen led
by Joe Faraldo still seeking $9 million in lost monies during the track’s year and a half of idleness.
No decision at press time.
Catello (Cat) Manzi, who enjoyed the greatest season of his long driving career in 2005, topped off the
year by winning the most difficult award in the sport,
HTA’s Driver of the Year. To win, a driver must finish
in the top 25 in North America in all three major categories -- money won, races won, and percentage
standings -- and Manzi was one of only three drivers,
of 4,922 who competed in pari-mutuel purse races last
year, to accomplish that, scoring 81 points. He was
first in races won with 727, fourth in money won by his
mounts, $8,653,808, and 17th in percentages with a
.336 in-the-money performance. Four-time HTA
Driver of Year Dave Palone finished second,
and three-time champion Tony Morgan was
third.
W. FAIR NEARS SETTLEMENT
Racing at HTA member Western Fair Raceway
could resume as early as Monday, if the Ontario
Harness Horse Association membership ratifies
an agreement it is receiving at a meeting at 3:30
this afternoon. The issue of number of racing dates
has stopped racing at the track since New Year’s
Day.
VERNON HEARING RESUMES
ABBATIELLO ON COMMISSION
This corner has long complained that governors
could not find, or did lspend much time looking for,
racing commissioners who really know racing. New
Jersey acting governor Richard Codey has shown
what can be done, appointing veteran Hall of Fame
trainer-driver Tony Abbatiello to the New Jersey
Racing Commission. Our congratulations to Tony
and Gov. Codey, who is unique himself in being
a governor knowledgeable of racing of both
breeds.
January 9, 2006
ANOTHER WEEK’S DELAY
BETFAIR BOARD CHANGES
They argued all Friday again in Utica, NY, about
who gets Vernon Downs, and once again no decision was forthcoming. Lawyers for Eric Spector’s
Oneida Entertainment group are trying to regroup
creditors, who voted solidly for Jeff Gural’s plan,
to win the support of at least one group and stay
alive. Gural’s lawyers say that is specifically forbidden. Mid-State Raceway, parent of Vernon
Downs, wants an early vote, telling the court it has
a viable plan in front of it, and that every class of
creditor supported it, but the bankruptcy judge
Stephen Gerling extended the hearing to Friday
of this week.
It’s too early to tell the significance of the changes,
but the board of the English betting exchange
Betfair also has undergone some major changes.
Executive chairman Sir Robert Horton and nonexecutive directors Nick Irens and Justin Dowley
resigned, immediately, and former chief technology officer and chief operating officer David Yu
now is CEO of Betfair. Tim Bunting becomes chairman of the six-year-old exchange, which recorded
an operating profit of $35.1 million on revenues of
$191.5 million in its last fiscal year.
In one new development, a group of Vernon horsemen have broken away from the Harness Horse
Association of Central New York, upset at the delaying tactics in a suit filed by Joe Faraldo asking
for $9.6 million in lost monies for horsemen because Vernon went into bankruptcy. One member
of the new group, Ken Jacobs, told the Syracuse
Post-Standard, “We have someone who is willing
to put up $50 million, and the association
(HHACNY) is creating all kinds of roadblocks and
frivolous lawsuits.” Judy Lanpher, another member of the new group, the Vernon Downs
Horsemen’s Association, called the legal action
“the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Rick
Papa, president of the Harness Horsemen’s Association, said, “The law is on our side and we have
done nothing wrong.” Maybe nothing wrong, but
nothing very smart, either.
OHHA SUES FOR $10 MILLION
The Ontario Harness Horse Association has filed
a $10 million lawsuit against a new racing group
that has entered into an agreement with Windsor
Raceway. The suit alleges that the new group,
Ontario Racehorse Association, “induced
breach of contract” between Windsor and
the OHHA.
ANOTHER HUGE MAGNA MALL?
The county council that serves Laurel Park in
Maryland has been asked to change the zoning
to allow hotels, restaurants, taverns and retail
stores to be built at the track. County executive
Janet S. Owens said a bill she has introduced
“creates opportunities for entertainment.” It is
not a new proposal -- Magna Entertainment presented it to the county two years ago for a series
of upscale shops, boutiques, restaurants and hotels, and the president of the Russet Community
Association, in the neighborhood where Laurel
is located, said he has been told a 1 million squarefoot commercial development is being planned.
A 1.2 million square-foot shopping plaza, Arundel
Mills, is located just a few miles away. The new
zoning proposal does not address slots. The
county council will hold a public hearing on the
proposal Jan. 17.
MAINE GOV VETOES RACINO
Gov. John Baldacci of Maine vetoed a bill Friday
that would have allowed Maine voters to decide
whether to allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe to build
a harness track with 1,500 slot machines in Washington county. The legislature, which passed the
legislation last year, could override the veto and
force a referendum, or voters could authorize one.
January 10, 2006
POP. 31,473; SLOTS $60 MIL
GET THE KIDS IN THE ACT
Whatever else you think about Shawn Scott, don’t
ever sell him short on smarts. When he spotted
little Bangor in the Maine woods and recognized
it as a potential gold mine, some scoffed. He
gained the support of the horsemen who raced
there, got the state of Maine to legalize slots
there, and then sold the track to Penn National
Gaming for $40 million or so. The population of
Bangor in the last census was 31,473. The first
475 slot machines went into operation there on
Nov. 4, 2005. Between that date and Dec. 31,
more than $60 million dollars went through those
machines in Bangor. Hollywood Slots, which is
what Penn National calls their operation, had income of more than $4.1 million in that period, of
which $2 million went to the state of Maine. The
law that Scott helped get passed calls for a 1%
tax on total wagers and a 39% tax on net income.
Now the Maine Gambling Control Board is growing concerned about how to help people who may
develop gambling addiction problems, a concern
because there are only two chapters of Gamblers
Anonymous in Maine, and both are in Portland.
Both state agencies and Hollywood Slots are referring problem gamblers to a nationwide toll-free
hotline at the National Council on Problem Gambling.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has
released the official list of applicants for the
state’s 14 coveted slot machine licenses, and it
looks like a phone book of VIPs in the state. It
turns out that there were 25, not 24 as previously reported, applicants, and the Philadelphia
Inquirer reports that “two former governors,
two current SEPTA board members, and several
unidentified minor children were among the
names of applicants for slots parlor licenses.”
The list includes a few billionaires -- Donald J.
Trump and Neil Bluhm among them -- and former
New Jersey governor Jim Florio and former
Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci. The list
also has entries like “Minor child 1” and “Minor
Child 2.” Might as well get them taken care of
early. We can just see it now: some young millionaire 21 years from now, telling a friend, “Dad sure
knew what he was doing when he signed me up for a
casino license.” The big names include Gary
Loveman, CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment; Robert M. Haddock, CEO of Aztar Corporation; Peter
M. Carlino, CEO of Penn National Gaming; Sheldon
Adelson, CEO of the Venetian in Las Vegas; and
William S. Boyd, CEO of Boyd Gaming. An analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group said, “You
pretty much have every prominent operator represented with the exception of Steve Wynn and
MGM.”
ITALIAN OWNERS FOR GTECH
Reuters news reports that Italy’s De Agostini,
which controls the Italian lottery operator
Lottomatica, is buying GTech Holdings Corp. for
more than $4 billion. Reuters quoted a financial
source as saying, “De Agostini will on its own take
control of GTech with a very complex operation
unprecedented in Italy.” Lottomatica shares were
suspended on the Milan bourse yesterday, pending a statement to be issued today. GTech ist h e
world’s largest systems operator, with a
market value estimated at around $4.2
billion.
NO SMOKING BAN IN NJ
The New Jersey legislature yesterday banned
smoking in indoor public places -- bars, restaurants, and apparently racetracks -- but exempted
Atlantic City’s casinos. That exemption raised a
hue and cry in the legislature, but acting governor
Richard J. Codey, in one of his final acts, was able
to carry the day for the bill, which he supported
strongly. Similar bans have affected business
materially in some of the 11 states that have
bans as broad-based.
HAPPINESS AT WESTERN FAIR
HTA’s new strong member at Western Fair Raceway is back in operation, with smiles all over London, Ontario. Columnist Jim Kernaghan, writing
for Slam Sports, commented, “Not only are the
standardbred horsemen back, but they came with
kind words for management.” Kernaghan quoted
Western Fair Wall of Fame veteran Stan Williams
as saying, “They did a good job, both sides, and
they deserve a lot of credit.” The impasse lasted
a week, and Kernaghan reminded readers that the
National Hockey League was dark for a year. Both
Kernaghan and the London Free Press reported
euphoria at the feeling of security and enthusiasm
that the new contract is long term, covering racing
through 2009 with an optional year beyond that.
Al Cullen, a horsemen whose home track at
Windsor has been tied in knots by a nasty contractual dispute, was quoted as saying, “One thing
about London, they’re all working for the betterment of racing here.”
UNHAPPINESS AT VERNON
Far more than unhappiness. Bitterness and downright ugliness. In an another attempt to circumvent Jeff Gural’s bid for Vernon Downs, the rival
Eric Spector-led Oneida Entertainment group says
it “more or less has a deal” with the Harness Horse
Association of Central New York to allow its members to race at Vernon this year, if there is a this
year. Jeff Gural earlier stated he would sign on
with a different horsemen’s group and would no
longer negotiate with the Central association. Now,
in response to an item that appeared in
[email protected], Gural angrily wrote
that if Joe Faraldo claimed Gural was trying to
take $384,000 of horsemen’s money he was “a
stone cold liar.” Gural said that at no time had he
ever stated he was not willing, per his agreement, to put that money back into the
horsemen’s purse account. Gural said that
at the horsemen’s request, he had kept
January 11, 2006
Vernon Downs open as a training center. He said
he had done that while the court fight had continued, “at a cost to me personally of over
$2,500,000,” and that he had simply asked permission from the horsemen “to allow to put this
money up when racing was going to resume rather
than put it into an escrow account a year in advance.” Gural said that request was turned down
by the horsemen but approved by the judge at the
request of the debtor.
Concerning his action on keeping the track open
for training, Gural wrote, “One would think that
someone who has picked up the costs last year
for over 750 horses at its peak to train at Vernon
at no charge would not be called a liar and a robber baron.” He said he was curious as to the
number of trainers who trained horses last year
at a training center for free. In his letter, Gural
called Faraldo “the single most destructive force
in harness racing today,” and wrote that “the sad
part is that the real victims of Faraldo’s arrogance and bluster are the horsemen at the tracks
he represents who have to suffer and forfeit valuable earning opportunities because of Mr.
Faraldo’s less than competent representation.”
Gural’s letter followed one in which Faraldo, writing to Vernon’s horsemen, said that Gural’s word
was no good and called his effort to create a new
horsemen’s association “typical of the robber
barons of old.” He accused Gural of using the
horsemen to delay the reopening of Vernon
Downs, saying, “Bottom line they all want machines and truthfully the hell with us.” Faraldo
said Gural wanted “to turn Vernon into a stakes
palace for rich guys at the expense of the overnight horsemen” and that he had launched personal attacks against Faraldo and horsemen’s
president Rich Papa. Gural said he agreed to
work with the current horsemen’s association “as
long as its officials and board were democratically elected.”
January 12, 2006
SLOTS HOPES FADE IN INDIANA
ENLIGHTENMENT IN NJ
There always are hopes and surprises where politics are concerned, but the lights seem to be dimming on the prospect of slots for Indiana. Win
Moses of Fort Wayne, a Democratic state representative who has been a supporter of video gaming machines in the Hoosier state, did not file a
bill on the issue by Tuesday’s deadline this week,
and says he doesn’t think anyone else did, either.
Indiana has a relatively short legislative session
this time around -- it extends only until March 14 - and Moses says the slots issue is so complex
that there isn’t enough time to debate and pass it
this year. He says it is unlikely that any slots bill
will pass the General Assembly this year. Estimates on illegal machines operating in Indiana vary
widely, between 10,000 and 20,000.
Harness racing doesn’t get representation on
many racing commissions across the country, but
it is appropriate that it should have some in New
Jersey, home of the sport’s flagship track in the
U.S., the Meadowlands. Acting governor Richard
Codey, winding down his term this month, has appointed the second harness horseman in two weeks
to the New Jersey Racing Commission, both experienced veterans. Hall of Famer Anthony (Tony)
Abbatiello was confirmed last month, and the state
Senate late Monday confirmed Codey’s choice of
Monmouth county attorney James G. Aaron, a
harness horse owner for the last 23 years. New
Jersey law was changed three years ago to provide that four of the nine seats on the racing commission be allocated to horsepeople, two from harness racing and two from thoroughbred racing, and
harness racing now has its spots. Aaron, the latest commissioner, is a well-known municipal attorney and prosecutor in central New Jersey, and was
co-owner of the $170,000 winning pacer San
Gimignano, among other horses.
MARYLAND OKS 10-CENT BETS
The Maryland Racing Commission has unanimously approved 10-cent minimum bets, including
a 10-cent superfecta, and hopes to have them operational by Kentucky Derby Day in May. Magna Entertainment also has asked the racing commission to let it develop and offer a Quad-Trifecta,
in which bettors would have to pick the first three
finishers in four separate races, either all at one
track or on selected races at different Magna
tracks.
BALDACCI MAINE VETO HOLDS
The Maine House of Representatives has sustained
governor John Baldacci’s veto of a bill calling for a
statewide referendum on an Indian harness track and
racino, falling far short of the necessary two-thirds
needed for an override. The vote was 77-63, but the
issue is not dead. A petition drive is underway for a
referendum in November. The time is short, however,
for organizers have only until Jan. 30 to submit at least
50,519 names of voters. A backer says he is
confident of 65,000 to 70,000 signatures on
the petition.
GROWING OLD WITH MAYWOOD
If one needs a reminder of his mortality, a good
way to get it is to hear that a racetrack is starting
its 60th season and realize you were there on opening night. Maywood Park begins its 60th season
tonight, and the editor was there, working in the
press box, when the track held its inaugural meeting June 4, 1946. No smart remarks, please.
SYMPATHY TO TOM ALDRICH
Tom Aldrich, former president and chairman of
HTA, lost his mother this week after a brief battle
with cancer. Mary Aldrich was 78, and funeral
services were conducted yesterday. The entire
HTA family extends its sympathies to Tom, who
began his harness racing career as an HTA executive assistant shortly after college.
January 12, 2006
SLOTS HOPES FADE IN INDIANA
ENLIGHTENMENT IN NJ
There always are hopes and surprises where politics are concerned, but the lights seem to be dimming on the prospect of slots for Indiana. Win
Moses of Fort Wayne, a Democratic state representative who has been a supporter of video gaming machines in the Hoosier state, did not file a
bill on the issue by Tuesday’s deadline this week,
and says he doesn’t think anyone else did, either.
Indiana has a relatively short legislative session
this time around -- it extends only until March 14 - and Moses says the slots issue is so complex
that there isn’t enough time to debate and pass it
this year. He says it is unlikely that any slots bill
will pass the General Assembly this year. Estimates on illegal machines operating in Indiana vary
widely, between 10,000 and 20,000.
Harness racing doesn’t get representation on
many racing commissions across the country, but
it is appropriate that it should have some in New
Jersey, home of the sport’s flagship track in the
U.S., the Meadowlands. Acting governor Richard
Codey, winding down his term this month, has appointed the second harness horseman in two weeks
to the New Jersey Racing Commission, both experienced veterans. Hall of Famer Anthony (Tony)
Abbatiello was confirmed last month, and the state
Senate late Monday confirmed Codey’s choice of
Monmouth county attorney James G. Aaron, a
harness horse owner for the last 23 years. New
Jersey law was changed three years ago to provide that four of the nine seats on the racing commission be allocated to horsepeople, two from harness racing and two from thoroughbred racing, and
harness racing now has its spots. Aaron, the latest commissioner, is a well-known municipal attorney and prosecutor in central New Jersey, and was
co-owner of the $170,000 winning pacer San
Gimignano, among other horses.
MARYLAND OKS 10-CENT BETS
The Maryland Racing Commission has unanimously approved 10-cent minimum bets, including
a 10-cent superfecta, and hopes to have them operational by Kentucky Derby Day in May. Magna Entertainment also has asked the racing commission to let it develop and offer a Quad-Trifecta,
in which bettors would have to pick the first three
finishers in four separate races, either all at one
track or on selected races at different Magna
tracks.
BALDACCI MAINE VETO HOLDS
The Maine House of Representatives has sustained
governor John Baldacci’s veto of a bill calling for a
statewide referendum on an Indian harness track and
racino, falling far short of the necessary two-thirds
needed for an override. The vote was 77-63, but the
issue is not dead. A petition drive is underway for a
referendum in November. The time is short, however,
for organizers have only until Jan. 30 to submit at least
50,519 names of voters. A backer says he is
confident of 65,000 to 70,000 signatures on
the petition.
GROWING OLD WITH MAYWOOD
If one needs a reminder of his mortality, a good
way to get it is to hear that a racetrack is starting
its 60th season and realize you were there on opening night. Maywood Park begins its 60th season
tonight, and the editor was there, working in the
press box, when the track held its inaugural meeting June 4, 1946. No smart remarks, please.
SYMPATHY TO TOM ALDRICH
Tom Aldrich, former president and chairman of
HTA, lost his mother this week after a brief battle
with cancer. Mary Aldrich was 78, and funeral
services were conducted yesterday. The entire
HTA family extends its sympathies to Tom, who
began his harness racing career as an HTA executive assistant shortly after college.
January 13, 2006
HTA ANNOUNCES ITS AWARDS
GOOD NEWS IN DELAWARE
The Standardbred Retirement Foundation, the
New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, and
the late, great harness racing journalist Evan
Shipman are the 2006 recipients of Harness
Tracks of America’s Distinguished Service awards
and Dan Patch award.
The horsemen may love to fight with people trying to help them at Vernon Downs and elsewhere, but Delaware continues to show the way
as to what cooperation instead of petty bickering can produce. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware has announced legislation that would allow
Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway harness
tracks, and Delaware Park thoroughbreds, to
boost the number of slots at each track from
2,500 to 4,000, and to operate them 24 hours a
day. The proposal comes in the face of up to
61,000 slots at future racinos and casinos in
neighboring Pennsylvania in 2007, and the likelihood of slots at New York city area tracks by
late this year. The bill would allow round-theclock operation except on Sunday mornings,
Christmas and Easter, and also would allow free
promotional play. It is expected to be introduced
this month.
The SRF and New Vocations programs, both of
which save at-risk horses from destruction, have
rehabilitated hundreds of standardbreds, SRF for
the last 17 years and New Vocations for 15. Paula
Campbell and Judy Bokman, wives of driver John
Campbell and Dr. Stephen Bokman, were instrumental in the early success of the SRF, and the
New Vocations program was and is the result of
the work of Ohio horsewoman Dot Morgan, aunt
of driver Tony Morgan. Mrs. Morgan will receive her award personally at the Night of Stars
dinner Wednesday night, Feb. 8, at Bellagio in
Las Vegas, and the SRF award will be accepted
by Hall of Fame trainer Chuck Sylvester and his
wife Sharon, both directors of the foundation.
Evan Shipman was for many years both a harness racing and thoroughbred columnist for the
old Morning Telegraph and Daily Racing Form.
He also was an accomplished published poet, author, literary figure and close friend and confidante of Ernest Hemingway. Shipman was second only to the immortal John Hervey as a dual
breed authority, widely respected for his knowledge of both sports. His harness racing novel,
Free for All, was lauded by Sherwood Anderson
and others as a major sporting work. Hemingway
dedicated his 1927 novel Men Without Women to
Shipman, and the two wrote together, drank together and fought together in the Spanish Civil
War. Shipman was official handicapper for
Roosevelt Raceway in its early days, and
his column “In the Sulky” was a regular
feature in the Morning Telegraph. He
died in 1957.
INDIANA HORSEMEN AT WORK
The Indiana Horse Racing and Breeding Coalition is seeking support from members and others
in the Hoosier state for HB 1077, which would authorize slots at Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs,
the state’s two tracks. The IHRBC is asking for
calls and letters to legislators urging them to make
sure the bill, and another seeking slots, get a full
and fair hearing.
DOWN BUT NOT OUT IN MAINE
The governor of Maine may have vetoed the
legislation for a new harness track and racino
for the state, and the House was unable to override it, but backers of the idea now have won
assent from the House to take up a new bill.
Voting 98-44, the House approved a joint order
directing the legislature’s Legal and Veterans
Affairs Committee to report out a bill authorizing a referendum on a tribal track with
slot machines.
January 16, 2006
WINDSOR, OHHA END BATTLE
FINAL AGENDA THIS WEEK
Windsor Raceway and the Ontario Harness Horse
Association have kissed and made up, and racing
will resume at the Detroit-area track on Wednesday. Windsor has agreed to apply for 139 days of
racing this year, and split pari-mutuel revenue 5050 for the entire term of the 3-year-agreement,
with an optional year as well. For its part, OHHA
agreed to dismiss its actions against Windsor
Raceway that included claims for lost racing dates.
Both the track and OHHA issued statements of
delight at the end of the conflict and resumption of
racing.
A finalized agenda for the fourth Racing Congress will be distributed to all directors and
speakers this week. Speakers will be contacted
concerning format of the meetings, and committee agendas will be distributed shortly after. In
answer to a few questions, there is only one
meeting scheduled for Monday Feb. 6, an HTA
finance and executive committee meeting in the
Bellagio boardroom at 4:30 p.m. Committee
meetings occupy all day Tuesday, the welcoming reception is Tuesday evening, and general
sessions with speakers will be held Wednesday
and Thursday. MGM-Mirage chairman and
CEO Terry Lanni is scheduled to speak Wednesday afternoon at 3. There will be luncheons for
all attendees on Wednesday and Thursday, and
the Night of Stars reception and awards dinner
Wednesday night. More committee and board
meetings will be held Thursday, but the only
event scheduled for Friday the 10th is a USTA
board meeting from 8 to 10 a.m. that concludes
the Congress. There will be coffee service, but
not morning breakfasts.
ANOTHER SLOTS PUSH IN OHIO
Track owners and developers are banding together
in Ohio, seeking a November referendum on slots.
According to a story on the Cleveland Plain
Dealer’s Cleveland.com, track operators have
talked with representatives of Forest City Enterprises, the real estate giant, and developer Jeff
Jacobs and his Nautica Entertainment Complex,
about a campaign to bring a casino to downtown
Cleveland. The Web site said slots supporters
would probably have to spend more than $10 million on the campaign, given the broad opposition
to the plan in the legislature and by Ohio leaders.
It said track operators believe polls that show
Ohioans are increasingly receptive to Vegas-style
gambling now that the state is about to be surrounded by slots states when Pennsylvania comes
online. The story said track interests favor funneling the state’s share of slots profits to scholarships for high-achieving Ohio high school students.
It also said that Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson
is aware of the proposal and plans to meet with
developers and track operators. An interesting
sidelight was the role of Penn National Gaming,
which has an Indiana riverboat 20 minutes
from downtown Cincinnati and could oppose Ohio slots, but also has a track in
Toledo that could get them.
BLAGOJEVICH AND KENO IN IL
Gov. Blagojevich of Illinois has been talking about
funding part of his $3 billion borrowing plan by allowing keno games in bars and restaurants around
the state. The idea has drawn some cynicism and
sarcasm from columnists for major newspapers,
including Mark Brown of the Chicago Sun-Times.
In a graf titled, “Keno-nomics 101,” Brown quoted
a source as saying, “So we’re going to keep busting taverns that have video poker and small-time
bookies who take bets on Super Bowl Sunday, but
we’re going to promote keno as a fresh and fun
pastime?” Blagojevich wants to fund $500 million
in school construction with keno, saying he equates
it to church bingo. Brown wrote, “If that’s what
the governor really thinks, then somebody
might want to see what’s in the communion
chalice at his church.”
January 17, 2006
STEPHANIE BLACK TOP GROOM
TOUGH TALK IN AUSTRALIA
Stephanie Black, a caretaker in the Alvin Miller
stable that races at Hoosier Park and Indiana
Downs in Indiana, has been named Caretaker of
the Year by Harness Tracks of America and
Hanover Shoe Farms, co-sponsors of the annual
competition.
The Tasmanian Gaming Commission has issued a
license to Betfair, the English betting exchange,
and Feb. 7 is set for the opening of operations in
Hobart, the Tasmanian capital. While not unexpected, the licensing drew a sharp and angry response from the chairman of the Australian Racing Board, Andrew Ramsden. He wrote, in part,
“It comes as no surprise, but it cannot fail to leave
a sour taste in the mouth of anyone who genuinely
cares about the future of Australian racing. Of
the places we would compare ourselves with: Hong
Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, France, the
US, none of these countries have licensed betting
exchanges and their racing authorities reject the
betting exchange model of wagering. Within Australia, 7 states and territories have listened carefully to the racing industry’s integrity concerns and
given a resounding ‘no’ to betting exchanges. One
state has looked at the issue in purely selfish
terms. It bears remembering that 99.9% of the
intended business of any exchange licensed in
Tasmania will be on races that are run in other
parts of Australia. In effect, what Tasmania seems
to think it can do is ‘come in on the grouter’ -- set
itself up to take taxes and fee payments on the
back of someone else’s efforts.”
Ms. Black grew up in harness racing, and handles
the duties of 10 people in a stable that maintains
some 60 to 70 horses a year. She participates in
the breaking of yearlings and the conditioning process, and the paddocking of the horses on race
night. In her letter of nomination of Ms. Black,
Tammy Knox wrote, “Stephanie is not in a position to be a high profile groom, but she is the type
of groom that this business is built around -- a dedicated, horse-loving professional.” Mrs. Knox
wrote that “Stephanie’s horses always look
perfect...and it is nothing for her and Alvin to race
five or six horses a night with just the two of them
taking care of all the work necessary to get the
horses raced.
An HTA-Hanover committee of present professionals and executives in the sport, all former
grooms themselves, chose Ms. Black from this
year’s nominees. All nominees will receive handsome silk jackets and certificates of honor, and
Ms. Black will receive an oil painting of herself
and her favorite horse, painted by HTA’s resident
artist James Ponter.
SIMULCAST CONFERENCE SET
The 2006 International Simulcast Conference, presented annually by Thoroughbred Racing Associations, Harness Tracks of America, American Quarter Horse Racing and the American Greyhound Track
Operators Association, will be held Oct. 16-18 at the
Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Philadelphia, near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The
event draws more than 350 racing employees each year.
Ramsden’s letter was accompanied by notes to
editors, pointing out that most Australian states
have in place legislation that prohibits advertising
by any wagering operator that is not licensed in
that state, legislation that was upheld as constitutionally valid by the Federal Court in 2003. Last
year Victoria introduced legislation making it a
criminal offense to publish Victorian race fields
without authorization. And Queensland authorities have announced that its Interactive Gambling
Player Protection Act makes it unlawful for residents to use a betting exchange, regardless of
where it is licensed.
January 18, 2006
KY WANTS INTERNET HUBS
HIGH COST OF FRATRICIDE
The Kentucky Racing Authority, hoping to attract betting hubs to the Bluegrass, has drafted
regulations that would allow up to four international hubs to operate in the commonwealth. Jim
Gallagher, executive director of the Authority,
called hubs “the greatest area of growth as far
as a revenue stream.” Inspiration for the idea
came from Oregon, where handle during the
third quarter of 2001 was $23.2 million, and from
the third quarter of 2005 had ballooned more
than tenfold, to $262.9 million. Bets by Kentuckians through TVG’s Oregon hub accounted
for $119.8 million of that third-quarter 2005 number. Under the Authority’s proposals, applicants
for a Kentucky hub would pay $200 a day and
no more than 1% of bets handled by the hub.
Oregon has an application fee that comes to $200
a day, with a tax of 0.25% of handle. Currently,
in addition to TVG, Oregon hosts youbet.com,
XpressBet Inc. and AmericaTab Ltd., which operates as winticket.com. The Kentucky General Assembly approved up to four hubs two
years ago, and the regulations approved yesterday, Gallagher says, hopefully “will create a
little bit of buzz.” He said the Authority would
work with Kentucky tracks to see whether they
could benefit from the hubs.
Monticello Raceway, in a nasty battle with its
horsemen for a year and a half, is paying for
the bullets now. The horsemen, frustrated at
what they call a lack of good faith in negotiating, used the Interstate Horse Racing Act to
cut off out-of-state simulcasting 18 days ago.
Since that time, recordline.com reports, handle
has dropped almost $4 million compared with
the same period last year. Since the first of
the year, when the out-of-state simulcasts were
halted, betting dropped from $6.14 million last
year to $2.22 million this year. Monticello
raised purses last year with VLTs, then cut them
in half after the horsemen cut off the distant
signals. Negotiations have stalled in the absence of horsemen’s attorney Joe Faraldo, who
is taking time off, and the horsemen have withdrawn their lawsuit calling for a halt to
milkshake testing. The horsemen, according
to recordline.com, agreed to call off the suit
after a meeting with track management and the
New York Racing and Wagering Board, but no
paperwork had been filed as of this morning at
the Sullivan County courthouse, according to
the Web site.
POMPANO MOVES ON RACINO
HTA member Pompano Park has taken its first
steps on construction of its racino, demolishing the
old outdoor bleachers that had been installed 40
years ago and had been severely damaged by Hurricane Wilma. The bleachers, at the east end of
the grandstand, were razed and removed, and new
electrical, water and sewer lines are being installed. Gov. Jeb Bush still hopes to derail slots
next November, but Broward county’s four parimutuel operations, now legally enabled,
cannot afford to sit idly by even though
that threat exists.
DARKNESS DESCENDS ON MD
The economic sun is shining in Maryland, where
the state is riding high on a $1 billion surplus with
more expected this year, but fiscal prosperity casts
an eclipse over chances of slots in the state. Gov.
Robert J. Ehrlich Jr., who with his Senate president
Thomas V. J. Mike Miller has fought long and hard
for slots, now acknowledges that the previous “fiscal reality of the time made slots a more attractive
option,” and says he still thinks slots will pass but
not until after the 2006 elections. Pennsylvania,
Ehrlich says, “is going to clean our clock.” An eastern shore Republican leader, Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus,
says, “With the economy the way it is, politically it’s not going to happen.”
January 19, 2006
NJ TEST FOR EPO ANTIBODIES
FARINELLA LEAVING PRAIRIE
The New Jersey Racing Commission has joined
New York in testing for antibodies for erythropoietin, better known as EPO. The commission approved the test at a meeting yesterday at which it
also approved the Meadowlands’ proposal for the
Cantor-Index Choose Six and Group Bet, two exotics that add flexibility and simplicity to the betting menu. The Choose Six, an extension of the
Pick Six, permits the bettor to choose the six races
on which he or she wishes to wager. The Group
Bet allows patrons to choose between two groups
of horses, “A” and “B”, in a race. If a horse not
included in either group wins, the bettor loses. The
commission once again ducked the issue of advertising on competitors’ clothing, saying it “required
further research on how this is handled in other
states.” It would seem that a few phone calls could
make that determination, but racing commissions
do not work that way. They prefer pondering.
Bob Farinella, who built HTA member Prairie
Meadows into a major racino and racetrack in 12
years as president and general manager, has resigned and will leave the track on Feb. 17.
Farinella, 60, has clashed with board members
over expansion of the casino and track, and the
board cut $9 million from his proposed plans for a
hotel and national restaurant at the track. In a
letter to board chairman Jack Bishop, who will take
over as acting CEO until a replacement is hired,
Farinella wrote, “I have spent almost 12 years, or
20% of my life, dedicated to growing the economic
return to this community in the way of jobs, tourism, horse racing, gaming and entertainment. I
am proud of my accomplishments which have
brought Prairie Meadows to the prestigious and
profitable position it currently enjoys. I am proud
of the over 1,400 jobs we have created and the
tremendously talented people who fill them. I am
especially pleased at having been able to eliminate $90 million of original public debt on our facility as we began this venture, and exceedingly
pleased at the over $340 million we have been able
to return to this community for charities, human
services, and public works.” Bob will make a farewell HTA appearance as a panel member on
racinos and tracks at Bellagio Feb. 8.
HOW BOLD FOR A FRESHMAN!
Also in New Jersey, where the state bows to every whim or wish of the Atlantic City casinos, a
first-term Assemblyman has had the temerity to
challenge the mighty casino kings of the boardwalk. Jim Whelan, a Democrat from Atlantic
City, of all places, which makes his courage and
convictions all the more impressive, has introduced legislation that would remove the casino
exemption from the Smoke-Free Air Act that
former governor Richard J. Codey signed Sunday as his final act in office. Whelan says his
move “was very simple. You treat everyone the
same.” Three state senators introduced similar legislation in that body, and one of them, Sen.
Shirley Turner, a Democrat, put the issue
bluntly. “It’s a horrible message,” she said, “
to say it’s OK for casino moguls to poison the
lungs of their workers with secondhand
smoke because they have the political
clout to buy a deadly exemption.”
NO SLOTS IN KY, MD BUDGETS
The governors of Kentucky and Maryland, with
both states prosperous at the moment, have not
included slots revenue in budget messages released this week. Kentucky governor Ernie
Fletcher does not approve of expanded gambling,
and Michael Busch, speaker of the House in Maryland who has led the fight against slots for three
years, told the Baltimore Sun, “Not only is this an
election year, but the fact that you have the unemployment rate that you have and the surplus you
have, I don’t know how you make a case for
slots.”
January 20, 2006
2D COMMISSION RESIGNATION
EHRLICH TRIES AGAIN IN MD
The Pennsylvania State Harness Racing Commission has lost a second commissioner to resignation. Richard J. Bolte Sr., who had come under
severe fire from state representative Mike Veon,
resigned yesterday, leaving chairman Roy Wilt the
only member of the original commission whose actions in rejecting new track applications drew
Veon’s ire. Commissioner Ed Rogers had resigned
earlier, saying he wished to return to racing harness horses. Bolte, also a longtime harness racing owner, was born in Philadelphia and lived the
first 35 years of his life there. He currently lives
in Moorestown, NJ, across the Delaware River
from Philadelphia, and Mr. Veon made that an issue, although Bolte said there is no requirement
that a commissioner live in Pennsylvania. Veon
became incensed after the former commission of
chairman Wilt, Rogers and Bolte declined to license Valley View Downs, a proposed $200 million harness track that Centaur of Indiana wanted
to build in Beaver county, part of Mr. Veon’s district. He asked governor Ed Rendell to remove
all three commissioners, raising in particular an
issue about transfer of ownership in a horse that
Bolte made to his wife. Bolte said the transfer
was perfectly legal, and that his wife had the right
to own horses. Bolte, 71, has been active in harness racing for 40 years.
The owner of BDP International, a Philadelphia
shipping firm that employs nearly 600 people at
four locations in Pennsylvania, he made a point in
announcing his resignation that “everything I did
as a commissioner was legitimate,” and he said
he enjoyed his 13 months as a racing commissioner. He was appointed by governor Rendell in
December 2004, and in leaving he gave what could
be a valedictory for racing commissioners. “It got
too political,” he said. Losing two knowledgeable
horse owners like Ed Rogers and Richard
J. Bolte Sr. is a blow to harness racing in
Pennsylvania.
Undaunted by three previously unsuccessful attempts, and courageous in standing behind his beliefs in an election year, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
is including a slots proposal for Maryland tracks
as part of his 20-point legislative package. Although the Baltimore Sun noted that “another
defeat of slot machines, the governor’s solution to
school construction needs, could prove a liability
in November’s election,” Ehrlich is determined to
do what he thinks is right. A spokesman said, “The
governor made a commitment to the citizens of
Maryland and our horse racing industry to see this
through. He’s not naive about the speaker’s
(Michael Busch) unwillingness to negotiate or pass
a consensus bill, but this is a commitment the governor made and wants to keep.” The governor’s
bill would authorize up to 15,500 video lottery terminals at six locations, including HTA member
Rosecroft Raceway, Pimlico and Laurel, and a
track to be built in Allegany county in western
Maryland. Ehrlich says competition from neighboring states, particularly Pennsylvania, will cost
Maryland money if slots are not introduced. He
is proposing license fees of $3 million for 500 slots,
and thinks $91 million could be raised from slots
taxes and fees for the state’s Education Trust Fund.
NEW SLOTS BOOST IN BOSTON
A report commissioned by the state treasurer of
Massachusetts -- who is not an advocate of slots -says state citizens are spending more than a billion
dollars a year in Connecticut and other gambling
venues. State treasurer Tim Cahill released the
Christiansen Capital Advisors’ $75,000 report yesterday, and HTA director Gary Piontkowski of
Plainridge Racecourse told the Boston Herald, “I
read the summary with a big smile. I can’t understate how big a deal it is. This is what we have been
looking for, an independent agency such as the
lottery doing a study.”
January 23, 2006
SCRATCH SPECTOR AT VERNON
MD RUNNERS QUARANTINED
That would seem to be the message from Utica,
where a federal bankruptcy judge rejected last
minute maneuvering by Eric Spector’s lawyers and
financial backers to stay in the race for Vernon
Downs. The judge, Stephen Gerling, denied a
motion by Oneida Entertainment, Spector’s company, that would have enabled it to split one company favorable to its cause from the group of creditors who overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Jeff
Gural plan. Oneida by law needed at least one of
four groups of creditors to approve its plan, but all
four rejected it. Oneida wanted Gerling to consider VIP Structures, a lone company that supported its plan, to be considered a separate group
because it had “unique capabilities” to take part
in future construction at Vernon. Gerling called
that argument “without merit,” saying there was
no evidence that VIP is or was the only entity in
central New York with the expertise to carry out
track construction.
An outbreak of equine herpes virus at Pimlico
in Maryland has resulted in a quarantine and
bans at other tracks. After 11 confirmed cases
and two euthanizations, all 535 runners at
Pimlico were confined to the track, and the New
York Racing Association announced Friday that
it will ban all shippers from the state of Maryland until further notice. No reports have mentioned standardbred problems, but Dr. David G.
Zipf, the veterinarian for the Maryland Racing
Commission, said there has never been a case
of cross-species transfer from the virus, but said
it could be undergoing DNA changes that make
it stronger. “The severity of the occurrences
are becoming more prevalent and this is scary,”
Dr. Zipf told the Washington Post. HTA member Rosecroft Raceway, in Oxon Hill, Maryland,
a suburban of Washington, has had no reported
cases, but is taking precautions including a requirement that all horses shipping in for racing
have a current veterinary certificate vaccination
against the disease, according to director of operations Mary Manney.
Gerling chastised Oneida, saying, “The court intends to make it clear that it cannot and will not
condone what appears to be continued ‘gamesmanship’ on the part of Oneida, which arguably could
go on indefinitely. Thus, the court will look skeptically on any subsequent efforts by Oneida to file
another modification of their amended plan in order to gain acceptance.” In another development
in the seemingly never-ending Vernon matter,
horsemen who disagree with attorney Joe
Faraldo’s $9.6 million lawsuit that could prolong
the matter further, have gained the ear of media.
The Oneida Dispatch, in a long article, quotes
members of the newly formed Vernon Downs Harness Horse Association, one of whom --Gaetan
(Gates) Brunet, called the Faraldo suit “the straw
that broke the camel’s back.” Brunet says there
is no way that travel expenses could amount
to the $8 million difference between actual lost purses of $1 million and the suit
claim.
FEDS PLAY HARDBALL ON WEB
The United States attorney’s office in the eastern district of Missouri -- John Ashcroft country
-- has reached an agreement with The Sporting
News, the baseball bible, to settle charges of aiding and promoting illegal gambling. The Paul
Allen-owned publication has agreed to pay a $4.2
million fine and complete a three-year public service campaign valued at $3 million. The feds said
the newspaper aided Internet betting by publishing and broadcasting advertisements for online
casinos overseas. The Missouri U.S. attorney,
Catherine L. Hanaway, called such ads “analogous to advertising on behalf of drug dealers and
child pornographers.” That gross exaggeration
is a very long stretch, even for someone in
Missouri.
January 24, 2006
BACK AND FORTH IN POMPANO
ANYONE WANT TO BET ON THIS
The road to gold is strewn with rocks, as HTA
member Pompano Park is discovering. Having
cleared the boulders of bureaucratic messing
around in the state legislature and governor’s
office, the track now is encountering problems
with its hometown, Pompano Beach. First the
city announced it planned to tax each of
Pompano’s 1,500 planned machines $250, a
$375,000 hit. After general manager Dick
Feinberg met with the city manager and pointed
out that the fee for a pinball or arcade machine is
$30, the city manager said that the city should
slash the proposed fee to $50 “which more accurately reflects the cost of regulating slot machines.” The mayor of Pompano Beach says he
is getting two different stories. A county commissioner whose district includes Pompano Beach
thought $250 a machine “did not strike me as
enormous,” and wants Pompano Park to fund construction of additional lanes on Powerline Road,
the main thoroughfare that runs north and south
adjacent to the track. Commissioners are to
vote on the fee issue tonight.
The people who want to take over the New York
Racing Association, and NYRA itself, are engaging in a talkfest today in Albany, the first of two
scheduled on the subject. Those left out of the
discussion, like attorney Neil V. Getnick, who is
offended that his law firm was not invited to the
confab after serving as federal monitor of NYRA,
are complaining. The speakers include NYRA’s
president Charles Hayward, potential NYRA
owner Frank Stronach, thoroughbred horse leaders, a large delegation from Saratoga Springs,
Marylou Whitney, speaking from her home in
Florida, and those who expansively call themselves
Friends of New York Racing. The word “racing,”
when used in New York, refers only to thoroughbred racing. We will wager a bob or two that in the
two days of chatter, today and tomorrow in New
York City, the words “harness racing,” will not be
heard, although the state of New York has six harness tracks, and one under construction. Anyone
want to cover that bet?
ANOTHER CHALLENGE FOR ISLE
Isle of Capri, which owns Pompano Park, has other
challenges larger than its slots fee. It is bidding
for the sole casino license in Pittsburgh, offering
to built a new stadium for the Penguins of the National Hockey League if it gets the license. Yesterday a rival for the license, Harrah’s Entertainment and its partner Forest City Enterprises,
launched a bomb, announcing it intended to build
a new ‘mini-city’ if it got the casino license.
Harrah’s plans a $1 billion makeover of the Station Square neighborhood, including a $512 million casino as big as seven football fields; riverside restaurants and shops; a 1,200-seat
event hall, a two-story sports bar overlooking the city; and up to 1,200 condominium
units.
Charles Hayward, incidentally, is supremely unhappy to find that the bailout legislation passed
by the legislature includes a provision to raise
takeout 1% to cover the loan. Hayward says,
“We will not recommend or increase takeout without approval of the rewards program,” a plan to
provide rebates to big bettors to keep them
ontrack rather than off. Whether he can keep
his word will depend greatly on whether he can
get the $20 or $30 million without the raise. The
legislation claims the takeout increase is consistent with a deal NYRA shook hands on at the end
of last year, and the Albany Times-Union capitol
bureau writer James Odato says “the deal indeed
shows that provision.” Elsewhere in New York,
after the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced it
would not take any lands into trust if tax liens
were on them, the Oneida Nation offered to
pay Madison and Oneida counties $20 million in back taxes.
A SETTLEMENT AT VERNON
January 25, 2006
The Syracuse Post-Standard reported this morning that an agreement had been reached in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Utica. Oneida Entertainment, the Eric Spector-promoted suitor for
Vernon Downs, has agreed to withdraw its plan
to bring the track out of bankruptcy and withdraw its objections to Jeff Gural’s Vernon Downs
Acquisition group to buy the track. In return,
Oneida Entertainment will become an investor
in the Gural group. Lee Woodward, bankruptcy
lawyer for Vernon’s parent, Mid-State Raceway,
told the Post-Standard, “They get to be a part
of ownership. In exchange, they drop everything and become a team player.” That leaves
only Joe Faraldo and his $9.6 million claim for
the Harness Horse Association of Central New
York as an impediment to getting Vernon Downs
back on track, literally. Not all horsemen racing at Vernon share enthusiasm for the suit, including members of a second horsemen’s organization founded recently. A Friday hearing is
scheduled.
broaden this to look at licensing fees.” Stirling
also discussed specific dollar issues at the meeting. He said Calder Race Course received
$300,000 in host fees from TVG in 2004, but that
another provider had paid TVG $600,000 for
rights to the exclusive signal. He claimed horsemen got nothing from the $600,000 rights fee.
Bloodhorse.com, in reporting the HBPA meeting,
quoted Ken Kirchner, senior vice president of
product development for the NTRA, as telling the
horsemen, “You’re in control of that product (simulcasting) and have legal standing under the Interstate Horseracing Act. We need a decision on
how to proceed in the international area. We cannot leave that decision to others,” whoever “others” might be. Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International,
told the horsemen, “If you’re not getting your fair
share or don’t think you’re getting your fair share,
shame on you. Why did you price the product
the way you priced the product?” Now you know
why you have an HTA, and why the runners have
TRA.
AND MORE LEGAL ACTION
ROUND 1 A WIN FOR POMPANO
The National HBPA is thinking about a class action suit to stop piracy of signals, although it is
not clear here who they plan to sue. The HBPA
board meets today and is scheduled to discuss a
Louisiana resolution, which the HBPA executive
committee approved yesterday, under which that
state volunteered to take the lead on the issue.
Sean Alfortish, the Louisiana HBPA president,
said, “The resolution is the first step in stopping
piracy. We need to find out how to go about recovering billions of dollars we’ve lost to illegal
wagering over the years and continue to lose on
a daily basis.” The proposal calls for HBPA lawyers to study legal remedies, with a class action
suit or injunctive relief possibilities. Kent
Stirling, executive director of the Florida
HBPA, told colleagues, “We’re being stolen from within our own country. We need to
Commissioners in Pompano Beach yesterday approved a $50 occupational license fee on each slot
machine installed at Pompano Park, instead of the
$250 proposed two weeks ago by the Pompano
Beach city manager, who relented before
yesterday’s meeting. The proposal has to pass a
second final approval two weeks from now. Pompano Park general manager Dick Feinberg said of
yesterday’s vote, “At this time, we’re okay with
the commission’s actions.”
OPENING LINE FOR A PANEL
Frank Stronach provided reporters a line yesterday that should launch the Feb. 8 Racing Congress
panel on “Racing’s New Partners” to a lively start.
He said of casino operators, “They don’t really care about horse racing. It’s a nuisance
to them.”
January 26, 2006
ALL BUT THOSE WHO COUNT
DEAL IN DELAWARE NORTH
After two days of hearings at which everyone except the barber who cuts George Pataki’s hair had
their say, racing moved on bravely in New York
today. Yesterday’s New York City hearings produced strong objections to splitting up the tracks,
as suggested a day earlier; a demand for legislation to allow rebates; and an interesting suggestion by Craig Fravel, from distant Del Mar, that
New York might consider the highly successful Del
Mar model, where the track leases the racetrack
from a state agency whose board is appointed by
the governor, and all proceeds are reinvested in
the track. Fravel said the process is “free of political meddling and attracts good employees.”
Perhaps the most telling comment on the two-day
talkfest was that of James M. Odato, Capitol bureau chief for the Albany Times-Union. He led
his story, “A state panel considering the first major overhaul of the thoroughbred racing industry
concluded two days of hearings Wednesday without Assembly-delegated members listening to one
minute of testimony or asking a single question.”
Odato then explained why. Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver hasn’t got around yet to naming
his three appointees to the panel, as required by a
law passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly and
Senate last year. So as all of the speakers talked
Tuesday and yesterday, there were three empty
chairs at the panel head table. J. Patrick Barrett,
chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future
of Racing, said, “We’re moving ahead,” but declined comment on Silver’s tardiness in making
appointees. “I’m not going to speculate on the
speaker’s motives,” Barrett said. “I’ve never met
the man.” Might be a good idea, Mr. Barrett. He
has a lot of clout in New York state, and will play a
large role in what happens to your committee’s recommendations. A spokesman for Silver said the
appointees will be made “in due time.” This
is, after all New York.
One previously unannounced development came
out of the New York hearings. That was the declaration by Delaware North, the huge Buffalo-based
entertainment and food service giant, that it expected to be among the bidders for the New York
Racing Association franchise. A Delaware North
executive, Christian Riegle, told the Buffalo News,
“You’ll definitely see us as part of the pack, either
individually or as part of a group.” Riegle, president of Delaware North’s Finger Lakes track, said,
in a pointed reference to NYRA’S financial problems, “We’ve owned Finger Lakes racetrack since
1964. We’ve made a profit every single year -and NYRA has been unable to do that, arguably
with the three best properties in the biggest market. So we see a lot of opportunity.” Delaware
North is equipped financially to make it a formidable player in any bid for NYRA. It owns Mountaineer Park and racino in West Virginia, the Boston Gardens, operates the racinos at HTA members Fairgrounds Gaming and Racing in Hamburg,
NY, and Saratoga Gaming and Racing in Saratoga
Springs, and food concessions around the world.
It has nearly $2 billion in annual revenues and almost 40,000 employees. Riegle, in announcing
Delaware North’s candidacy, prophesied, “Whoever ultimately has the franchise for those three
racetracks will ultimately be setting the agenda
for the next 50 years of racing in New York.”
SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE
Horsemen and management at Vernon Downs are
hoping for the possibility of an April start for live
racing following a deal between Jeff Gural’s group
and that of Eric Spector, but a Vernon attorney
warned that if Joe Faraldo’s lawsuit claim of $9.5
million is approved by the federal bankruptcy
judge, he does not think Vernon will ever open
again. Your move, Joe. It’s Vernon Downs or
you.
January 27, 2006
KY MOVES ON THE DOUBLE DIP
AN OMBUDSWOMAN IN OHIO
For years, trainers and other agents in horse racing often have milked the cow at both ends, taking
commissions from owners to buy horses and from
sellers as well. Rep. Denver Butler, a Louisville
Democrat in the Kentucky House, introduced a
bill this week to stop the practice. The Butler bill
would require bloodstock agents who represent
both the buyer and seller in a transaction to disclose that beforehand, and disclose his commissions from both sources. Some strong thoroughbred voices were heard on the subject. Satish
Sanan, owner of Padua Stables in Ocala, FL, and
one of thoroughbred racing’s major figures, said
dual representation has boosted the cost of buying horses for him “many times,” and he said the
arrangement “makes you sick.” He says he hopes
the Butler bill passes. Sanan formed an Alliance
for Industry Reform several years ago, but it
relies mainly on self-enforcement. It released
an ethics code in 2004 which called dual representation “an infrequent, but abhorrent” practice. We agree totally that it is abhorrent, but
we doubt seriously that it is infrequent. The issue gained publicity last year when Jess Jackson, owner of the Kendall-Jackson winery, filed
a lawsuit in San Diego alleging that former
agents had inflated prices of horses he bought
both privately and at public auction, including
the sport’s biggest auction at Keeneland in Kentucky. He alleged that when he bought the dam
of Eclipse champion Afleet Alex, he paid
$750,000, and then learned the bloodstock agent
involved had paid the owner $600,000 for the
horse. The case has not yet come to trial. Jackson, Robert Clay of Three Chimney Farms, and
Bill Casner of WinStar Farm formed a Horse
Owners’ Protective Association this month.
Bloodhorse.com reports that Jackson met with
Kentucky Senate Republicans yesterday to discuss the Butler bill, and has
hired a lobbyist to push it.
Ohio Racing Commission chairman Norman
Barron has appointed an ombudsman, or more
accurately an ombudswoman, to the commission’s
finance committee to insure that the betting public
is given an opportunity to provide input before the
committee contemplates any action to rectify a
shortfall in revenue that has and will impact commission operations. The lady is Lisa Harris
Hollister, an attorney, who will represent the citizens of the state.
DON’T MESS WITH THE OWNER
That’s our advice to top trainer George Teague,
who is training three trotting 2-year-olds and two
pacing 2-year-olds for former heavyweight champion George Foreman. Watch that right, Teague.
MTR TURNS DOWN THE BOSS
A Special Committee of the board of directors of
MTR corporation has rejected the proposal of the
company’s top management to acquire all the stock
of MTR. The committee said the proposal did not
sufficiently enhance stockholder value, but it invited president and CEO Ted Arneault to submit
an improved offer. Speaking of MTR -- we know,
we know -- that it, and not Delaware North, owns
Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in
West Virginia. We knew it, but we carelessly attributed ownership of Mountainer to Delaware
North in an item yesterday on Delaware North’s
announced interest in acquiring the New York Racing Association. Delaware North probably wishes
it owned Mountaineer, but Ted Arneault is happy
with it, along with Scioto Downs and Jackson Raceway and Binion’s Gambling Hall in Las Vegas and
on and on with his holdings. Our apologies to both
companies for the error. As the New York Times
loves to say, it was an editing error. You can call it
a senior moment if you wish.
January 30, 2006
ANOTHER VERNON HEARING
A NEW WEAPON LOOMS
This can’t go on much longer, now that Jeff Gural
and Eric Spector and their groups have worked
out their differences, and the Harness Horse Association of Central New York lawsuit seems to be
the only obstacle to Vernon Downs reopening. Federal bankruptcy judge Stephen Gerling has called
another hearing tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Utica, and could rule on
the horsemen’s suit then. Vernon still is hoping it
might be able to resume live racing by late April
or May.
A U.S. judge in New York, in allowing the prosecution of thoroughbred horse trainer Gregory Martin and former harness trainer Rene Poulin to
move forward, may have provided a new and powerful weapon against trainers who administer performance-enhancing drugs to horses. Judge
Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum denied a motion to
dismiss the indictments in the case, saying that
the administration of illegal drugs constituted conspiracy to commit wire fraud, within the meaning
of federal statutes. If this allegation of wire fraud
by the prosecution is proved at trial, racing might
have the weapon it needs to rid itself of those who
flaunt its rules. It makes the Poulin case worth
watching, and this could be a significant legal
breakthrough.
A DISGRACE IN FLORIDA
The state of Florida, which has no racing commission but something called the Division of PariMutuel Wagering that may or may not know much
about racing, caught the full blast of veteran racing writer Dave Joseph today. His column in the
widely read Sun Sentinel, on the Divison asking a
court to nullify the agreement of Gulfstream and
Calder to exchange simulcast signals, was called
“mind-boggling” by Joseph, in view of the fact that
the agreement not only would bring additional revenue to the state and 90 new jobs to Calder, but
also relieved pressure on fans while Gulfstream
gets its new plant bug-free and fully operational.
Joseph wrote, “These are some of the ways track
officials, horsemen and thoroughbred race fans
described the Divison of Pari-Mutuel Wagering’s
decision:
Defying
logic....lacking
wisdom...cruel...ignorant of the issues.” We concur, in all respects.
DELAWARE NORTH GOES GAME
The concession giant Delaware North, which last
week expressed interest in the NYRA franchise,
now makes clear it is ready to go for the whole
shooting match. It says it would like to buy
not only Belmont and Aqueduct, but
Saratoga Racecourse as well. And it has
the financial resources to do it.
PRAIRIE AWARDS $1.8 MILLION
HTA member Prairie Meadows Racetrack and
Casino has announced its 2006 awards to 142 nonprofit organizations in its Des Moines, Iowa, area.
Recipients of the $10,000 and up grants are chosen by a committee of 18 community people, and
since 1995, when Prairie eliminated its debt, the
track and its racino has contributed a staggering
$285 million to promote education, economic development, agriculture, jobs and tourism in Iowa.
The top award this year is a $250,000 grant to the
Greater Des Moines Community Foundation.
SARATOGA ISN’T OKLAHOMA
The state finance director of Oklahoma has drastically reduced revenue expectations from track
and Indian gambling, dropping the number from
$53 million to $19.7 million. In Saratoga Springs,
home of HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, it was announced that some 50,000 players a
week gave the racino there gross earnings of
$103.6 million last year, with almost two-thirds
going to the state.
HORSEMEN’S SUIT IS DENIED
Vernon Downs moved a step closer to racing yesterday, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen
Gerling denied the $9.6 million claim of the Harness Horse Association of Central New York. The
track could move even closer today at another
hearing in Utica where Gerling could rule on confirmation of the plan submitted by Jeff Gural and
his associates. In denying the $9.6 million lawsuit, Gerling ordered Mid-State Raceway to deposit $384,000 in purse money in a purse reserve
fund account within 10 days. Mid-State apparently
expected that, its attorney having said last week
that he considered a claim in that vicinity to be
reasonable. Gural said that once the judge confirms his plan, he and his Texas-based backers
would be able to close in 30 days, and that Vernon
could be back in operation in another two or two
and one-half months after closing. That would put
a resumption of racing somewhere around early
or mid-May.
TAKE A LOOK AT THESE $$$$
Saratoga Gaming and Raceway marked its second anniversary this week -- hard to believe -and so are the numbers it is posting. People bet
$1.3 billion there during the second year of operation, up 14% over the first year. $1.2 billion,
or 90%, was paid out in winnings. Gross gaming
revenue was $103 million, with 56%, or $55.2
million, going to New York state education.
Thirty-four percent, or some $35 million, went to
the track, with 5% of that earmarked for marketing. The New York State Lottery got 10%, or
$10.3 million, for administering the machines.
The numbers on track handle were interesting
and significant. In 2003, before slots, on-track
handle was $6.1 million and total handle $31.6
million. Those figures increased to $8.8 million
and $39 million during the first year of
slots. They slid back to $8.3 million and
$37 million last year, still an increase of
some 18% over 2003.
January 31, 2006
General manager Skip Carlson noted that the
track was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays in
2005, but had operated on those days throughout 2004. The racino has 1,324 VLTs, and the
executive director of the Saratoga Convention
and Tourism Bureau, Gavin Landry, acknowledged what they meant to Saratoga Springs.
“You have to respect those numbers,” he said.
“It’s a nice year-round entertainment option we
have to offer our convention and motorcoach
group buyers.”
In nearby Connecticut, meanwhile, the Mohegan
Tribal Gaming Authority, which owns HTA member Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, announced
record first quarter gaming revenues of $315.1
million, up 9.5% over the same period a year
ago. Figures for Pocono Downs and its five
OTBs showed racing revenue of $6.8 million, net
revenue of $7.6 million, and a $2 million loss from
operations, which included $1.1 million in preopening costs and expenses of its proposed
400,000 square-foot gaming and entertainment
facility under construction. Current plans call
for 2,000 slot machines, 3 full service restaurants, a 300-seat buffet, a 15,000 square-foot
food court, several bars and lounges, an 18,000
square-foot nightclub, a “Kid’s Quest” center,
20,000 square-feet of retail space, new parking
facilities and an enhanced employees service
area. Estimated cost for the facility is between
$140 million and $160 million.
DELAY, ABRAMOFF AND RACING
Interactive gaming news reports that the shadows
of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff hang over racing, their involvement with the Internet Gambling
Prohibition Act of 2000 causing Republican lawmakers to bring online gaming prohibition bills
back front and center. The Washington Post first
reported that an aide to DeLay had played a
role in defeating anti-online gaming legislation.
February 1, 2006
‘TOOTH AND NAIL’ AT VERNON
YONKERS A GROWING GIANT
You only thought the Vernon Downs situation was
resolved when U.S. bankruptcy judge Stephen
Gerling threw Joe Faraldo’s $9.6 million lawsuit
on behalf of the Harness Horse Association of
Central New York out of court. Now Joe is promising to fight “tooth and nail” if Jeff Gural won’t
renew that association’s contract, which expires
at the end of this month. Gural says he won’t
renew it, favoring instead a new horsemen’s
group called the Vernon Downs Harness
Horsemen’s Association, which claims it has
wooed away 80% of the old group. Faraldo questions those numbers. Ken Jacobs, president of
the new organization, says he will work with
Gural to get racing resumed as quickly as possible, which Gural thinks could be mid- to late
May. “I want to see racing back at Vernon”
Jacobs says. “I don’t want to put up a stop or
roadblock for anyone who is willing to put up
$50 million. Oneida Entertainment, the company
formed by Eric Spector that sought the license
but yielded in the face of adverse court rulings
and decided instead to join Gural as investors,
announced it was prepared to contribute $20
million to the reopening and operation of Vernon
Downs.
Back in its glory days, Yonkers Raceway was
known as The Giant of Trotting. It may be again,
as its $225 million rebuilding and renovation
speeds ahead. Tim Rooney and Bob Galterio hope
to open the new facility by Nov. 15, and Galterio
says, “No one in the country has opened a facility
like this with this many machines. It will be the
fourth largest gaming company in terms of numbers of machines.” When fully operational, Yonkers will have 5,500 VLTs, and expects 29,000 a
day to visit the track and racino.
VOTE ON SPA EXPANSION
The Planning Board of Saratoga Springs, NY,
votes tonight on allowing expansion plans for
Saratoga Gaming and Raceway to move forward
for review. The chairman and at least one member favor the idea, but both expressed concerns
as to the New York Lottery Division conducting
“a legitimate, honest discussion” on the issue.
Bob Israel, a member of the Planning Board, said
he thought all the Lottery Division wanted was
“to make money....they don’t care if the racino
is building a little Atlantic City out there.”
City officials have acknowledged the
positive role of the racino as a Saratoga
Springs tourist attraction.
A NEW ONE ENTERS LITANY
Todd Pletcher, thoroughbred racing’s Trainer of
the Year, is battling a drug suspension in New York.
Sound familiar? Well, yes, but there is a new twist.
Pletcher has retained the New York City law firm
of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and filed a lawsuit
against the New York State Racing and Wagering
Board seeking dismissal of his 45-day suspension
and $3,000 fine. The drug in the case was
mepivacaine, a class 2 painkiller, and the 25-page
document offers different scenarios as to how the
Pletcher horse could have gotten it. One of them
is that a veterinarian in an adjoining stall tapped a
syringe to clear air out of the instrument, and the
mepivacaine became an aerosol and was inhaled
by Pletcher’s horse. No comment. Next case,
please.
AN OPTION AT VEGAS AIRPORT
For those unfamiliar with McCarran Airport in Las
Vegas, it has a very long, but fast-moving and efficient cab system. That does, however, require
dragging your bags through the winding maze. If
you prefer, there are a number of limo services,
among them Alan Waxler Group, 702-792-8000;
Fox Limousine, 702-597-0400; and CLS, 702-7404545. The cab ride is 10 minutes, the fare $15
or so, depending on traffic (always) on Las
Vegas Blvd.
February 2, 2006
INTERESTING VERNON NOTE
NEW HARNESS IMMORTALS
A feature on News10Now, aired in Vernon
Downs home area in central New York, carried
an interesting note on the formation of the new
horsemen’s association there. Madeline Bailey,
a 30-year member of the old group, the Harness Horse Association of Central New York and
a founder of the new Vernon Downs Harness
Horse Association, was quoted on the show.
Speaking of the $9.6 million Central lawsuit that
was tossed out of court, Bailey said, “We were
really disappointed with the lack of communication with the group. We were never told anything and the last thing that really drove me to
start it (the new association) was the $9 million
lawsuit. I thought that never should have been.
Nobody ever asked anyone about it and they
went right ahead and did it.” Ms. Bailey said
she was confident there would be racing at
Vernon, “if we get all the differences resolved
with the organizations.”
The Hall of Fame in Goshen has announced the
latest entries into its Immortals Hall, greats of the
sport no longer with us. The newest inductees, to
be honored at Goshen July 2, are Canadian trainer
John G. Hayes Sr.; William R. (Bill) Hayes, who
for many years presented the Hambletonian at
DuQuoin, IL; Marty Tananbaum, former owner
and operator of Yonkers Raceway; and the pacers Little Brown Jug and Romeo Hanover.
GOODBYE, GOODBYE TO ROME
Rome, New York, that is. The Friends of New York
Racing, that self-annointed group that included
many friends from afar, is folding its tent and departing, it’s mission accomplished, according to
president Tim Smith. He said, “Friends of New
York Racing was not ideally suited to be the permanent entity to do the broad-based industry advocacy long-term.” He also said some members
now had “different priorities,” presumably as the
NYRA land grab turns into the put-up stage.
A FINAL NEW YORK NOTE
NYRA’s chief horse, identifier, Jim Zito, this week attributed “dedicated follow-up work and the department’s
system of checks and balances” for correcting an ongoing mistake and “preventing its perpetuation.” That depends on your definition of perpetuity. The runner, Fire Dip, actually was a mare named Miss
Stella, and had raced under the wrong name in
all of her 27 starts.
THE YUM YUM KY DERBY
Well, not quite. It won’t be called that, but
henceforth -- at least for five years -America’s most famous race will be known as
The Kentucky Derby, presented by Yum
Brands. Yum may not be known to all, at least
until now, but it is a very big outfit, with 34,000
restaurants in more than 100 countries and
territories. Churchill Downs’ release on the
new branding agreement called it an “historic
announcement.” I’m not sure “historic” and
“yum” go together, but I extend congratulations and best wishes to both parties and wish
them happiness and success with the Kentucky
Derby, presented by Yum Brands.
A WIDER VEGAS LIMO CHOICE
Yesterday’s Executive Newsletter offered some
limo choices in case you don’t want to stand in
the McCarran Airport’s fast-moving cab lines on
arrival in Vegas for next week’s Congress. Here
is a full list of approved Bellagio limo services.
The hotel itself uses CLS, 702-740-4545, but any
of the others are okay. They are Bell Trans, 702739-7228; Paramount Destination Services, 702804-8095; Gray Line, 702-384-1234; Star Transit, 702-646-4661; KT Services/Coach USA, 702644-4133; Alax Waxler, 702-792-8000; Fox’s
Limos (mini bus, holds 24 max) 702-597-0400;
and ODS (On Demand Sedan), 702-8762222.
February 3, 2006
IMPORTANT USTA UPDATE
DISPUTE IN W. VIRGINIA, TOO
The United States Trotting Association is replacing its Race Track Support system, which supplies
information for race office functions and production of program race pages, with new technology
called e-Track. Executive vice president Eric
Sharbaugh will present a brief update of the
changes at HTA’s Committee of the Whole Tuesday morning, Feb. 7, at 10:30 a.m., in Bellagio
Ballroom 6 at the Racing Congress in Las Vegas,
and a more detailed explanation at USTA’s PariMutuel Committee meeting Thursday afternoon,
Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in Ballroom 3. All track operators are urged to attend the meetings.
Indiana is not the only state where racing bills are
creating concern. Two controversial bills affecting racing in West Virginia are up for consideration, one of them banning telephone account wagering, the other authorizing county referendums
on gaming expansion at the state’s thoroughbred
and dog tracks. The account wagering bill would
ban tracks from any transactions that constitute
“a financial account or line of credit for the purpose of account wagering,” and would prohibit
them from possessing any equipment intended for
use in electronic betting.
INDIANA BILL PASSES SENATE
A highly controversial bill that would require
out-of-state tracks, particularly those in Kentucky, to make their simulcasts available to all
tracks in Indiana, or none, passed the Indiana
Senate yesterday, 32-18, and moves to the
House for its consideration. The bill is supported by HTA member Indiana Downs but
strongly opposed by HTA member Hoosier Park
and its parent, Churchill Downs. Kentucky
tracks make their signal available to both
tracks and to Hoosier OTB outlets in Indianapolis, Merrillville and Fort Wayne, all good
distances from Kentucky tracks, but Kentucky
HBPA members exercised their rights under
the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978 to bar
the signals from going to Indiana Downs’ OTBs
in Clarksville and Evansville, both near the
Kentucky-Indiana state line and within the betting areas of Ellis Park and Churchill Downs.
Kentucky horsemen say allowing popular signals from Keeneland and Churchill to go to
Clarksville and Evansville will draw more bettors to those sites from Kentucky and In- d i ana, and they get less share of betting
from the Indiana operations than from
bets made in Kentucky.
If the local referendum issue passes, citizens would
have the right to end gaming in their areas if they
chose. As things stand now in West Virginia, gaming plays too large a role and employs too many
people for that action to be likely.
SHUBECK MAKES MAGNA MOVE
Drew Shubeck, general manager at Magna’s The
Meadows and HTA’s director from that track, is
moving southwest in a corporate switch to become
general manager of Magna’s Lone Star Park in
Texas. He will be missed by harness racing, and
HTA wishes him well with the runners.
PA GAMING HIRES ITS TOP COP
Frank T. Donaghue, director of the Pennsylvania
attorney general’s bureau of consumer protection,
has been named chief counsel of the Pennsylvania
Gaming Control Board. His appointment fills the
last senior position open on the board.
NO NEWSLETTER NEXT WEEK
The entire HTA staff takes off this weekend for
Las Vegas and the fourth Racing Congress. We’ll
see you there, and there will be no Daily Executive Newsletter next week. In emergencies,
call the Bellagio, 702-693-7171 and ask for
convention registration desk #2.
February 13, 2006
HERE WE GO AGAIN
DIGGING OUT IN PENNS WOODS
We’re back from a highly successful Racing Congress that drew 600 racing executives and officials, and the Internet Boys are back at their
desks in Washington conjuring up more stew on
Internet betting. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, is planning to introduce a new bill,
perhaps as early as this week, that would amend
the federal Wire Act and expand it to include
cable, satellite, microwave and fixed or mobile
facilities. It is hoped, of course, that racing will
be exempted, and while the American Horse
Council is optimistic, we remain nervous when
these folks start messing with legislation in a
Congress hostile to, or at least largely unconcerned about, racing. Rep. James Leach, Republican of Iowa, also is back with his Unlawful
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which includes a prohibition against use of credit cards,
wire transfers or any other banking instruments,
and Leach is working with another Republican,
Arizona’s Jon Kyl, who is still determined to pass
his Internet prohibition bill. Fasten your seat
belts.
Not the snow blanketing Pennsylvania, but the slow
moving political logjam of who gets what in distributing slot machines in the state. The seven
Gaming Control Board members who will decide
this ponderous decision have been unable to decide whether to allow distributors to operate statewide or break Pennsylvania into regions, the better to hand out political plums. A resolution finally
is expected today. All those who think the pols
will break up the state into regions, raise your
hands.
AG SPITS ON CONGRESS
“The will of Congress” has a nice ring to it, but
when bureaucrats are determined to circumvent
it they can, and do. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture, mindful of -- and scornful of -- Congressional intent on stopping the slaughter of
horses for exportation as food, has decided to
rewrite Congressional law. Congress effectively
stopped commercial horse slaughter by shutting
off inspection of the meat, but the Department
of Agriculture decided on an end run that will
permit the three major slaughterhouses in this
country to continue on their merry way. Starting March 10, the slaughterhouses merely need
to take over payment of federal inspectors, thus bypassing Congressional action that would have stopped the practice.
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that “undaunted by a two-year string of legislative defeats,
several organizations representing the gambling
industry are poised to renew the fight to bring Las
Vegas-style games to Texas when lawmakers are
called back to Austin in the spring to overhaul the
state’s school finance system.” The usual and
logical argument for expansion -- competition -was put forth by Bill Stinson, an Austin lobbyist
who represents the Fort Worth Stockyards, one
hopeful aspirant, when he said, “We are completely surrounded by states that have casinos,
horse racing, you name it. It doesn’t make sense
to me why we would drive billions of dollars across
state lines when we could keep that money right
here in Texas.”
2,100 SEEK JOBS AT TIOGA
It may be small, but it’s mighty in the eyes of the
job hungry residents of the area around
Binghamton, NY. Some 2,100 applicants have
applied for the 375 jobs that will need to be filled
when the track opens in May. Applications still
are rolling in, as many as 30 a day, and state senator Thomas W. Libous, a Binghamton Republican,
calls the procession “one of the most exciting
job creation initiatives ever in our community.”
February 14, 2006
KY POLS STALL DRUG REFORM
PUT UP AND MAKE A CHOICE
You knew this would happen, so it comes as no
surprise. After months of working on badly needed
reform of Kentucky’s medication rules and arriving at sensible regulations, the Kentucky Horse
Racing Authority and its Equine Drug Research
Council saw their work nullified by politicians on
the Administrative Regulation Review Committee. Kentucky’s thoroughbred horsemen played
their trump card, and the committee shot down
the proposals as lacking sufficient guidance on
what might constitute a violation for some 50
therapeutic medications. The setback is particularly significant since the Racing Medication and
Testing Consortium is headquartered in Lexington, and the legislative committee’s decision not
to approve the recommendations by keeping them
bottled up in committee is a slap in the face to
that national scientific group. Rep. Jimmie Lee,
an Elizabethtown Democrat who has echoed the
horsemen’s and Kentucky vets arguments, said,
“You haven’t given them what the standards are.”
So Kentucky continues on its permissive path,
and reverts to racing rules that racing officials
in the state called “clearly inadequate in terms
of providing the Racing Authority with the power
and leverage it needs in order to effectively enforce its drug and medication rules.” Politicians,
not scientists or regulators, now will handle that
job for the horsemen.
New York state’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing isn’t sure how to proceed on the
sale of the New York Racing Association
tracks, so it is asking applicants to make the
choice themselves. Those who bid on the franchise can either opt to leave the system of racing as it is, change it moderately, or change it
radically. Bernadette Castro, the lady-in-waiting for a Racing and Wagering Board job who
currently is a member of the Future committee, said applicants can bid on the basis of
whichever approach they favor, and also should
have the option to include OTBs in their proposals. Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee chairman Gary Pretlow, speaking from
his position as a legislator, indicated no radical reform would be welcome, saying, “I
wouldn’t count on any sweeping changes in racing law. That doesn’t happen here. My gut feeling is people would rather keep it the way it is
rather than change the franchise.”
YOUBET CLOSES ON UNITED
Youbet.com has closed on its $31.9 million purchase of United Tote, also assuming $14.7 million in United Tote debt. Chuck Champion,
Youbet’s chief executive, said United would operate as a “fully independent subsidiary” of
Youbet, and that Youbet management would not
be directly involved in United operations. United
Tote was the only major supplier that declined to participate financially in last
week’s Racing Congress.
A CHANGING CAST IN RACING
The knights are moving in the chess game that is
racing. In Pennsylvania, John Marshall has been
named vice president and general manager of
Pennsylvania racing operations for Magna Entertainment, overseeing The Meadows as he replaces
Drew Shubeck, who has moved on to become general manager of Lone Star Park in Texas. In Illinois, Tom Carey III has departed Hawthorne Race
Course as president and general manager. His
cousin Tim Carey replaces him as president and
Ed Duffy steps in as general manager. At Saratoga
Gaming and Raceway, Jamie Hartman has been
named executive vice president and general manager. In Maryland, Lou Raffetto now is president
of the Maryland Jockey Club, while Joe DeFrancis
remains as chief executive officer and takes on
new duties with the MJC’s owner, Magna
Entertainment.
GOODLATTE BILL TOMORROW
February 15, 2006
U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican congressman, will introduce his latest
Internet Gambling Prohibition Act tomorrow
morning. Goodlatte’s office, in announcing the
reintroduction of the measure that was previously introduced in both the 106th and 107th Congresses, blamed it defeat in those sessions to
“Jack Abramoff’s campaign of misinformation.”
The releases said “Abramoff’s total disregard
for the legislative process has allowed Internet
gambling to continue thriving and it’s now a $12
billion industry.” The release said passage of
the bill was “vital to protect our children and
communities from the problems of addiction,
crime, bankruptcy, and family difficulties that
come from gambling.” It is not known at the
moment if the bill exempts racing, as previous
versions did.
Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee, which acted after a lawyer hired by the
thoroughbred veterinarians presented testimony which may have been inaccurate. The
Herald-Leader reported, “The new rules put
Kentucky in the lead among states in limiting
race-day medications, instead of at the back of
the pack where we had been for decades. Enforcing those rules with strict penalties will tell
the world we’re serious about clean racing in
Kentucky. Unfortunately, because of the delay
in the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee, there’s a good chance those penalties won’t be in place before the Kentucky
Derby, when the world will be watching Kentucky Racing.” Or perhaps anytime after that,
if the pols have their way. The Subcommittee
apparently is satisfied remaining at the back
of the pack.
GURAL OPTS FOR NEW GROUP
US AG DEPT. CHALLENGED
Jeff Gural, moving forward after a federal bankruptcy judge approved his plan for reorganization of Vernon Downs, has informed Ken Jacobs,
president of the new horsemen’s group –The
Vernon Downs Harness Horse Association – that
he plans to sign a contract with them March 1.
The group was formed in the wake of displeasure of many Vernon horsemen at the unsuccessful $9.5 million suit filed by the Harness
Horse Association of Central New York, which
was thrown out of court. Jacobs claims his group
now represents the majority of horsemen at
Vernon Downs.
A group of six animal rights organizations have
filed a suit against officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hoping to get the Department to reverse its end-run around the will of
Congress. The group is a formidable coalition,
consisting of the American Humane Association,
the SPCA, the Animal Welfare Institute, the
Doris Day Animal League, the Humane Society
of the United States, and the Society for Animal
Protective Legislation. It acted after Mike
Johanns, secretary of the Department of Agriculture, and Food Safety and Inspection Administrator Barbara Masters, gave their approval
to a plan in which the nation’s three horse
slaughterhouses could pay for inspection services, thereby thwarting the will of Congress
which had voted to prohibit tax dollars to be used
for the purpose. That measure passed the House
269-158 and the Senate 69-28 before the Ag bureaucrats stepped in and substituted their
judgment for that of Congress.
HERALD LEADER JOINS FRAY
Kentucky’s Lexington Herald-Leader has editorialized about the legislative tabling of new
medication rules proposed unanimously
by
both the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority and its Equine Drug Testing
Council. The new rules were blocked by an
February 16, 2006
ANOTHER ALLEN TRAGEDY
GOODLATTE INTRODUCES BILL
The Carl Allen family has encountered another
disaster. They lost the patriarch and highly popular father, Carl, in a tractor accident in May of
2004, and now Mike Allen, son of Mae Jean and
Carl, is in critical condition in a Gainesville,
Florida, hospital after suffering severe head injuries when his motorcycle struck a Lexus SUV.
According to USTA reports, Mike, who worked
with the breeding stock at the family’s Golden
Cross farm near Ocala, was riding his motorcycle near the farm when the SUV pulled in front
of him. His bike hit the SUV, catapulting Mike
over the vehicle and onto the highway. He was
air lifted to the medical center in Gainesville,
where it was determined he suffered severe hemorrhaging around the brain stem. He is in intensive care at the hospital, under heavy sedation
and on a respirator, according to his brother
Martin, a veterinarian. The Allen family’s address is 12662 NW US Highway 27, Ocala, FL,
34482.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia introduced his
Internet Gambling Prohibition Act as promised this
morning, and as in the previous versions that fell
short of passage, horse racing is excluded from
the prohibition as long as its activities comply with
the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978. Goodlatte
attributed previous failures of the bill to Jack
Abramoff’s lobbying. Let’s hope the exemption
holds.
ARBITRATION AT MONTICELLO
In hopes of ending the bitter stalemate between
Monticello Raceway and its horsemen, both sides
now have agreed to allow the New York Racing
and Wagering Board to arbitrate the dispute.
Where, when and how long that will take is not
known, but the agreement will allow racing to resume with higher purses and allow simulcast signals to be received from out-of-state tracks. The
horsemen had pulled the plug on those signals when
negotiations ground to a halt. The primary issue
in the disagreement is the percentage of profits
from video slots that will go to horsemen in purses.
The Racing and Wagering Board has been issuing
dates a month at a time in the absence of a contract, but the likelihood now is that after the
arbitration sessions a full season of racing dates will be allocated to the Catskill
track.
WAR PLANS IN KENTUCKY
The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority was
“strategizing” today as to their options in the face
of the politicalization of drug testing in the state.
After a legislative committee undid the work of
the Authority and its Equine Drug Testing Council, the Authority is considering whether to ask Gov.
Ernie Fletcher to sign another emergency regulation to replace the one that expired yesterday, or
to simply revert to the regulations that were in effect before the Authority took action three months
ago. Authority executive director Jim Gallagher
said he thought the group could get new emergency
rules enacted.
AROUND AND ABOUT
At Buffalo Raceway, former HTA executive assistant and Maryland Jockey Club vice president
Jim Mango has shaken things up as the track’s
new chief operating officer. Veteran Buffalo News
racing writer Bob Summers, in a four-column wide
report under a headline, “Mango gets off to a fast
start at Buffalo Raceway,” noted Jim’s changes
that include a 6:35 p.m. post, 13-race cards, the
infusion of new driving talent from the Midwest
and east, and increased marketing and promotional
activity. At Flamboro Downs, GM Gerard Spoor
announced a 5% across-the-board purse hike. In
Goshen, NY, Moni Maker and Matt’s Scooter
were announced as new inductees into the
Living Horse Hall of Fame.
February 17, 2006
NOW FOR THE SHOWDOWN
THE END OF THE WORLD
The federal bankruptcy judge has spoken, the financing is in place. Now comes the showdown as
to whether horsemen racing at Vernon Downs want
to race or not, whether they want to get back into
action or prolong the shutdown of the central New
York harness center. New owner Jeff Gural and
his backers have signed a contract with the recently formed Vernon Downs Harness Horse Association, whose president Ken Jacobs called the
agreement “a very good contract for the horsemen,” and added that his members were “very
happy” with the deal. The Harness Horse Association of Central New York, which has represented
Vernon horsemen in the past, has announced it will
contest the issue, and the New York Racing and
Wagering Board almost certainly will have to monitor an election to see which of the two groups has
a majority of Vernon horsemen as members. So
the long drawn issue will be resolved by the people
whose welfare is most at stake, the horsemen. If
the new group can muster a majority, Vernon
Downs can be back racing by early summer. If it
can’t, Gural either will have to cut a deal with the
old association, or Vernon could lose another racing year.
World Trotting Derby, that is. Horsemen in Illinois are asking Gov. Rod Blagojevich to cancel the million dollar World Trotting Derby at
DuQuoin after this year’s racing and reallocate
the money to Illinois-bred or owned horses. Tex
Moats, a longtime Illinois harness trainer who
now is bureau chief of County Fairs and Horse
Racing at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, is quoted by Horseman and Fair World’s
harnessracing.com as saying, “We’re losing a
lot of horses and broodmares and stallions and
I just think that million dollars would help us
right now. I’m looking for a solution to give
Illinois horsemen a shot in the arm.” The
World Trotting Derby was instituted after Illinois lost the Hambletonian to the Meadowlands
25 years ago, but entries in the rich race have
dropped in recent years, with only six horses
starting in both the 2004 and 2005 renewals.
MONTICELLO GETS EXTENSION
With both sides agreeing to allow the New York
Racing and Wagering Board to arbitrate their dispute, the Board has agreed to take on the task of
adjudicating the differences between horsemen and
management at Monticello Raceway in the
Catskills, and has granted the track the right to
race through June 30. This war has been waged
for two years, with the horsemen claiming the track
reneged on the share of VLT proceeds, health benefits and administrative payments. Monticello
says horsemen will receive 7.5% of VLT net revenues and reinstated health benefits, and
the horsemen have agreed to allow out-ofstate simulcasting on Monti races to resume.
SOMEONE CARES IN KY HOUSE
The members of the Administrative Regulations
Review Subcommittee in Kentucky may not care
about the state’s woeful reputation on medication issues, but one member of the House who
likes racing obviously is concerned about racing in the state. Rep. Joe Barrows, who represents three central Kentucky counties, has introduced legislation calling for a referendum on
whether Kentucky’s eight racetracks can have
racinos. The president of the Kentucky Senate, David Williams, a Republican who opposes
the idea, said, “The battle has begun about
Kentucky’s future.”
JOE VACCARO DEAD AT 74
Joseph A. Vaccaro, one of the founders of the New
England chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers and
that chapters’s secretary-treasurer for 44 years,
has died at 74 in Pompano Beach, Florida.
IT WOULDN’T BE FIRST TIME
With the deadline for an American response to
a World Trade Organization ruling on restricting Internet gambling little more than a month
away, the government of little Antigua and
Barbuda, which won the WTO edict, says the
U.S. is making no effort to bring its laws into
international line. The lead attorney for the
Caribbean country, Mark Mendel, says he suspects the United States’ overall strategy in the
case is to do nothing. John Ashe, AntiguaBarbuda’s WTO ambassador, wrote to U.S. trade
representative Rob Portman last week, saying,
“The apparent lack of movement by the United
States to comply with the rulings and recommendations of the DSB (dispute settlement body)
leads our government to be extremely concerned
with the intentions of the United States.” Since
the population of Antigua and Barbuda is only
80,000 and its economy is .007% of the United
States, the prospect of that little country imposing reciprocal trade sanctions would mean nothing, so it may well be right that doing nothing is
the current U.S. policy. Christin Baker, a
spokeswoman for Portman, denies this, saying
the US “is exploring a number of different avenues to clarify there is no discrimination -- even
outside of legislation. We are in active discussions within the executive branch, with Congress
and also with the private sector to determine the
best way to move forward.” Better hurry,
Christin. April 3, the deadline date for compliance, is just around the corner.
GUESS WHO’S AT OLYMPICS
Betfair. The English-based betting exchange,
which is wheedling its way everywhere it can, minimizes its role, or possible impact, on Olympic
sports. After Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, expressed concern about sports betting, on
the Olympics, Betfair responded.
February 20, 2006
It said, “The average run of the mill horse race on
a wet weekday in winter will see more than one
million pounds matched. An average Premiership
football game would see something like five million matched. In comparison, even the highest
profile Olympic event would only rarely see one
million matched.” The Betfair spokesman,
Stephen Burn, also said, “People have been betting on the Olympics since the Games began. The
choice the IOC faces is a simple one: it can work
with properly regulated, legitimate betting businesses, like our own, or it can turn its back on us
and look down on the industry with some outdated
air of moral indignation. What it can’t do is stop
people punting on its events because there will always be unscrupulous and illegal operators looking to exploit vulnerable, corrupt or greedy athletes and punters.” Which, we assume, is precisely
why Jacques Rogge is concerned.
BELLING THE OFFSHORE CAT
The California Horse Racing Board is considering what options it may have to legally curtail offshore piracy or capture of big bettors.
The board chairman, Richard Shapiro, correctly
believes that it is “a very serious problem....
that is robbing racing of major revenues and is
affecting every aspect of the industry.”
Charles (Chuck) Champion, Youbet’s CEO and
president, says 1,650 customers a day download information from Youbet.com but do not
place bets with the company. He says getting
law enforcement interested is difficult, and calls
it futile, noting that the justice department has
shown no appetite to pursue the issue.
Champion’s solution -- he bought offshore International Racing Group last year -- may be a
lesson racing is ignoring but will have to embrace. Champion says racing hates the idea of
discounting its product by offering rebates, but
if we can’t beat rebaters we may have to
join them.
February 21, 2006
NOW THE FIGHT FOR $384,000
ONLINE USING FOREIGN BANKS
Having lost their capricious gambit to get blood
from a stone, the Harness Horse Association of
Central New York, which vainly sued Mid-State
Raceway for $9.5 million, now hopes to get its
hands on the $384,000 that bankruptcy judge
Stephen Gerling ruled Mid-State must pay to
Vernon Downs’ purse account. The issue is which
association will represent horsemen, the old HHA
or the new Vernon Downs Harness Horse
Assocition. The old group’s contract expires this
week, and its attorney, Joe Faraldo, says he does
not believe it will be renewed. That’s a reasonable assumption, since the new group says it has
signed a contract with major shareholder Jeff
Gural. Another financial deadline faces Gural and
his American Racing and Entertainment group this
week, with a $15 million deposit due.
Red Herring, a newsletter on technology, quotes a
gambling industry researcher this week as predicting new Internet gambling legislation before Congress will “go down in flames.” Christopher
Costigan, president of Gambling911.com, thinks
that despite the support of 115 members of Congress and “an array of anti-gambling, religious and
conservative groups,” the recently proposed law
to outlaw online gambling will fail. Costigan told
the newsletter, “The law makes it more difficult
for banks to accept credit cards for online gambling purposes, but the Patriot Act has already done
that. The online gambling firms are using overseas banks for these purposes.” Costigan thinks
those supporting the bill, including the Christian
Coalition, the National Coalition Against Gambling
Expansion, and the Family Research Council,
among others, ultimately will torpedo it. Every
time they have tried to pass this bill, he says, the
religious groups have ended up opposing it because of exemptions the bill picks up along the
way.
CHANGES AT GREAT CANADIAN
Co-founder and chief executive officer Ross
McLeod has taken over as president of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, following the sudden
resignation of president Anthony Martin. Martin
stepped down after the Vancouver track and casino
operator announced a profit warning, saying its earnings before taxes in the fourth quarter would be in
the $9 million to $11 million range, as opposed to a
forecast by an analyst of $20 million. The warning
triggered a 20% drop in Great Canadian shares,
and Martin took responsibility for the lackluster
results. His resignation was accepted by the board
of Great Canadian last Friday. McLeod said he
would assume the presidency for the time being,
but would not predict other changes before another
board meeting is held this coming Saturday. He
said the company might have a president for the
West and another for the East. Great Canadian,
with 5,200 employees, expanded greatly in the l a s t
year, adding Flamboro Downs, Georgian
Downs, Fraser Downs and Sandown Park
to its roster.
ORC MOVING TO THE AIRPORT
For the record, the Ontario Racing Commission is
relocating its offices, moving from downtown
Toronto to a spot near the Toronto airport and
Woodbine. Effective March 6, the ORC will be
located at 10 Carlson Court, Suite 400, Toronto,
Ontario M9W 6L2. The phone number will be
416-213-0520.
BENEDICT LEAVES UNITED
Bruce Benedict, who has traveled the pari-mutuel
world as executive VP of International Sales for
United Tote, has formed an independent consulting company, Global View Enterprises. Bruce’s
new company is located at 57 Alpine Drive in
Latham, NY, 12110 and he can be reached at
[email protected] or at 518-7861810 or cell 518-334-0918.
CONGRESS VIDEO ONLINE
Video streaming of all general sessions of the
Racing Congress at Bellagio, including Terry
Lanni’s presentation, now is available on HTA’s
Web site home page, www.harnesstracks.com. We
thank Roberts Communications for its generous
assistance in this project again this year. Although
all sessions currently are online, editorial coordinator Jessica Carner will be providing new and
additional textual information, including speaker
identifications, and refining the presentations, in
the next few days, on receipt of CDs of the entire
package from Roberts. Lighting and video and
audio remain as produced by Bellagio’s audio-visual department, and we cannot improve on that,
but all sessions are available in their entirety, and
will remain up indefinitely on our Web site home
page.
MORE HEAT IN PENNSYLVANIA
The Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission,
which lost two of its members after the Brian
Sears fiasco last summer, now is defending itself
against charges of discrimination after a crowd
estimated at between 300 and 600 turned up on
one of the coldest days of winter to protest the
commission’s turndown of a track application
from Bedford Downs. The community rally was
organized by the Lawrence county chapter of the
NAACP -- the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- although no African-Americans are involved in either license application in western Pennsylvania to our knowledge. The NAACP became involved, according
to its local chapter president Evelyn Ward, because it believed there had been discrimination
against the Carmen Schick family based on its
Italian heritage. During the application hearings,
the commission raised the issue of loans
from people with reputed ties to organized
crime to Mr. Schick’s grandfather,
Carmen D. Ambrosia.
February 22, 2006
Mr. Schick did not deny the loans, but claimed,
“My grandfather was conned. He was old. He
had a lot of money and he got set up. He was
used.” The commission had cited the loans, but
had stated they did not think the present Schick
family had any ties with organized crime. Despite that, the NAACP felt Mr. Schick’s Italian
heritage was a factor in his rejection and objected
to what it saw as ethnic bias. Anton Leppler, executive director of the Pennsylvania Harness
Racing Commission, said he was “incensed” at
the comments, and called the allegation, “ A low
water mark in this process of licensing a new harness track.” He noted the commission is holding
a job fair today in Chester, PA, where there is a
sizeable black population that will be considered
for several thousand jobs that will become available at the new Harrah’s casino and harness track
will open there soon. And he said, “The
commission’s decision on the Bedford Downs
application was based on the facts and circumstances derived from evidentiary hearings and
not on anyone’s ethnic affiliation or background.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reporting on the
community meeting support for the Schicks and
their project, wrote, “The speeches about
Carmen Schick sounded premature. Most people
only have such nice things said about them at
their funeral.”
HOW NICE! VOTERS GET INPUT
Racing officials in Florida have begun working on
rules for slots at Pompano Park and other Broward
county tracks, and are going to let the people who
voted for them have a say on how to regulate them.
Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering’s David
Roberts says voters will have a chance to comment on the rules during two days of a public workshop in Hollywood, Florida, on March 14 and 15.
The legislature has given the division until June
1 to establish the rules and procedures for
the slots.
NJ GETS SPORTS BETTING BILL
New Jersey state legislators are challenging federal law again, seeking sports betting for the
state’s Atlantic City casinos. A bill --Assembly
#1046 -- was introduced today, calling for a referendum next November to allow licensed casinos in Atlantic City to conduct in-person wagering on professional sports events under regulation by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. As defined in the bill, betting would
not include wagering on events on which the participants do not receive compensation for participation, or in which any participant represents
a public or private school or institution of higher
learning, any amateur or collegiate game or
match, any running race or harness horse race,
and any professional wrestling match. In order
to place a wager on a sports event, the patron
would have to be physically located in the sports
wagering lounge of the casino. Sports betting
would be subject to the existing 8% casino gross
revenue tax. Assemblyman Louis Greenwald,
one of four sponsors of the bill, denied that the
discussion arose because of an indictment earlier this month of an illegal sports betting ring
based in New Jersey. “This is something we’ve
been working on for four years,” he said. The
bill challenges federal law that limits legal sports
betting to the states of Delaware, Nevada, Oregon and Montana. New Jersey missed a deadline 12 years ago that grandfathered those
states from prohibition of legal sports betting.
HTA has copies of the bill introduced today for
any interested members.
February 23, 2006
KEEP -- an organization of racing industry advocates -- also has a bill, which specifies how the
state’s 35% share would be spent. They were told
in firm tones yesterday by the speaker pro tem,
Larry Clark of Louisville, that no breakdown of
spending would be included in any amendment if
he had a say. “I will not support it and I’ll work
against it,” the speaker said, and went farther. “I’m
going to put you on notice,” he told KEEP officials. “If you stay the course, it will be DOA.”
That’s clear enough, Larry.
KY HOUSE PASSES FRAUD BILL
The Kentucky House did take action on another
matter yesterday. It passed, 84-14, a measure
requiring disclosure of dual agency, where a
bloodstock agent represents both buyer and
seller and takes commissions from both. The
measure requires a written bill of sale with commissions disclosed, and provides for triple damages and costs and attorneys fees for aggrieved
parties. Agents could receive a gratuity, fee or
compensation up to $500. The measure now goes
to the Senate.
HERE COMES HILTON
The Hilton Group, soon to become Ladbrokes
once the multi-billion dollar sale of its hotels business to Hilton Hotels in the U.S. is completed today, plans to review its position of not accepting
U.S. customers to its online gambling sites. “We
always review our position,” CEO Christopher Bell
told reporters. “We’re the biggest online brand
that doesn’t take U.S. players, and we’re going to
review that even quicker this year.”
KENTUCKY CREEPING CLOSER
Democratic legislators in Kentucky are working
on a compromise casino bill that they hope will
pass muster in coming weeks. The plan calls f o r
licenses at five Kentucky tracks and four
other locations. The proposal calls for
separate legislation to determine shares.
JEANNOT SAYS LATE 2006
That’s the earliest that Mike Jeannot, vice president of The Meadows near Pittsburgh, sees as a
possible date for slots operation in Pennsylvania. And that, Mike says, is if everything
goes well.
OPTIONS ON VEGAS VIDEOS
The streaming video of all panels at the Las Vegas Racing Congress, currently on the home page
of our Web site www.harnesstracks.com courtesy
of Roberts Communications, provides instantaneous replay. If for any reason you choose to
download the panels separately, at an obvious cost
in time, you can do so, courtesy of HTA editorial
coordinator Jessica Carner. Either way, sit back
and enjoy. Printed transcripts of the proceedings
will be available at a later date.
INTERESTING NOTES IN NJ
Yesterday’s discussions and aftermaths of the proposal for sports betting in New Jersey’s Assembly
Tourism and Gaming Committee provide some interesting commentary. The bill was discussed for
more than three hours, and survived the discussion to move on to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee. If approved there, it would go to the
Senate for consideration. Senator William L.
Gormley, a political power in the state whose district includes Atlantic City, made it abundantly and
originally clear as to his views. “This doesn’t have
a chance, and I don’t want to see one waiter, one
waitress, any individual in that district think there
is a chance of something that can’t happen.” Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, the chairman of the
Tourism committee, wasn’t so sure of that. “I don’t
believe it’s dead,” he said. “I believe it is a long
shot, but I believe it is a real shot, and I’ll tell you
why. I believe there are serious flaws in the federal law.” He was referring to federal statutes
which prohibit sports betting except in four states
where it was grandfathered 12 years ago, New
Jersey’s neighbor Delaware being one of them.
New governor Jon Corzine tossed water on the
idea, saying, “Even if we had it, we wouldn’t be
able to do it because of the national legislation.”
But he left the door open, saying, “To enhance Atlantic City over a period of time,
it’s worthy of consideration.”
February 24, 2006
Yesterday’s hearing drew some heated differences
of opinion between Senator Gormley and committee chairman Van Drew. Gormley told the chairman that considering the matter was “a cruel hoax,”
but some lawyers who testified said they thought
the federal law was vulnerable. The New Jersey
Sports and Exposition Authority sent a letter saying that if the matter went further it should include
the race tracks, and harness racing lobbyist Leon
Zimmerman made that point as well. When he told
chairman Van Drew -- a strong opponent of slots
at tracks -- “If you’re not going to give us slots
you should at least give us sports betting,” Van
Drew smiled and said, “We are going to look at
that.” Thoroughbred interests also were represented at the hearing, and while not advocating
sports betting they made the point that if it is approved, the state’s racetracks should share in the
revenues.
AN OWNER RAISES HELL IN CA
In an interesting twist, a thoroughbred owner has
enlarged a medication violation flap in California.
The incident began Sept. 3 when veterinarian Amy
Lee Nevans gave Intercontinental, the Eclipse winner for top female turf horse of last year, a shot of
Salix at 12:10 p.m., three hours and 25 minutes before post time, rather than the allowable four hours
(or 3 hours and 45 minutes with grace period). It
was a stakes race, and Intercontinental breezed as
the 3-10 favorite. Six weeks after the incident, Dr.
Nevens was fined $750 for falsifying records. She
entered a permissible time beforehand, then got tied
up with other horses and was late administering
Intercontinental’s shot. A surveillance camera recorded the time. Jim Ford, whose Katdogawn finished fourth in the race, wants the $120,000 purse
money redistributed. Former associate steward
Gina Powell, who quit in protest, says she told racing officials before the race the shot was administered late. Trainer Bobby Frankel brushed it
off, saying “it happens all the time.”
February 27, 2006
PRICE OF SLOTS JUST WENT UP
GERTMENIAN’S PRICE IS DOWN
Something called the Maryland Tax Education
Foundation, identified by itself as “a non partisan, non profit research institute focusing on tax
and budget issues in Maryland,”and by
bloodhorse.com as “a conservative research
group that has gotten into racing and gambling
battles in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio,”
now has injected itself in the New York NYRA
situation. Although it says in a disclaimer that
“Nothing in this paper is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Maryland Tax
Education Foundation, or as an attempt to influence the passage, defeat, approval or disapproval of any legislation or any other matter before the New York State Legislature, the Governor, or any other state or local agency or official,” that’s exactly what it does, and obviously
was intended to do. The Executive Summary
says “As the State of Maryland faces similar
issues regarding VLTs and the future of
horseracing, the Maryland Tax Education Foundation has sponsored this study. It was conducted by Jeff Hooke, a Virginia investment
banker, and Thomas Firey, managing editor of a
publication produced by the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, and in essence it says the
value of New York tracks, VLTs and OTB assets is worth four times the figure assigned to
them last year by the late Friends of New York
Racing. The interest paid to New York by outside sources is indeed inspiring. According to
the Maryland study -- a copy is available online
on HTA’s Web site at www.harnesstracks.com
or in print form from HTA -- the New York package is worth $2.1 billion. The report concludes
VLT licenses at Aqueduct and Yonkers are worth
$1.426 billion at auction, the three New York
Racing Association tracks (Belmont, Aqueduct
and Saratoga) would bring $303 million,
and the OTB operations would be worth
$400 million.
The Jockeys’ Guild, holding its annual meeting
near Dallas almost three months late while it
sorted out its tattered funds, gave its members
the Wayne Gertmenian story today. As reported
in The Blood-Horse, the Guild’s legal counsel and
longtime lobbyist, Barry Broad, told the jocks that
Gertmenian personally netted almost $1.2 million during his three-year tenure as president, and
had used another Guild counsel to propose a new
employment contract that would give him years
of advance salary in the event he was terminated,
which he was last November. Broad said
Gertmenian had told him in the day he was fired,
“We’ve never been in better financial shape than
we are today. We have a $3.5 million war chest.”
Actually, the Guild was stripped of most of its assets at that time, Broad said, and “on the day
Gertmenian, counsel Lloyd Ownbey and vice
president Albert Fiss were fired, they emptied the
bank accounts and wrote themselves $100,000
checks.” Broad says Gertmenian is the subject
of a “very active” FBI investigation, and noted
that the Guild plans to sue him to try to recover
its money. Broad also indicated some jocks still
may believe in Gertmenian, telling the Guild members, “There are still people out there who think
the world is flat, and I’m sure somebody believes
in the Fairy Godmother. But I hope none of you
still believe in him.”
SOUND FAMILIAR?
In the wake of Katrina, Churchill Downs is facing
the issue of getting insurance on its new acquisition of Fair Grounds in New Orleans. The coverage would be under an umbrella policy covering
all Churchill tracks, according to Fair Grounds
president Randy South in the New Orleans TimesPicayune. Track insurance problems have been
handled for 26 years now by Wagering Insurance
NorthAmerica (WIN). Keep us in mind as
they arise.
February 28, 2006
JAPANESE BUY INTO BETFAIR
A BAD IDEA IN CALIFORNIA
Betfair, the English betting exchange that has
been spreading its wings around the world, has
extended its reach again. The company has
signed an agreement with Softbank, a Japanese
telecommunications and software company, under which the Softbank Group will acquire between 18 and 23% of Betfair. The parent of
Betfair, Sporting Exchange Limited, meanwhile
will facilitate an offer to its shareholders for a
minimum of 15% and a maximum of 20% of its
fully diluted share capital. The Sporting Exchange
then will offer Softbank Group another 3% of
primary shares. Betfair chairman Tim Bunting
called Softbank “the ideal partner for Betfair’s
ambitious expansion plans. It has a hugely successful track record in a number of related areas.” Softbank runs the Yahoo! broadcast service in Japan, and last fall it signed with the Iwate
Prefecture Horse Racing Association to become
Japan’s first company to offer betting online.
Starting in April, Betfair will begin taking Internet
bets on races at two tracks in Iwate Prefecture,
located some 250 miles north of Tokyo. Softbank
is headquartered there, and says if the venture
proves successful it will spread the service to
other regional tracks.
For reasons best known to itself, the California
Horse Racing Board is proposing to eliminate rules
requiring the coupling of horses as an entry when
common ownership is involved. The present rules
governing entries say, “Two or more horses shall
be coupled as a single wagering interest and as an
entry when such horses are owned in whole or part
by the same person or persons.” A second rule,
involving wagering interests, currently specifies,
“A wagering interest may be any one horse in a
race, or may be two or more horses coupled as a
single wagering interest as an ‘Entry’ or the ‘Field.’
A declaration or withdrawal of one horse from a
wagering interest which consists of more than one
horse shall have no effect on any wagers made on
such wagering interest.” California has been encountering short fields. If that is the justification
for the uncoupling of common interest entries, it is
a bad idea, and should be opposed during the 45day public notice period that runs from now until
April 10. A public hearing then is scheduled for
April 27 at the racing board’s annual meeting,
where interested parties can speak.
GOOD FOR KY; CORNELL OK’D
Give another gold star to the Kentucky Racing
Authority and its executive director Jim
Gallagher. They approved use of the Cornell
Collar yesterday, under specified conditions. The
collar was developed at Cornell as an alternative
to throat surgery to correct displaced palates,
which can affect a horse’s air flow and breathing.
Under the approval, a trainer must provide a letter from a vet saying the collar is justified, and
once in use must be kept in use until a vet
says it is no longer appropriate. The collar already has been used in harness racing, and now is ok for runners.
A VERY BAD ONE IN DELAWARE
Harness horsemen in Delaware are asking the
Delaware Harness Racing Commission to allow
2-year-olds to race with phenylbutazone, better
known as Bute, in their system on race day. It
is a very bad idea, and the commission should
reject it out of hand. No horsemen showed up
at the commission meeting to advocate it, but
Sal DiMario, executive director of the Delaware
Standardbred Owners Association, did, saying
“six or seven horsemen” asked him for the
change. To the credit of racing commissioner
Bob Everett, he pushed for a delay to April to
consider the matter, saying quite a few horsemen he has spoken to are totally against the
idea. We hope they, and not DeMario’s “six
or seven,” prevail.
March 1, 2006
PINHOOKING PAYS
A LITTLE FRAUD IS TOO MUCH
At least it did yesterday, when it provided racing
with its biggest story in months. Pinhooking, of
course, is buying a colt or filly with the intention
of reselling it, and yesterday trainer Randy
Hartley and his partner Dean De Renzo of
Florida, who paid $425,000 for a yearling last
July, sold him at the 2-year-old-in-training sale in
the paddock of Calder Race Course for $16 million. The buyer was agent Demi O’Byrne, acting
as agent for owners John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derek Smith who operate as Coolmore.
O’Byrne locked horns with John Ferguson, who
represents Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al
Maktoum of Dubai, and the agents for the two
top buyers in thoroughbred racing battled until
Ferguson tossed in the towel. Bidding on the colt
as a yearling in July at the Fasig-Tipton sale,
Hartley gave up, but just before the hammer fell
De Renzo raised his hand, getting the colt for his
$425,000 bid. When asked yesterday if he would
sell another horse this year, De Renzo told a reporter, “I don’t have to sell another horse in my
life. But I’ll stay in the game because I love it.
We’ll probably reinvest the money in horses.
They’ve done a lot for us.” The colt, a spectacularly handsome Forestry colt bred by Satish
Sanan’s Padua Stable, had shown a blazing workout on Feb. 19. Boyd Browning, COO of FasigTipton, said of the colt, “He’s a beautiful horse,
and he withstood the scrutiny of all the major
buyers all week long. The two major buyers in
the world got hooked up in an emotional bidding
situation, and sometimes logic doesn’t prevail.”
Like yesterday.
That was the reaction of Jess Jackson, the thoroughbred owner-breeder whose lawsuit against
two agents and a trainer led to legislation currently in the Kentucky Senate. The House
passed a bill, 84-14, requiring full disclosure of
commissions for agents in selling horses, but the
House also added amendments providing that
an agent may receive $500 from a third party,
instead of an original restriction of $100, and
exempting transactions of $10,000 or less for
show horses. Jackson was referring to those
amendments, and called the legislation “vanilla.”
The Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee passed the amended legislation yesterday
by unanimous vote.
TOP MANAGERS AVAILABLE
Two experienced race track managers are available, and HTA has resumes on both. These are
consummate professionals, and if you are
interested write or call for resumes and
additional information.
In another bill introduced in the Kentucky legislature, workers’ compensation would be provided for jockeys and exercise riders with creation of a Kentucky Jockey Injury Corporation
and Kentucky Jockey Injury Fund purchasing
the coverage, with trainers paying for exercise
riders and tracks and owners paying into the
Injury Fund, expected to require $1.2 million a
year to finance.
MCCAIN WOULD LIMIT TRIBES
Senator John McCain of Arizona said yesterday
that he hopes to eliminate a procedure that currently allows Indian tribes to buy land outside their
reservations for casino construction. At present,
a two-part determination by the Secretary of the
Interior permits such purchases and construction
if it is deemed in the best interest of the tribe and
will not be detrimental to the surrounding community, and the governor of the state where the land
is located agrees. McCain says he believes that
process often bears no historic relationship to the
tribes, given their developer financial backers,
and he feels the policy “is fostering opposition to all Indian gaming.”
March 2, 2006
GURAL TELLS IT LIKE IT IS
POCONO STILL PLANS APRIL 1
Jeff Gural, hoping to take title to Vernon Downs
by April 1 and resume racing at the central New
York track in June, told the Utica Observer-Dispatch that he has committed about a million dollars to purses with the new Vernon Downs Harness Horsemen’s Association, but that he would
not have done so with the old Harness Horse Association of Central New York. “Rick Papa (president of the Central organization) and his group
wants to keep Vernon Downs closed longer. It
shows why I don’t want to deal with him.” The
issue of which horsemen’s group will be accredited now is before the New York Racing and Wagering Board, which says it will make a decision
“in a few weeks.” Under the contract Gural signed
with the Vernon Downs association, the track will
have 90 programs of live racing for the next five
years, with a minimum nightly purse distribution
of $30,000. Horsemen will get 8 to 8 1/4% of
VLT terminal proceeds and will get hospitalization
for members, with horsemen paying one-third of
the cost and the association paying the remaining
two-thirds. To be eligible, horsemen must race
once a month and 25 times during the meeting in
2007, or be a groom in good standing. The track
will charge $100 a month for stall rent this year
and next, then $125 a month for the 2008-9 seasons.
With only a month to go and much work remaining, Mohegan Sun at Pocono still is planning on its
scheduled April 1 opening. Other than for the
track and outside dimensions of the clubhouse,
northeast Pennsylvania fans will see a totally
new look at Pocono when it reopens. “They’ll
know where they are, because we haven’t
moved, but I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised,” says track president Robert Soper. The
interior of the clubhouse is being completely
remodeled, with a state-of-the-art simulcast facility on the lower level -- unused in recent years
-- and a new track entrance. The old grandstand
roof was removed and a third floor added for
offices. An entirely new building, a 400,000square-foot casino and entertainment complex,
costing some $140 million, will be built as soon
as a slot license is approved for the track. In
the course of construction, old buried structures
harking back to anthracite mining on the site
have been uncovered. Coal, anyone, while waiting for slots?
CHESTER TO OPEN SEPT. 10
Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack will open
its inaugural season of live harness racing Sunday, Sept. 10 and race 45 afternoons through Monday, Dec. 18, on a Sunday, Monday and Thursday
schedule. There will be no racing Thanksgiving
Day, but a card will be offered on Breeders’ Crown
Day Nov. 4. Simulcasting will be offered daily except for Christmas Day. The new track will reintroduce racing to the Philadelphia area on
a 5/8ths mile track, like its predecessors
Liberty Bell Park and Brandywine Raceway.
SLOTS TALK IN KENTUCKY
David Boswell, a state senator involved in the negotiations for a constitutional amendment to allow
racinos in Kentucky, said yesterday, after a meeting of the House Licensing and Occupations Committee, “We’re very, very close” to a compromise.
The negotiations involve Boswell’s plan, which
called for five racinos and four off-site casinos,
and a horse industry plan calling for racinos at all
eight tracks in the state. The committee chairman said the proposed amendment might die if it
doesn’t clear the committee by its meeting next
Wednesday. “If next week is not the time,” he
said, “then I think it’s probably a moot issue for
the session.”
TO ALL DIRECTORS
Please fill out and return your dues surveys.
Baby needs new shoes.
March 3, 2006
MAJOR RACE BILL IN ILLINOIS
CLOAK & DAGGER CONTROLLER
A bill that could have profound effect on horse racing in Illinois passed a key House Executive Committee yesterday, 9-3. Known as the Molaro bill
for the representative who introduced it, the bill,
with three amendments by Molaro, proposes the
following:
It may be politically incorrect and bad manners,
but we always grow skeptical and concerned over
controllers or district attorneys with political ambitions who announce ‘secret’ proceedings. The
latest is Alan Hevesi, state controller of New York,
who is reported to have a still-secret report about
“inappropriate” accounting for franchise fees by
the New York Racing Association. Somehow, conveniently, the secret report found its way into the
hands of James Odato, the capitol bureau writer
for the Albany Times Union, who wrote a story
with a lead paragraph reading, “The New York Racing Association shorted the state at least $30 million from 2000 to 2003 -- the same sum New York
plans to lend to NYRA -- according to a still-secret report by Controller Alan Hevisi.” Odato
noted that “Spokesmen for Hevesi would not say
why the audit has not yet been made public,” but
he used figures presumably in the report which
claim that “at least $37.3 million and as much as
$43 million” were misstated by NYRA over the
four-year period involved. The story, of course,
was enough to allow pols to charge that the state
was “throwing good money after bad money” with
the loans to NYRA. The man who catches this
kind of flak at NYRA, senior VP Bill Nader, said
he had not seen the audit, but noted that NYRA
and Hevesi’s office have been at odds over how to
calculate expense deductions that can lower franchise fee obligations. Whenever the leaked report is released officially, there will be more headlines and more bad press for racing.
Illinois riverboats, except for the Rock Island boat
that is exempted because of lower betting volume,
would pay 3% of their adjusted gross receipts to
the Horse Racing Equity Trust Fund, a non-appropriated fund separate from state monies, which
is administered by the Illinois Racing Board.
60% of all monies paid to the Fund would go to
purses, 57% of the total to thoroughbred purses
and 43% to harness purses.
40% of all monies paid into the fund would go to
track operators.
Every group of horsemen in Illinois, regardless of
breed, have endorsed the legislation, along with
the operators of Arlington Park, Balmoral Park,
Hawthorne and Maywood Park.
We will keep you informed of the bill’s progress.
CAL INCIDENT TO GET REVIEW
The late administration of Salix by a vet at Del
Mar, with an inaccurate record of injection
time, reported here last week, is not over. Racing board chairman Richard Shapiro has ordered an independent review, with Scott
Chaney, a steward, attorney and former assistant horse trainer, in charge. Shapiro says
Chaney will have full access to all personnel
and will act independently and without direction from the racing board staff or commissioners, and will report to a board
committee March 22.
TIOGA SIGNS WITH HORSEMEN
The Harness Horsemen of Central New York may
be fighting to the death (perhaps theirs) with Jeff
Gural, but at least he has signed with his horsemen at Tioga Downs in the southern tier near
Binghampton. Gural said it was nice to work with
people who understood he and his partners’
goal was to attract people back to harness
racing.
March 6, 2006
PA LICENSE ISSUE TO COURT
ILLINOIS HOUSE DELAYS VOTE
In an unusual move that indicates the importance
of the issue, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth
Court has announced all seven judges will sit en
banc next month to decide whether the state harness racing commission erred in not granting the
last Pennsylvania harness license to either
Bedford Downs or Valley View Downs. The court
said it will hear the matter April 5, when both
applicants’ cases for reconsideration also will
be heard. A Valley View spokesman, Rick Kelly,
said, “We take the fact that they want to hear it
en banc as very encouraging. It’s a signal of
the importance that the court is placing on this
and we’re very encouraged and optimistic.” Valley View, the name Centaur of Indiana has given
its project, argued that the commission’s decision was capricious, that board members misled
applicants, and that rules were changed after evidence was presented. Bedford Downs, the hopeful of the Carmen Shick family, based its appeal
on grounds that its application was denied not
on their own records, but because of an
ancestor’s reputed Mafia ties 20 years ago, when
Shick’s grandfather apparently loaned money to
disreputable borrowers. Both Bedford and Valley View argue that the racing commission’s task
was to choose the successful applicant, and that
rejecting both was not an option. The governor’s
office weighed in, according to the Pittsburgh
Post Gazette, which reported that a letter was
sent asking that the court require the racing commission to reconsider its decision. If it does, it
will be a different racing commission than the
one that ducked the issue. Two of the commissioners then sitting resigned since the rejection
and have been replaced by the governor. Both
applicants plan to build five-eighths mile harness
tracks, and both of course would be in line to
receive racino licenses under
Pennsylvania’s new slots laws. The
stakes are high in this one.
The Illinois House has delayed consideration of
the legislation that would give the state’s racetracks 3% of the gross receipts of nine Illinois
casino riverboats. The bill remains eligible for
a third reading, but it is uncertain when it might
be brought up for a vote. As proposed, the moneys would be deposited in a Horse Racing Equity Trust Fund, with 60% going to purses and
40% to track operators. Thoroughbreds would
get 57% of the fund, harness racing 43%. Illinois racing needs help, foal registrations having fallen from 3,529 in 1991 to 1,891 in 13 years
through 2004, the last year figures are available. Quality of the product has risen, however,
with Illinois-bred horses now competing successfully on a regular basis at the Meadowlands. Ontrack betting in Illinois has dropped almost in
half, from $835 million to $482 million in the
years indicated.
INDIANA OTB BILL MAY BE DEAD
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Indiana legislation that would have forced Kentucky tracks to sell their thoroughbred simulcasts to all tracks in Indiana, including those in
the southern Indiana OTBs that compete with
Churchill Downs for bettors, appears dead. A
bill addressing the issue failed to get a hearing
or a vote before a midnight deadline last Thursday, and no other pending legislation could be
used to which a simulcasting amendment might
be attached. HTA director Jon Schuster of Indiana Downs, which supported the bill, said he
still hopes the General Assembly might resurrect the legislation. That’s technically possible
because the language passed one chamber, making it eligible to be inserted into another bill during a conference committee. State senator Bob
Jackman, who introduced the bill, says rules
require similar subject matter for that to
happen, and no such bills exist.
March 7, 2006
INDIANA RACING BILLS DEAD
TRAINER ARRESTED, CRUELTY
The perils of an election year were more than
Indiana’s legislators could face, and House bill
1077, which would have given Hoosier’s two tracks
2,500 slot-like machines, died despite bipartisan
support when it failed to make the floor. Rick
Moore, president and general manager of HTA
member Hoosier Park, called the development
“very, very disappointing,” and said he was frustrated by the industry’s inability to get a hearing
to advance the legislation. Dying with the slots
bill was Senate Bill 24, the controversial proposal
to force Kentucky tracks to simulcast to all Indiana tracks or none. Larry Smallwood, a bloodstock agent representing the Indiana Horse Racing and Breeding Coalition covering both harness
racing and thoroughbred racing, was not a happy
camper either. “Our legislators are a bunch of
sheep,” he said. “What our leadership wants to
do is how the fold goes. I thought we had an excellent deal. Each county (there are 92 in Indiana)
was going to get a portion of the money.” Maybe
those legislators who survive the election will be
braver next year.
Sean M. Campbell, a leading trainer at Saratoga
Gaming and Raceway last year who was suspended by the New York Racing and Wagering
Board in August, has been arrested by police in
Saratoga Springs on animal cruelty charges. The
arrest came as the result of a month-long investigation of criminal charges after the People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote to the police
complaining about lack of action on the matter. A
Saratoga Springs police lieutenant, Gary Forward,
explaining the delay from August until a month
ago, said, “The Racing and Wagering Board has
a different set of standards to abide by.” Forward said a witness said Campbell repeatedly beat
a chestnut and white horse in his stable -- not a
racehorse -- with a lead rod, and a veterinarian
who treated the horse said it suffered six wounds
on the head and neck, which Forward described
as “pretty deep gouges.” Campbell has trained
at Saratoga for 15 years and was leading trainer
at the time of his suspension in August, with 88
wins and $329,459 in purse earnings. He pled not
guilty in City Court last Friday and is due back in
court March 14.
ANOTHER HURDLE AT VERNON
It ain’t over ’til it’s over, and it’s not over yet at
Vernon Downs. Now Stephen Gerling, the federal
bankruptcy judge handling the Vernon matter,
wants proof that the company bringing Vernon out
of bankruptcy has enough money to pay the creditors. That company, Vernon Downs Acquisition,
told Gerling in a letter that it received $5 million
from an investor and has a commitment for another $15 million, but Gerling ordered them to have
$15 million on hand by Monday. Jeff Gural,
Acquisition’s point man, said he has deposited the
necessary funds and would provide Gerling with
an affidavit certifying that. Gerling, meanwhile,
will hear arguments Thursday on $384,000
he ordered paid to horsemen that they say
still has not been paid.
BARBARA SAMBERG DIES AT 71
Barbara Provenzano Samberg, a longtime HTA
director whose father Pat was a founder of HTA
member Batavia Downs in 1941, died at her home
in Boca Raton, Florida, last Saturday. She and her
sister Donna ran Batavia after Pat’s death in 1977,
and Barbara was the USTA’s first woman director
when elected in 1988. She was named an honorary member of the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association in 1992, and retired from racing after selling
Batavia in 1998. Her son, Michael McDonald, still
works at Batavia, and her nephew, Eric Warner,
has been racing secretary at Monticello Raceway
for years. HTA extends its deepest sympathy to
Barbara’s husband Jim, her sister Donna,
and her five children.
March 8, 2006
NEW VET RULES IN INDIANA
FRUSTRATED ON BEACON HILL
After a lively all-day discussion Monday, Indiana’s
racing commission adopted stringent new rules
designed to assure the integrity of the state’s
racing. The rules, first proposed by the racing
commission’s executive director, Joe Gorajec,
include provisions that veterinarians must be accompanied by track security personnel while administering Salix. Jeffrey Edwards, president
of the Indiana Standardbred Assn., told the commissioners that Indiana horsemen and horsewomen were foursquare for integrity, but that
they believed whatever minor rule modifications
were needed should first be instituted by increasing fines and the severity of existing penalties.
J. D. Lux, an attorney representing the Indiana
HBPA, said the thoroughbred horsemen’s group
“disagrees with the pressing need for some of
the more expensive measures.” Implementation of the rules, estimated to cost $550,671,
will be paid for by earmarking 2% from the allocation of riverboat gambling proceeds to racing in the state. The rules will take effect with
the return of harness racing to Hoosier Park
on April 1.
With not much happening in the slots and simulcasting discussions at the state legislature in Boston, a Massachusetts state representative is
threatening to attach the measures to a massive
healthcare package. David Flynn, a Democrat
whose district includes Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park, told the Boston Herald, “No one has
given me any guarantee that we’re going to have
a vote on either simulcasting or slots, and I’m concerned with those 6,000 jobs (at the state’s four
racetracks) if we don’t take action.”
The Indiana General Assembly, meanwhile,
heard from Policy Analytics, a firm hired to assess the social costs and benefits of gambling in
the state. The company told legislators the social costs were between $75 million and $100
million, but that the state’s 10 riverboats accounted for $815 million in state revenue. It also
suggested that for a million bucks it would do a
more extensive study. We have a better idea.
Give Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs slots, and
save the million for the study and use it for services to problem gamblers. They can tell you
about the social costs, and you can reap hundreds of millions to build a new stadium
for the Colts, or build schools or hospitals, or whatever you choose to do with
the added money.
One track executive isn’t waiting for the legislature to pass to take action. Plainridge
Racecourse’s president and CEO, Gary
Piontkowski, isn’t sitting by waiting for slots. He
sent out two of his pacers at Pompano Park Monday night under Peter Blood’s care, and both won
with identical 1:57 miles. Who needs the grief of
running a racetrack?
RACING GETS BAD SHAKE IN KY
We don’t know if they are milkshaking horses in
Kentucky, but neither does the Kentucky Racing
Authority or anyone else running things.
Milkshake testing has been suspended because
there aren’t enough vets on staff to do the testing.
Only three are available, and no replacements
have been named since the politically-charged firing of chief vet Gary Wilson after he blew the
whistle on a shortage of personnel last year. Authority executive director Jim Gallagher says, “It’s
something that we’d like to see addressed, and
we’re in the process of doing that.”
C’MON, BOYS, FILL THE BLANKS
If you haven’t returned your dues formula blanks,
please take a few moments and do so. We can’t
assess dues for 2006 until we get all forms in,
and we don’t want anyone from Bellagio busting our knees.
March 9, 2006
PRIX WINNER POSITIVE, DQ’D
KY SLOTS HOPES TEETERING
Jag de Bellouet, the winner of the Prix d’Amerique,
Europe’s greatest trotting race and the equivalent
in importance of the Hambletonian in America, has
been disqualified after testing positive following
his second straight victory in the classic event. The
horse was disqualified, with Gigant Neo, trained
by Sweden’s Stefan Melander, moved up from second and declared the winner of the Prix’s $500,000
first place money. Melander, when first seen in
America, was a track photographer known as
Tarzan. He graduated to training, won the
Hambletonian in 2001 with Scarlet Knight, and now
adds the Prix d’Amerique to his credits. Give me
a dozen of that shot, Tarzan.
A key Kentucky legislator, Rep. Denver Butler,
said yesterday that if a compromise is not reached
soon on the issue it will be dead for another year.
Butler is chairman of the House Licensing and
Occupation Committee that has been considering
differing proposals to put a slots bill up to the
state’s voters. He said yesterday, “Next week
will be the final shot.” If it is does not pass then,
he said, it will be a dead issue. “You’ve seen that
show Mission Impossible,” he told the Louisville
Courier-Journal. “I think the fuse is burning.”
MORGAN TERRORIZING DOVER
Tony Morgan, Harness Tracks of America’s
Driver of the Year in 1996, 1997 and 2002, is off
to a flying start in pursuit of a fourth title. He
currently is leading the nation in all three categories used in determining the championship:
races won, money won and universal driver rating percentage. Morgan, who won 8 races in 11
starts at Dover Tuesday night, leads all drivers
in North America with 207 winning drives (HTA’s
2005 champion, Cat Manzi, is second with 158);
is tops in money won by his mounts with
$1,778,094 (Manzi is fifth with $1,293,752); and,
perhaps most amazingly, Morgan leads North
America in UDRS percentage standings as well,
with a .388 slugging average after 849 starts
(Manzi is second with .348). Morgan is on
course to break the all-time record set by Walter
Case Jr. in 1998, when Case won 1,077 races.
At this time that year, Case had 174 victories.
Morgan won the HTA title in 2002 with 700 victories, $5.1 million in earnings, and a .325 percentage. He won 788 races enroute to the
championship in 1997, and tied with Luc
Ouellette in 1996, when he won 853
times.
CAL GOES TO DIGITAL LICENSES
A newly developed digital photo identification
system that stores information on a barcode on
photo identification cards should greatly enhance security in California. The racing board
is using the technology now, in a process that it
says requires half the time of the old manual
method with Polaroid pictures and lamination.
The barcode on the back of the new photos contains the licensee’s name, license number, license status, and internal racing board processing information. Designed by systems analyst
Terry Martin and CIO Mory Atashkar, the system is expandable to more information and applications.
YOU GOTTA LOVE THESE GUYS
Armando Frallicciardi, who runs a cafe called Pete
Lorenzo’s in New Jersey’s capital city of Trenton,
has regular politician customers who smoke cigars.
“It’s ironic the guys who started smoking cigars
here are the ones trying to drive me out of business,” he said in filing a suit to stop the ban they
voted on public smoking. Another Jersey bar
owner, Eleanora Travia of the Illusions Go-Go
Lounge in Florence, asked, “Ever hear of Rosa
Parks? I’m not going to the back of the bus and
let the casinos sit up front. If they can smoke,
I can smoke.”
March 10, 2006
SUPPLEMENT CO. APOLOGIZES
VERNON OPENING LOOKS GOOD
In an interesting twist on a major drug violation
case, The Harness Edge reports the French
supplement manufacturer Vetoquinol has issued
a public apology for “an unfortunate mistake”
that led to the disqualification of Jag de Bellouet,
winner of Europe’s most prestigious trotting
race, the Prix d’Amerique. Vetoquinol said the
mistake in a manufacturing process of its Vita
C. supplement had led one batch of the product
to be contaminated with the anti-inflammatory
substance Tolfenamique, barred in French racing. The substance showed up in Jag de
Bellouet’s post race sample and the trotter,
which won the Prix both last year and this, was
disqualified as winner of the $1.2 million race,
richest harness race in Europe. Vetoquinol also
sent warnings to all trainers in France, advising
them not to use the supplement.
Vernon Downs’ federal bankruptcy judge,
Stephen Gerling, could remove the last major
obstacle to Jeff Gural and his Nevada Gold associates taking over the track Monday, when
he is expected to sign the confirmation order,
which spells out the Gural-Nevada Gold agreement to pay off creditors and bring the track out
of bankruptcy. An exuberant Lee Woodard,
bankruptcy lawyer for Vernon’s parent MidState Raceway, said late yesterday, “A year and
a half and a lot of gray hairs later, it really is a
done deal. All the partners have signed off on
the order. There will be no more lawyers getting in the way of the order. If the judge wants
something changed, we can turn that around in
a few minutes.” Gural said he is looking at a
March 31 closing, a return to live racing on
Memorial Day, and a July 4 opening of Vernon’s
racino. Still to be resolved is the matter of which
horsemen’s group -- the old Harness Horse Association of Central New York, represented by
Joe Faraldo, or the newly formed Vernon Downs
Harness Horse Association -- will be certified, but
the New York Racing and Wagering Board may
issue a temporary license while they make that
decision. To receive certification, a horsemen’s
association will have to prove it represents at
least 51% of horsemen racing at the track. Chat
lines have been buzzing that the Central group,
led by president Rick Papa, has been soliciting
free memberships from horsemen at Buffalo,
Batavia and Saratoga in hopes of swelling its
numbers. Faraldo still was defending the group,
and himself, saying, “I didn’t start this. Mr. Gural
started this.” Regardless of who started it, the
Racing and Wagering Board can end it, certifying one group or the other after examining the
credentials of alleged members of the two, and
Vernon could return to the fraternity of tracks
by summer. That’s the brightest ray of news
from New York in several years.
CAL SEEKS TRACK FUNDING
The California Horse Racing Board is working with
state senator Dean Florez, a Shafter Democrat who
is chairman of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, to develop legislation for funding
synthetic tracks, which the board plans to make
mandatory for thoroughbred tracks that race more
than four weeks a year. All commissioners approved
the mandate after trainer Richard Mandella and
Del Mar VP Craig Fravel urged the action as a move
to save catastrophic breakdown of horses. California also is experience a shortage of entries in overnights. The cost of installing the synthetic tracks is
estimated at between $6 million and $9 million a
track, and the board chairman, Richard Shapiro,
said at the announcement of mandating that “we
might require legislation to seek financial assistance.” Let’s all hope it doesn’t involve raising the
takeout and having bettors pay for the untested
synthetics, a usual solution. Tracks affected
are Del Mar, Hollywood Park, Santa Anita,
Golden Gate and Bay Meadows.
March 13, 2006
IF AG WON’T, KAUFMAN WILL
KYL SIDELINED, FOR NOW
The Department of Agriculture, ignoring the wishes
of Congress, gave equine slaughterhouses in
Texas an out by allowing them to pay inspectors.
The town of Kaufman in east Texas, where the
Dallas Crown horse slaughter plant is located,
wasn’t about to yield that easily. It has declared
the plant a public nuisance, and its zoning board
unanimously has voted to order the plant to close.
The attorney representing 15 area residents told
the board his clients “have been having to live a
very long time with overwhelming noxious odor and
dead animal parts being dragged around their
yards. People were not even able to leave their
homes and go to their back yards for a Sunday
afternoon barbecue, it smelled so bad.” There is
more than one way to kill a horse, and more than
one way, it seems, to stop those who do so commercially for overseas profit.
Depending on how you feel about Senator Jon
Kyl’s Internet prohibition bill, or about Senator
Kyl himself, you can thank or merely attribute to
the Dubai port management company the sidetracking of his bill last week. The storm in the
Senate over the ports matter disrupted Kyl’s plans
to introduce his gambling prohibition amendment
by attaching it to S2349, the Lobbying Reform
Act. Consideration of that bill was postponed by
the ports argument, and although it is expected
to be taken up this week, Interactive Gaming
News reports that the bipartisan managers of the
bill have pledged to disallow any non-germane
amendments to the bill as drafted. If they hold to
that pledge, it would eliminate the opportunity for
Kyl to move his prohibition bill by attaching it to
this particular piece of legislation. Either way,
he will be back. Persistence is one of his virtues,
or is it vices?
CALL FOR A TRACK SUPER
Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack is looking for a track superintendent for seasonal work
from August 1 through Dec. 31. Interested parties should contact Carl Bosworth, Harrah’s
Chester director of facilities, by telephone at area
code 484-490-1703. If you prefer, you can reach
him by e-mail, at [email protected].
CANADA LOSES A RACING MAN
The death last week from bone cancer of Roland
(Roly) Roberts removes from the Canadian horse
racing scene a veteran figure of the racing wars.
Roberts was vice president of finance for the old
Ontario Jockey Club, now Woodbine Entertainment, for years, retiring in 1990 to run his own
consulting company. He was a steward of The
Jockey Club of Canada and served as treasurer
of that group for 25 years, and was a founding member of both Racetracks of Canada
and the Ontario Horse Racing Industry
Association, or OHRIA.
IN OTHER NEWS.....
Dan Patch’s original tack trunk has been uncovered by a carpenter remodeling the great
champion’s barn in Oxford, Indiana.....Lawyers for
Mid-State Raceway have given the troubled parent of Vernon Downs a bill for $220,000 for representing the track in its bankruptcy woes.....
Millenium Gaming Inc., which will become the
new owner of The Meadows when it closes on its
purchase from Magna Entertainment, will run a
non-track casino near Gettysburg if the group
seeking that license wins one......Mohegan Sun
at Pocono Downs opened its new state-of-theart high tech simulcast facility today......Eileen
Cashman, mother of harness racing executive
John Cashman Jr., has died in Pompano Beach,
FL, at 95. Our condolences to John and the entire Cashman family......53% of respondents in a
Boston Globe poll said they favor slots at Massachusetts tracks....Harrahs reportedly wants
to buy Suffolk Downs in East Boston.
March 14, 2006
THIS TAKES A LOT OF GUTS
IN OTHER NEWS TODAY.....
When you owe someone $622,880 and then have
the chutzpah to ask them to let you make $500
million or more a year, you’re pretty gutsy. But
we know that about Shawn Scott, don’t we? The
engineer of the sale of Delta Downs, Bangor
Raceway and Vernon Downs -- all of which netted him tens of millions of dollars -- is back, this
time in Washington, DC, again, seeking to build
a gambling hall in what the Washington Post calls
“the heart of historic Anacostia” in the nation’s
capital. The Post reports this morning that Scott
has launched a new attempt to legalize slots in
Washington, filing requests yesterday with the
D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to put the issue on the November ballot. Lori Montgomery,
the reporter who covered Scott’s earlier failed
attempt to do so, which was thwarted by a ruling
on illegal signatures on petitions, wrote that Scott
still owes the District of Columbia $622,880 in
fines for violating local elections laws in that earlier campaign. In his new proposal, he would pay
the city of Washington 25% of his earnings and
keep the other 75% of an operation estimated to
bring in as much as $765 million a year in earlier
projections. Scott’s ever-present attorney,
Deborah Deitsch-Perez, told Montgomery that
“Shawn thinks there’s a possibility this could work
and would be a terrific thing. It’s a great opportunity.” Dorothy Brazill, the activist executive
director of DCWatch, a government watchdog
group, had a slightly different take. “Nothing
ceases to me amaze me about this,” she said, “but
with all the bad publicity and all the money they’ve
already spent, why would they come back so
soon?” We can tell you, Dorothy. Shawn Scott,
39 and operating out of St. Croix in the Caribbean, can smell money 10,000 miles away. He’s
on the scent, and bad publicity doesn’t deter him.
His associates crank out their own, and
Washington can gird for another Scott assault.
Harness drivers Todd Cummings and Ralph
Leogrande were hospitalized last night after a
nasty spill at The Meadows. Cummings was
taken to the local hospital in Washington, PA, and
Leogrande was life-flown to the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian in
Pittsburgh.....In a confusing parade of purchases,
Pinnacle Entertainment of Las Vegas has announced it is buying Aztar Corporation of Phoenix for $1.45 billion in cash and assumption of
$723 million in debt. Pinnacle has been shooting
for a casino in Philadelphia and now announces it
will pursue one in Allentown, where Aztar had hoped
to get a license. It is paying $38 a share for Aztar,
24% over Aztar’s closing price last Friday......The
Adminstrative Regulation Review Subcommittee of
the Kentucky House, which had held up approval of
new medication rules in the state a month ago, approved them yesterday. They include allowing the
Kentucky Racing Authority to issue suspensions of
more than five years and fines of up to $50,000 for
some repeat offenders.......In New York, Senator
William Larkin, chairman of the Senate racing committee, has introduced legislation that would raise
limits on Racing and Wagering Board fines from
$5,000 to $20,000....Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher,
meanwhile, asked racing industry officials to settle
their differences on legislation involving workers’
compensation coverage for jockeys “as quickly as
possible.” In Boston, State Rep. Daniel Bosley, a
bitter foe of slots at tracks in Massachusetts. has
been seeking the support of powerful committee
chairmen in an attempt to defeat the legislation in a
vote coming up soon.....At Pompano Park, the 4year-old Yankee Paco trotter You’re Next won his
12th straight race, taking a lifetime mark of 1:55.2.
He is owned by nightclub singer Deborah Sassen,
who performs under the name Debbie Dunay. She
paid $22,000 for him as a yearling. He did not race
at two, was gelded by trainer Fred Cohen, and
became invincible.
March 15, 2006
LEGISLATORS’ FIELD DAY
PA HOUSE REWRITES RULES
It is not a good week for racing. In Florida, the
state’s first draft of regulations for slots reflects
Jeb Bush’s determination to cripple the deal
Broward county residents voted for last year.
Tracks could not have both poker rooms and
slots, and an attorney for Gulfstream Park, Marc
Dunbar, said the proposed rules requiring the
tracks to give up their card room licenses would
put them at a “massive disadvantage” because
the state’s Indian casinos have no such restrictions. Dunbar says he now feels the issue “will
be decided by a judge sometime in the future.”
Marc Dunbar, the chief attorney for the Florida
Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, the closest
thing Florida has to a racing commission, said the
rule stems from state law that says, “No person
licensed to operate a card room may conduct any
banking game or any game not specifically authorized by this section.” He called his interpretation “a plain reading,” saying, “I’ve heard
people say they don’t like it, but I haven’t heard
a legal argument against it.” Dan Adkins, vice
president of Hollywood Greyhound and spokesman, official or unofficial, for Broward county’s
four pari-mutuel operations, answered “The way
you are interpreting this, you couldn’t play Monopoly.” ATMs also would be barred under the
proposal, and track operators called this a security disaster, saying it would force gamblers to walk
in and out with large amounts of money and “bullseyes on their backs.” Free comps also are barred,
and Robert Norton, VP of gaming operations for
Isle of Capri, which owns Pompano Park, argued
that comps are allowed across the country and are
necessary to reward local players. The ban includes
any free items that racinos might give to gamblers -ranging from a T-shirt to an expensive car. One irate
player at Pompano, Gil Norris, told reporters, “This
whole deal stinks. The voters here voted for
this...I don’t understand it.” It’s called politics, Gil.
The House in Pennsylvania had a wild day yesterday in an orgy of major revision of the state’s
slots rules. Among the items they changed -- all
of which must meet with Senate approval -- were
the sharing of slots revenues among local governments, ethics for state gaming regulators, and
a ban on a slots casino near the hallowed ground
at Gettysburg, where the union was saved. The
House also did a total flip-flop on the issue of
slots suppliers in an hour-and-a-half of debate and
arm pulling. First it voted to change the 2004 law
that eliminated the requirement that
Pennsylvania’s casinos must buy their slots only
from suppliers. Then, under intense pressure
from lobbyists of the suppliers, 90 minutes later
it reversed itself and voted to reinstate the mandatory use of suppliers. If the rule is approved
by the Senate, all 14 casinos and racinos ultimately licensed in Pennsylvania will have to buy
their slots from newly formed companies called
suppliers, who will act as middlemen, buying slots
from manufacturers and selling them to casinos.
That is political patronage at the highest level of
the art. This exercise in absurdity was unbelievable. At 5:30 the House voted 102 to 96 to make
using suppliers optional, just making the minimum
vote of 102 needed in the 203-member house.
Then lobbyists for the “suppliers” went into action, collaring legislators in a small room outside
the chamber. The House decided to reconsider the
vote, and around 7 p.m. it voted 111 to 89 to retain
the requirement for suppliers. An apologist for the
change, Democratic leader H. William DeWeese,
used Washington spin to explain the turnaround. He
said the suppliers would be new Pennsylvania companies that would create new jobs in the state, and
would promote “diversity” by letting minorities and
women take part in the business. The House also
boldly forbade elected officials from getting discounted rooms and food and drinks. Wow!
What courage!
March 16, 2006
PEACE IN SIGHT AT VERNON
AND THEN THERE IS THIS ONE
Perhaps nowhere else, but after the federal bankruptcy judge approved the Jeff Gural-Nevada
Gold proposal to bring the track out of bankruptcy yesterday, and Jeff Gural is scheduled
to meet with members of the two competing
horsemen’s associations tomorrow, it appears
that peace and calm are settling over Vernon
Downs, and it is likely to reopen for live racing
by Memorial Day. Gural says he plans on closing by the end of the month, and then will turn
his full attention to opening the track on May
26 and open Vernon’s racino by the Fourth of
July. He also expects to open Tioga Downs for
43 days of live racing on June 9, racing on Sunday afternoons and Monday and Friday nights.
As a breeder, Gural is introducing a novel innovation at Tioga. The owner of the winner of
Tioga’s Miss Versatility Trot for older mares
will receive a free breeding to either Tom Ridge,
Revenue, Windsong’s Legacy or Cantab Hall,
courtesy of Gural. All finalists in the race will
receive complimentary accommodations for the
Little Brown Jug and Jugette, courtesy of
Delaware’s Phil Terry, who said, “It is nice to
have a guy like Jeff Gural, with a passion for
the industry, who wants to try different strategies and add fun to the racing industry.” Tioga
also will play host to the Grand Circuit and the
Tompkins-Geers stakes. Wonder if Shawn Scott
would have known what a Tompkins-Geers is?
If none of those Chester positions, plus the track
superintendent’s job which we wrote about earlier,
appeals to you, you might be interested in one at
Magna Entertainment: Chief Executive Officer.
Boss Frank Stronach is filling it temporarily, but
Tom Hodgson is stepping down at the end of the
month and Stronach is looking for a CEO “with indepth knowledge and experience in the horseracing
and gaming industry who can lead the company in
fully exploiting its opportunities in this sector.”
Magna Entertainment, of course, is North
America’s largest owner and operator of tracks,
based on revenue, including its OTB facilities, and
also owns and operates XpressBet, the national
Internet and telephone account wagering system;
Horse Racing TV, the 24-hour racing television
network; RaceONTV; and MagnaBet, an international service.
WANT NEW OPS? TRY CHESTER
If you’re looking for change, or an opportunity
at something new, you might want to give Mike
Tanner, director of racing operations at HTA’s
new member Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack, a quick call. Mike got clearance yesterday to hire a racing secretary, mutuels manager and publicity/simulcast manager.
Mike’s direct line is 484-490-1711, his
e-mail address is [email protected].
FOR CREDENTIALS, HOW’S THIS
All resumes are not created equal. We have one
on our desk from a veteran racing writer and publicist who has a B.A. in journalism from Kent State,
a master’s degree in government from NYU, a
master’s degree in history from Villanova, and a
Ph.D in history from Lehigh, obtained, we might
add, at age 75. During his career he has been an
editorial writer, copy editor, turf writer and handicapper during 36 years of racing coverage for the
Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer and New
York Daily News, and a steward at Arlington Park,
Hawthorne, and Washington Park. He won the
Walter Haight award three years ago at 77. He is
Russ Harris, of course. If you like experience,
he’s your man.
In other job news, Jeff True has been named president of United Tote by parent Youbet.com, with
Youbet exec Joe Hasson named VP Operations
and Joe Tracy moving to research and development.
March 17, 2006
ALIVE AND BREATHING IN KY
BREATHING HARD IN FLORIDA
Barely, perhaps, but breathing nevertheless, as far
as slots at Kentucky’s tracks are concerned. The
boys in Frankfort had great fun batting it around
yesterday. Legislators hoping to get a constitutional amendment before voters next November
had their hopes buffeted when House Speaker Jody
Richards reassigned a key bill that would have
done that to the House Elections, Constitutional
Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. The Speaker admitted the move didn’t help
the measure, saying, “It will have a hard time”
reaching the floor, adding, “We’re running out of
time.” He said House members don’t want to approve any amendment proposals this session, which
has only 10 days to run. Earlier, Rep. Denver
Butler had added the proposal, which he had not
shown to anyone, to a bill supported by KEEP, the
Kentucky Equine Education Project, a horse industry group supporting a plan for slots at the
state’s eight tracks. The executive director of
KEEP, Jim Navolio, said he hoped some of the
proposals in the KEEP proposal might be incorporated in a compromise into Butler’s bill, which calls
for nine casinos without specifying locations or how
the revenues would be allocated. Navolio said, “I
don’t want to close any door.” A Churchill Downs
spokesperson confirmed that Navolio spoke for
the racing industry in Kentucky. So the issue remains alive, but on life support. Senator David
Boswell, who proposed racinos at five tracks and
casinos at four other locations, said, “It’s going to
have rough sledding, but it’s alive.” One person
who disagreed was the Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper,
executive director of the Kentucky Council of
Churches, who said she believes it is dead for this
session. Three-fifths of both the House and Senate would have to approve an amendment before
it could go on the November ballot, and Boswell
said even if it passed it would have a hard
time getting voter approval without spending specifics.
There is little different to report from Tallahassee, Florida’s capital, than from Frankfort, where
the Kentucky legislators gather. A senator from
Hollywood, Ken Gottlieb, has sponsored a bill that
would allot the state to collect up to $1,000 for each
slot machine in Broward county -- when they finally get there -- and give the money to nearby
cities. Some quick multiplication indicates that
could cost each of the four pari-mutuel facilities
in Broward county, including HTA member Pompano Park, up to $1.5 million a year, since each
can have 1,500 machines unless Tallahassee derails that already passed legislation. The Gottleib
bill passed its first House committee test yesterday, getting through the traditionally anti-gaming House Business Regulation Committee. It
still must move to three more House committees and the Senate, which has looked on gambling with a bit broader view. According to the
Miami Herald, some legislators and lobbyists
have raised questions about the constitutionality of the proposed impact fees. A lobbyist for
Dania Jai Alai, Aaron Scavron, said, “This is unconstitutional. You can’t call a tax a fee and turn
it into a fee.” Gottlieb, a lawyer, says his bill
has been vetted and is legal. Whether the
Gottlieb bill advances or not, the hometown of
each of the four betting facilities in Broward
county will get 1.7% of the first $250 million of
slot revenues. and 2.5% of everything over that..
NO RAINBOWS IN KANSAS
After four hours of debate, the Kansas Senate late
last night killed proposed legislation that would
have given Kansas tracks slots and created a casino in Kansas City. The vice president of the
Senate told his colleagues, “By the year 2008
we’re going to be engulfed in hundreds of millions
of dollars in red ink. If gambling is not your way
to solve that problem, then tell me what your
way is.” There was no audible answer.
March 20, 2006
UP IN MASS, DOWN IN MD
HARRINGTON SLOTS EXPAND
Hopes are still high in Massachusetts for slots,
and down in Maryland. CBS4 Boston reports a
rally at the House on Beacon Hill today, and its
Web site headline yesterday read, “Support for
Slots at MA Race Tracks Growing.” The Massachusetts Senate passed a slots bill last fall calling
for 2,000 slots at HTA member Plainridge Racecourse, Suffolk Downs and two dog tracks, with a
$25 million initial license fee, renewable for $25
million every five years. Mayors of some Massachusetts cities - notably Worcester, which would
get a projected $5 million a year if slots passed plan to be on hand today. Mayor Tim Murray says
that money could provide his city with 50 new teachers, 25 police officers and 25 firefighters, and he
wants to see the bill pass. He says, “We’re having thousands of Massachusetts residents on a dayto-day basis going to Connecticut when we could
be using this money.” That argument was echoed
by George Carney, owner of Raynham-Taunton
Greyhound Park, who said, “Fifty percent of the
people who to go Lincoln Park (in neighboring
Rhode Island) are from Massachusetts, and 75%
of them drive by us.” A House vote is expected
soon, but Gov. Mitt Romney has promised he will
veto the measure if it reaches his desk. Given
that, hopes for slots may or may not be realistic,
but it is clear there is no reason for optimism in
another jurisdiction seeking them, Maryland. The
Capital Online in Annapolis ran its lead story today with a first paragraph reading, “For the first
time in four years, there’s barely a mention of the
word ‘slots’ in Annapolis during this legislative
session, as the state has rebounded from nasty
financial straits to a $1 billion surplus.” The
governor’s office, which has pushed hard for slots
in past years, admits it would be a waste of time in
an election year, and Terry Gilleland Jr., a slots
supporter on the Ways and Means committee, said the same, adding, “Leadership won’t allow it.”
Full House Resorts, Inc., whose subsidiary Gaming Entertainment Delaware manages the racino
at HTA member Harrington Raceway, has announced details of expansion of the racino, which
is owned jointly by Harrington and Full House’s
GED. Plans call for an additional 66,630 square
feet to be added to the existing 75,128 square feet,
with remodeling to a consistent theme. The expansion will include 2,000 new slots, a 300-seat
multipurpose room, a remodeled and modernized
50-seat steakhouse, an 80-seat bar, a new 364seat buffet and a 118-seat coffee shop. Outside,
an additional 426 parking spaces will be added,
with all car parking within 800 feet of the entrance,
and parking for 28 buses. Slot win at Harrington
increased 5.43% from 2003 to 2004, 6.41% from
2004 to 2005, and is up 30.65% this year over the
previous January and February. Full House receives a management fee based on a formula computed from revenues.
ROCKING A BOAT FOR AN OAR
U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky and
his wife Connie, vice chair of the Kentucky Horse
Racing Authority, are friends of racing, but a proposal Mr. Whitfield is considering in the House is
ill-advised and would not serve the sport and industry. He told the Lexington Herald-Leader he may
propose legislation in Congress to provide funds for
workers’ compensation for jockeys by amending the
Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978. For anyone -a well-meaning Congressman or anyone else -- to
mess with that legislation in these perilous times
for horse racing would be a large and sad mistake.
We understand his wish to resolve the jockeys issue, which Whitfield understandably considers important, but we agree with Alan Foreman, CEO of
the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, that
doing so by opening the Interstate Horseracing Act
could open a Pandora’s box of issues that could
create chaos.
March 21, 2006
A CALL FOR HELP IN ILLINOIS
SURPRISING TURN IN FLORIDA
The Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association has
sent out an SOS to all members, asking them to
call their state representatives and urge them to
vote for House Bill 1917, but without its amendment seven. The bill itself, introduced by Rep. Bob
Molaro, attempts to rectify inequities in a 1999
bill that allowed Illinois riverboats to remain
dockside, rather than cruising. Horsemen supported that bill in a deal which called for them to
receive 15% of the tenth riverboat license in Illinois, but that license never has been issued. The
riverboats, according to the IHHA, have received
windfall profits of over $4 billion from the 1999
bill, and the horsemen nothing. The amendment 7
in Molaro’s bill that the horsemen now want removed would decrease moneys received by the
horse industry from riverboats by 33%. Molaro
has said that if there is enough support for his bill
in its present format he would move it without
amendment 7, and the IHHA is campaigning hard
to make sure support gets there.
What’s this? Common sense in Tallahassee?
There may be more to this than we can see, but it
was heartening yesterday to learn that the Florida
Senate Ethics and Elections Committee took a
hard swing at the Department of Business and
Professional Regulation -- Florida’s nearest thing
to a racing commission -- for over-policing racing
and exceeding its statutory authority. The senators ire was raised by rigid rule-making by the
bureaucrats, including requiring tracks with slots,
when they get them, to close their successful card
room operations, and prohibiting comps of any
kind. The law passed by the legislature barred
only free drinks. Senator Bill Posey, a Republican, asked David Roberts, the director of the Department, “Where in the world do you think that
you have the authority to even suggest that nothing else is comped? What is not totally crystal
clear (to you) that under this law you cannot promulgate rules that exceed your statutory authority, and you have absolutely no statutory authority whatsoever to go beyond any comp for alcoholic beverages?” That’s pretty direct language,
and should be understandable to even the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. But don’t bet on it. The inspiration for its
actions comes not from the trees but from the
Bushes.
NOT A TEA PARTY, BUT NOT BAD
It wasn’t exactly the Boston Tea Party all over
again, but it wasn’t a bad effort. More than a
hundred horsemen showed up in front of Boston’s
stately State House yesterday, calling for House
action on a bill approved by the Senate last fall
that would give each of the state’s four racetracks
2,000 slots. The demonstrators waved at cars
and held signs asking House Speaker Sal DiMasi
to let the House vote on the bill, but DiMasi wants
agreement on simulcasting issues before he will
allow a vote. The rally included a horse in full
harness. We’re not telling folks in Massachusetts how to run their campaign, but we hope they
remind House members that Paul Revere rode a
Narragansett Pacer on his famous ride announcing the British were coming. It’s high time
the favor was returned, and they should
let DiMasi know that.
In another rebuke of the Department, a threejudge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal in
Tallahassee unanimously ruled that the Department had not shown any danger “to health, safety
or welfare” in barring poker tournaments at
Florida tracks. The Daytona Beach Kennel Club
had filed the action, and it was only hours after
the appeals court threw out the Department’s rule
that the track resumed its popular tournaments
that require a $45 entrance fee. The Department
isn’t hitting very well these days, but they’ll
undoubtedly keep swinging.
HOUSE SETS DATE IN BOSTON
House lawmakers in Massachusetts were scheduled to set a date today to formally debate the bill
that could give 2,000 slots to each of the state’s
four racetracks, including HTA member Plainridge
Racecourse. The House members also are expected to approve another extension of the simulcasting law, which would give the tracks more time
to work out a final compromise. A debate on the
final resolution of this matter is set for April 10.
The Senate passed the slots bill last fall, and the
governor, Mitt Romney, has said he will veto it if
it gets House approval.
March 22, 2006
would receive a fee of 5% of total project costs,
subject to a $600 million ceiling, to build the casino. Once the casino was opened, another Empire Resorts unit would operate the casino for a
management fee equal to 30% of revenue. Empire shares rose 34 cents, or 7.4%, to $4.90 in
morning trading on the NASDAQ. Over 52
weeks, the stock has ranged from $3.25 to $9.20
a share.
OHIO SLOTS DEAL REPORTED
Four amendments were attached to favorable slots
legislation in Kentucky yesterday, and the Speaker
of the House, Jody Richards, said he doubts the
issue will pass. The Louisville Courier-Journal
headline on the matter read, “Gambling bill’s future looks bleak.” One amendment of the bill called
for racinos at all eight tracks in the state, along
with three other casino locations. If that plan were
to receive three-fifths approval of the House and
Senate and a majority of voters next November,
the General Assembly would be required to pass
legislation setting up the racinos and casinos. The
sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Denver Butler, a
Louisville Democrat, opposes the amendments and
says that if any get on his bill, he would work to
kill the measure, which calls for a November referendum on slots without some of the specifics in
the offered amendments.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports this morning that “A deal may be imminent for a casino
initiative on the November ballot,” with owners
of Ohio’s seven tracks close to agreement with
Forest City Enterprises and developer Jeff
Jacobs on a plan that would ask voters to approve racinos at all of the tracks and at two sites
in downtown Cleveland and in Cincinnati. Cleveland business and labor leaders and city officials
have wanted full fledged casinos including slots
and table games, and the debate has gone on
for four years. Now, the paper reports, track
owners have proposed a compromise, with voters in each county where a track is located getting to decide the fate of table games. Cleveland is in Cuyahoga county and part of Northfield
also is located in Cuyahoga county, part in Summit. While these negotiations continue, the Eastern Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma is pressuring
the cities of Lima and Massillon to sign deals
for casino-resorts, but those proposals are
longshots.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
EWART RETIRING AT INDIANA
Empire Resorts is trying again to get a casino at
Monticello Raceway. In a filing yesterday with
the SEC, Empire said it had secured an agreement with the St. Regis Mohawks to develop and manage the casino for the tribe.
Under the agreement, Monticello Raceway Development, an Empire subsidiary,
Veteran racing secretary Jim Ewart, currently at
Indiana Downs and formerly at Scioto Downs and
other tracks, is retiring from racing after 47 years
in the sport. Ewart, now 67, says, “It’s time to get
back to the homestead.” Scott Peine, currently
at Balmoral Park, will succeed him at Indiana Downs.
KENTUCKY OUTLOOK ‘BLEAK’
March 23, 2006
“WE GOT LUCKY THIS TIME”
ARE WE MISSING SOMETHING?
That from Roger Steger, fire chief of Ocean City,
MD, after his firefighters battled a blaze yesterday afternoon at HTA member Ocean Downs. “It
was pretty fast work,” Steger said, but even so
one horse died in the fire and Chick Givens, a member of the track’s security staff, suffered a broken
shoulder leading a horse out of the burning barn.
GM Pete Syzmanski praised his efforts. It took
more than 100 firefighters two hours to bring the
fire under control. Six of the seven horses trained
by Lewis DuBrel stabled were led to safety, and
fortunately trainers Bobby Cotten and Jim
Brittingham had not yet shipped their horses to
occupy the other side of the 14-stall wooden barn.
Ocean Downs does not begin racing until June 24,
but between 200 and 300 horses train there.
Without giving our thoughts on having our telephone lines tapped -- we think you might know them
by now -- we cringe under the latest monkeying
around with citizens’ rights in Florida. The South
Florida Sun-Sentinel did not give the name of the
senator who proposed this latest outrage, saving
him embarrassment by simply identifying him as
“a Central Florida senator,” but he filed a proposed
constitutional amendment that would prevent voters in Miami-Dade county from deciding if they
want slot machines. We grew up believing in the
will of the electorate, until Florida began repudiating it, and now this insult. Florida voters approved a statewide constitutional amendment allowing Broward and Miami-Dade voters to decide
if they wanted slots in their areas. Central Florida
interests, including Disney World, opposed the
measure, but citizens of Florida approved it.
Broward voters approved it, and Miami-Dade voters rejected it, which is how the game is supposed
to be played. It is likely Miami-Dade voters will
be asked again next year, so now this clown proposes they not be allowed to make a choice. Feed
him to the alligators.
LOSING FANS? RAISE THE
PRICE
When racing is losing customers, as it has been
on-track in recent years, what is the logical course
of action? In Kentucky, where legislators have
their own ideas as to how to help an industry that
has brought the state fame and fortune, they think
the logical course of action is to raise the price of
the product. That’s what the state’s Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet recommends
doing to fund a workers’ comp program for jockeys. A committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing
Authority had recommended raising $1.2 million
a year for that purpose through a one-third assessment from owners, one-third from tracks and
one-third from purses. Then the ironically-named
Public Protection Cabinet stepped in and said,
“Nah, let’s take it from the public. We protect
them.” Harvey Wilkenson, a Keeneland VP, said
the tracks agreed to boost takeout because the
Jockeys would not agree to using purses,
since they share in them. They don’t
think they should contribute in any way
to their own welfare.
THE END - AGAIN - IN MARYLAND
Only cats and slot bills in Maryland possess multiple lives, and slots lost another of them yesterday when Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller
-- a longtime ally of Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. in his
slots fight -- gave up for this year and pulled the
plug, cancelling a slots hearing in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. An election year
proved more of an obstacle than either the governor or legislators were willing to test, and the end
yesterday marked the fourth consecutive year the
legislature has declined to pass a racino bill. If a
Democratic governor is elected this year
(Ehrlich is a Republican) Miller may renew
the fight again.
March 24, 2006
PERRITTI HIT BY MAJOR FIRE
NY, ANTIGUA & THE INTERNET
One of harness racing’s major breeding farms,
Perretti Farms in Cream Ridge, NJ, suffered major losses last night when its receiving barn, housing expensive broodmares and their colts and fillies, burned to the ground. Three broodmares that
had won more than $300,000 each in their racing
careers -- My Starchip, Funny Malentine and
Armbro Terrace -- and their foals were lost. Farm
manager Bob Marks estimated the total loss at
between $1.2 million and $1.5 million, and said it
appeared that the horses died from smoke inhalation before farm personnel could lead them from
the barn. Early reports do not indicate arson, and
a malfunction of an electrical system that keeps
water pipes from freezing is suspected, but the
exact cause of the fire is not yet known. Two days
earlier, a stable fire at Ocean Downs destroyed a
training barn, with one horse lost and others in the
barn saved.
Who, if anyone, gets the New York Racing Association franchise, whether in November 2007 or
before, remains an interesting question, almost
as interesting as the kaleidoscope of who represents whom and what interests in the state. Turn
it one way and you have the now disbanded
Friends of New York Racing; turn it another and
you have Empire Racing Associates, with part of
the same staff as FONYR, and of course somewhere in those views you will find a brightly colored image of Tim Smith, ever present. Yesterday at the first Fan Forum, 50 or 60 folks, some
with more impressive credentials than others,
showed up at the invitation of still another group,
the state-appointed Committee on the Future of
Racing in New York. There was much talk about
the need for Internet betting, rebates, overhaul
of OTBs, and not changing the nature of Saratoga
runners. This came from Jeff Perlee, the former
director of the New York State Lottery, who now
is CEO of Empire Racing Associates. Perlee is
keenly aware that Frank Stronach scared
Saratogians in late January when he suggested
he would turn Saratoga into a year-round entertainment destination if Magna Entertainment was
to obtain the NYRA, and his bid was to reassure
the burghers that their quiet and peaceful province would remain that way except for its annual
chaos in August.
LEARN AND EARN WITH SLOTS
That’s the rallying cry in Ohio, where backers of
slots were to announce today a proposed constitutional amendment to allow slots at the state’s seven
tracks and at two separate facilities in Cincinnati
and Cleveland. The proposal would allow voters
in counties with slots to vote on creating casinos
after four years, and would use portions of the
state’s share of revenues to fund scholarships for
Ohio college students. Just over half of the revenues would be used for the scholarships, economic
development programs, higher purses at Ohio
tracks, and problem gambling, which would get a
1% share of the moneys. Proponents are using
the story that Pennsylvania used, that Massachusetts is using, and that Maryland has tried unsuccessfully to use: that citizens of their states are
not going to stop gambling, and that millions of dollars in revenues are being lost
as those citizens cross state lines to bet at
other racinos.
While all of this was going on, the little government of Antigua reminded the United States that
it had -- after almost a year of silence -- only until
April 3 to reveal what it plans to do about
Antigua’s winning argument with the World Trade
Organization Dispute Settlement Body about
Internet betting prohibitions. Antigua is deeply
concerned about recently introduced Internet prohibition legislation, and wants to know if the U.S.
government respects the WTO compliance
process or not.
REPORTS OUT, MORE TO COME
HTA’s monthly reports to directors for February
and March -- the Comparative Pricing Survey and
a Survey of Player Reward Programs at Racetracks
-- are posted for password holders, and April’s
will be shortly. The schedule of coming reports
calls for a Percentage Analysis of Revenue and
Expenses in April; Account Wagering: A Look at
Account Provider Amenities and A Survey of Account Wagering Holders, in May; Part I and II
Transcripts of the 2006 Racing Congress in May
and June; and Purse Distribution Analysis 20032005 in July.
COMPROMISE IN CLEVELAND?
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that
“Cleveland’s power brokers are trying to squeeze
more tuition dollars out of a proposed slots-parlor initiative, even threatening to file a gambling
proposal of their own if slots proponents don’t
kick the tax rate up a notch.” The item came in
the wake of the announcement Friday of the detailed plan of Ohio’s seven tracks and Forest City
Enterprises and Jeff Jacobs that calls for slots at
all Ohio tracks and two casinos in Cleveland and
Cincinnati. Under that proposal, a tax rate of 45%
has been proposed, with monies going to college
tuition for Ohio high school students. The Cleveland ‘power brokers,’ led by Mayor Frank Jackson of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county commissioners, and something called The Greater Cleveland
Partnership, want a 47% tax, with a larger share
for them. They point out that Pennsylvania’s rate
will be 54% when that state’s slots get underway,
hopefully next fall, and they say the 47% would
make the proposal easier to sell. Pennsylvania
will charge each of its tracks $50 million for a
one-time license; there is no such provision in the
Ohio bill. Slots proponents say they will not n e gotiate the rate, but a Cuyahoga commissioner, Peter Lawson, sounded conciliatory.
March 27, 2006
“We are all reasonable people and will work something out, because there’s too much at stake. We’d
prefer to avoid the nuclear option of not supporting it.” Polls show a large majority of Clevelanders
support slots and casinos, and their votes will be
needed to offset the large anti-gambling vote in
the lower half of the state south of Columbus.
BIGGER BAIT FOR BIGGER FISH
Proponents of slots at the four tracks in Massachusetts are increasing the size of their lures as
a critical House vote nears. The tracks are proposing to funnel the state’s take from the slots
to Massachusetts municipalities. Worcester’s
mayor already is on board, and the State
Treasurer’s office thinks the move could generate more than $489 million each year. A state
representative from South Boston, Brian
Wallace, says, “If someone from Lawrence is
on the fence and I say, ‘Lawrence, you are getting $12 million here,’ if you are on the fence
you jump off the fence pretty quickly. That opens
eyes - that’s real money.” The Boston Herald
calls the idea “a bold gambit amid increasingly
intense jockeying at the State House over the
slot proposal as an April 5 vote looms.” The
Senate approved a slots bill last fall, calling for
one-third of taxes generated by slots to go to
local communities. Now Wallace and a colleague, Robert Coughlin of Dedham, are proposing revising the formula so that all slot revenue goes to local aid. That would mean that
Boston would get $40 million a year, rather than
the $12 million projected under the Senate bill.
Wallace said that alone “could put almost 400
cops on the street.”
THE HARD-TO-GET EIGHT
It’s not exactly the Final Four, but eight member
tracks still have not returned their dues allocation forms. C’mon, guys, you’re holding up
the boat, the train and plane.
March 28, 2006
LET’S ALL SELF DESTRUCT
GURAL TALKS TO HORSEMEN
And take the sport with us. This morning’s news
brings word that Joe Faraldo, fresh from his unsuccessful $9 million suit at Vernon Downs, which
was thrown out of court, is back with another multimillion dollar action, this time against Yonkers
Raceway. Joe’s organization, the Standardbred
Owners Association of New York, has filed a suit
in the Suffolk county Supreme Court seeking an
immediate reopening of the track, monetary damages for unpaid purses, and breach of contract.
Yonkers, of course, is in the midst of a huge rebuilding program that will give it a racino sitting
on one of the busiest highways in America, in the
most populous city in America. The promise of
that racino, and what it will mean to horsemen who
will share in its financial rewards, should be enough
for any rational horseman to understand. Lawyers have to work, of course, and with Vernon now
resolved Joe has turned to Yonkers. His SOA -he has been president of the organization for what,
25 years? so it clearly is his SOA -- says that the
track is holding $2.5 million in purse money but
has made no effort to reopen after having promised that the live racing hiatus would not be longer
than four months. Anyone who has dealt with construction knows such assurances can at best be
based on estimates. In any event, to sue what is
likely to be one of the most profitable racino operations in the nation for delays, rather than wait
another six months or so for completion of the
project and the commencement of racino operation, defies good judgment, and is stunning beyond belief. Horsemen and others love to talk
about racetracks’ greed. Is there a mirror in the
house?
We do not know where this one winds up, but if
Fred Martin still is actively practicing law, Yonkers should immediately get him back in action.
Over the years he has beaten Faraldo
time after time, and there is no reason to
believe he can’t do it again.
With the Vernon matter now concluded in court,
we have received, from a horseman, a memorandum sent to Vernon Downs’ horsemen by Jeffrey
Gural, and it is an interesting document. After
thanking those who took time to meet with him
last Friday to hear his plans for Vernon, he said
he would like “to clear up one possible point,
since I was asked if we would agree to abide by
whatever decision Racing and Wagering makes
regarding which association would represent the
horsemen.” Gural wrote, “You may recall that I
basically stated that I had made a proposal to
the Harness Horse Association of Central New
York whereby all sides would agree to a final
determination by Racing and Wagering and not
look to further litigate this matter either in state
or federal court. The only conditions I set out
were that the existing contract would be honored by either side and the monies left over from
the $384,000 that I put into the purse account
would be used to pay approximately $90,000 in
unpaid purses and any legal fees that the Harness Horse Association of Central New York had
with the balance put into the purse account.
“It should also be noted that my agreement with
the Southern Tier Horsemen’s Association Inc.
allows me to take 20% of the VLT revenue from
Tioga and transfer it to Vernon. I have a verbal
agreement that I would only do this in the event
that Ken Jacobs’ group (the new horsemen’s
group at Vernon) is certified by Racing and Wagering to represent the horsemen. In the event
that they were to choose Rick Papa’s group essentially the purses at Vernon would be approximately $1,000,000 less and the purses at Tioga
would be approximately $1,000,000 more. The
Tioga horsemen have the option to opt out of
this agreement after two years, but hopefully
they will recognize the value of doing it this
way.”
March 29, 2006
NYRA WINS AFTER LONG FIGHT
ELSEWHERE ON SLOT FRONT...
The New York Racing and Wagering Board yesterday approved rebates for the New York Racing
Association and Capital District OTB. Senior vice
president Bill Nader called the decision “the best
payback for the industry for all stakeholders,” although there were dissenting voices in New York
from other OTBs. Although the programs for the
two entities differ slightly, both offer eight rebate
levels, starting with monthly totals of 2,000 points
and graduating upwards to a 500,000 point total, all points offered on a 1 point per $1 wager
on NYRA races and one-half point for each dollar bet on other races. The rewards start at 1%
of handle for bettors who accumulate 2,000
points a month, and increase proportionately to
a high of 7% on exotics for players who accumulate 500,000 points or more a month. The
program, to be called NYRA Rewards in NYRA’s
case, will include all current customers of
NYRA’s account wagering program and will be
open to all bettors who enroll. All bets must be
made through NYRA’s account wagering telephone center or a self-service terminal to receive point credits. Nader called the plan a
“very customer friendly and well thought out
program that is going to bring us up to date in
the competitive market. We view this as no different than an airline, a hotel, or a restaurant that
is trying to stay competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace.” The board’s approval came
after a year-long NYRA effort, and year-long opposition by some off-track betting companies.
Nader says bettors using the new program “will
know that they will be betting through a platform
that gives the most back to the racing industry
and that should be worth something.” One hopes
his optimism proves accurate, but New York City
OTB and Suffolk OTB did not request rebates,
believing they cannot afford to give rebates under present economic conditions
in the pari-mutuel industry.
In Kentucky, racinos died a quiet death when the
issue of a public referendum on the matter was
never called for a vote during the legislative session. KEEP, the organization that spent $1.4 million in an advertising and lobbying push for slots,
says it will continue its efforts. KEEP’s executive
director, James Navolio, said, “We had a beautifully conceived plan and 92% of the people in the
state wanted to vote on the issue and 67% agreed
with our side of the issue. When you win the battle
for public opinion, you’re obviously disappointed
when the legislature doesn’t give them the chance
to vote on it.”
In New Jersey, the Newark Star-Ledger, editorially
supported the idea of slots at the Meadowlands.
“Missing from Gov. Jon Corzine’s budget proposal,”
the newspaper said, “was any mention of generating more revenue by putting 6,000 video slot machines at the Meadowlands racetrack. It’s a move
that painlessly could earn up to $300 million a year
for the state.....When Pennsylvania launches its slot
parlors this fall, it’s inevitable that Atlantic City will
take a hit. But the casino companies won’t. They
can more than make up for any losses in New Jersey with their Pennsylvania profits. The Garden
State, on the other hand, will just lose. It doesn’t
have to be that way. If the deal is structured correctly, Atlantic City casinos could share in the Meadowlands operation and both they and the state would
be winners.”
In Pennsylvania, state senator Vincent Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat who played an active role during the
slots debate, told the Pennsylvania Press Club he did
not think licenses would be awarded until 2007 and casinos would not be up and running until late 2008 or
2009. The Gaming Control Board chairman says the
board will award conditional licenses by Labor Day this
year. Fumo says Republicans will not allow Gov. Ed
Rendell to cut any casino ribbon before the election.
Paul J. Estok,
Editor Editor
Stanley
F. Bergstein,
LEGISLATION FAILS IN ILLINOIS
Legislators in Illinois yesterday defeated a proposal that would have used a new tax on casinos
to help all of Illinois’ horse racetracks. Sponsored
by Democratic Rep. John Molaro of Chicago, the
bill would have levied a new three percent tax on
Illinois’ nine casinos to raise about $54 million per
year. That money would have been used to pay
for track repairs or expansions and to increase
purses in the state. Molaro, who is a supporter of
both horse racing and casino gaming, has tried to
advance similar proposals before, and he has
vowed to make another attempt next year. Molaro
contends that Illinois has failed its horse tracks.
In 1990, when the state legalized casino gaming,
the tracks warned that it would drive them out of
business, and the legislature then agreed to help
them, he said. After it approved casino gaming,
Illinois set up a system whereby its 10 casinos
would pay into a fund for racetracks. But only
nine casinos have been operating since the Emerald Casino folded in 1997, and its license remains
enmeshed in litigation. When another casino uses
the Emerald license to open, horse tracks are expected to begin receiving a subsidy, but there is
no telling when that might be.
ABRAMOFF SENTENCED IN FL
Once-powerful Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff,
much of whose work dealt with gaming of all sorts,
was sentenced Wednesday to five years and 10
months in prison for his role in the fraudulent purchase of a fleet of casino cruise ships. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck sentenced Abramoff and his
partner, Adam Kidan, the shortest possible prison
terms under sentencing guidelines, but did so in
large part because of their cooperation in ongoing
and potentially far-reaching congressional corruption investigations. The Florida case dealt
with the pair faking a $23 million wire
transfer to fraudulently obtain a $60 million loan for the 2000 purchase of SunCruz
March 30, 2006
Casinos. Abramoff and Kidan pleaded guilty to
conspiracy and wire fraud. In addition to their
prison terms, the judge ordered them to pay $21.7
million in restitution and serve three years’ probation upon their release.
CHANGES IN CANADA
It’s been reported by The Harness Edge that
Gerard Spoor and Domenic Parravano, general
managers of Flamboro Downs and Georgian
Downs, have been “relieved of their duties” by
corporate parent Great Canadian Gaming. The
story quotes Chuck Keeling, vice president of racing operations for Great Canadian and an HTA
director, as stating that the move is a strategic one
and that the company appreciates the efforts of
the two executives. Bruce Barbour, a vice president with Great Canadian, has been appointed to
manage day-to-day operations at Flamboro. Chris
Roberts, formerly with Trot Magazine, has been
named director of operations at Georgian, reporting to Barbour.
FURTHER ON NEW YORK REBATES
As reported in yesterday’s Executive Newsletter,
the New York State Racing and Wagering Board
approved rebate plans for the New York Racing
Association and Capital OTB. What wasn’t reported was how the organizations intend to pay for
the new program. As part of the approval, the
Board also okayed a one percent takeout increase
on straight wagers on NYRA races. While the rebate program doesn’t begin until May, the takeout increase takes effect beginning this Saturday.
DOWN TO THE LAST FEW...
...And we need your help. The HTA office is still
waiting for a few dues surveys to be returned. Directors of HTA member racing associations that
have yet to respond are asked to expedite the
completion of this all-important document.
March 31, 2006
LIMITS FOR INDIAN GAMING???
HUGE BLOW TO MASS. SLOTS
A U.S. Senate panel has voted to broaden government authority on Indian gaming, including limits to
prevent tribes from opening casinos on land that is
not part of their reservations. If Congress follows
through with the measure, it would be the first substantial change to the landmark law that provided
the legal foundation for tribes to sponsor legalized
gaming for economic development and to enrich
their membership. The new legislation, sponsored
by Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John
McCain, tries to curb the practice of tribes “reservation shopping” for land that could be placed
in trust and become eligible for casino development. It repeals a “two-part determination” procedure that has allowed the secretary of Interior
to confer trust status on off-reservation property
acquired by a tribe for gaming if it is determined
that gaming will benefit the Indians and not harm
the surrounding community. The issue of off-reservation casinos has flared in Wisconsin, New
York, Oregon, Ohio and Michigan among other
states. The panel also approved an amendment
that would require tribal councils to report gaming
revenue to their membership. McCain said he was
uncertain when the Senate might take further action on the legislation. He also noted that opponents would no doubt attempt to block the bill.
Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi
has publicly disputed assertions by supporters that
allowing slot machines in the Bay State would boost
the economy, and he predicted that the House
would defeat pending legislation to bring 8,000
machines to four racetracks. Delivering a major
blow to the bill days before the scheduled House
vote on April 5, DiMasi said it would be appalling
for the state to begin relying on slot machines to
generate revenue. “To be perfectly honest with
you, it doesn’t appear to me it’s the economic
stimulus proposal that people suggest,” DiMasi
said. “I don’t think we’ll get the revenues people
think we will.” DiMasi’s statements coincided with
a 44-page report that a leading slots opponent,
Rep. Daniel Bosley, is circulating on Beacon Hill
that says that slot machines would not save the
state’s struggling racing industry. The report calls
racing a “moribund industry.” Until two days ago,
DiMasi has been publicly silent on the slot machine bill. Though he said he was not asking members to vote against the bill, other lawmakers and
legislative aides reported that he was influencing
the behind-the-scenes debate on key votes. A consultant for the state treasurer’s office released a
report in January that found slot machines at the
state’s racetracks would raise $1.1 billion a year
without having any dramatic negative effect on
state lottery revenues.
NEW PREXY FOR ARLINGTON
Roy A. Arnold has been named president of Arlington Park and its network of Trackside off-track betting parlors. Arnold joins Arlington, a Churchill
Downs-owned racetrack, following a military career
in the United States Marine Corps, where he most
recently served as an assistant wing commander.
“Roy Arnold has a proven record of developing
young talent,” said Andy Skehan, executive vice
president and COO of Churchill Downs Inc.
“His ability to mentor team members and
elicit exceptional performances from support staff will be a valuable asset.”
BREAKING NEWS FROM N.J.
A report published by harnessracing.com, the Web
site of the The Horseman and Fair World magazine, says the New Jersey State Police were at
Showplace Farms this morning, where they
searched the barn of Seldon Ledford, leading
trainer at the Meadowlands with 48 wins from 180
starts. A spokesman for the racing commission
confirmed the State Police search but had no details on what prompted the search or what
might have been found.
“THEY’RE KILLING THE GAME”
That, according to the Newark Star-Ledger, was
the reaction of one Meadowlands’ regular on
hearing of the state police raid on the Seldon
Ledford barn at Showplace Farms, and the arrest of Seldon’s son Eric, fourth leading driver at
the Big M; veterinarian John R. Witmer, who
had quantities of Aranesp, the powerful commercial form of EPO; and two Ledford employees,
Ryan Dailey and his wife Ardena, who were
charged with possession of drugs after a search
of their home. Dr. Witmer’s bank accounts and
assets, valued at $1 million by the state police,
were frozen after his arrest. Seldon Ledford is
based in Illinois and was not arrested. He currently is the leading trainer at the Meadowlands
with 48 wins and a 27% win rate. His stable earnings averaged $186,556 a year between 1991 and
2003, then shot to over $3 million last year. The
fan quoted by the Star-Ledger, Jose DeJesus,
has been playing horses for 35 years, and he told
the paper’s reporters, “It’s a shame what they
are doing. They are killing the game.” Another
Meadowlands patron, Jay Garsman, told the paper, “I don’t think this surprises anybody.”
Eric Ledford and vet Witmer face up to 18 months
in jail if convicted of conspiring to rig races. The
Daileys could get up to 10 years if convicted of
charges of rigging a publicly exhibited contest.
The New Jersey State Police, who broke the case,
said they had “dealt a crushing blow to illegal
activity in the sport of harness racing,” but Seldon
Ledford is not the only trainer who rose from
obscurity to quick success and fame. His case,
however, is significant. Major Jim Fallon, commanding officer of the New Jersey Special Investigation Section, said, “By taking down one
of the top finishers in the sport, Operation Horsepower will create a ripple effect that will
be felt throughout the entire horse racing industry.”
April 3, 2006
The Showplace raid came after 18 months of investigation, with the full cooperation of the Meadowlands. Vice president Chris McErlean said the
track will continue to do as much as is legally within
its means to address security and integrity issues,
and he hoped horsemen would do the same.
PLAINRIDGE SHUTS DOWN
Bickering politicians in Massachusetts have succeeded in shutting down the state’s horse racing. A showdown between the House and Senate, which earlier approved racinos, escalated
over simulcasting, and the House adjourned
without extending the tracks’ simulcasting
rights, which expired at midnight Friday.
Plainridge, scheduled to open today, could not
do so, since without the simulcasting extension
the law reverted to 1970s legislation prohibiting
racing before 7 p.m. Plainridge has no lights.
The House resumed its activities today, discussing health care, and it is not likely to reconsider
the simulcasting issue before Wednesday, when
it is expected to defeat slots at tracks after the
Speaker, Salvatore DiMasi, lashed out at slots
at tracks as poor public policy. His outburst was
expected to kill the slots issue, and the House
and Senate have been bitterly divided over extending simulcasting legislation. DiMasi blamed
the Senate for killing simulcasting temporarily,
which resulted in Plainridge, Suffolk Downs and
Wonderland Greyhound Park closing shop.
Plainridge had full fields ready to race today,
private parties were booked, and the track expected an opening day crowd of 4,000. Track
president Gary Piontkowski called the House’s
non-action “a disaster.”
POCONO SAVES THE DAY
Mohegan Sun at Pocono opened Saturday afternoon, and will continue daytime racing on Tuesdays thru Saturdays, with Sunday afternoon
racing until June 11.
Paul
J. Estok,
Editor Editor
Stanley
F. Bergstein,
GETTYSBURG VOTES FOR SLOTS
The Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, borough council
voted Monday to support a proposed slot machine
casino near the historic Civil War battlefield in
exchange for a $1 million per year revenue guarantee. The prospect of a casino near Gettysburg
National Military Park has drawn opposition from
preservationists as well as many local area residents. As a result of the vote, the council’s president will testify in favor of the proposed casino on
Wednesday at a public hearing, That hearing in
Gettysburg will be the first of 18 days of testimony
that gaming regulators will hold around the state
on nearly two dozen casino proposals. Jeff Enrico,
attorney for the Gettysburg casino applicant,
Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa, said the
money guarantee is predicated on the borough
council’s support of its application for a license.
The state’s slot machines law set aside four percent of slots revenue for the host municipality and
county.
April 4, 2006
its head office to a more cost effective location.
These efforts to look for and implement changes
to the regulation of the industry will continue.”
HARNESSING WASHINGTON
The Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame’s
traveling exhibit of Currier and Ives prints illustrating the history of harness racing has hit the
nation’s capital. The exhibit of lithographs opened
yesterday in the Russell Rotunda of the U.S. Senate Office Building on C Street in Washington,
D.C., and will remain there through April 14. The
exhibition’s appearance is due to the assistance
of Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, where the
museum is located, and Sen. Lincoln Chafee of
Rhode Island, a former standardbred caretaker
and farrier. The 32 framed original lithographs,
representing a selection from the museum’s large
collection, illustrate in an artful way harness
racing’s important role in American culture and
history. The exhibit is open to the general public
from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.
REDUCED BUDGET IN ONTARIO
Ontario Racing Commission Chairwoman Lynda
Tanaka announced that the members of the commission have approved a “significantly reduced
budget for its next year of operations,” according
to a news release from the agency. The cut comes
in response to what is termed “the declining circumstances of the industry,” and makes the commission budget for 2006-2007 $9.8 million, a reduction of more than $2 million over the previous
year. Much of the revenue reduction the commission has seen comes from the expiration of a regulatory levy that had been paid by racetracks and
horsemen based upon purses. “The Commission
has positioned itself to withstand the reductions in
funding from the industry,” said Tanaka. “While
continuing to fulfill its mandate to regulate
horse racing and protect the public interest, the Board has made a number of prudent decisions, such as the decision to move
SUSPENSIONS IN JERSEY
The New Jersey Racing Commission yesterday
issued rulings with regard to three of the individuals implicated in the use of illegal performanceenhancing drugs in the state over the weekend.
With regard to Seldon Ledford and Ryan Dailey,
the commission ruled that “as a result of the investigative action taken by the New Jersey State
Police on March 31, trainers Ryan Dailey and
Seldon Ledford are declared ineligible to participate in racing, and all horses under their care are
ineligible to compete in New Jersey pending a hearing.” In addition, driver Eric Ledford was declared
ineligible to participate in racing pending a stewards.
DUES SURVEYS
A last call for those who haven’t completed
your dues surveys -- please do.
April 5, 2006
AT LAST: GOOD NEWS IN MD
OTHER RACING NEWS TODAY
It appears that peace has broken out in Maryland
racing, with Cloverleaf SOA and the Maryland
Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association reaching
a tentative agreement that “is designed to unite
the industry on all main issues for the next decade and beyond.” The agreement came in a joint
announcement by Greg White, a member of the
Cloverleaf board, and Alan Foreman, counsel for
the thoroughbred horsemen. All parties in Maryland racing -- Cloverleaf, the Maryland Standardbred Breeders, the Maryland Horse Breeders,
and the Maryland Jockey Club -- were to vote on
the proposal today and tomorrow. Foreman said
details would not be discussed until after the
agreement is approved and ratified, but that both
sides have agreed to say it is an agreement in
principle. He said a joint announcement might
be made at the Maryland Racing Commission
meeting Tuesday. It is expected the agreement
will address simulcasting rights and future revenue sharing issues and resolve all differences
on those issues. Reports indicate the agreement
could cover a 15-year period, but its short term
consequences could be extremely significant,
since a Maryland House bill providing a $15 million purse supplement is pending in the Senate,
which winds up its session next Monday night.
Foreman said, “The supplement would be a help,
a shot in the arm this year, but going forward,
this agreement would mean we will all be speaking with one voice. The hope is with this agreement we will end the bickering for a very long
time and move forward. But we’re all walking on
eggshells right now.”
More bad news for Susan Bala, convicted in federal court last July on 12 counts of illegal gambling, money laundering and unlicensed gambling
operation. A federal bankruptcy judge in Fargo,
ND, ruled that while Bala’s claim was valid for
$110,218 in 11 months rent she said was due from
a bankruptcy trustee for administrative expenses
during her bankruptcy liquidation, it could not be
paid until North Dakota’s claim for $6 million in
unpaid taxes and a $99 million federal forfeiture
judgment was paid.
DID YOU MAKE IT OKAY?
We hope you made it past 1 a.m. this morning,
when at two minutes and three seconds after that
hour, the time and date was 01:02:03:04/
05/06. That will never happen again in your
lifetime.
Hanover Shoe Farms vice president Russell Williams has been named vice chairman of the American Horse Council board of trustees. Nick
Nicholson, president of Keeneland, was elected
chairman.
Penn National Gaming is proposing its own version of slots for Ohio, which would limit them to
the state’s seven tracks only and not include casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Tom Meeker, starting his last year as CEO of
Churchill Downs, says Churchill’s headquarters,
but not the racetrack, might move out of Louisville, “if these guys (legislators) keep poking us in
the eye.” Meeker calls the refusal of the Kentucky legislature to approve slots one of the greatest regrets of his reign at Churchill, and said of
the legislators, “They don’t care about anything
other than them.” A search for Meeker’s successor will be narrowed to 6 or 8 by mid-May or
early June, with six weeks of interviews following.
Woodbine in Toronto, meanwhile, announced that
its $383,154.90 Pick 7 was won by a ticket purchased at a teletheater in Kentucky.
No news at presstime about House debate on slot
legislation in Massachusetts. Plainridge remains dark.
April 6, 2006
SLOTS DIE IN MASSACHUSETTS
LEDFORD HEARING TODAY
The slot issue in Massachusetts died yesterday,
when the House of Representatives killed it by
a 100-55 vote. The measure had passed the Senate last fall 26-9, but strong opposition from
House leaders who hammered away at the legislation resulted in an erosion of some 90 votes
in the last two weeks. At that time it appeared
racinos had a chance, but then House speaker
Salvatore DiMasi resorted to what Rep. David
Flynn, the primary sponsor of the measure,
called “arm-twisting” and that handiwork, plus
Gov. Mitt Romney’s promise of a veto, brought
down the bill. The House and Senate did agree
to extend simulcasting through Dec. 31 -- after
the elections -- and HTA member Plainridge
Racecourse was scheduled to resume full scale
simulcasting as soon as Romney signed the bill,
presumably today. Live racing will begin next
Monday.
The New Jersey Racing Commission hearing on
the Seldon Ledford stable matter was scheduled
to resume today, after state police detective Brice
Cote told the commission that Ryan Dailey, assistant trainer of the Ledford stable in New Jersey,
told him that Seldon Ledford had supplied them
with illegal medication for his horses. Dailey and
his wife, Ardena, have been charged with an alleged conspiracy to fix racing by administering
performance-enhancing medications to the Ledford
horses. For whatever reason, it does not appear
that any effort was made for a coordinated search
of the Ledford training headquarters in Illinois at
the same time as the New Jersey search at Showplace Farms, or at least no such effort was announced. The Illinois Racing Board now says it
will investigate the matter in that state, but they
may find the barn door open and the horses gone.
Ledford is being defended by attorney Howard
Taylor, who also was the defense attorney for
Brian Sears in his problems in Pennsylvania last
fall.
U.S. WOE AN ENGLISH DELIGHT
It’s a little disconcerting to have racing matters
being debated by a House subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism and Homeland Security, but that’s Washington these days, so grin and bear it. The debate
this week saw the Justice Department reiterating
its belief that Internet gambling was illegal despite
the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978, and it was
reassuring to hear Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia,
whose bill would ban Internet gambling, reassert
that, “While my legislation prohibits online, interstate gambling, it does not overturn previous acts
of Congress that address gambling. This is a
strong anti-gambling bill that also protects the
rights of states to determine what is -- and is not - prohibited within their borders.” Justice, on the
other hand, feels that the federal criminal concerns
override states’ rights on this issue. The debate
brought joy in London, where gaming
stocks soared, PartyGaming up by more
than 13%, eyeing the U.S. market.
A GREAT BATTLEFIELD AGAIN
That was how Lincoln referred to Gettysburg, and
another battle is going on there right now. This
one, however, is not about the fate of the nation,
but about the fate of slots. An outfit called Chance
Enterprises wants to build a casino near the gateway to the battlefield, and citizens who treasure
the historic nature of their town are up in arms.
One told a hearing this week, “My great-grandfather fought here, bled here and died. I fear those
memories are going to be buried under basic human greed.” The town council, however, has its
sights on dollars, not destiny. The head of Chance
Enterprises has guaranteed the town $1 million a
year, and the dollar signs are dancing in their eyes.
The president of the council said he and his members would be “derelict in their duty” if they
overlooked that windfall.
April 7, 2006
AFTER THE POLICE, LAWYERS
SCOTT WITHDRAWS, FOR NOW
After the Seldon Ledford stable at Showplace
Farms was raided last week and four people were
arrested, a New Jersey State Police colonel, Rick
Fuentes, said, “With these arrests, the New Jersey State Police has dealt a crushing blow to illegal activity in the sport of harness racing.” We
hope Col. Fuentes is right, but now the lawyers
have entered the picture, and their view is less
rosy than the colonel’s. Howard Taylor, representing driver Eric Ledford, says, “There is no evidence my client did anything or conspired with
anyone to do anything.” Donald Lomurro, the lawyer for veterinarian John R. Witmer, says, “There
is no evidence Dr. Witmer did anything to affect a
race.” Timothy Donahue, the lawyer for Seldon
Ledford, not charged in New Jersey but now “under investigation” in Illinois after the barn door is
closed, says no Ledford horses turned up positive
at the Meadowlands and no evidence was presented to indicate that Witmer or the Daileys used
banned substances at a licensed facility. “There
is no evidence that any outcome of any race was
affected,” Donahue says. “I could have any of
these things in my house and it would not be a violation of the racing regulations even if I was a licensee.” So we now shall see if Col. Fuentes or the
lawyers are right. Still not announced is why, after
18 months of investigation, no synchronized simultaneous raid by Illinois State Police on Seldon
Ledford’s headquarters in that state was requested
by the New Jersey State Police, or if it was why it
wasn’t carried out.
Shawn Scott’s latest attempt to open a casino in
Washington, DC, was blocked this week, when the
general counsel of the District of Columbia’s council said the proposal was “not a proper subject for
an initiative.” The lawyer, Charlotte BrookinsHudson, said one reason was that the Scott proposal would permit the District to collect only 25%
of slots proceeds in taxes, thus unlawfully capping
the amount of revenues that could be collected.
Ms. Brookins-Hudson said that may not be done
by initiative. Thus chastened, the lawyer for the
Scott group said they intend to submit a new plan
that will satisfy the council requirements.
WE KNOW THE WORD FOR THIS
Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio’s secretary of state, has
been a consistent opponent of slots in that state.
Now it turns out that he owns shares in International Game Technology, a leading maker of slot
machines. He has listed his holdings, but
is not required by law to say how much of
the stock he owns.
NEW INSURANCE TWIST IN LA
Thoroughbred Times reports an interesting insurance development in Louisiana, where a
House committee unanimously approved a bill
that would protect state racetracks against liability lawsuits arising from on-track accidents.
Sponsored by Rep. Ronnie Jones, the measure
would amend a state law that provides liability
limitations for other equine activities, including
horse shows, riding classes and auctions, to include licensed tracks as well. Under the proposed
bill, tracks would have legal protection against
“inherent risks of equine activities, including certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions.” The measure was introduced because
of a number of lawsuits filed against Evangeline
Downs’ new track in Opelousas, where several
breakdowns occurred last year before the track
spent $2.7 million for renovation of the surface
and another $500,000 for equipment to maintain
it. The resurfaced track has drawn glowing reviews from horsemen. The new legislation, if it
passes. will not be retroactive and would not affect the lawsuits already filed. The bill, House
Bill 56, moves now to the full House for debate.
Peninsula Gaming Corp. owns Evangeline
Downs.
April 10, 2006
HECTOR VAN LENNEP DEAD
NJ, IL, STUDIES LEDFORDS
Hector Van Lennep, the congenial former general
manager of Pompano Park and son of the track’s
founder, Frederick L. Van Lennep, died Sunday at
the Hospice House in Vero Beach, Florida. Hector ran Pompano from 1972 until 1985, retired
briefly, then returned to Florida and started a new
career as a realtor. He is survived by his wife,
Kathryn; three sons, Frederick, Hector Jr. and
Jonathon; two daughters, Katie and Kathryn; five
grandchildren; and his brother John and sister,
Fredericka Van Lennep Caldwell. HTA extends
its sympathy to Hector’s family.
While the New York racing board pondered the
Vernon mess, New Jersey’s and Illinois’ racing
boards are considering what to do about the Seldon
Ledford stable, and the hoard of Aranesp found in
and around its training quarters at Showplace
Farm. New Jersey is expected to make a decision
this week.
HOW MUCH CAN JEFF TAKE?
Having hurdled bankruptcy hearings and the
challenge of a $9.5 million lawsuit that was
thrown out of court, Jeff Gural now faces another obstacle in his quest of Vernon Downs.
The New York Racing and Wagering Board
wants disclosure on everyone with a financial
interest in the track, which includes Vestin Mortgage, which hold a $26 million mortgage; Shawn
Scott, the former majority shareholder; and
Raceway Ventures, which briefly held controlling interest until Scott foreclosed on it two years
ago. Dan Toomey, a spokesman for the Board,
says once the track and simulcast applications
are received -- Gural was scheduled to submit
them late last week -- it would take the Board
“about a month” to review them and place them
on the agenda for a Board meeting. The Board
also must consider which horsemen’s group will
represent Vernon, the old Harness Horse Association of Central New York or the new Vernon
Downs Harness Horse Association. Gural already has a contract with the new group, and
says that, “If I’m forced (by the Board) to recognize the old horsemen’s group, then I
won’t go forward with my plans.” There
are limits, it seems, to how much one man
can endure.
THE EMPIRE WANTS YOU
At least it does if you want to invest between
$25,000 and $250,000 in its quest for the New York
racing franchise now held by the New York Racing
Association. Empire in this case means Empire
Racing Associates, headed by folks you never
heard of who say they figure it will cost between
$500 million and a billion dollars -- that’s billion
with a capital B -- to successfully bid on and obtain
the franchise. They are trying to raise $630,000
now for lobbying. That’s a long way from the Big
B, but they have some ambitious guys working with
them.
AGREEMENT ON UK DEAL
Churchill Downs, Magna Entertainment and Racing UK, which represents 31 British racetracks,
have crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s on their
agreement which will see Churchill and Magna
tracks send their simulcast product to the British
Isles, where Racing UK will manage the media
rights and distribute the signals. The agreement
will give British bettors the opportunity to bet on
prime American racing, including product from
Arlington Park, Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park,
Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, all among
Churchill-Magna holdings.
DROP A LINE TO DOMINIC
HHI president Dominic Frinzi has a week left in
his extended hospitalization recovering from hip
surgery following a fall. He should be home
next week, at 2825 N. Colonial Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53222.
LEDFORD HERD DISPERSES
Thirteen horses owned by a variety of top stables
and caught in the web of the Ledford stable investigation have been cleared to go to other trainers,
subject to affidavits that the transfers were legitimate, with no agreement to return them to Ledford
training. The trainers who received the horses represent an interesting mix. They are Chris Ryder,
Richard Banca, Steve Elliott, Chris Marino and
Virgil Morgan. The owners of the horses are an
equally interesting mix, top names including David
Scharf, Sampson Street Stables, Peter Pan Stables,
Deena Frost, Jerry Silva, TLP Stables, Matthias
Menzinger, Leslie Stark and Topcat Racing Stable.
Ledford-trained horses also were grounded in Illinois, where an investigation continues. The Newark Star-Ledger, which reported earlier that the
trotting colt Malomar Man was found dead in his
stall at Ledford’s barn at Showplace Farms, two
weeks after being claimed and sent there, now reports that two horses in the Ledford stable in Chicago also were found dead recently.
HARRINGTON CRACKS DOWN
Harrington Raceway general manager Jim Boese
has told delawareonline, the online service of the
Wilmington News-Journal, that two of the track’s
top trainers will face restrictions when
Harrington’s spring meeting begins next Monday.
The trainers, Charlie Tribbett and Bobby
Glassmeyer, were fined and suspended by the
Delaware Harness Racing Commission for high
blood gas readings. They will be allowed to race
at Harrington, but their horses will have to be in
the track’s quarantine barn by 10 a.m. on the
morning of each day they are to race. They also
will have to pay the costs of security on duty at
the barn. Tribbet trains for well known owner
and breeder Fred Hertrich, whose J.D.’s Sweetheart, tested high last October at
Harrington. Old Melodies, trained by
Glassmeyer, had a high test at Dover
Downs April 4, 2005.
April 11, 2006
When Harrington opens next week, Scott Egger
will be in the stand as presiding judge. He formerly served in that capacity at Raceway Park in
Ohio and became presiding judge at Dover Downs
in February. In another Delaware official’s development, horseman Brian Manges has completed
a judges’ training school at the University of Louisville and will serve on special assignment with
Delaware’s harness racing director Hugh
Gallagher.
MILLENIUM UNVEILS PLANS
Bill Paulos, a partner in Millenium Gaming, new
owner of The Meadows, presided at a public hearing attended by 75 nearby residents of the western Pennsylvania HTA member last night, outlining Millenium plans for the racino it hopes to operate at the track. The residents were curious and
questioning, but not hostile. They learned, among
other things, that Millenium plans to operate the
racino 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and that
Millenium may start construction on a temporary
facility this summer, rather than waiting for the
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to award licenses. Paulos said he hoped for an opening of
the temporary facility six months after the start of
construction. A larger and permanent racino would
be built in the two years following on the site of
the Meadows’ current main building, which will be
demolished, and Millenium would pay for road widening of local roads and new traffic signals at the
I-79 interchange, less than a mile from the track
entrance.
A “KNIFE FIGHT” IN OHIO
That’s how David Zanotti, president of the Ohio
Roundtable that opposes slots bitterly, describes
divisions among tracks in Ohio seeking slots.
“They’re in chaos,” Zanotti said. “They’re as far
from unity as a knife fight. They’re stabbing each
other in the back over profits on a proposal
that doesn’t have great odds of passage in
the first place.”
April 12, 2006
MARYLAND PEACE RATIFIED
PROGRESS IN KENTUCKY, TOO
The flames of war may burn brightly elsewhere,
but there is peace on earth in Maryland. The 10year battle between thoroughbred and standardbred interests in the state ended officially yesterday before the Maryland Racing Commission,
when representatives of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, Cloverleaf Enterprises
Maryland Standardbred Breeders, Maryland
Jockey Club, and the Maryland Thoroughbred
Breeders Association told commissioners all parties had ratified an agreement known as the
“Cross-Breed Agreement.” That document addresses simulcasting rights, revenue sharing and
OTB parlors. Here are highlights:
Senator Damon Thayer, a Georgetown Republican, is chairman of the Horse Farming Subcommittee of the Kentucky Senate. He looks out for
the welfare of the industry, and yesterday the state
budget approved by the Senate included four industry initiatives by Thayer. One of them abolishes the daily track fees of $1,750 a day for harness racing and $3,500 a day for thoroughbred
racing for funding the Kentucky Horse Racing
Authority. The measure provides instead for that
$1.2 million item to be paid from the state’s General Fund. Based on 43 days of harness racing
and 2 of quarter horse racing, the savings to HTA
member The Red Mile will be $78,750.
√ Cloverleaf will pay the Maryland Jockey Club
$5.9 million annually for the right to accept betting at HTA member Rosecroft Raceway on all
Pimlico and Laurel races and all out-of-state thoroughbred races, based on those used in 2005.
Thayer’s other racing measures provide for funding for the University of Louisville’s Equine Program, development of a North American Racing
Academy at Kentucky Horse Park, and $13.5
million in bonds for phase 2 construction of a Livestock Disease and Diagnostic Center at the University of Kentucky. Thayer said the latter project
was pushed to successful inclusion in the budget
through the work of his colleague, Senator Alice
Kerr of Lexington.
√ ΙΙn the event the state legislature allocates
purse subsidies, they will be split 80-20 between
thoroughbred and harness racing.
√ Net revenue from the Cracked Claw and North
East OTBs will be split 80-20, but from the rebuilt OTB at Colonial Beach the split will be 6040.
√ Revenues from any new OTBs built outside a
35-mile radius of each track will be kept by the
organization building the betting site.
√ The parties agree to present legislation to the
2007 General Assembly to eliminate the 6:15 p.m.
law that prevents thoroughbred racing in Maryland from conducting evening or night racing.
The agreement represents a $2 million a
year savings in simulcast costs for harness racing.
HOFFMAN REACHES PINNACLE
Dean Hoffman, the United States Trotting
Association’s author, editor and raconteur, is
the winner of the Harness Racing Museum and
Hall of Fame’s 2006 Pinnacle Award. The
award recognizes exemplary efforts of writers,
broadcasters and public relations practitioners
in the promotion of harness racing in general
and the Harness Racing Museum in particular. Hoffman has authored four harness racing
books, on Hanover Shoe Farms, Castleton
Farms, Yankeeland Farms and the
Hambletonian, and was the 2005 winner of the
Stanley F. Bergstein Messenger Award,
HTA’s highest honor.
April 13, 2006
NOW FOR THE HARD PART
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
The hammer fell on the Seldon Ledford stable
yesterday, with the New Jersey Racing Commission suspending bossman Seldon and his driver
son Eric for 10 1/2 years and fining each $12,000.
The Showplace Farms supervisors of the Ledford
operation, Ryan Dailey and his wife Ardena, were
suspended for 8 years and fined $10,000 each;
and the Ledford’s veterinarian, Dr. John R.
Witmer, was suspended for 7 years and fined
$7,500. Eric, one of the Meadowlands’ perennial driving leaders, was suspended by the
Commission’s Board of Judges for being “directly
involved with the training, management and other
business matters relating to the Ledford Stable
at Showplace Farms in Englishtown, NJ.” Eric
was charged with having knowledge of violations
of the rules of the New Jersey Racing Commission and failing to report them to the judges.
Those violations included having illegal equipment and medication and “conspiring with other
licensees to engage in corrupt and fraudulent
practices related to racing.”
There are three groups seeking a slots initiative on next November’s ballots in Ohio, and all
three were told yesterday by the state’s attorney general to redraft their proposals. AG Jim
Petro rejected the proposal of six of the seven
tracks in the state, known as Learn and Earn,
that calls for slots at the tracks and casinos in
Cleveland and Cincinnati; the proposal of the
Greater Cleveland Partnership, which wants the
same basic objectives but a $30 million licensing fee at each site; and the standalone bid by
Penn National Gaming, which wants slots at
tracks only. Petro said all three were rejected
because they did not tell gamblers in the summaries of the legislation that the slots would be
open 24 hours a day. Petro said that omission
overrode local authority. There is a mention of
24-hour operation in the fine print of the proposed amendments, and the three groups now
are redrafting their proposals to include mention in the summaries as well.
So much for the administrative penalties. Still to
come are the criminal charges by the New Jersey State Police, who conducted the raid on the
Ledford stables. And of course still to come after that are the appeals and requests for stays.
Eric Ledford’s lawyer, Howard Taylor, already
has filed with the Appellate division, and the others seem certain to follow. Bottom line, this story,
and enactment of penalties if they survive the long
appellate process, will remain in the news for
months to come.
We do not always agree with the Ontario Harness Horse Association, but we applaud that organization for moving forward on new approaches for marketing and branding of harness
racing. The OHHA’s Standardbred Revenue
Allocation Marketing Committee has drawn up
requests for proposals for developing a brand
for the sport in the province that will highlight
its action and thrills and attempt to enlarge the
fan base.
Seldon Ledford, not charged in New Jersey, is
under investigation in Illinois, and the Illinois
Racing Board has sidelined him and the horses
he trains until that investigation is complete. It also is likely to honor any final
adjudication in the New Jersey case.
OHHA PURSUES MARKETING
HBPA HEAD TAKES TO THE
SEAS
John Roark, attorney and president of the national
thoroughbred HBPA for the last five years, has
resigned and is forming a company with two colleagues to seek offshore simulcasting on U.S.
races. Roark plans to have offshore bets
commingled with U.S. pools.
April 14, 2006
CIVIL WAR IN GETTYSBURG
VEGAS STEALS AN HTA IDEA
Again. But this time without the 51,000 human
and 5,000 equine casualties that marked the decisive battle of the Civil War of 1863. This one is
pitting not the Union Army against its Confederate counterpart, but neighbor against neighbor
and organization against organization in the small
Pennsylvania town. Walter Powell, director of
planning and historic preservation for Gettysburg,
says, “There’s that undercurrent of concern, frustration, anger, bitterness -- all those tied together.” On one side is the Crossroads Gaming
Resort and Spa, which hopes to build a hotel complex and casino a mile from the closest part of
the Gettysburg National Military Park. Supporters, including the Gettysburg Borough Council,
want it to boost employment and revenue. Opponents, including the nonprofit Gettysburg Civil
War Preservation Trust, see it as an intrusion on
hallowed ground, and one opponent calls the group
that hopes to build it “a sleazy enterprise.” Some
lawn signs read, “Casino yes, good jobs,” and a
nearby billboard reads, “Don’t gamble with our
future.” The town, like the nation 150 years ago,
is torn apart.
Twenty-six years ago, HTA had a study on creative marketing strategy done for the industry
by graduate students at Harvard Business
School. It is still available in the member area
of HTA’s Web site, for those who would like to
see what the students of a quarter of a century
ago thought about the issue. Much of it is as
applicable now as it was then. Now comes
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
sending its executive vice president and chief
financial officer, John Shigley, to Boston to interview Harvard Business students, and others at Boston College and Boston University,
in an attempt to lure them to Vegas to work for
MGM. It shouldn’t be too hard to do. Eight
years ago Harrah’s Entertainment hired an
untenured assistant professor in the Harvard
Business School to run their huge enterprise.
He is still there, now president, chairman and
CEO Gary Loveman. You don’t really need a
Harvard degree, however, to figure out what
Massachusetts legislators still don’t understand. Connecticut received $36.2 million from
Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods in March alone,
much of it spent there by Massachusetts residents. Impeach those guys in the House, or
get your money back!
AND A BATTLE IN BUFFALO
The president of the Common Council of Buffalo, NY, calls the situation “a pressure
cooker.” The county executive says, “We are
going to court to fight on behalf of our citizens,
our children, our businesses and for the rule of
law. The mayor of Buffalo, who wants a downtown Indian casino, is alarmed because the
Seneca Indian Nation now says it will cater to
Buffalonians and not reach out for tourists, a
policy the mayor is afraid will have negative
impact on the local economy. He calls that possibility “a very troubling development.” A
Seneca spokesman said a downtown
casino would be “part of the puzzle”
for Buffalo, but not an end-all or panacea.
TWO DANDY MEDIA GUIDES
HTA received two exceptional media guides in recent days, one from Hoosier Park and the other
from Northfield Park. Both are big, spiral bound,
and comprehensive. The Hoosier guide includes
a color-coded layout of the track and both harness
and thoroughbred facts, figures and high impact
full color pictures throughout, fitting for a Churchill
Downs production. Northfield’s has handsome full
color covers and very solid content. Our congratulations to all who shared in producing these classy
guides. They are extremely impressive and
convey the image of class.
THE LEDFORD FILES
To clear the record on what Illinois actually has
done to Seldon Ledford, the patriarch of the New
Jersey mess, here is the official statement from
Illinois Racing Board chairwoman Lorna Propes:
“In response to the New Jersey Racing Commission rulings, issued on April 12 for Seldon Ledford,
Eric Ledford, and Ryan and Ardena Dailey, the
Illinois Racing Board will extend the suspensions
to Illinois, pursuant to the reciprocity rules. All
racehorses in the Seldon Ledford stable are placed
on the stewards list and all transfers to a new
trainer must first be approved by the state stewards. In addition, the horses will be required to
stable ontrack for an indefinite period of time and
must compete in two qualifying races before entering in a pari-mutuel race.”
Not as tough as it could be, but a good start.
FOR INFORMATION, DIAL 411
Someone somewhere thought they already had
information on a pacer named Four One One that
raced at the Meadowlands last Thursday night,
but it appears they got the wrong number. Two
minutes before post time for the second race, a
series of win bets totaling $50,000 came in on the
pacer, dropping his odds from 8-5 to 1-9. He finished sixth, with the winner, G-String Jenna, going
from 7-1 to 19-1 and paying $40.
Chris McErlean, the Meadowlands vice president
of racing, was on top of the bet in minutes. At first
he thought it might have been a teller error, but
the Portland, Oregon, hub that transmitted the bets
verified them and said they were made through
Youbet.com’s International Racing Group.
McErlean watches betting patterns and follows up on wagers that seem to be an
anomaly, and he said this about the 411
events:
April 17, 2006
“The exacta payout ($81) was perceived to be low
based on the traditional formula of win price times
place price, so we reviewed all the winning exacta
combinations. We found nothing out of line nor
were there any wagering outlets with an inordinate amount of winning tickets. The cause of the
lower exacta price was, in part, due to the artificial win odds created by the heavy wagering on
Four One One. We will continue to monitor the
outlet, but in this case, we could not find anything
out of the ordinary other than the size of the wager.” Meadowlands has asked Standardbred Investigative Services and TRBP to look into the
matter.
KY SAYS NO TO COMP ISSUE
The Kentucky General Assembly adjourned for
the year last week, and its Senate did so without
even considering the issue of workers’ compensation for jockeys. The representative who guided
the measure through the House, Carolyn Belcher,
was miffed that the Senate did not take up or consider the legislation. The House had passed the
measure 83-12 less than a month ago and sent it
to the Senate, where it was first attached and then
stripped from a workers’ comp bill for miners. The
Senate took into account that jocks are independent contractors, not workers, and decided the
jocks could not have it both ways.
THIS PROBLEM IS NOT GURAL’S
Another problem at Vernon Downs, but this one does
not affect Jeff Gural’s pursuit of the track. In 2003 a
former town code enforcement officer, who reported
that Vernon had corrected all of its code deficiencies,
turned out to be on the payroll of the then operators of
the track, at $1,000 a week. A state investigator found
78 code violations, including locked circuit breakers and
covered sprinklers, both obvious fire hazards. The
former inspector, Larry Sarandrea, was found “clearly
in conflict” byAGEliot Spitzer’s office, and has agreed
to reimburse the town of Vernon $9,000.
April 18, 2006
WHOA! HOLD THE CELEBRATION
WHOA ON THE RIVERFRONT
The table was all set and the celebration about to
begin over the legislature of Kentucky transferring the funding of the Kentucky Horse Racing
Authority from tracks to the state. It means that
the $1.2 million in KHRA assessments to the
tracks will end July 1. In the case of HTA member Red Mile alone, it represented a $78,000
saving. Nothing has changed about that legislation, but what the legislature giveth the legislature taketh away, and the General Assembly,
before heading home to rest after its arduous
work, cut the KHRA budget by 40%. The KHRA
has been funded by the $1.2 million paid by
tracks, now prohibited by law; $500,000 from the
general fund; and $1.3 million from licensing
and other fees. Unless the KHRA is to be
crippled in administering racing in Kentucky by
the budget cut, the state will have to dip further
into the general fund to fund it. State senator
Damon Thayer, who was instrumental in getting
the assessment removed from tracks, met with
the KHRA this week and assured it that full funding would be found. The General Assembly in
Kentucky does not reconvene until January,
when it will hold a 30-day session. Thayer hopes
to have the state take up the shortfall. Does
anyone in the house think restoration of the
track’s assessments will not be considered, even
though a lady with the wonderful name of Crit
Luallen, who is state auditor, says it is questionable if the KHRA has statutory authority to assess funding fees against the tracks.
The governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, has
issued a temporary moratorium on developing
state-owned property along the Delaware River
in Philadelphia. The governor said it is time for
Pennsylvania to step back and decide whether
building casinos or condominiums or other developments were in the best interest of the city and
state. “With the advent of gaming,” the governor
said, “these riverfront properties have a tremendous value. We are just trying to get taxpayers
their money’s worth.” A spokesman said the intent of the governor’s decision was not to stop development, but ensure that it is planned well and
makes sense. A spokesman for the mayor of Philadelphia, however, looked at the order warily, implying it might raise questions of whether the state
is usurping powers that ultimately reside with the
city. Joe Grace, a spokesman for Mayor Street,
said, “We’re going to take a careful look so we
can understand exactly what’s being proposed. We
don’t want to see anything happen that would slow
the progress that we see happening all along the
waterfront.”
The KHRA, in an unrelated move, unanimously
approved an advisory to horsemen telling them
that the painkiller Naproxen, a non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory agent better known to humans
as Aleve, could accumulate in tissue and lead to
positive tests outside of the current 48hour cutoff. The KHRA told horsemen
it should not be administered within 120
hours of a race.
HTA CHAMPS BATTLING AGAIN
Three former HTA Drivers of the Year are battling again for national honors. Tony Morgan,
HTA’s champ in 1997 and 2002, is leading the
country in both wins and money, with 322 winning
drives and $2.8 million in money won by his
mounts. Cat Manzi, last year’s HTA winner, is
second in wins with 247 and third in money earnings with $2.2 million.. Dave Palone, the HTA
Driver of the Year in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004,
is fourth in races won with 203. The HTA formula, which makes the title one of the most difficult to win in harness racing, also takes Universal Driver Rating Percentages into account, and
to win a driver must finish in the top 25 in all three
categories. Only 3 drivers in North America
-- Manzi, Palone and Morgan -- were able
to do that last year.
April 19, 2006
WHAT’S WRONG WITH RACING
CORZINE SIGNS THE COMPACT
Number 12,714: Jeff Gural is about to open his
little venture at Tioga Downs, which Jeff says
“will be the nicest small track in the country.”
As he awaits approval of a temporary racing and
simulcast application, filed three weeks ago, from
the New York State Racing and Wagering Board,
(which says it could be another month before it
acts on the application, not giving Gural much
time to make his hoped-for Memorial Day opening goal) who shows up but Donald Groth, president and CEO of Catskill OTB. You remember
Catskill OTB. That was where -- of all tracks
and simulcast locations in the country --- the Pick
Six Fix boys chose to start their crooked venture, but it was not the place that uncovered the
scam. In any event, Groth now is urging the racing board not to grant Gural the license, saying it
would take business away from Catskill OTB’s
branch betting centers and hurt Monticello Raceway and Finger Lakes. Groth thinks, “No businessman should be going into the harness racing
business just as an admission ticket to get into
the VLT business.” Last time we looked, Jeff
Gural was an owner and breeder of harness
horses, and had announced some very innovative ideas for Tioga Downs even before a harness race has been conducted there. We’re not
sure that Don Groth has been any closer to a
harness horse than his TV monitors, so talking
about motivation for getting into racing is a little
strange for a guy who has no connection with it
except his betting operation. Gural, a businessman and entrepreneur in one of the toughest markets in the world, has a good old American idea:
“Let Catskill OTB compete for the betting
public’s dollar,” he says. “This is a free
country...people have a choice.” We hope the
New York racing board gives Don Groth’s objection all the consideration it deserves:
none at all. Now on to reason 12,715 as
to what’s wrong with racing.
Harness horsemen racing at the Meadowlands and
Freehold Raceway now can obtain National Racing Compact licenses good for New Jersey and 10
other racing states, including New York, Florida,
Kentucky and California. Governor Jon Corzine
has signed enabling legislation, which means owners, trainers and drivers can obtain one multi-jurisdictional license covering all of those states
through the National Racing Compact. There are
a number of ways to do that.
Your local racing commission office, if your state
is a member, should have NRC packets with applications.
You can download the application from
www.racinglicense.com.
You can e-mail the Compact
[email protected].
at
You can contact the National Racing Compact at
2343 Alexandria Drive, Suite 200, Lexington, KY,
40504, telephone 859-224-0584. Ask for Sandy,
and tell her HTA sent you.
ORC ACTS ON MEDICATION
The Ontario Racing Commission, in a white paper titled “Medication Control: Good for the
horse, Vital to the Industry,” has informed licensees that medical control means “only using
medications or products that have a therapeutic
value to the horse. When used prior to a race,
they should not mask an underlying health problem, cause a positive test, or undermine the testing process. Indeed, the ORC believes it is unethical to give non-therapeutic drugs to a horse
at any time.” The commission also advised all
licensees that severe penalties will be imposed
on anyone found to have acquired or administered Aranesp, or possessing it.
April 20, 2006
LIKE RACING? BE PATIENT
NEW BETS INTRODUCED
There are no such things as quick decisions in
racing today. Racing boards mull and stew over
approving licenses; OTB operators like Don
Groth try to stop new tracks from opening; politicians battle among themselves, creating delays
that cost their states millions of dollars. Three
cases in point are Vernon Downs and Tioga Park
in New York and The Meadows in Pennsylvania.
The Meadowlands introduces its Choose Six bet
tomorrow night, replacing the Pick Six on the
wagering menu. The Choose Six allows the bettor to select the six races that he or she will bet,
rather than a preset imposed schedule. The bet
will carry a guaranteed $25,000 minimum pool
on Friday and Saturday, and will be available
initially only at the Meadowlands and to simulcast players at Monmouth Park and Freehold
Raceway, New Jersey’s other two tracks. It will
be offered at Monmouth when the Meadowlands’ sister track begins thoroughbred operation May 13.
Concerning Vernon, Jeff Gural has had to move
his hoped-for Fourth of July opening back. Back
how far? At least six weeks from the time the
New York Racing and Wagering Board finishes
worrying about Shawn Scott, Vestin Mortgage
and Raceway Ventures getting paid monies owed
them, and six weeks from when the Board decides which horsemen’s group, between the two
battling for recognition, will be accredited. That
item requires a vote, which doesn’t take longer
than a day, but then votes have to be counted,
and who knows how many racing board employees are needed to screw in that light bulb, and
how long they will ponder the issue before and
after counting.
At Tioga Park, where Gural still hopes for a Memorial Day opening, the racing board will have
to study the protest of Don Groth, the complaining head of Catskill OTB, who opposes licensing
Tioga. That deserves a minute’s consideration.
In Pennsylvania, KDKA in Pittsburgh reports it
is now 10 years since the idea of slots at tracks
began being kicked around. They are still being
kicked around, only in a different context. The
pols in Pennsylvania have made a playground of
the issue. Mike Jeannot of The Meadows says
of the 10-year battle, “Business has declined
every year since then. We’ve lost jobs every year
since then. We got this bill passed two
years ago, and we’re very anxious to have
it implemented.” Be patient, Mike, and
stay healthy. These things take time.
The New York Racing Association, meanwhile,
will introduce its new $1 minimum Grand Slam
on May 3. In that pool, bettors’ choices can finish first, second or third in each of the first three
races offered, but then must be combined with
the winner of the fourth and final leg.
WE’RE BUILDING, KEMOSABE
The Indians of Arizona are sending that message
loud and clear, with three tribes planning hotel
resort facilities. Here in HTA’s home base in Tucson, the Tohono O’odham Nation will break
ground next Monday on the city’s first casino
hotel at their Desert Diamond, on the road to
Nogales and Mexico, 60 miles away. Taking a
cue from the Phoenix Greyhound track, which was
built while an older structure remained operating
and then was destroyed when the new track
opened, the Tucson-based tribe will build an entire new casino next to its current operating one,
adding a hotel and conference center, and then
will demolish the older casino, which was built 13
years ago and is not aging gracefully. The Salt
River Indian Community is building a 16-story
hotel, and the Fort McDowell Yavapais opened
a Radisson hotel on their casino site in November.
MAJOR DRUG BUST IN CANADA
In a coordinated action by five enforcement agencies, a major distributor of erythropoetin and other
prohibited substances has been apprehended in
Ontario. A sophisticated laboratory was shut down,
large quantities of controlled and adulterated drugs
were seized, and extensive computer files were
discovered. The bust was conducted by combined
forces of the Ontario Provincial Police Illegal Gambling Unit, the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Ontario Racing Commission Investigative Unit, HTA’s and USTA’s Standardbred
Investigative Services, and the Toronto Police.
One man was charged, but considerably more will
be heard about this case and its far-reaching ramifications. As in the Ledford case in New Jersey,
Aranesp, the potent form of EPO that was blatantly
being advertised on the Web site involved, along
with strong analgesics, bronchial dilators and other
performance enhancers, were found in the raid.
HARRAH’S STEPS UP, BIGTIME
At the recent Racing Congress in Las Vegas,
Harrah’s COO, Tim Wilmott, said he felt racing
“needed to pick up the pace a bit...shorten the
experience, create a higher level of energy, and
a higher level of excitement in the experience
than what you traditionally have offered.”
Wilmott said in Vegas that Harrah’s was investing some $400 million into its new Chester Casino and Racetrack just south of Philadelphia,
and that he was “anxious to get started.” As a
sign of that enthusiasm, Harrah’s joined HTA
shortly after it broke ground at Chester, and
yesterday it demonstrated that it will be a valuable addition to the sport. Harrah’s director of
racing operations at Chester, Mike Tanner, revealed that the company was contributing
$500,000 to sustain the level of Sire Stakes
purses in Pennsylvania. Without the gift,
the monies available would have been
split four ways
April 21, 2006
rather than three, diminishing each purse, since
Chester will host a Sire Stake after it opens next
fall but could produce no tax revenue to support it
since it did not race in 2005. Funding of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes is based on previous year’s
handle, and there was none at Chester. Tanner
said, “Harrah’s is committed to doing everything
we do first class, whether in the casino end or the
racing end, and we are glad to help sponsor the
Sire Stakes this year and look forward to hosting
the events in 2007.”Welcome, good neighbor
BANGOR SLOTS BANG LOUDLY
Slots at Bangor Raceway date only from November, but already have added $367,744 to purses
for Maine harness racing. Slot play at Penn
National’s Hollywood Slots has increased each
month since the November opening, with March
play of almost $46 million up some $7 million from
February, and $17.2 million higher than November. Total revenue for five months is more than
$12 million.
KY MILKSHAKE TESTS RETURN
Milkshake testing has resumed in Kentucky, after a cessation because of limited veterinary personnel. The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
has hired Dr. Deidre Huff, a former Kentuckian
working most recently in Louisiana, but is not at
the moment replacing its chief vet, Dr. Gary Wilson, who was fired after complaining publicly that
the welfare of horses in Kentucky was at risk because of veterinary funding limitations.
DOUG BROWN BACK HOME
Doug Brown, eight-time winner of the O’Brien
award as top driver in Canada, has returned home
from five days of hospitalization after shattering a
heel in a driving accident at Kawartha Downs April
11. Doug’s wife Nancy says doctors say Doug
could be out of action for as long as a year. Send
cards to 2 Maryleah Ct., Bowmanville, ON
L1C 4H4, Canada.
THE SUN SHINES IN FLORIDA
Reversing its field, the state of Florida has decided to listen to its citizens, and has issued 116
pages of revised rules that may enable Broward
county’s four pari-mutuel operations -- including HTA member Pompano Park -- to begin
racino operations late this summer. Under the
revised rules, which are subject to a final hearing by the parimutuel division of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Pompano and its pari-mutuel neighbors
would be able to offer slots, poker, and give free
meals or t-shirts or whatever the tracks choose
to give customers. This represents a 180-degree turn from the rules as originally proposed.
Comps are still limited, but only slightly, with
the main caveats barring free alcohol and the
tracks required to keep records of the value of
free gifts and not use them to reduce revenues
and evade taxes by doing so. Pompano Park
general manager Dick Feinberg said that was
fine with him, that all he wants is to be able to
compete on equal terms with Florida’s Indian casinos. “Anything that puts us to a level playing
field is welcome,” Feinberg said. The hearing
on the rule is scheduled for Tallahassee May
23. Objectors would have 10 days to file challenges, which would have to go before a judge
within 30 days after that. If no protests are filed,
the rules would become official. The state then
has 90 days to grant or deny an application.
In another Pompano development, the track presented the Bruce and Wally show on Saturday
night, an unscheduled special event. Bruce
Ranger and Wally Hennessey, the track’s two
leading drivers, won 11 of the 15 races offered
on the big Saturday card. Ranger won six and
Hennessey five, with respectable payoffs as the
crowd tried to handicap the two dominant
stars. Only one winner was odds-on,
with other Ranger-Hennessey win prices
ranging from $4 to $9.40.
April 24, 2006
Almost forgot. There was additional excitement
Friday night, when the track was evacuated briefly
at 6:45 because of a roof fire on the third floor
over the poker room. Fire rescue units arrived
immediately and handled the emergency, patrons
were back in the building in less than an hour, the
first race went off at 7:40 p.m., only 15 minutes
late, and there was a full house in the poker room.
PENN NATIONAL GETS OHIO OK
The attorney general of Ohio has approved the
petition language submitted by Penn National
Gaming and its Toledo Raceway Park, seeking
a constitutional question for Ohio voters in November. Called Education YES!, the proposal
calls for 5,000 slot machines at the state’s racetracks, earmarking proceeds for college scholarships, economic development, and a gambling
addiction treatment program. Approval from the
AG now permits Penn National to print and circulate petitions in Ohio, with 322,899 valid signatures needed to put the question on the ballot
next fall. Two other proposals, one submitted
by the other six racetracks in Ohio along with
two Ohio real estate developers, and another
by a Cleveland business development group,
were rejected, as was the original Penn National
application, but those groups have not submitted their revised applications to the AG as yet.
The track proposal, also tied to education and
called “Learn and Earn,” would allow tracks to
have slots and also provide for casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati. The rejections of the three
original applications were because they did not
inform voters that the slots would operate 24
hours a day.
PUBLICISTS: GET THOSE PIX IN
HTA needs current color photos of track execs,
including publicists, and pix of your tracks, for
some important upcoming projects. We thank
you in advance.
April 25, 2006
SIGNS OF COMPROMISE IN OHIO
NJ DENIES ALL EPO STAYS
The backers of three different plans for slots in
Ohio seem to be drawing together, hoping for a
unified approach that voters might support next
November. The Learn and Earn group, which includes Northfield Park and HTA president Brock
Milstein, filed a revised version of its proposal
yesterday to satisfy requirements of the state attorney general, but the revision went beyond the
first proposal. That one had proposed slots for
eight Ohio tracks and downtown casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati. The revision calls for slots
at seven tracks, including HTA member Lebanon Raceway and the thoroughbred operation at
River Downs. In what appears to be a conciliatory move to appease Penn National Gaming, the
second petition filed under the banner of the
Learn and Earn group removed a casino in Cincinnati from its proposal. Penn National, which
owns Toledo’s Raceway Park and the Argosy casino in Lawrenceburg, strongly opposed the idea
of a competing operation in downtown Cincinnati.
Learn and Earn also now proposes a one-time
$60 million license fee, with slots at seven tracks
and two locations in downtown Cleveland, each
with 3,500 slots. The third proposal, sponsored
by a business consortium called Greater Cleveland Partnership, has been asking for $30 million
license fees. Although unity would seem to be a
highly desirable goal toward voter approval, a
spokesman for Penn National says talk of agreement on the terms and conditions is “very premature.
Saying that to do otherwise would be “inimical to
the integrity of the sport, New Jersey Racing
Commission executive director Frank Zanzuccki
has denied all stays for the Ledford Five, the
father-son team of Seldon and Eric Ledford, their
New Jersey stable training team of husband and
wife Ryan and Ardena Dailey, and veterinarian
John R. Witmer. Under the denial all five now
will have to appeal to a court, and all are barred
from the Meadowlands, Freehold Raceway and
other track or training centers under the
commission’s jurisdiction in New Jersey. The
Ledford violations and a drug bust in Ontario
that turned up quantities of Aranesp and other
prohibited race horse performance enhancers
and shut down that operation, are encouraging
signs of increased vigilance, but very likely only
the tip of the iceberg. Judging from horsemen’s
mail and calls, EPO is reaching crisis proportions, and HTA plans to offer a plan for curbing
the epidemic.
In another Buckeye development, the Ohio State
Racing Commission will begin milkshake testing
on thoroughbreds next week for high levels of
total carbon dioxide. Ohio has tested trotters and
pacers at its tracks for the last five years. The
maximum 37 millimole per liter of blood
harness rule now will apply to runners as
well.
SOLVALLA GETS A NEW BOSS
Margareta Wallenius Kleberg, a longtime major
breeder in Sweden and a prominent figure in
American harness racing as well, has taken over
as Chairwoman of the Board at Solvalla Racetrack in Sweden, home of the famed international
trotting classic the Elitlopp. Mrs. Kleberg’s father Olaf Wallenius, was president of Swedish
trotting there in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Both father and daughter have run the giant
worldwide auto shipping line that Mrs. Kleberg
still operates. In the new order at Solvalla, CEO
Robert Karlsson is resigning, despite management pleas to stay on, saying he is unhappy with
his inability to halt sliding on-track attendance.
Mrs. Kleberg is an honorary trustee of the U.S.
Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame and
a consistent and valued patron of the annual HTA art auction.
April 26, 2006
LEDFORD FIGHTS RECIPROCITY
THIS ONE IS INTERESTING
Seldon Ledford, suspended for 10 years in New
Jersey for rule violations there, now is challenging the Illinois Racing Board’s honoring
reciprocity in that state. A hearing is scheduled for today, but a decision may not be forthcoming until the board’s next meeting May 9.
According to harnessracing.com, Ledford’s
challenge is based on the contention that he
has not been given full due process in New Jersey, where quantities of Aranesp and other performance enhancers were found at his stable.
Ledford can request a temporary restraining
order on Illinois licensing until the May 9 board
meeting.
The Boston Globe reported today that “Two of
the biggest names in the casino business -Foxwoods and MGM Grand -- joined forces to
develop gambling ventures around the globe and
market a $700 million hotel-casino complex under construction in Connecticut.” We were a bit
intrigued because the Associated Press announced the development a bit differently. Its
lead read, “MGM Mirage Inc. has agreed to
license its name to the Mashantucket Pequot
Tribal Nation for a planned $700 million hotel
and casino expansion at the Foxwoods Resort
Casino.” The discrepancy also caught the eye
of Richard Blumenthal, the ever-crusading attorney general of Connecticut, who fired off a
quick letter to George Henningsen, chairman of
the Foxwoods Tribal Gaming Commission. Mr.
Blumenthal was not pleased, telling Mr.
Henningsen that “Gaming on the Tribe’s Connecticut reservation is governed by the
Mashantucket Pequot/State of Connecticut
Gaming Procedures, the federal Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act (IGRA) and Regulations of the
National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC).
These legal authorities allow and require state
oversight of any proposal for the expansion of
gaming on the reservation to determine if any
planned gaming activity comports with the requirements of law.” Mr. Blumenthal informed
Henningsen that “at no time prior to its public
announcement” had the tribe informed the Attorney General, the State’s chief legal officer,
of its plans.” Blumenthal said, “The nature of
the proposed joint venture is unclear from the
Tribe’s recent public announcement,” which was
precisely our reaction in reading the ambiguous
release. Blumenthal told Henningsen that he
wanted copies of any agreements between the
Tribe and MGM regarding their plans for expansion, and the nature and extent of the
Tribe’s relationship with MGM Mirage.
CALGARY GETS COUNCIL OK
The giant $80 million entertainment complex
planned for a location near the Calgary airport,
which will include a racetrack that will supplant
Stampede Park and offer both harness and thoroughbred racing, has received unanimous approval from the rural Municipal District of
Rocky View, where the track will be located.
The dual breed track has a 10-year license to
guarantee its financial backing, and now can
move ahead with plans. The Calgary Sun reports racing is expected to get underway in two
years, and the slot-fueled complex, when completed, is scheduled to include hotels, retail outlets, a vet clinic and a satellite college.
NEW CEO AT MOHEGAN GAMING
William Velardo, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, has resigned after 11 years with
Mohegan to return to a new job in his native Las
Vegas. The new CEO of the Authority, which includes HTA member Mohegan Sun at Pocono
Downs, is Mitchell Grossinger Etess, who currently is president and CEOof Mohegan
Sun, will take over as CEO of the Tribal
Gaming Authority on May 4.
April 27, 2006
GOOD NEWS IN ILLINOIS
TIOGA GETS ITS LICENSE
The harness racing community in Illinois was
heartened yesterday when the Illinois House, by
a vote of 70-32, passed HB 1918, the Molinaro
bill, that had failed twice previously in that chamber earlier this year. The bill could provide
horseracing in the state with a $30-$35 million
annual windfall, since it echos Indiana legislation
that provides racing with revenues from
riverboats. In Indiana the money is raised from
a tax on admissions; in Illinois as proposed it
would give racing 3% of adjusted gross revenues
of four riverboats in the Chicago area, while excluding five downstate, a provision that made it
more palatable to downstate legislators. The
House sent the measure to the Senate, where it
could be considered as early as next Tuesday,
May 2. If the Senate approves, the measure is
almost assured of becoming law, as it has the support of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and heavy-hitting
Democrats from the Chicago area. Illinois racing, currently 13th nationally in purses paid, could
rise to the top two or three in the U.S. if the measure passes. One Republican legislator from
downstate, Rep. Bill Black, raised objections yesterday to the change of sentiment in the House
by telling fellow members, “You want to change
your vote because you’ve suddenly grown fond
of horses, that’s fine. But I don’t think that’s
why some of you changed your vote. I like horses,
but I don’t like what I smell here.” That drew a
quick and angry response from Rep. Molinaro,
who fired back, “I’ve never questioned anybody’s
motives in this chamber in my life, and I’m not
going to let somebody question my motives.”
Steve Brown, a spokesman for Illinois House
Speaker Michael Madigan, gave short shrift to
Black’s comment, saying, “Black’s just becoming kind of a pathetic blowhard.” Black or Brown,
Illinois horsemen are being urged to contact their senators immediately and push
hard for passage of the bill.
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board
yesterday issued a temporary, conditional license
to Tioga Downs, and gave Jeff Gural and his Nevada Gold colleagues the green light to move forward toward opening the new track and its racino
near Binghamton. Technically, the license was
awarded to Nevada Gold, which must meet Board
standards on tote systems, compliance with
plans, show no change in management or beneficial interest, and meet security and bond requirements.
The Board also approved new bets and wagering
opportunities for bettors, including the Grand
Slam for harness tracks only. Showing major understanding of racing’s problems, Board chairwoman Cheryl Buley said, “New bet types may
help racetracks compete in an increasingly challenging gaming market. Ultimately it will be the
decision of the tracks whether or not to offer these
wagers depending on market variables and fan
interest.” In the Grand Slam, Buley likened the
bet to its baseball connotation, hitting a home run
with the bases loaded. A bettor can load the bases
by selecting horses that finish first, second or third
in three Grand Slam races, and then homer by
selecting the winner of the fourth leg of this bet,
developed by NYRA. If a selected horse is
scratched, the race favorite will be substituted.
The Board also approved a proposition bet in
which a bettor can wager that one horse, out of
two or three designated in a race, will finish ahead
of the other two, regardless of where the three
finish in race order. Also approved were parlay
wagers, linking two or more individual bets, and
changes in handling of payouts, including choice
of refund or win payoff in cases of interference.
New York’s new rules, which will go into effect
May 17, can be seen in their entirety on the
Racing and Wagering Board’s Web site,
www.racing.state.ny.us.
April 27, 2006
GOOD NEWS IN ILLINOIS
TIOGA GETS ITS LICENSE
The harness racing community in Illinois was
heartened yesterday when the Illinois House, by
a vote of 70-32, passed HB 1918, the Molinaro
bill, that had failed twice previously in that chamber earlier this year. The bill could provide
horseracing in the state with a $30-$35 million
annual windfall, since it echos Indiana legislation
that provides racing with revenues from
riverboats. In Indiana the money is raised from
a tax on admissions; in Illinois as proposed it
would give racing 3% of adjusted gross revenues
of four riverboats in the Chicago area, while excluding five downstate, a provision that made it
more palatable to downstate legislators. The
House sent the measure to the Senate, where it
could be considered as early as next Tuesday,
May 2. If the Senate approves, the measure is
almost assured of becoming law, as it has the support of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and heavy-hitting
Democrats from the Chicago area. Illinois racing, currently 13th nationally in purses paid, could
rise to the top two or three in the U.S. if the measure passes. One Republican legislator from
downstate, Rep. Bill Black, raised objections yesterday to the change of sentiment in the House
by telling fellow members, “You want to change
your vote because you’ve suddenly grown fond
of horses, that’s fine. But I don’t think that’s
why some of you changed your vote. I like horses,
but I don’t like what I smell here.” That drew a
quick and angry response from Rep. Molinaro,
who fired back, “I’ve never questioned anybody’s
motives in this chamber in my life, and I’m not
going to let somebody question my motives.”
Steve Brown, a spokesman for Illinois House
Speaker Michael Madigan, gave short shrift to
Black’s comment, saying, “Black’s just becoming kind of a pathetic blowhard.” Black or Brown,
Illinois horsemen are being urged to contact their senators immediately and push
hard for passage of the bill.
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board
yesterday issued a temporary, conditional license
to Tioga Downs, and gave Jeff Gural and his Nevada Gold colleagues the green light to move forward toward opening the new track and its racino
near Binghamton. Technically, the license was
awarded to Nevada Gold, which must meet Board
standards on tote systems, compliance with
plans, show no change in management or beneficial interest, and meet security and bond requirements.
The Board also approved new bets and wagering
opportunities for bettors, including the Grand
Slam for harness tracks only. Showing major understanding of racing’s problems, Board chairwoman Cheryl Buley said, “New bet types may
help racetracks compete in an increasingly challenging gaming market. Ultimately it will be the
decision of the tracks whether or not to offer these
wagers depending on market variables and fan
interest.” In the Grand Slam, Buley likened the
bet to its baseball connotation, hitting a home run
with the bases loaded. A bettor can load the bases
by selecting horses that finish first, second or third
in three Grand Slam races, and then homer by
selecting the winner of the fourth leg of this bet,
developed by NYRA. If a selected horse is
scratched, the race favorite will be substituted.
The Board also approved a proposition bet in
which a bettor can wager that one horse, out of
two or three designated in a race, will finish ahead
of the other two, regardless of where the three
finish in race order. Also approved were parlay
wagers, linking two or more individual bets, and
changes in handling of payouts, including choice
of refund or win payoff in cases of interference.
New York’s new rules, which will go into effect
May 17, can be seen in their entirety on the
Racing and Wagering Board’s Web site,
www.racing.state.ny.us.
CENTER STAGE FOR HOOSIER
HTA member Hoosier Park takes the national spotlight tomorrow night, when a field of 10 top older
pacers goes postward in the $200,000 Dan Patch
at the Anderson, Indiana, track. A twist on this
year’s race, and a commentary on the impact of
Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs on racing and
breeding in Indiana, is the appearance of two Indiana-sired horses in the rich event. Foxy Maneuver, a winner of 41 career victories and $736,000,
is a son of the Indiana-based stallion Armbro Maneuver, and Rebelman, an Electric Yankee 5-yearold, won recently in 1:50.3.
Hop Sing, the fastest and richest pacer of 2006 to
date with a mile mark of 1:48.3 and $253,400 in
earnings, is the 5-2 favorite in the race with redhot three-time HTA Driver of the Year Tony Morgan in the bike.
Here is the field:
1. Foxy Maneuver Don Eash
5-1
2. Casimir Camotion George Brennan 2-1
3. Rebelman
Joe Essig Jr.
12-1
4. Hop Sing
Tony Morgan
5-2
5. Tigerama
Robert Shepherd 8-1
6. Mypanmar
Ricky Macomber Jr.15-1
7. Escape the Wind Roger Mayotte 4-1
8. Primetime Bobcat Jody Jamieson 9-2
9. Spirit of a Shark Walter Haynes Jr6-1
10.Maltese Artist
Mike Wilder
10-1
$100,000 BONUS ON COAST
In another indication of the rebound of harness
racing on the west coast, a $100,000 bonus program has been announced jointly by the California Harness Horsemen’s Association, the California Sires Stakes Committee, and HTA member
Sacramento Harness Association. Beginning with
this year’s juvenile crop of trotters and pacers,
horses that sweep the 2-year-old, championship
and the 3-year-old spring and fall championships will share the $100,000 bonus.
Details at www.chhaonline.com.
April 28, 2006
WILL REAL PAYPAL STAND
UP?
The Roman god Janus looked both directions at
once. He could be the patron saint of PayPal, the
online payment service. PayPal, along with eBay,
has commended Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Virginia
Republican, and his staff for introducing
“commonsense legislation” to combat online gambling. PayPal also told Goodlatte it thinks the government should prosecute citizens who participate
in illegal gambling. Shortly before this letter went
to Goodlatte’s office, PayPal’s European division
began allowing customers of the betting exchange
Betfair to deposit and withdraw funds via its service, and last month it announced the same services for Ladbrokes’ customers. Interactive Gaming News, attempting to explain this dichotomy,
said a source thought PayPal’s volatile past with
New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer may have
played a role. “When eBay and PayPal merged,”
the source told IGN, “Eliot Spitzer really roughed
them up for PayPal’s having processed payments
for the Internet gambling industry. They are being contrite.” Or plain hypocritical.
HOW TO STOP A MOVING TRAIN
Easy. Get a federal commission appointed to study
it. That’s the solution the American Gaming Association is taking to stop Congress from banning
Internet gambling. The AGA’s board of directors
agreed unanimously this week to ask Congress
for a one-year study of gambling on the Internet.
There was a time, not too long ago, when the Las
Vegas casinos were giving AGA president Frank
Fahrenkopf a hard time. Terry Lanni was almost
a lone voice telling other casino operators that the
Internet was the future, and they had better embrace it. The message apparently finally has gotten through. Fahrenkopf says between $12 billion
and $15 billion will be bet on the Internet this
year, 60% of it from American bettors.
May 1, 2006
GREAT WINNER IS SORE LOSER
STEPHANIE GETS HER JACKET
But not in the usual sense of sore loser. Bruce
Ranger, the all-time leading driver at HTA member Pompano Park and 10th leading driver in North
America this year in winning drives and second in
percentage standings, is literally sore from a harrowing accident Saturday night, when he was
thrown in a three-horse spill. Ranger was taken
by track ambulance to a nearby hospital Saturday
night after his pacer fell over another fallen horse
and Ranger was thrown high and hard to the track.
He complained of back pains, and says he still is
sore, but was x-rayed and examined and discharges
from North Ridge hospital yesterday morning.
Kevin Wallis and Daryl Bier, the other two drivers involved in the scary accident, walked away
and drove in the next race on Pompano’s card.
Ranger is going to see how the next two days go,
and may return to driving Wednesday night if he
feels well enough. None of the horses involved
was injured seriously.
But not her oil painting, yet. Stephanie Black,
HTA’s Caretaker of the Year, was honored on
Dan Patch Night Saturday at Hoosier Park, as
HTA director and Hoosier president and GM
Rick Moore presented her with her handsome
blue and gold HTA/Hanover Shoe Farms jacket,
emblematic of national honors. All grooms nominated receive one of the jackets, but Stephanie
also will get an oil painting of herself with her
favorite horse, Hoosier Gazette from the Alvin
Miller stable, later in the season. HTA artist
Jim Ponter is putting finishing touches on the
work, which will be presented either at Hoosier
or at Indiana’s other harness track, HTA member Indiana Downs, when the painting is completed.
WHOA, OR GIDDYUP, IN KY?
For the moment it is whoa, after Gov. Ernie
Fletcher vetoed a bill that would have eliminated
a daily tax on tracks to pay for operation of the
Kentucky Racing Authority. But there still is a
chance the tracks may escape the tax, $3,500 a
day for thoroughbred tracks and $1,750 a day for
harness tracks. The reason is that the legislature
passed a two-year budget, replacing the track
money in the first year, but not the second, with
$1.2 million from the general fund. Fletcher’s office says that may be enough to take care of first
year needs for the Authority, which also gets $1.3
million from licensing and other fees and $500,000
from the general fund under normal circumstances.
A Fletcher spokeswoman said no decision had been
made yet as to whether the first year tax r e lief might stand, so track operators will
have to sit a bit before hearing whoa or
giddyup.
GURAL SHOOTS FOR JUNE 9
With a conditional license from the New York State
Racing and Wagering Board now in his pocket,
New York City breeder-owner Jeff Gural and his
Nevada Gold partners from Texas are hoping to
open Tioga Downs near Binghamton June 9.
That’s only six weeks away, but Gural thinks he
can start live racing by that date and begin slots
play a little later, depending on when he and his
partners receive their VLT license. He also says
they are ready to take title on Vernon Downs just
as soon as the Racing and Wagering Board issues
a license for that operation.
GOODLATTE, LEACH, LOSE ONE
It was a tricky try, but it failed. Rep. Bob Goodlatte
and Leach tried to slip Leach’s HR 4411 into a
House lobbying reform bill as an amendment.
House Rules Committee chairman David Dreier,
a California Republican, and the House Republican leadership staff quickly shot it down, saying
the matter was not germane and already had been
referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
Washington insiders called the try “unconventional and surprising.”
May 2, 2006
GURAL & CO NOW OWN VERNON
AROUND HTA TRACKS.....
Jeff Gural’s long, costly and persistent battle to
own Vernon Downs is over. Gural and his financial partners took possession yesterday, and
Gural and Nevada Gold, operating as American
Racing and Entertainment, now can turn their
attention to licensing from the New York Racing and Wagering Board and the New York Lottery Division, which must issue racing and racino
licenses. Gural hopes to have Vernon up and
running by July 1 for racing, with slots a month
farther down the road. Creditors will be paid
out of $6 million that American Racing paid to
take over the track, and still ahead is the $24.5
million mortgage owed Vestin Mortgage and
some $2.3 to $5 million, depending on racino revenue, due former owner Shawn Scott. Those
debts must be paid within a year. Another $2
million must be paid immediately to Raceway
Ventures, which was involved along the way but
could not get licensed because of integrity issues involving participants. A lawyer for Vestin
Mortgage, Jeff Dove, said yesterday, “It was a
very long, complicated, hard-fought battle, but
at the end of the day everything seems to have
worked out and they’ll get the facility up and
running.”
Saratoga Gaming and Raceway has again been
awarded the New York Night of Champions,
which it hosted successfully last year. The big
event includes eight New York Sire Stakes Finals, carrying total purses of $1.2 million, and
will be raced on Saturday, Sept. 16. The track
also announced the return of The Lodge restaurant, one of the best in Saratoga Springs, for an
11th season starting on May 3. Initially the restaurant will be open for dinner, starting at 5:30
p.m., and Sunday brunch from 11 to 3, through
June and early July. Then, when the runners
move to Saratoga, The Lodge will operate nightly
from July 19 thru the thoroughbred meeting. Occupying the beautiful home that once was the residence of former Saratoga president Ernest B.
Morris, the 75-seat gourmet restaurant is located
on the spacious Raceway grounds just across
Nelson Avenue from Saratoga Racecourse.
RIVALS JOIN HANDS IN OHIO
Penn National Gaming, reversing its field, has announced it will support the Learn and Earn group
and other Cleveland business interests in seeking
slots in Ohio by supporting their plan for slots at
the state’s seven racetracks and two casinos in
downtown Cleveland. The decision was announced,
perhaps unrelated, after a press poll showed Ohio
voters unenthusiastic about multiple plans from
competing groups. Penn National, which operates
the Argosy riverboat casino in Indiana, near Cincinnati, relented after the other unified
groups dropped Cincinnati from their plan
and concentrated on the tracks and Cleveland.
The Meadowlands will again host a major education seminar for veterinarians during
Hambletonian week in August. The 7th Annual
Continuing Education Seminar for Equine Veterinarians will be held Friday, Aug. 4, from 8:30
to 5 p.m., at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights near
the track, with sessions at the Meadowlands on
Thursday. For information and reservations,
contact Marie Hagerty, First Choice Marketing, 908-347-1718, or email marie@first
choicemarketing.us.
Scioto Downs, which opens Friday night, also
will host a Night of Champions, this one Super
Night of the Ohio Sires Stakes Finals for 2- and
3-year-olds on Saturday, Sept. 9. That extravaganza will include eight $100,000 finals of the
Ohio Sires Stakes, along with the 37th edition
of the Jug Preview for 3-year-olds, final tuneup
for the Little Brown Jug, which will be raced at
HTA member Delaware County Fair Thursday, Sept. 21.
HERE’S WHAT VESTIN GETS
With the takeover of Vernon Downs, Jeff Gural
and his partners Nevada Gold inherit some serious bankruptcy obligations. Vestin Mortgage,
Inc., announced this week where it stands in the
new arrangement. As a result of the bankruptcy
plan approved by a federal bankruptcy judge,
Vestin received new first trust deed notes from
the buyer, Vernon Downs Acquisition, LLC.
Vestin Realty Mortgage I, Inc., holds $3.2 million of the new notes and Vestin Realty Mortgage II holds $19.6 million. The new notes reflect a $1.2 million principal reduction payment
and a deferred gain of $171,000 for Vestin Realty Mortgage I and $1,030,000 for Vestin Realty Mortgage II. The gain cannot be realized
until the notes are paid in full. The new notes
earn interest at the rate of 9%, are due in six
months, and can be extended for an additional
six months by payment of a fee. The notes are
secured by a first trust deed on the Vernon Downs
properties and carry a personal 100% guarantee
by Jeff Gural, who is chairman of Newmark and
Company Real Estate, and a 50% guarantee by
Nevada Gold and Casinos. The Vestin companies also received prepayment of interest on the
new notes of $500,000, delay fees from the date
of bankruptcy confirmation until the effective
date of $287,000, and payment of past due forbearance fees of $555,000. Vestin said its companies received forbearance payments from the
original guarantors of the original loan during the
entire bankruptcy period.
WHY THE HELL ARE WE IN THIS?
That wasn’t Jeff Gural’s question. It was Frank
Stronach’s, or at least it was what Stronach told
Magna Entertainment shareholders at their annual meeting this week. “People may ask,”
Stronach said, “Why the hell are we in
this kind of business, losing so much
money.”
May 3, 2006
He answered by saying, “It’s a huge, huge business, and I’m optimistic that down the road, we
could get 10% of all the gambling in the world.
It would be a huge, huge number. Stronach’s
lead director, Jerry Campbell, told the shareholders 2005 had been a tough year, but he believed MEC “hit bottom in 2005,” and said the
company was “optimistic about the future.”
Noting that the company showed net income of
$2.2 million against a net loss of $4.1 million
for the first quarter last year, Campbell said,
“We think you’ll be happier with next year’s
results.” Stronach added that MEC was “well
on our way. I think we have a great opportunity
to be the foremost gambling and entertainment
company in the world.” He said MEC had spent
$400 million in the last few years, but had to do
so given the need for infrastructure improvements. “We knew the racetracks were run down
and antiquated. If we had left them alone, we
could have had a good return, but we felt the old
way isn’t good enough.” To reduce debt, Magna Entertainment is selling The Meadows for
$225 million, two golf courses, land worth $150
million, and possibly some of its smaller tracks.
MEC also plans to issue equity, and Stronach
told investors and shareholders that he might
put up some of his own money.
IN OTHER GAMING NEWS....
Harrah’s Entertainment, putting finishing touches
on its $400 million Chester track and racino, announced it will spend $485 million to turn its
Hammond Horseshoe Casino in Indiana into a Las
Vegas-style entertainment center, doubling the size
of the current riverboat casino. The property’s
general manager said the finished project “will rival anything in the Las Vegas strip.” Harrah’s
announced first quarter revenues up 93.3% to a
record $2.4 billion. Penn National had first quarter revenues of $569.2 million, up 96.8% over
2005.
May 4, 2006
THE DOUBLE-GAITED MIDAS
HAIL ANOTHER HTA SCHOLAR
Everything he touches, regardless of gait, turns to
gold. He won the Hambletonian driving his own
horse, Malabar Man, in 1997, and -- restless as
always -- Mal Burroughs is out seeking new worlds
to conquer. He’s enroute to Louisville today where
his 3-year-old thoroughbred filly, Last Romance,
runs tomorrow in one of America’s great filly races,
the Kentucky Oaks, companion feature of the
Kentucky Derby. Last Romance, claimed for
$60,000 at two last year, will have to overcome
13th post position in the Oaks. Trained by Richard Dutrow Jr. and ridden by Rafael Bejarano, she
is chancy at 15-1 in the big field headed by the 2-1
morning line favorite Balance.
When the roster of 111 young men and women
who have won Harness Tracks of America scholarships is studied, the name of Chris McErlean.
a winner in both 1987 and 1988, jumps off the
page. He now is, of course, vice president of racing operations of the Meadowlands, the sport’s
largest track, and past president and past board
chairman of HTA. Yesterday another HTA scholarship winner hit the media big time, when Joe
Asher was featured in a long story in the New
York Times. Asher now is managing director of
Cantor G & W, the gaming division of the big financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald. The
Times story told of Joe’s success in steering
Cantor’s wireless betting devices through months
of legal hassling, political maneuvering, and hearings in Nevada, to where they now have been legalized and are ready for use in the major hotels
of the Las Vegas strip. Joe, long mentored by
HTA treasurer Hap Hansen, won HTA scholarships in 1990 and 1991. We turn out good merchandise.
COMING SOON, 2 HARRISBURGS
For those who enjoy the frantic, non-stop action of the Standardbred Horse Sale auction in
Harrisburg each November, good news and glad
tidings. You’ll now be able to visit
Pennsylvania’s capital twice a year.
Overbooked in November and on the cusp of a
Pennsylvania boom with slots at the state’s
three harness tracks, the sport’s largest sales
company has announced a second yearling sale,
to be held the last week in August in the sale’s
traditional site, the Pennsylvania Farm Show
Building. Given the August date, more good
news: the yearlings will be housed in a newly
air conditioned stable, and sold in the Farm
Building’s air conditioned small arena. A consignment of 200 yearlings is expected, 35 or
45 of them from Hanover Shoe Farms, and most
Pennsylvania eligible.
INTERNET BILL ADVANCES
HR 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act,
better known as the Goodlatte bill, has
passed the House Crime Subcommittee
and gone to the Judiciary Committee.
Racing is protected in the bill.
TWO SOLID COURT VICTORIES
In a case with significance for racing, the Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld the right of Autotote
Enterprises to advertise telephone betting services. The Connecticut Division of Special Revenue had barred the advertising on simulcasts,
calling it an expansion of gaming, which was under
a moratorium. The high court ruled, 5-0, that the
arguments of the state were logically inconsistent.
Justice Peter Zarella, writing the decision, said,
“On the one hand the division concedes that the
operation of the telephone betting system is
permissible...on the other hand, it claims coupling
advertising with the live broadcasting of
races....creates an off-track betting facility for
purposes of the moratorium.” In Arkansas, a
judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging electronic games at Oaklawn.
TIOGA TO OPEN FRIDAY, JUNE
Tioga
9 Downs, one half of Jeff Gural’s Daily Double
of Tioga and Vernon Downs, will open Friday, June
9, and race Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until
its sister track gets open, hopefully on July 1.
When that happens, Tioga will switch to a Friday,
Sunday and Monday schedule, with post times at
6:50 p.m. except for Sunday cards, which will be
daytime affairs starting at 12:45 p.m. Tioga will
feature an open paddock, in close proximity to its
five-eighths mile track. The racing program, once
Vernon gets underway, will be a coordinated offering between the two tracks.
CHALLENGE TO ILLINOIS BILL?
Horse racing in Illinois was celebrating today, after passage in both houses of the legislature of
the Molaro bill, which gives racing 3% of revenue from the state’s four highest-grossing
riverboat casinos. The bill has gone to Gov. Rod
Blagojevich’s desk for almost certain signature,
and could provide as much as $35 million to Illinois racing for purses and track improvements
and marketing efforts. Sixty percent of the money
will go to purses. The law has a sunset provision
of two short years, which helped appease the casino interests a bit, but possibly not enough to
avoid a challenge in the courts. Betting on
horseracing in Illinois has fallen 42% in the last
15 years, and the new measure hopefully will allow for enough marketing and promotion to help
stem that drop.
GREAT CANADIAN CUTS DATES
Citing sharp drops in betting at Flamboro Downs
and Georgian Downs in the last nine months, Great
Canadian Gaming has announced it will cut racing
dates at both tracks. Flamboro will race five days
a week this year, four next year, and three i n
2008. Georgian Downs will reduce its
schedule from 120 racing dates to 104 next
year.
May 5, 2006
HAWTHORNE OPENS SATURDAY
The Chicago harness racing scene moves to
Hawthorne Race Course tomorrow night for a 37program Suburban Downs meeting lasting
through June 17. The track has taken over title
as Chicago’s In-Town track, with its longtime
next door neighbor Sportsman’s Park gone from
the scene. Hawthorne will present 15 $50,000
races during that time and two $100,000 events - the Erwin Dygert Memorial for the sport’s top
trotters and Robert Carey Memorial for the best
pacers -- both to be raced on closing night, Saturday, June 17. The Grand Circuit also will stop in
Chicago again this year, with eight $50,000 events
featured between June 14 and 17 in what
Hawthorne cleverly is calling the World Series.
SCIOTO DOWNS OPENS TONITE
Scioto Downs, Ohio’s “Showplace of Racing,”
kicks off its long spring and summer stand tonight,
the Columbus HTA member racing four nights a
week -- Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays -- through Sept. 16. The big night of the meeting will come on Sept. 9, Ohio Super Night, when
eight $100,000 Ohio Sire Stakes finals and the Jug
Preview for Little Brown Jug hopefuls will be
raced.
YOUBET.COM ON A ROLL
Youbet.com, the online betting company, reports
a 31% increase in net income for the first quarter
of 2006. The quarter includes operating results
from International Racing Group, the offshore adjunct that Youbet bought last June, and United Tote,
which Youbet.com acquired in February. Chuck
Champion, Youbet’s CEO, said same-track handle
growth was up 26%, and its total revenue for the
quarter of $27.8 million showed a 50% increase
from the $18.5 million of a year ago. Champion
said online advance deposit wagering increases
represented “strong momentum” for Youbet.
May 7, 2006
JIM MORRILL HURT AT BUFFALO
ORC TO GREAT CANADIAN: NO
Jim Morrill, the 41-year-old driving star who moved
from the Delaware Valley circuit to Batavia and
Buffalo and became an immediate dominant figure at those tracks, was injured last night in a racing spill, the third major driver to be sidelined in
the sport in recent weeks. First reports on
Morrill’s injury talked of concussion, broken ribs,
and shoulder and wrist damages, but at press time
reports were that he had been released from the
hospital and was resting at home. Driver Kevin
Cummings, whose horse Moaner Lisa A fell in front
of Morrill’s mount, Pennywise, also suffered hand
injuries, but appeared to escape more serious injuries. Both horses were reported as escaping
without harm.
One of the first elements of Great Canadian Gaming Company’s “Stop the Bleeding: Build the Business” plan announced last week for Flamboro
Downs and Georgian Downs was shot down quickly
by the Ontario Racing Commission Friday. Commission executive director John L. Blakney ordered “immediate suspension” of GCGC’s decision to close its backstretch stabling and apartment facilities at Flamboro July 31. Blakney’s
order said he had determined that the closure “may
be prejudicial to the best interests of racing,” and
ordered an investigation, to be paid for by Great
Canadian Gaming. The company says in its 24page white paper on future plans that its long term
goal is to move to circuit racing between Flamboro
and Georgian, and it proposes cutting live racing
dates at both facilities sharply in the next two years.
ILLINOIS CASINOS UNHAPPY
There is no joy on the riverboats in Illinois right
now, after the legislature passed and sent to governor Rod Blagojevich a bill that provides 3% of
the revenues from the state’s four top-grossing
casinos to support the state’s horseracing industry, of both breeds. The bill came about because
a 1999 law that gave racing 15% of revenues
from the bitterly disputed Rosemont that did not
materialize because the casino never was built.
Racing would have gotten as much as $70 million
a year from that deal, as opposed to the roughly
half of that figure it stands to gain from the new
law, which the governor is expected to sign. The
casinos also are expected to sue, on constitutional
grounds. If the law holds, Hawthorne could receive $4 million and Balmoral and Maywood Park
roughly the same, with horsemen getting their
share in purses. The bill as passed has a sunset
provision of two years. Horse racing is a major
agricultural industry in Illinois, north and south,
and the riverboats are not. The 1999 legis- l a tion allowed riverboats to remain docked,
a perk estimated to have saved them $4.1
billion.
“WHAT’S HOLDING UP OTB?”
That was one of the questions asked today in
Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, as members
of the Assembly met to discuss off-track betting
in the state. The Meadowlands, through its parent New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, has approval to operate 13 of 15 OTB sites
in the state, but has announced only two sites,
one in Vineland and another in either Cape May
or Atlantic counties. Assemblyman Jeff Van
Drew and Assemblywoman Linda Stender were
talking today about opening off-track betting licenses to competition if the Meadowlands does
not speed up the process. NJSEA spokesman
Bernard Spigner said the Authority “understands the frustration felt by members of the
legislature with regard to opening OTWs, and
that the Authority “had hoped and expected to
be further along than we are now, but the process for establishing these facilities is quite involved.” He said opening the licenses to competition “would weaken and potentially destroy the racing industry.”
May 9, 2006
UH, OH, OHIO
PLAINRIDGE UPSCALES TOO
The brief quiet of harmony and unity was shattered in Ohio yesterday, when Cincinnati, upset at
being dealt out of the slots sweepstakes in the
state, said they will pursue their own plan for a
casino. Cleveland area interests and Penn National Gaming had reached a compromise of sorts
in their plans, realizing separate proposals would
split a public vote next November if their proposal
gets that far. The compromise was to drop Cincinnati from plans for a downtown casino, to appease
Penn National with its Argosy riverboat in nearby
Indiana, and go with slots at seven tracks and two
casinos in downtown Cleveland. They apparently
didn’t ask Cincinnati about it, for now a group of
Cincinnati civic and business leaders have come
up with their own plan for a downtown site called
Broadway Commons. So the stage is set for a
battle between Ohio’s two biggest cities, and the
Cincinnati City Council is expected to support a
resolution tomorrow and campaign against any initiative that doesn’t include the Queen City.
HTA member Plainridge Racecourse took advantage of a big Kentucky Derby day crowd to unveil
its latest physical improvements. A new second
level simulcast theater was unveiled, with oversized screens, 200 betting carrells, new television
screens and a much-needed cafe. The upgrades
were warmly received, and Plainridge made a day
of it by offering a free breakfast buffet starting at
9:30 Saturday morning and a 10 a.m. live harness
racing card. Seven charities benefitted from the
day’s activities, and members of the New England
Amateur Drivers Club, now in its fourth year of
operation, got to drive in two of the races on the
Plainridge card.
BIG PLANS FOR ISLE OF CAPRI
Isle of Capri, owner of HTA member Pompano
Park Harness Track in Florida, has announced
it is moving ahead with plans for a $140 million
development at the track. The plans call for a
racino with 1,500 slots, a poker room and four
restaurants, and featuring a multi-story bar offering a high-tech sports bar and wagering area
overlooking the track. The restaurants will include an Isle of Capri’s branded Farraddays’
steakhouse, a signature tropical-themed buffet, a full service New York-style delicatessen,
and another eatery still not named. Isle of Capri
says the plans are contingent on receiving all
necessary licenses, and other unspecified “conditions” which presumably include a winning battle in the legislature, where
gaming is likely to be challenged once
again.
LONG BRENNAN CASE OVER
It took nine years, but when a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge signed the final decree yesterday, the case of Robert Brennan, Debtor, came
to an end. If you lived or raced in New Jersey,
the memory of Robert Brennan won’t fade, now
or ever. His handsome blonde figure, emerging
from his helicopter and hustling his First Jersey
Securities, his chain of restaurants and Garden
State Park and International Horse Racing and
Due Process Stable occupied the news relentlessly, until the uproar of 11,000 angry investors
who had poured $55 million into Brennan’s penny
stock operations resulted in a lawsuit brought by
the Securities and Exchange Commission brought
him down. He is still serving a 12-year sentence
in the Fort Dix federal prison in New Jersey.
EILEEN O’BRIEN DIES AT 79
Eileen O’Brien, widow of Hall of Fame trainerdriver Joe O’Brien, died yesterday in a convalescent center near her home in Shafter, CA, where
she spent three years suffering from Alzheimer’s
disease. Mrs. O’Brien is survived by her sons
Chad, a teacher in Shafter, and Stanley, an Indiana-based trainer-driver.
May 11, 2006
RACING HAS TO STOP THIS
MEADOWS MAKES NEWS
Congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky gets a
lot of ideas, some of them good. Right now he
has a very bad one, and racing needs to oppose
it as strongly as it can. Whitfield, who campaigned vigorously to shut down equine slaughterhouses in this country, now wants to amend
the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 to provide for health coverage for jockeys. He and
another congressman, Bart Stupak of Michigan,
are holding hearings of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, of which
Whitfield is chairman, and racing leaders have
been quick to see the danger of messing with a
federal statute that has served the industry well
for 28 years. Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations,
said that giving riders veto rights over simulcasts would “wreak havoc” on the industry’s
current practices, and he is correct. So are the
national Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective
Association (HBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) which
have announced opposition to the Whitfield
move. Scherf said “Everyone’s losing money,
and they’re talking about fundamentally changing the business structure for 88 percent of our
revenues.” Remi Bellocq, executive director of
the HBPA, said yesterday that the proposed legislation would “threaten a bedrock of the industry.” Are all these racing veterans wrong and
Whitfield right? We doubt that, and racing needs
to do what it can to make sure this proposal goes
nowhere. Meddling with the Interstate
Horseracing Act is a very bad idea.
The Meadows hasn’t officially been sold yet for
$225 million by Magna Entertainment to Las Vegas based Millennium Gaming, but a Millennium
executive got the track a lot of positive news coverage in the pages of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and regional newspapers yesterday at a
meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control
Board. Bill Paulos, a partner in Millennium. outlined plans for a $450 million refurbishing, which
will include a tiered buffet for 700 people overlooking the track, a wine bar and steak house, a
theater and teleconference center, and of course
a racino. The entertainment complex will encompass 250,000 square feet, and Paulos said daily
attendance could grow 10 times once it is opened.
Millennium and its partner, Oaktree Capital Management, are awaiting only Gambling Board approval before beginning construction on a temporary facility for 1,500 slot machines, hoping for
Labor Day approval for the slots. Ultimately the
racino will have 3,000 slots, and Millennium expects 4,200 people a day to be at the track once
they are installed.
SLOTS HOPES END IN KANSAS
It’s all over for slots at horse and dog tracks in
Kansas. The House, before ending the legislative
session, said “No” by a 72-44 vote against
a last minute try by slots supporters as
Kansas economic forecasts brightened.
FREEBIE AT VERNON DOWNS
Shareholders of Vernon Downs’ former parent
company, Mid-State Raceway, have until tomorrow to get in on the new management, free. Under
the bankruptcy agreement, former track owner
Shawn Scott has agreed to pay “buy-in” fees for
the former stockholders, for whom a 10% share
of the new company has been set aside. The most
Scott would have to pay is $5,000, and it is not
clear how many Mid-State shareholders will sign
up for the new stock by tomorrow’s deadline. Scott
also paid for a full page ad in the Utica ObserverDispatch reminding shareholders of their chance
to get in on the new company. Each who joins
Vernon Downs Acquisition will receive at least the
same percentage share in the 10% set-aside
as he or she owned of Mid-State.
RUCKER LATEST EPO CASE
The state of New Jersey has its first EPO positive since it began testing in March, and that
dubious honor falls to trainer Ken Rucker. Unfortunately and incredibly, New Jersey has no
rules in place that would call for Rucker to be
penalized, other than suspension of the horse
for racing until its high EPO level returns to normal. The state does those tests only in 21-day
increments, and at the owner’s expense, which
presumably means the horse will be out of action for three weeks. The pacer, Highland Pride
A, did not win a race last year but has won 9 of
17 this year. The 10-year-old Australian import
was claimed from trainer Robin Schadt for
$10,000 last October by the Rucker and Engel
Stables, the latter owned by Martin Engel, president of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association. The horse tested positive for EPO after
taking a new record of 1:52.2 at the Meadowlands last Sunday in a $20,000 to $25,000 claiming handicap. New Jersey Racing Commission executive director Frank Zanzuccki said that while
there are no penalties in the regulations that the
trainer would be subject to, the safety and health
of the horses came first and Highland Pride A “had
an extremely high level of EPO for a normal
horse.” Zanzuccki said when the reading came
down to an acceptable level the horse would be
able to compete. Rucker was hit with eight positives for indomethacin (Indocin) in Illinois last
fall and was fined $3,000 ($500 each on six of
them) and suspended for 180 days. The Illinois
Racing Board then stayed his suspension indefinitely, according to a statement issued January 4
by projects manager Mickey Ezzo, “because he
had so many positives for the same drug we are
looking at contamination. We are testing for contamination of feed and things like that, and testing just hasn’t been done yet. That’s why
we’ve extended the stay.” We heard of
no further action since then.
May 12, 2006
Ironically, a test for antibodies to EPO was developed partly in New Jersey by Dr. Ken McKeever
of Rutgers University, working with Dr. George
Maylin of Cornell University in New York, but apparently the state has not yet committed to using
it, or at least not confident enough to fine or suspend trainers whose horses turn up positive for
EPO.
INTERNET BILL TO JUDICIARY
Congressman Bob Goodlatte’s Internet Gambling
Prohibition Act (H.R. 4777), which first surfaced
five years ago on our radar, is expected to reach
the full House Judiciary Committee shortly, perhaps as early as next Wednesday, May 17. The
American Horse Council supports the bill because
it includes provisions to protect horse racing’s ability to continue to offer interstate wagering over
the Internet and other electronic media, where legal in those states. It does this through the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978, as amended in
2000. That provision will be a focal point of debate when Judiciary considers it next week. If you
are a constituent of any Judiciary Committee members, please contact them and ask them to oppose
any efforts to eliminate racing’s exemption. Here
are the members from harness racing states with
HTA members:
CALIFORNIA: Elton Gallegly, Dan Lundgren,
Darrell Issa, Howard Berman, Zoe Lofgren,
Maxine Waters, Howard Schiff, Linda Sanchez.
FLORIDA: Ric Keller, Tom Feeney, Bob Wexler,
Debbie Schultz.
ILLINOIS: Henry Hyde.
INDIANA: John Hosteltler, Mike Pence.
IOWA: Steve King.
MARYLAND: Chris Van Hollen.
MASSACHUSETTS: Marty Meehan, William
Delahunt.
MICHIGAN: John Conyers.
NEW YORK: Jerrold Nadler, Anthony Weiner.
OHIO: Steve Chabot.
May 15, 2006
HTA INTROS INTERNET SHOW
OHIO POLS PILE ON SLOTS
Harness Tracks of America, now with 43 members in the U.S. and Canada, is introducing a
new weekly Internet harness racing talk show
this week, featuring interviews with newsmakers
in racing and gaming worldwide.
The heavy hitters of Ohio politics, led by U.S.
Senator George Voinovich, fired their heavy artillery yesterday, blasting away at the consortiums
attempting to get slots at tracks approved in a
November referendum.
The show, to be hosted by HTA executive vice
president Stan Bergstein, will be called The
World in Harness, and will be produced in a stateof-the-art studio built in HTA’s Tucson headquarters. It will appear on HTA’s Web site
www.harnesstracks.com each Wednesday, and
each edition will remain online for a week, with
updates inserted as major newsbreaks occur.
Brock Milstein of Northfield Park, HTA’s president, said in announcing the production, “It became apparent, listening to the panel of media
greats assembled at the Racing Congress in Las
Vegas, that the Internet is a major part of
racing’s future. We lost one generation to television half a century ago, and we don’t propose
losing another now. Stan’s daily views of racing
and gaming, distributed each morning to HTA
directors in the association’s Executive Newsletter, deserve wider distribution, and the
Internet provides a perfect platform to reach
those in the sport and the general public.”
Voinovich was joined by the state’s attorney general, Jim Petro, and auditor Betty D. Montgomery, now the Republican candidate for Petro’s job.
They spoke at a news conference with David
Zanotti, president of the American Policy
Roundtable, which opposes gambling. In addition,
both candidates for governor in Ohio, Republican
J. Kenneth Blackwell and Democrat Ted
Strickland, oppose the November ballot idea. In
an interesting aside, Zanotti admitted his group
sought support from Democrat Strickland but not
Republican Blackwell, because the latter, Ohio’s
secretary of state, previously held stock in International Game Technology, the slot manufacturer.
Zanotti said his group, to be headed by Ms. Montgomery, will be reaching out for Blackwell, because
“he is the nominee for governor and he claims that
he’s against the expansion of gambling.”
Strickland, while opposing the slots idea, did take
campaign funds of more than $50,000 from those
with racing and gaming interests, including MTR
Gaming, which owns HTA member Scioto Downs.
Strickland also held fundraisers at West Virginia
racetracks, which not surprisingly oppose the idea
of slots in Ohio.
The new studio, constructed by audio engineer
Brian Bynes, whose Desertcompusulting company services HTA’s computer technology, incorporates the latest in wireless audio technology for high fidelity transmission and reception.
Commentary will be interspersed with interviews
with the newsmakers themselves. Bergstein,
who co-hosted Racing from Roosevelt and Yonkers from 1974 until 1986 on nationwide TV emanating from clear-channel WOR-TV in New
York, has compiled a list of harness features, with newsbreaks that occur during the week edited into that week’s presentation.
STORM WARNINGS IN NJ?
Legislative committee meetings on racing in New
Jersey last week revealed cracks in the dike of
support between racing and Atlantic City casinos.
An $86 million purse subsidy arrangement which
casinos agreed to in an effort to keep slots from
tracks expires in October, 2007, and a casino
spokesman said he did not think the casinos
would be amenable to extending the agreement.
May 16, 2006
TWO JOLTS FOR OUR SPORT
MR. BECK WANTS IN...BAD
Harness racing reeled today from two heavy
blows.
Louis Beck is a Cincinnati banker and hotelier,
and he wants to build a casino and hotel in downtown Cincinnati’s Broadway Commons. He
wants to do it so badly, or so goodly, that he is
willing to put up $2 million to pay all expenses
related to getting an initiative on the November
ballot that would include Cincinnati. The city
was voted out by the Learn and Earn group that
decided, in deference to Penn National Gaming,
which operates the Argosy casino in
Lawrenceburg, Indiana, not far distant from Cincinnati. Beck says he was sitting in the room
when the Learn and Earn group voted to include
Cincinnati out, and he called Penn National “the
800-pound gorilla in the room.” Beck said he
felt “like I was voted off the island,” and he said
that any ballot initiative that does not include
Cincinnati will fail. “They can’t win without
southwest Ohio,” Beck told the Cincinnati
Enquirer. “There is no chance of it.”
At HTA member Harrington Raceway in Delaware, 51-year-old veteran driver Harold (Hal)
Belote was killed in the first race Monday night
when his horse stumbled after half a mile and fell,
and two horses trailing him crashed into and ran
over Belote. Belote, a popular driver with an exemplary record, had 1,986 career wins and almost
$11 million in purse earnings. He began his driving career at Harrington 29 years ago, and was
regarded as a solid horseman of high integrity. Two
other drivers, Brandon Givens and Steve
Warrington, drivers of the horses that fell over
Belote and his horse, both were injured and hospitalized, Warrington with rib and leg injuries and
Givens with a compound fracture of a leg. The
racing card was cancelled immediately following
the accident.
In another downer for the sport, Charles Keller
III announced that one of the most prominent
breeding operations in the sport -- Yankeeland
Farm -- was closing its doors. Founded in 1955 by
New York Yankee slugger Charlie (King Kong)
Keller, Yankeeland has sent out some of the sport’s
most successful horses, including the trotter Fresh
Yankee, Hambletonian winners Muscles Yankee
and Yankee Paco, the current hot trotting sire Yankee Glide, and the million dollar winner Yankee
Cruiser. The farm’s yearlings will be sold, as usual,
at the Kentucky Select Yearling sale in October,
the primary broodmare band will be dispersed at
public auction in November and other farm horses
will be sold next year.
In a third piece of bad news, owner-breeder-trainer
and USTA director Walter (Boots) Dunn suffered
compound fractures of both legs in a construction accident at the Meadville, PA,
fairgrounds.
SYNTHETIC OR YOU’RE OUT
That was the word for California thoroughbred
tracks yesterday from the state Senate, which
voted to make synthetic racing surfaces mandatory for licensing after 2007. Five tracks -- Santa
Anita, Hollywood Park, Golden Gate Fields, Bay
Meadows and Del Mar, will be affected if the California Assembly agrees with the Senate.
MAKE THAT THURSDAY, PLEASE
“Technical difficulties,” as they love to say in the
broadcasting business, will delay introduction of
HTA’s new Internet racing interview and commentary show for 24 hours. The World in Harness,
scheduled to debut tomorrow, will make its bow
Thursday instead. The show, once posted, will be
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by simply
clicking on it on the HTA Web site,
www.harnesstracks.com. It is audio, not
video, and can be accessed any time.
ADVICE FROM STANFORD PROF
Lawrence Lessig is a law professor at Stanford
University, and an author on legal aspects of
cyberspace. He gave the keynote speech yesterday at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit
and Expo in Montreal, and he gave racing leaders something to think about. “My argument,”
Lessig said, “is that it’s a mistake to bet the industry on the capacity to escape the
government’s ability to regulate.” Lessig said
that new technologies being developed by
Microsoft and other software giants will soon
make it possible to authenticate the identity of a
computer user anywhere in the world. When that
happens, he said, governments worldwide could
cooperate on a global approach to cyberspace
regulation, including betting on horse races.
Lessig said such technology would enable governments to impose controls currently beyond
their reach. He cited Utah as an example, saying the government will be able to compel companies facilitating online betting to ensure their
customers are not betting from that state, where
it is illegal. Lessig said racing had better start
preparing now to deal with government regulation, and should stop resorting to tactics aimed
at evading it.
AND A CLEAR EXPLANATION
No one has explained the dilemma facing racing
better than Dave Perkins, sports columnist for the
Toronto Star, in today’s issues of that newspaper.
In a succinct and simple explanation of what signal piracy is costing racing, Perkins told of plummeting figures on Canadian harness racing and
slots revenues in Ontario, then asked the question, “Where is all the money going?” He answered it, writing, “Most of it to Belize and a dozen
other hot spots over the Internet, that’s
where.” Perkins made a critical point overlooked by less knowledgeable journalists
who keep writing about “racing’s decline.”
May 17, 2006
“People aren’t betting less,” Perkins wrote.
“They’re gambling more than ever -- encouraged
by the biggest bookmaker of all, our
government(s). The sooner our leaders wake up
and smell the coffee on this one, the better for
everyone. It’s time we legalize all forms of gambling, regulate it, keep underage kids from participating and keep hundreds of millions -- soon to
be billions -- of Canadian dollars in Canada.”
YOUBET, HARRAH’S ONLINE
Youbet.com and Harrahs’s Louisiana Downs Racetrack and Casino are joining forces to help build
the online segment of the track’s pari-mutuel wagering business. The multi-million dollar partnership breaks new ground for both companies, with
a major track using an independent online wagering source to proactively and aggressively build a
broader following for its racing content. Mark
Midland, vice president of racing operations for
Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, said of the arrangement, “Youbet is where the largest share of the
online market is congregating to watch and wager
on horse racing. So it makes a lot of sense for us
to use their channel to target handle growth from
new, young and active racing fans all over the country.”
HTA’S INTERNET SHOW DEBUTS
It won’t carry happy tidings, but the inaugural
edition of HTA’s new Internet talk show, The World
in Harness, should be on the HTA Web site by late
tomorrow. The first show will play until next
Wednesday, when a new edition will air. Guests
on the first show include Hugh Gallagher, executive director of the Delaware Racing Commission,
discussing the fatal accident at Harrington; drivers Doug Brown and Bruce Ranger, both hospitalized by spills; Charley Keller, discussing the closing of Yankeeland Farm; and Jay Hickey, president of the American Horse Council, talking
about Washington legislation affecting racing.
May 19, 2006
BIG EXPANSION AT SARATOGA
WORLD IN HARNESS ONLINE
HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway
has announced plans for a $12 million plus expansion that will include 400 new video lottery
terminals, a buffet restaurant seating 300, and
a two-story nightclub that will accommodate 200.
Rita Cox, vice president of sales and marketing, told the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce the track originally planned to build a
hotel and event center, but “we took that off
the table because it was pretty clear it was unwelcome.” She said the idea may resurface
down the road, but the plan was scrapped for
now. The racino expansion will be a 45,000
square-foot addition to house 400 new machines,
needed to accommodate the 50,000 patrons a
week that jam into the present facility. One customer, quoted in the Albany Times-Union, said,
“You come down here on a weekend, you can’t
find a seat.” Her husband added, “I’m waiting
for them to pull the wall down.” If regulatory approval for the plans is granted, the expansion
would bring Saratoga’s slot total to 1,724. The
nightclub would replace a tent currently used for
outdoor concerts in summer months, and for host
parties and special sporting events, including
watching major racing classics and professional
sports. Three state agencies -- the state Lottery
Division, the Racing and Wagering Board, and
the Department of Environmental Conservation,
must approve the plans. Saratoga expects the
expansion would take four months after approval.
HTA’s new Internet racing show, The World in
Harness, is up and running. The first edition
includes newsmaker interviews with Delaware
Racing Commission executive director Hugh
Gallagher, discussing the accident involving
driver Hal Belote, who lost his life, and Steve
Warrington and Brandon Givens, both hospitalized; Doug Brown and Bruce Ranger, two of
the sport’s best drivers, both also injured in serious accidents; Charley Keller III, discussing
the closing of one of the sport’s most important
breeding operations, Yankeeland Farm; and
American Horse Council president Jay Hickey.
CHURCHILL MAKES BIG CUTS
Ed Callahan, HTA director for Rockingham Park,
says it is not likely that runners will return to the
Rock this summer. Callahan, who was honored
yesterday by the New England Harness Writers
Association, said he did not want to take horses
from nearby Suffolk Downs, which is having
trouble filling races. Sunday afternoon cards had
been discussed, but Callahan says he needs
to talk to the New England HBPA about turf
races.
Churchill Downs president Tom Meeker yesterday announced layoffs and consolidation of departments “to proactively address changes within our
industry that have left horseracing at a competitive disadvantage.” Among the departed are director of investor relations Mike Ogburn
and VP of customer relationship management and technical solutions Atique Shah.
The show will remain on the HTA Web site,
www.harnesstracks.com, until next Wednesday,
when a new edition will appear. That show will
include interviews on racino and track expansion plans with Jeff Gural of Tioga Downs and
Vernon Downs; Mike Tanner of Harrah’s
Chester Casino and Racetrack; Bob Soper of
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs; Mike Jeannot
of The Meadows; and Bob Galterio of Yonkers
Raceway.
HTA staffers Brody Johnson and Jessica Carner,
assisted by HTA computer consultant Brian
Bynes, did an exceptional and outstanding job
of studio setup and computer composition of the
new show within a week after it was announced.
RUNNERS AT ROCK UNLIKELY
MAJOR NEW STEP IN ONTARIO
May 22, 2006
The trendsetting Ontario Racing Commission has
taken another major step toward control of illegal
medication. The ORC has issued a directive that
all owners or trainers must make their horses available for a blood test to be taken at any time the
Commission requests, without prior notice. The
Commission is committed to expanding the medication control program beyond existing pre-race,
post-race testing and retention requirements. As
promulgated, the new directive provides that failure of any owner and/or trainer to make the horses
available for drawing of blood on demand can result in the horse being scratched, the trainer being
refused the right to enter a horse in future races
at Ontario tracks, and/or owners being refused the
right to race in Ontario. Although the directive
and release announcing it did not mention either
possibility, the drawing of blood could lead to freezing of samples for future reference as new testing
procedures become more sophisticated, or could
be used to develop a baseline measurement for
normal parameters of horses in competition. In
another show of determination, the Ontario Racing Commission reaffirmed the suspension of veterinarian Dr. Martin Ian Levman and the barring
of all horses treated by him after Sept. 24, 2005,
but shortened his suspension from that date until
Sept. 24, 2009. Dr. Levman admitted buying prohibited drugs from the late Fred Rogers, whose
offices were searched in 2004 and turned up large
amounts of various drugs and substances and invoice documents tying Dr. Levman to purchases
of them. Levman appealed the ruling and was
granted a hearing.
if new tax rules deviate from its understanding of
state gaming laws when it bought Pocono Downs.
Some interpretations of tax rules by lawmakers
and other officials in Erie could raise the effective
tax rate on Mohegan slots to as high as 63.4%,
according to Mohegan Sun lawyers. The company
said it “cannot absorb an additional tax obligation
of this magnitude and maintain a plan for its gaming and harness racing business that provides for
adequate recovery of, and return on,
investment.”The Scranton Times-Tribune quotes
Mohegan officials as saying that “absent a reasonable, acceptable and timely resolution of this
local share obligation issue...Mohegan will be
forced to reconsider their plan to own and operate
a slot machine facility and other operations in this
Commonwealth.”
The 2004 legislation legalizing slots in Pennsylvania set a tax rate of 55% of gross slot revenue,
34% to the state for property tax relief, 5% for
tourism and economic development, 12% to
horseracing, and 4% split between host community and host county. Proposed changes could boost
the track’s tax obligation from $2.2 million, which
Mohegan expected, to $10 million If that were to
happen, Mohegan says, it would not operate the
track or the slots. Some legislators are reported
backing legislation to require a $10 million minimum for local and county taxes, but Stephen Menn,
the solicitor in Plains Township, where Pocono is
located, told the Times-Tribune, “I can safely say
the township has never anticipated receiving $10
million on an annual basis,” but rather that
Mohegan’s share would be limited to $2.2 million,
50% of the township budget.
MOHEGAN COULD BACK OFF
HARRAH’S
Concern over ambiguity in proposed rules for collection and distribution of local taxes on slots h a s
led Mohegan Sun at Pocono to tell the
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue that
it may not be able to do business in the state
Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack has named
veteran Rick Kane racing secretary, Barry Brown,
formerly of Freehold Raceway, publicity/simulcast manager, and Steve Smith mutuels manager.
APPOINTMENTS
May 23, 2006
CRUNCH TIME AGAIN
WELL, IT’S HERE, FOLKS
The full House Judiciary Committee meets in
Washington Thursday, and will mark up two
Internet wagering bills. Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s
Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, HR 4777, and
Rep. James Leach’s Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act of 2006, HR 4411. Both contain
exemptions at present for horse racing, allowing
Internet betting in states where it is legal.
Interactive Gaming News reports that the markups of the two Internet gambling-related bills are
necessary because the committee’s sequential referral of the Leach bill will expire May 26. The
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, James
Sensenbrenner, requested an extension of time to
consider the legislation, but the House Republican leadership denied his request. Rep. Goodlatte,
IGN says, is expected to submit a revised version
of his bill that seeks to clarify remote betting exemptions in racing, an issue discussed in subcommittee deliberations last month.
The American Horse Council is hopefully optimistic that racing’s exemptions will hold. The matter
is being resolved in Washington, where uncertainty
is the only certainty. Let us pray.
The world’s first race between clones, only it’s not
between trotters or pacers or runners.
Bloodhorse.com reports it will be between identical 3-year-old “miracle mules,” cloned in 2003 and
“a perfect picture of health since birth” according
to Dr. Gordon Woods of the University of Utah,
the man who made them what they are today. The
clones -- Idaho Gem and his carbon copy, Idaho
Star, will race in Winnemucca, Nevada, June 3-4
during time trials for the upcoming summer fair
season. Then they move on to the San Joaquin
County Fair in Stockton, California, for the start
of California fair circuit in late June. In Stockton
they will race against each other and other mules,
and long asked questions will start to be answered.
Both mules were created from fetal skin cells from
what would have been a full brother to Taz, the
famed racing mule whose battles with Black Ruby
are part of California racing lore. A third identical
brother in the triplet cloning, Utah Pioneer, will
miss the glamour of the track and will be used as a
pack mule. The clones were part of Project Idaho,
a joint project between the University of Idaho and
Utah State University. The mules sire was a Spanish donkey and their dam a quarterhorse. Get
ready for horses next. The profs at Idaho and Utah
call them “thousand-pound mice, the right model
for research.”
May 24, 2006 IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL
IT’S OVER
And apparently it ain’t over yet at Vernon Downs.
A spokesman for the New York Racing and Wagering Board said yesterday that the track’s license application is not complete and will not appear on the agenda of tomorrow’s May board
meeting. That presumably means it won’t be acted
on until the next regularly scheduled meeting of
the Board, which is set for June 22. This is hard to
believe, but the two horsemen’s groups at Vernon
refuse to consider a merger, which could resolve
the problem, and no vote has yet been taken. Joe
Faraldo, lawyer for the Harness Horse
Association of Central New York, and Ken
Jacobs, president of the new Vernon Downs
Harness Horse Association, both rejected an
idea put forth by Jeff Gural for $1 million to
be paid into the Vernon purse account if they
DOGS IN DANGER, EAST & WEST
Two greyhound tracks, one in Massachusetts and
the other in HTA’s home digs of Tucson, are in
trouble. Wonderland, a longtime fixture in Revere,
a suburb of Boston, is on the brink of closing, according to the Boston Herald. In Tucson, where
Tucson Greyhound Park has operated for more
than 60 years, a measure given preliminary approval by the Arizona House would end the track’s
OTB exclusivity and allow out-of-town tracks to
open OTBs here.
May 24, 2006
IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER
2D INTERNET SHOW IS ONLINE
And apparently it ain’t over yet at Vernon Downs.
A spokesman for the New York Racing and Wagering Board said yesterday that the track’s license application is not complete and will not appear on the agenda of tomorrow’s May board
meeting. That presumably means it won’t be
acted on until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board, which is set for June 22. This is
hard to believe, but the two horsemen’s groups
at Vernon refuse to consider a merger, which could
resolve the problem, and no vote has yet been
taken. Joe Faraldo, lawyer for the Harness
Horse Association of Central New York, and Ken
Jacobs, president of the new Vernon Downs Harness Horse Association, both rejected an idea put
forth by Jeff Gural for $1 million to be paid into
the Vernon purse account if they would settle their
differences. He said on HTA’s The World in
Harness this week that he cannot understand the
horsemen’s opposition at Vernon and thinks it
reflects the views of a minority of them, but his
million dollar offer was turned down, presumably
because it reportedly carries 6% interest on the
loan. Faraldo said that if slots could raise Vernon
purses from $2 million a year to $7 million a year,
“Someone has to tell me why I have to borrow a
million from him and pay him back interest.” Ken
Jacobs, president of the new horsemen’s group,
told the Oneida Dispatch, “It’s meaningless as
far as I am concerned. If we (the two groups) are
not going to come to an agreement, you could put
in $50 million, we are not going to race.” He believes that if the Racing and Wagering Board
chooses his group, “We get it for nothing. We
don’t have to pay any interest and we don’t have
to pay it back.” That’s the first thing the two
horsemen’s groups ever have agreed on, to our
knowledge. Jacobs also issued a threat that he
may or may not be able to enforce: “We
are either going to win it (board approval)
or we’re not racing, period.”
The second edition of HTA’s new Internet talk
show, The World in Harness, is posted and available at www.harnesstracks.com. This week’s
show features interviews on racino plans and operations with Bob Soper of Mohegan Sun at
Pocono; Mike Tanner of Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack; Mike Jeannot of The Meadows; Bob Galterio of the new Empire City at Yonkers Raceway; and Jeff Gural of Tioga and
Vernon Downs. Future editions of the show will
be posted each week on Tuesday afternoons, with
the possible exception of next week because of
the Memorial Day holiday Monday. If the show
is not up Tuesday afternoon, it will be online
Wednesday.
SIX IN CANADIAN HALL OF FAME
Six harness racing greats -- two humans and four
horses -- have been elected to the Canadian Horse
Racing Hall of Fame. Doug Brown, currently sidelined by injuries suffered in a recent racing accident, and Jacques Hebert, a long time leader of
Quebec harness racing, will be joined by the connections of pacers Armbro Emerson, Armbro
Feather, As Promised and Run the Table. The six
will be honored at ceremonies on August 24.
USE IT BEFORE IT RUSTS
Florida’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering held
its final public hearing on regulation of slots yesterday, and unless they are contested within the
next 10 days they will become official and take
effect 21 days later. Pompano Park jumped into
action, with GM Dick Feinberg saying steel could
start going up by the end of next week for its
157,000 square-foot racino. “The stuff has been
sitting there since May of last year,” Feinberg
said, “and we decided to have a little fun.” He
had signs erected that read, “Future Site of the
World’s Largest Lego Building,” and “Racino
Construction Coming Soon.”
May 25, 2006
RACING EXEMPTIONS HOLD
REGULATING, NOT BANNING
In a major victory for horse racing, the House Judiciary Committee this morning favorably reported, 25-11, the Internet Gambling Prohibition
Act, with racing’s exemptions intact. A number of
amendments that would have stripped the exemptions from the bill were defeated, as were others
adding dog racing, which has no interstate act as
does horse racing, and other interests. So account
wagering holds, with thanks to the American Horse
Council and the National Thoroughbred Racing
Association for yeoman service.
Full details on the vote and the bill as passed in
tomorrow’s Executive Newsletter.
Frank Catania is the former director of the New
Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and a
former assistant attorney general and deputy
Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly.
In an op-ed letter today in The Hill, a newspaper
for and about the U.S. Congress, Catania gives
his views on Internet gambling. Here is an excerpt: “To date, the debate has focused on prohibition of Internet gambling, with little consideration of regulation. Short of completely banning
the Internet, online gambling will always be available to U.S. players. And as more and more countries move toward regulation -- at last count, more
than 70 countries and jurisdictions regulate
Internet gambling and Britain is set to pass legislation early in 2007 -- the United States could
be the last to cross the finish line, losing out on
the economic benefits of a $15 billion industry. I
understand that regulation is not simple, but I
believe that strict regulation is the only effective
means for controlling players and the environment in which they play. Regulation of land-based
casinos helps prevent underage gambling and
offer a way to guide problem gamblers to seek
help. Regulation of Internet gambling could do
the same. Furthermore, regulation allows all
transactions to be tracked, audited and taxed,
relieving concerns over financial impropriety,
while adding much needed revenues to our public
treasuries.
NEW TWIST TO THE WORLD
Greatly expanding the interactivity of HTA’s new
Internet show, The World in Harness, a section
called Yea and Neigh has been added. Listeners
will be able to post questions, responses or comments on the site, and selected topics will be chosen for discussion on the show and the callers interviewed. Listeners should send their comments
or questions to [email protected].
IS THE WORLD REALLY ROUND?
In what a California professor of integrative biology calls “one of the classic mistakes in the history of science,” the idea that the buildup of lactic
acid causes fatigue is being challenged. Dr.
George A. Brooks says conventional thinking, on
lactic acid, dating back to the studies of Nobel laureate Otto Meyerhof in the early 1900s, is wrong.
He says lactic acid is a fuel, a source of energy,
and that thinking among exercise physiologists is
beginning to change. One of them, L. Bruce Gladden of Auburn University, says it is simplistic to
say that lactic acid is a bad thing and causes fatigue, or even muscle soreness. The mechanics of that phenomenon, Gladden says,
is a mystery that has not been solved.
“The bottom line is that an American who logs on
to an online horse racing site deserves the same
consumer protection as someone who walks up
to a window at Belmont Park, and someone who
plays online poker should be treated the same as
someone who bets on horse racing over the
Internet. It’s time Congress developed a consistent and sensible policy for Internet gambling.”
Whether that view can be sold to Congress
remains to be seen.
May 26, 2006
JUDICIARY SPEAKS, LOUDLY
FORD GUILTY OF SLANDER
Efforts to delete horse racing’s exemption from
the Goodlatte bill were beaten back yesterday in
the House Judiciary Committee, and Judiciary
approved the legislation by a 25-11 vote. A proposed amendment by Rep. Robert Wexler, Democrat of Florida, to include an exemption for dog
tracks and jai alai was defeated 21-15. Neither
sport has any legislation comparable to the Interstate Horse Racing Act to support exemption.
A Wexler attempt to strip horse racing from the
Goodlatte bill was defeated by a voice vote. An
attempt by Rep. Bobby Scott, Democrat of Virginia, to provide for fines and imprisonment for
those illegally gambling online was defeated 306, with Goodlatte saying, “We do not get involved
in what has always historically been the province
of the state.” The bill now goes to conference
for reconciliation with the Leach bill, passed by
the House Financial Services Committee on
March 15, also with racing’s exemptions intact.
Reconciliation may not be easy, since Leach and
Goodlatte have not been working together on the
issues, and reportedly have had little communication. When and if the full House will consider
the measures also is problematic, and the Senate has not taken any action on Internet gambling. Rep. Goodlatte made changes himself, to
ease concerns of the Department of Justice Department and some members of the Judiciary
Committee. He moved the horse racing provision to its own section and added a section clarifying that the bill was not intended to change the
relationship between the Interstate Horseracing
Act and other statutes, including the Wire Act.
With those changes, Justice supported the racing provision. Attorneys and others familiar with
simulcasting, interstate account wagering, the Interstate Horseracing Act and the Wire Act, vetted
the Goodlatte bill as passed and feel confident racing can continue on its present
course under it.
Harness trainer and United States Trotting Association director Mark Ford was found liable for
slander in a jury trial in Harrisburg, PA, this week.
The suit was brought by Dean Hoffman, USTA’s
Director of Strategic Planning, and the jury voted
11-1 for Hoffman, with an award of $15,000 in
compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive
damages. Witnesses testified that Ford made
scurrilous remarks about Hoffman at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg. Ford can appeal.
NOVELTY ON BOTH COASTS
Unique happenings in harness racing east and
west.
At the Meadowlands, where Mondays are dark
for harness, thoroughbreds will take over in cards
of turf only racing on three Mondays in June.
First post for the programs of June 5, 12 and 19
will be 1:10 p.m. Admission will be free. This
coming Sunday The Big M will offer a special
morning attraction in one of Europe’s greatest
trotting races, the Elitlopp from Solvalla in
Stockholm, Sweden.
At Sacramento Harness Association on the west
coast, the California Harness Horsemen’s Assn.
is opening its doors to harness horsemen from
Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota in a Diamond
Harness Alliance. Under the agreement, horses
from those states will be eligible to race in special California-sired events currently closed to
non-California sired horses. The races will be in
a series leading to $25,000 finals for 3-year-olds.
MAL BURROUGHS LOSES SON
HTA extends its deepest sympathy to 1997
Hambletonian winner Mal Burroughs, whose son,
Gary Joseph Burroughs, died last week in
Morristown, NJ, at the age of 44.
ILLINOIS RACING GETS HELP
There was good news for horse racing in Illinois
over the holiday weekend. Gov. Rod Blagojevich
on Friday signed an amendment to the Illinois
Horse Racing Act of 1975, requiring the four largest riverboat casinos in the state to pay 3% of
their adjusted gross receipts into a trust fund for
racing. The legislation is expected to provide racing with $37.5 million for purses and track improvements, but it carries a sunset clause that
limits its present life to two years and will require
extension at that time to remain in effect.
Sixty percent of the money will go to racing, with
thoroughbred racing getting 57% of that 60% and
harness racing receiving 43%. It is estimated
that $9.7 million will be available for harness
purses and $5.1 million for track improvements.
The arrangement was negotiated and approved
by the legislature to replace an earlier commitment to support racing with proceeds from the
ill-fated Emerald casino in Chicago’s western suburb of Rosemont, adjacent to O’Hare International Airport. That project disappeared in a welter of lawsuits, and Rosemont recently gave up
on the idea and turned to other activities. Gov.
Blagojevich, in signing the new law, said it “will
help protect the jobs of thousands of hardworking
people who depend on the horse racing industry
for their livelihood and will create a more level
playing field that will allow the horse racing industry to remain competitive in Illinois.” The
governor also gave the press and politicians in
Illinois a tantalizing tidbit to think about, suggesting the possibility of selling the Illinois State Lottery to private operators to help fund school problems in Illinois.
DIME SUPER OK IN NJ
Acting governor Joseph Roberts has signed New
Jersey legislation lowering wagering minimums to 10 cents, and VP Chris McErlean
says the Meadowlands and Monmouth may
implement them.
May 30, 2006
The legislation, which Roberts signed while Gov.
Jon Corzine is on a tour of East Asia and former
state senate president and governor Richard
Codey was out of state, also allows for future wagers on the Hambletonian and Haskell at
Monmouth Park; divides uncashed ticket revenue
50-50 between tracks and horsemen’s purse accounts; permits simulcast wagering on races that
start after tracks and simulcast parlors have
closed; and permits paying bettors who have lost
winning tickets, providing they can prove through
account wagering or player-tracking systems that
they made the wager.
NO SPECIFICS, AND NO VERNON
Another racing season is slipping away, but the
New York Racing and Wagering Board seems in
no hurry to license Vernon Downs and allow hundreds of horsemen to make a living at the track.
Board spokesman Dan Toomey revealed shortly
before the meeting that the Vernon application
was pulled from the agenda. Following the meeting, he said, “I can’t really get into specifics other
than to say that the Vernon Downs application
was not complete and was not ready for board
action and isn’t ready for board action for this
month.” The next board meeting is scheduled
for June 22, and no special meeting has been announced. The board also has not moved to conduct a vote to determine which of the two competing horsemen’s groups -- the old Harness
Horsemen’s Association of Central New York or
the new Vernon Downs Harness Horse Association -- would represent Vernon. That election
presumably could be held at any time. A furious
Jeff Gural bitterly accused the HHACNY of preventing Vernon Downs from getting back to racing as early as last year. HHACNY’s lawyer, Joe
Faraldo, brushed that off, saying Gural did not
own the track last year. Whoever is helping kill
racing at Vernon Downs is doing a good job
of it.
May 31, 2006
SURPRISE! SUBSIDY IS FOUGHT
TWO STRIKES ON CINCINNATI
Well, not really a surprise. The riverboat casinos in northern Illinois -- those doing over $200
million a year in business -- are not happy about
the latest changes in the state’s Horse Racing
Equity Trust Fund. Those changes require that
the four casinos meeting that betting standard
must pay 3% of their adjusted gross receipts to
keep Illinois tracks on a level playing field. Indiana has similar legislation, but the Empress Casino and Harrah’s Joliet Casino and Hotel have
filed suit claiming the new law is unconstitutional.
It would cost the four riverboat casinos an estimated $36 million to $37.5 million a year. It didn’t
take long for the casinos to sue, just four days
after passage of the measure. The blurring of
the line between casinos and racing, and the conflicts that presents, make an interesting scenario
in Illinois. Penn National Gaming, which owns
the Empress and thus is party to the suit, is of
course a major racetrack operator as well, with
racinos in West Virginia and Maine. Penn
National’s spokesman, Eric Schippers, said the
legislative history of the tax “clearly reflects that
votes were to be garnered (for the new legislation) by excluding the five other casinos” in Illinois. He says when they were included earlier,
the vote failed. A similar subsidy in 1999, involving the Emerald Casino that was to have been
built in Rosemont, never materialized when the
casino died in a legal firestorm. The casinos now
contend the new law violates the Takings Clause
of the Illinois Constitution by compelling the casinos to subsidize a less successful competitor’s
operations; that assessing only four of the
state’s nine riverboats violates the Uniformity
Clause of the constitution that covers equal protection rights; and that it amounts to special legislation. A spokeswoman for the governor said,
“We feel that the revenue sharing law is
legal,” and is critical to racing, which employs 40,000 people in Illinois.
Cincinnati’s bid to be included in potential slots
legislation in Ohio was only one strike away from
being called out today, after it was rejected for
the second time in two weeks by the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Banker Louis Beck’s petition to have a summary of proposed ballot language approved failed when it fell 83 valid signatures short of the required 1,000 valid signatures, even though but said 1,900 were collected.
Its earlier attempt was 107 short. A spokesman
for Beck’s Queen City group immediately called
the signature gathering foul, saying the company
doing the collection -- National Voter Outreach
of Ludington, Michigan -- may have sabotaged
the signature effort because it might be working for the competing Ohio Learn and Earn Committee. A National Voter Outreach spokesman
denied that, but said he did not know if the company was talking with Learn and Earn. Beck’s
group will try for a hit on a third pitch, with its own
volunteers gathering the petition signatures.
STEVE, THERE ARE TROTTERS
The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States meets in Boston this weekend, to discuss “Regulating Racing: What is the Ideal
Model?” The Council and its founder and only
president, Florida senator Steve Geller, will hear
the views of thoroughbred racing, the University
of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program, the
National HBPA, greyhound racing, and the Association of Racing Commissioners, but no one
from harness racing. Look up, Steve. That big
building a few miles north of your office, where a
lot of your constituents go, is Pompano Park.
They might have some ideas.
HTA’S THIRD SHOW ONLINE
The third edition of The World in Harness is online.
Dr. Rick Arthur, Lester McKeever, Mike Ezzo
and Judy Davis-Wilson are this week’s guest
interviews.
June 1, 2006
EXTENSIONS EVERYWHERE
MOHEGAN CANCELS JOB FAIR
Delays and extensions all over the place. At
Vernon Downs, Jeff Gural sent a letter to horsemen telling them that code requirements and improvements of the plant, including a new wiring
system for United Tote and flat screen TVs, a new
roof for the grandstand, and removal of asbestos
would require further delay in reopening the track
once the New York Racing and Wagering Board
issues a license. Gural says that “rather than
gamble with the work half done it seems prudent
to delay the opening of racing until Thursday
evening, August 3.” He feels confident Vernon
can meet that deadline, and to ameliorate the loss
to horsemen he has decided to race four days a
week, rather than three, at Tioga Downs. Tioga
will operate Friday, Saturday and Monday evenings and Sunday afternoons.
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has cancelled an
upcoming series of job fairs for local residents,
apparently part of Mohegan’s rethinking its plans
for the track until local slot tax rates are clarified.
Mohegan planned to fill 400 to 500 jobs after interviews in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, but cancelled them until it hears from the Department of
Revenue. Pocono president and CEO Bob Soper
says the company “does not think it’s appropriate
to move forward with career fairs unless and until
the issue is resolved.” Mohegan understood there
would be a tax rate of 55% and nothing more, and
Soper says if the issue is not resolved “in a manner consistent with what he believe the law
states...we’ll be forced to reevaluate our situation
and reconsider our plans to operate a slot facility
here.” Mohegan’s October, 2004, purchase
agreement with Penn National, former owner of
the track, called for $280 million in payment, but
can require Penn National to repurchase the track
if certain events take place, or fail to take place.
A failure of Pennsylvania to issue a slots license
by July 1 is one of those conditions.
INCLUDING NOEL DALEY
In New Jersey, the suspension of trainer Noel
Daley has been extended until July 7 as a result
of a 270-day suspension for possession of drugs
and drug instruments at his training quarters in
March of 2005. Daley negotiated a settlement
agreement with the New Jersey Racing Commission under which that penalty ran concurrently with
the 180-day suspension he received for a postrace
high carbon dioxide reading, which ended April 8.
Daley also was fined $20,000 and agreed to reimburse the Racing Commission an additional
$20,000 for associated investigative and laboratory costs. During the period of suspension, Daley
is denied access to all grounds under the jurisdiction of the Racing Commission.
BOYD BUYS DANIA JAI ALAI
Boyd Gaming of Las Vegas is buying the
Dania Beach Jai Alai fronton for $152
million and plans to build a restaurant
and gaming facility with 1,500 slots.
BUT ITS YOUTH CAMP OKAY
The Harness Racing Youth League Camps, started
originally by HTA with the Harness Horse Youth
Foundation after owner-trainer-driver Mal
Burroughs suggested the idea, have stopped off
at Pocono since their inception. The track is now
accepting applications for this year’s camp, in
which boys and girls ages 11 thru 13 learn how to
care for and drive harness horses. The “horses”
in the camps are miniature trotting-bred ponies.
Each applicant must write an essay of no more than
250 words that answers the question, “The Wind
in My Helmet: Why I Want to Feel the Thrill of
Driving a Horse.” Pocono will narrow the field
of entries to 12 to enroll and compete in its
Fair.
OH NO! NOW IT’S MONTREAL
After watching the agonies of Vernon Downs for
more than a year, with bickering between horsemen and interminable investigations but no action
by the New York Racing and Wagering Board, we
thought we had all we could digest. Now comes
more, this time in Montreal, where SONACC, the
provincial horse racing agency, and Attractions
Hippiques, the new company formed by powerful
politican and successful businessman Paul
Massicotte, are apparently at sword’s point in disagreement. Attractions Hippique issued a press
release yesterday contending that what is on the
table is what was agreed to by SONACC, LotoQuebec and itself in December. SONACC was
expected to respond with its own press release
today.
BIG DAY AT ROCK, HAWTHORNE
Rockingham Park celebrates its 100th anniversary
tomorrow -- a few weeks early of its actual June
28, 1906, debut -- but with the $120,000 New Hampshire Sweepstakes, featuring a meeting between
new world recordholder Primetime Bobcat and Dan
Patch winner Hop Sing. At Hawthorne in Chicago,
a second annual Night of Champions, with a card
of seven races worth right at $50,000, the cast including Loyal Opposition and the red hot 3-yearold Hot N’Sporty.
PITTSBURGH WINNER: NO ONE
A news release yesterday announced that the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force would release a report
today on the city’s three slots applicants, and forward it to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Today the report was issued and -- perhaps taking
a cue from New York -- the Task Force called all
three proposals “incomplete,” saying they
were inadequate in key areas such as casino design and mitigating potential traffic and social problems caused by gambling.
June 2, 2006
“In light of these factors,” the report said, “the
Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force would abrogate its
responsibility to the city and the region if it were
to recommend a candidate at this time.” The three
candidates still in the running are:
Cleveland’s Forest City Enterprises and Harrah’s
Entertainment.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, Nationwide Realty Investors of Columbus, Ohio, and Isle of Capri Casinos.
Detroit businessman Don Barden and his associates.
The Task Force called the proposals submitted by
all three in a five-hour closed session May 25,
nothing more than “best case scenarios,” and told
the three to provide written guarantees -- with
bonds to back them up -- as assurances that they
would follow through with what they were proposing to build or provide for the community. The
Task Force did rate Isle of Capri as best in terms
of site, traffic and commitment, with its pledge to
provide $290 million to replace the Mellon Arena,
the Penguins’ home and the oldest facility in the
National Hockey League. The Task Force said,
“As appointed watchdogs to the community, we
have to question how much the gaming license is
worth -- obviously a great deal -- and if the other
two operators are willing to match this commitment.
And if not, why?” Even though it rated Isle of
Capri the best proposal, it raised concerns that it
was too close to Duquesne University. The Task
Force was concerned about temporary facilities,
saying it wanted to avoid “a cheap ‘Butler’ building, a pre-fab, big box metal structure sans details, which falls well below the standard we expect in a permanent facility.” So where does
that leave Pittsburgh slots? You got it right.
Nowhere.
June 5, 2006
THE SHADOW OF ABRAMOFF
VERNON GETS ITS LICENSE
Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is showing up
everywhere, and made an appearance in absentia last Thursday in the battle between two
Democratic aspirants for governor of Maryland.
One of them, Montgomery county executive
Douglas M. Duncan, made it clear that if he is
nominated and elected there will be no slot machines at tracks in Maryland. “If I’m elected
governor, the debate over slot machines and
casino gambling ends the day I enter office,” he
told an audience in Silver Spring. As he spoke
near a downtown shopping center, a supporter
of his opponent in the Democratic primary, Martin O’Malley, showed up on a restaurant terrace
above him holding a cardboard cutout of
Abramoff, glaring down with his fedora and
trench coat and holding a sign that read, “I
(heart) Duncan and Gambling.” O’Malley has
said his position is clear: he supports a limited
number of slots at tracks to save horse racing
jobs and make Maryland racing competitive
again with surrounding states.
With conditions. The New York Racing and Wagering Board issued a conditional license to Nevada Gold/Vernon Downs today, and recognized
the incumbent Harness Horse Association of Central New York as the official horsemen’s association for 2006. The conditions call for demonstration that all facility construction has been completed in accordance with Board specifications;
that no change in management or beneficial interest or debt or equity has been made; that all employees are properly licensed; that security and
vendors’ plans are submitted; and justification as
to why the number of race dates requested does
not appear to satisfy the minimum number required
by the racing law. On the issue of horsemen’s representations, the Board said the new Vernon Downs
Horsemen’s Association was unable to prove that
it represented a majority of horsemen who will race
at Vernon this year. It can reapply, however, and
if it can prove it represents 51% of qualified horsemen the Board could still recognize it as the qualified group.
MAY NOT MERRY FOR MARK
The month just ended was not a good one for
trainer Mark Ford. A jury found against him in
a slander trial brought by Dean Hoffman of the
USTA, awarding Hoffman $95,000 in punitive
and compensatory damages. The Pennsylvania
Harness Racing Commission fined him $8,000
and suspended him for 10 days for altering a
Coggins test certificate on the pacer Daylon
Trooper at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. An
appeal is likely.
NOR FOR SEN. VOINOVICH
After hearing a passionate anti-gambling plea
from U.S. Senator and former Ohio governor George Voinovich, a group of
Cleveland business leaders, voted overwhelmingly to support a bid for slots at
tracks in Ohio.
DON’T BOTHER CLONING..YET
There was no reason to think they would win, but
the cloned mule brothers, Idaho Gem and Idaho
Star, might have been expected to heat in their
racing debut. Winnemucca, Nevada, went wild -a thousand turned out to see the identical brothers -- and the clones did win their qualifying heats,
but Gem fell two and a half lengths short of the
winner of the final, and his clone finished seventh in the eight-mule field. Gordon Woods, the
University of Idaho scientist who created them,
said the most important race lay ahead: finding
cures for human health, including cancer research.
The national president of the Humane Society,
Wayne Pacelle, was not happy about cloning, however. He said, “There’s no legitimate purpose for this exercise.”
June 6, 2006
THE SUN ALSO RISES..UP
ONLY HIS BARBER KNOWS
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, HTA’s member
track in northeast Pennsylvania, has risen up and
is fighting back at proposed increases in local tax
levels. Bob Soper, Mohegan’s top man at Pocono,
went to the state capital at Harrisburg yesterday
and spoke to state legislators, telling them what
Mohegan will and will not do on the local tax
issue. Soper, an attorney, told the lawmakers that
host municipalities are entitled, under
Pennsylvania’s slots law, to 2% of gross slot machine gaming revenue, up to a number that is
50% of their 2003-04 budgets, with a maximum
of $10 million. He said Mohegan Sun believes
the gaming statute “is very clear and consistent
with Mohegan’s interpretation, and Pocono was
prepared to honor that provision in the law. In
its case that would amount to $2.2 million for host
Plains Township. Jane Earil, a state senator from
Erie in far northwestern Pennsylvania, differs
with that view, contending that the intent of the
law is to collect $10 million a year, regardless of
local budget, with any excess beyond 50% of the
2003-4 figure going to the host county. Soper has
said, and repeated, that if that tax structure were
to prevail, Mohegan Sun might abandon it’s
project at Pocono Downs. After his Harrisburg
visit, Soper said, “We’re optimistic that we’ll be
able to resolve the issue, but there’s still a ways
to go.” The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue is to issue final regulations on tax revenue
policies by July 1, but Senator Earil says she will
introduce legislation that would impose the $10
million guarantee, and thinks she has enough
votes to pass it.
You may remember the old Clairol commercial
that said, “Only her hairdresser knows for
sure,”referring to the model’s blonde hair. We
have a hunch that only Bill Nader’s barber
knows for sure about Bill’s ink black hair, and
why it isn’t gray. Bill, one of the most able management men in racing in his role as senior vice
president of the New York Racing Association,
has had enough grief in the last two or three years
to turn hard coal gray, but his hair still is black.
Yesterday another blow, when an arbitrator ruled
against NYRA and for 89 pari-mutuel clerks it
fired for absence or suspended for lateness, for
their conduct on Preakness Day last year. The
arbitrator ruled that the clerks who were fired
should be reinstated with retroactive pay, and
those suspended for a week should get a week’s
pay. It is estimated the decision will cost NYRA
more than $2 million, but president Charles Hayward was reported to have said NYRA would
abide by the arbitrator’s decision and not appeal.
PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK
If you live in the state of Washington, or plan
to visit, be careful. As of tomorrow,
playing poker online in Washington is a
class C felony, and you may not get out
of Washington for five years, after paying
up to $10,000.
VERNON OK..WELL, NOT QUITE
Vernon Downs got a temporary, conditional license to race and simulcast yesterday, but the
announcement was no sooner made than the
president of the losing horsemen’s association
said he doubted that would happen anytime soon.
Ken Jacob, president of the Vernon Downs Harness Horse Association, said, “If everything went
smooth there will be 90 days before racing could
start, and I don’t think it’s going to go smooth.”
He said the new group might sue the New York
Racing and Wagering Board. This nonsense has
gone far enough. If Jacobs has enough horsemen willing to sign on to give his group 51%, his
group should be licensed. If he doesn’t, he should
accept that fact and help get Vernon racing.
This is not rocket science. Counting is not
that difficult, and the board knows how
to count. This is black or white, not gray.
June 7, 2006
RUCKER LOSES BIG M APPEAL
VERNON...MAYBE NEXT YEAR
Trainer Ken Rucker may race his horses in Illinois or somewhere this year, but it won’t be at
the Meadowlands. A decision in the Superior
Court of New Jersey’s Appellate Division made
that clear yesterday, when Judge Joseph Yannotti
issued a denial of Rucker’s application for a stay
of his ejection. The Meadowlands, in its brief to
the court, noted that horses trained by Rucker
had tested positive numerous times during the
last 20 years, and on no less than 10 occasions in
different states in the last year, including violations at Rockingham Park in New Hampshire
and Balmoral Park in Crete, Illinois. Between
Nov. 5 and 13 last year, six horses trained by
Rucker tested positive for indomethacin at
Balmoral, following two positives for that pain
killer in September at Balmoral. Rucker had
signed an agreement with the Meadowlands that
if further positive tests were found on his horses,
he would leave, and entries would not be accepted. On April 30 of this year, a pacer named
Highland Pride A, which had been winless in 23
starts last year but had won 9 of 17 races this
year, won at the Meadowlands and tested positive for elevated titers of anti-recombinant human EPO, or Epogen. The court found the
Meadowlands’ agreement valid and enforceable,
and denied Rucker’s appeal. Chris McErlean,
the Meadowlands’ vice president of racing operations, expressed his pleasure at the outcome.
“We are grateful that the Appellate Court ruled
in our favor,” he said. “While Mr. Rucker is afforded additional avenues in order to pursue a
stay, it will now be a longer process. As we indicated before, we feel we have a valid agreement
in place and will continue to defend that position.” Since the Meadowlands’ action was a
track ruling and not a New Jersey commission action, Illinois, where Rucker is
based, could not use reciprocity. He has a
hearing coming up there.
If Vernon Downs horsemen put their own pride
and inability to compromise ahead of making a
living, so be it. They can train for another year,
but not likely for free at Vernon Downs, and race
their 2-year-olds as 3-year-olds and their 3-yearolds as older horses. Jeff Gural, commenting on
the New York Racing and Wagering Board’s decision to grant Vernon’s new ownership a temporary racing and simulcasting license, told the
Oneida Dispatch, “I’m extremely pleased that
they gave us a temporary license so that we can
move forward with the VLTs. I’m extremely disappointed that they found that the existing
horsemen’s association should remain in place,
which I found to be a bizarre decision because I
don’t think they represent 51% of the horsemen.”
Neither does the new Vernon Downs Harness
Horse Association, which now threatens to sue
the commission, claiming the majority of horsemen who will be racing at Vernon belong to its
group. No formal election apparently was held,
the board relying on “documentation proving
that its group represents 51% of qualified horsemen.” Board spokesman Dan Toomey said the
new group “failed to prove their challenge, as
they were unable to show that they represented
51% of the track’s horsemen,” but their challenge was denied without prejudice, meaning
they are free to challenge again. Toomey did not
say if the old Harness Horse Association of Central New York had proved it represents 51% of
horsemen, or if the Board acted on other considerations. Board chairwoman Cheryl Buley told
HTA’s The World in Harness prior to the announcement of the Board’s decision that the
Board was concerned that there might not be
enough horses to conduct a competitive meeting
if one group were chosen over another. Gural
said he now does not know when Vernon
Downs may reopen, and said it is possible
that it will not open this year.
June 8, 2006
ISOBA LOSES OFFICE TO FIRE
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
A fire of unknown origin destroyed the office of
the Illinois Standardbred Owners and Breeders
Association yesterday, and the group’s executive
secretary, trainer and USTA director John Cisna
says the entire building and all of its contents are
a complete loss. The office was located on the
Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, and a
temporary office has been opened on the backstretch of the big mile Grand Circuit track.
You think you have problems? After fighting off
court challenges that ended on Tuesday of this
week when the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected opponents’ claims that the Minnesota Racing Commission had improperly approved a new
harness track in Anoka county, Minnesota, north
of Minneapolis, the developers have encountered
another challenge. This one is several thousand
years old. Early excavation work for the track
turned up the remains of a prehistoric Indian
village, and the site now has become an archaeological work station. The dig at present consists
of unearthing some 50 plots of a square meter
each, about half a meter deep, looking for shards
of pottery and seeds and fish bones and other
artifacts that may reveal how ancient Indians
lived. Minnesota has no laws requiring preservation of such sites, but the Army Corps of Engineers, examining the wetlands where the track
is being built, forwarded its permits for review
by the State Historic Preservation Office as part
of the federal Historic Preservation Act. An official there remembered remains of an old Indian
village nearby, and recommended a survey. A
track spokeman told the Pioneer Press.”It isn’t
much of a story. It was a disposal area...It’s just
some remnants of cooking ware that were left
there.” Maybe. Prehistoric houses take precedence over 2-minute horses, and if the diggers
find one, or a village, post time could be seriously
delayed.
THE COUNT IS 0 AND 2 IN CINCY
With two strikes on the scoreboard, Queen City
Gaming is taking another swing at getting approval to circulate statewide petitions to legalize
slots in Cincinnati and other Ohio locations, including tracks. Cincinnati was left out in the
proposal already filed by Live and Earn, a Cleveland-based group, and the Queen City backers,
whose petitions fell short in two previous attempts, expect to get approval on this swing.
JAKE HOWARD DIES AT 81
J.F. (Jake) Howard, chairman of what is now
Woodbine Entertainment when it was the
Ontario Jockey Club, has died at 81 of cancer.
Howard, a thoroughbred owner and breeder, was
chairman of the OJC from 1999 to 2001 and honorary chairman since that time of the OJC and
its successor WEG. An affable horseman who
accepted the standardbreds with understanding,
appreciation and interest, Howard was a close
personal friend of WEG president and CEO
David Willmot.
TWO APPEALS IN PA
Trainer Mark Ford has appealed his 10-day suspension and $8,000 fine for allegedly altering
Coggins certificates at Pocono Downs. Trainerdriver George Napolitano, Jr., hit with
$4,500 in fines and three consecutive 90day suspensions for positive tests at Pocono,
also has appealed.
A FRANK ASSESSMENT
U.S. Congressman Barney Frank is no stranger
to controversy, and speaks his mind plainly.
When a reporter for PocketFives.com asked him
about Internet legislation proposed by Rep. Bob
Goodlatte and Senator Jon Kyl, Frank called it
“a great infringement on liberty.” He said,
“I am skeptical of people who want to protect people from themselves.”
June 9, 2006
HORSEMEN GO OFFSHORE
TIOGA DOWNS OPENS TONIGHT
Bloodhorse.com reports today that an organization calling itself The International Horsemen’s
Wagering Assurance Group, formed by former
National HBPA president John Roark and former
Minnesota HBPA president Tom Metzen and his
son Tom Jr., has officially opened an offshore
betting operation with Las Vegas Dissemination
acting as its hub and a call center in Curacao.
Metzen Jr. was quoted saying wagering through
the system would begin when it has more contracts signed with racetracks for product. “Technically,” he said, “we’re operational right now.
We’re in the process of accumulating signal contracts. We want to offer a full plate of content
before we start. We’re receiving contracts from
racetracks on a daily basis.” The group has not
announced as yet whether it will offer rebates
to high-volume players. The idea, Metzen Jr.
told Blood-Horse writer Tom LaMarra, is to
operate “on a razor-thin margin and turn funds
over to the industry, but we’re going to make a
buck, because there are a lot of expenses invested in this project. But the lion’s share of
takeout should go to the source,” which he identified as horsemen, jockeys and racetracks.
Although the national HBPA supports the
project, according to Metzen, an official endorsement of the new SPMO is not expected before
next month’s summer convention in Minnesota.
Metzen also told LaMarra that IHWAG also is
talking with representatives of legal offshore
bookmaking operations to bring handle into U.S.
pools, and said, “From all indications, the bookmakers seem willing to do it.” LaMarra reported that IHWAG has hired a private investigation firm to check out the background of customers, and has no exclusive contracts, so that
“one company may provide the phonewagering component and another the
soon-to-be-introduced Internet component.”
Harness racing’s newest track -- Tioga Downs -opens tonight, to rave reviews of its innovative
design and racing surface, but without slots for
the moment. Principal Jeff Gural and his associates have poured money into the project, determined to make it a first class facility, but admittedly face the problem of whether the population base available can support the track. “We
are gambling that we can get people to come to
the track,” Gural told Dave Little of the New
York Daily News,” No one has been able to do it,
so we are in uncharted waters.” When 750 VLTs
are licensed and operational -- Gural hopes by
June 28 -- the population issue will be determined. Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, close
to Des Moines, faced a similar problem when it
opened as a racetrack alone in 1989, but when
slots were introduced five years later it became
an instant success, drawing from far beyond Des
Moines with its 400,000 population at the time.
An ambitious purse schedule has been announced
at Tioga, and the frustrations of licensing have
been wearing on Gural. One of New York City’s
most successful real estate operators, he told
Little, “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever tackled. There are a lot of regulations and state agencies to deal with. There hasn’t been a new track
licensed in New York in 30 or 40 years, so there
is no standard way to do it.” Horsemen have
praised the track and the plant, and Meadowlands’ regulars Mike Lachance, Cat Manzi,
David Miller, Ron Pierce and Jeff Gregory have
told Gural they will be up Sunday to help give
Tioga a major league start. Sunday’s feature will
be a $63,000 Inaugural Trot for mares. In other
action this weekend, Northfield Park presents the
Battle of Lake Erie for 3-year-old pacers,
Mohegan Sun at Pocono has the sport’s best 3year-old pacing fillies in Jim Lynch eliminations, and Woodbine has three elimination
fields of North America Cup hopefuls.
June 12, 2006
QUEBEC DISCORD CONTINUES
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME?
The dispute over privatization of harness racing
in Quebec continues, and according to Paul
Delean of Montreal’s Gazette, has worsened.
Under a headline reading, “Quebec introduces
law to rein in its horse-racing agency,” Delean
wrote in Saturday’s edition, “The Quebec government took a first step yesterday toward reining in its defiant horse-racing agency, introducing legislation that would allow it to replace the
board of directors and dissolve the agency at its
discretion.” Delean’s story said the law could be
passed as early as the end of the parliamentary
session this week, or it could be deferred until
fall. SONACC, which runs racing in Quebec,
has refused to sign an agreement in principle that
was reached last December by the government
and Senator Paul Massicotte’s Attractions
Hippiques to take over the province’s four tracks,
build a new Hippodrome de Montreal, and refurbish tracks in Quebec City, Trois Rivieres and
Aylmer. Quebec’s finance minister, Michel
Audet, warned SONACC to “respect its word”
and approve the deal or risk government intervention. That intervention would take the form
of having the finance minister name all five members of the board on an interim basis to allow
transition to private operation by Attractions
Hippiques. In his strongly worded warning,
Audet said, “Our government intends to focus
on essential missions, and managing horse races
isn’t on that list. Even if SONACC signs the
agreement, the government intends to establish
a separate racing body that will assume those responsibilities not transferred to the private operator, according to Delean. SONACC responded to the Audet warning with a letter on its
Web site, saying it would call for a parliamentary
commission to take up the agreement issue if the government continued to use
“threats.” What seemed like a bright future has become a cloudy sky in Quebec.
When was the last time you saw a packed, full
grandstand at a pari-mutuel track? When was the
last time you heard the public telling newspapermen how great the facility was, how proud they
were to have it close at hand in their area, how
they planned to come back and come back even
more after it gets slots, hopefully later this month?
When was the last time you heard drivers almost
unanimously calling the facility one of the best
they’ve ever visited, and the racing surface itself
one of the best in the sport?
All of that happened as Tioga Downs opened last
Friday, and according to reports drew 6,000 that
night and 15,000 for its first three racing programs. There were skeptics everywhere when Jeff
Gural first announced his plans to rebuild failed
Tioga Park into Tioga Downs, out in the boonies
with Binghamton, population 47,380, the biggest
town, 30 miles away. The track sits off a busy
major New York highway, however, and last Friday the track’s parking lot overflowed with cars,
some parking on access roads. Handle alone cannot sustain a purse schedule that features $6,000
overnights and a $63,000 trotting feature on
Sunday, with drivers Ron Pierce, Mike Lachance,
Cat Manzi and David Miller on hand, but slots
can. Gural’s idea of a Tioga-Vernon Downs circuit may prove viable, if New York horsemen realize they are gambling with their future and stop
fighting among themselves. They have a horseman running things now, and no other salvation
in sight. Gural wrote another letter to the horsemen last week before Tioga opened, saying, “For
those of you who have supported Mr. Faraldo
and Mr. Papa (president of the Harness Horse
Association of Central New York), you might be
more comfortable going to Monticello to see the
kind of program they are advocating.”
Tioga’s pretty new plant is not likely to help
things at Monticello.
June 13, 2006
RUCKER LOSES APPEAL IN NJ
TIOGA’S GETS FULL DATES OK
In a resounding victory for the Meadowlands,
the New Jersey Supreme Court yesterday denied
trainer Ken Rucker’s request for a stay pending
appeal of the track’s refusal to accept his entries.
The action followed by a week a denial issued by
New Jersey’s Appellate Division. Both denials
in effect validated the agreement the Meadowlands required of Rucker when granting him
stalls, which said that if any of Rucker’s horses
tested positive the track could refuse his entries.
The agreement also provided that Rucker has the
option to submit a request to the Meadowlands
to transfer horses he owns to other trainers, subject to the Meadowlands consideration and approval.
Apparently impressed by the turnout for the first
weekend of racing at Tioga Downs, and the facility itself, the New York Racing and Wagering
Board yesterday approved the remainder of
Tioga Downs’ dates, clearing the way for the
track to operate its full 46 days thru Sept. 15. As
expected, per capita betting was low with newcomers and sightseers on hand, but the turnout
of more than 15,000 for the first three days indicated the regional population turned out with
interest to see the only facility of its kind in their
area. Opening night saw 6,127 on hand, 5,341
turned out Saturday night, and another 4,513
showed up for Sunday afternoon’s program.
Handle from all sources averaged $132,984, with
Friday producing $111,633, Saturday $151,751
and Sunday $135,569. Long lines at mutuel and
food facilities were the only complaint heard -both correctible -- and fan response as reported
in local area newspapers was overwhelmingly
favorable.
QUEBEC DROPS THE HAMMER
They weren’t bluffing. The government of Quebec, using closure, passed a law at 2:30 a.m. this
morning in the waning hours of the current parliamentary session, giving the provincial government the right to replace the board of SONACC
and dissolve the racing group at its discretion.
SONACC, which has operated HTA member
Hippodrome de Montreal and Quebec’s three
other tracks, had refused to sign an agreement,
reached last December, for the privatization of
Hippodrome de Montreal and the harness tracks
in Quebec City, Aylmer and Trois Rivieres.
SONACC claims the deal had been altered. The
new owner of the province’s tracks, Paul
Massicotte, along with Quebec’s finance minister Michel Audet and the head of the independent selection committee that chose Massicotte,
Luc Chabot, all denied that, saying that the agreement is fundamentally unchanged and that only
a few details beneficial to the racing indus- t r y
had been made. SONACC told the government to desist from making threats,
but Liberals in the parliament invoked closure to pass the bill early this morning.
DIME GOES FAR AT HAWTHORNE
If you only have a dime to spend, HTA member
Hawthorne Race Course is the place for you. A
single dime winning Superfecta last week paid
$11,731.41, with the four winners in the 4-6-9-1
combination scoring at 5-1, 19-1, 19-1 and 17-1.
This week Hawthorne presents its first ever
Grand Circuit racing, starting with two World
Series events for 2-year-olds tomorrow.
MAN BITES DOG AT PLAINRIDGE
Racing writers normally report news at tracks,
not make it. But Saturday afternoon at HTA
member Plainridge Racecourse, Bob Lieberman,
former president of the New England chapter of
the U.S. Harness Writers Association, lit up
the tote board in a race for amateur drivers, guiding Fritz to victory with a $2 win
payoff of $101.80.
June 14, 2006
ZWEIG TO TIOGA DOWNS
ANTIGUA WON’T GO AWAY
The Harness Horse Breeders of New York State
have moved the Zweig Memorial, named for the
late New York veterinarian and political shaker
Harry M. Zweig, from the Syracuse mile track to
Tioga Downs. Dr. Zweig, a very active USTA director 30 years ago, was instrumental in getting
the New York Sire Stakes funded and established.
The date of the open and filly division of the stake
for 3-year-old trotters remains as originally scheduled, August 12, and will be raced over Tioga’s
fast five-eighths mile track on an afternoon card.
The United States has taken the policy of ignoring the Caribbean island state of Antigua and
Barbuda, and the World Trade Organization as
well, but Antigua and Barbuda is not about to disappear. It now has taken a first step toward a
World Trade Organization compliance directive
by requesting consultations with Washington. If
no solution is reached within 15 days, a WTO
panel would report on U.S. compliance within 90
days. That decision could be appealed by either
side. Antigua and Barbuda claims the Wire Act,
the Travel Act and the Illegal Gaming Business
Act -- which the U.S. relies on in its contention
that Internet gambling is illegal -- should be
amended to bring the U.S. into conformity with
WTO rules. It also says that since the Interstate
Horseracing Act allows remote gambling on horse
races while banning remote gambling services
from overseas suppliers, it is discriminatory. If
Antigua and Barbuda were to win in the WTO, its
recourse would be to ask the WTO for permission to retaliate for unfair business practices.
Just how a country of 68,000 might do that against
the U.S. is unanswered, and even Antigua and
Barbuda’s legal adviser, American lawyer Mark
Mendel, admits the problem. “Obviously,” he
says, “we’re going to have to be a bit creative in
order to come up with something to motivate the
Americans.”
YOUBET LANDS 3 BIG ONES
Youbet.com, which has been aggressive in promoting harness racing consistently since its earliest beginnings, has stepped up the pace. The
online service that provides live audio/video, upto-the-minute information, real-time wagering information and a host of other handicapping and
wagering aids, has signed John Campbell, Cat
Manzi and David Miller as exclusive spokespersons. The trio will be featured as “Team
Youbet” in programs and publications promoting harness racing to Youbet’s nationwide audience of advanced deposit wagering customers.
Charles (Chuck) Champion, Youbet.com’s president, in announcing the signing, said, “Our online
network has experienced a substantial increase
in harness wagering over the past two years.
Our mission is to bring excitement and valueadded information and perspective to our customers, and these drivers do it on the track with
their racing skills and off the track with their
passion for the sport.” The three will wear
Youbet logos on their driving silks and at personal appearances, will appear in online promotions at the company’s wagering Web site,
and will offer comments in Youbet’s Harness Racing Insider online magazine.
The promotion is a significant first for the
sport.
QUIZ: DEFINE REPUTABLE
Ken Rucker, banned from the Meadowlands, has
a new lawyer, who says, “This is not a dirty guy.
This is a hardworking, reputable trainer.” The lawyer acknowledged that Rucker has faced license
suspension four times in four years in Illinois, and
that his license was suspended there again last
year after eight -- count ‘em, eight -- positive
tests. He got a stay and is awaiting a hearing. We’ll wait to hear whether he is reputable in Illinois.
June 15, 2006
HEY FOLKS! SHAWN IS BACK
DOVER PLANS HIT A SNAG
The resilient and resourceful Shawn Scott, a winner of tens of millions with his buy-and-sell deals
at Delta Downs in Louisiana, at Vernon Downs
in New York, and at Bangor Raceway in Maine,
is back in the running for more millions in the
nation’s capital. The District of Columbia Board
of Elections has approved a petition from Scott’s
Virgin Island-based group to get a slots initiative on the November ballot in the district. Scott’s
group tried two years ago and lost when signatures were disqualified as bogus and officials
found the slots supporters had committed fraud
and forgery. The last we heard Scott still owed
the District more than $600,000, but that didn’t
deter him -- not much does -- and he now hopes
to open a slots parlor with up to 3,500 machines
in a gambling hall in the southwest section of
Washington. The city opposes the idea, but don’t
bet against Scott winning.
An expansion of gaming in the state of Delaware
that would have included HTA member Dover
Downs but also would have created two competitive casinos in Wilmington was voted down yesterday, when members of the House Gaming and
Pari-Mutuels Committee put on hold a constitutional amendment that would have authorized
the changes. Yesterday was the last day for regularly scheduled committee meetings in the legislature, so the turndown could mean the end of
the legislation for this year.
THE SPA LOSES A ROUND
The state of New York and not the city of
Saratoga Springs will serve as lead agency in
considering the major expansion proposed for
HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway.
Denise Sheehan, commissioner of the Department
of Environmental Conservation, made the call,
but Saratoga Springs may try to require the casino to apply for a site plan review. The track
wants to build at 41,000 square-foot addition to
its facility on Nelson Avenue, across from
Saratoga Racetrack, and add 400 new VLTs, a
300-seat buffet and a two-story nightclub. Another 4,500 square-feet would provide for administrative offices. The chairman of the city planning board recused himself from the voting. He
is one of 500 employees at the casino at the track.
Rita Cox, a Saratoga vice president, said, “We’re
going to follow what our lead agency instructs us to do so we can get up and running quickly.” She said 200 new jobs would
be created by the expansion.
GOODLATTE “CLARIFIES”
Republican congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, whose legislation before Congress would
ban Internet gaming but exempt horse racing,
which has won it approval of the American Horse
Council, appeared as a guest of Neil Cavuto on
Fox News.com this week. Goodlatte told Cavuto
that his legislation “only goes after the illegal,
unregulated offshore sites...the federal
government’s involvement is only in trying to
assist the states in enforcing their laws. That is
historically how it has always been. And that is
what our law does as well.....We are going after
the offshore sites and making it more difficult to
send money to those sites and not have it come
out of our economy to benefit these fly-by-night
operations around the world.” Goodlatte told
Cavuto that his legislation does not apply to individual bettors, but rather to betting services.
He said, “If you are an individual bettor, that is
covered by your own state laws in the state that
you reside in.”
DAVID WILLMOT ON “WORLD”
This week’s World in Harness Internet show on
www.harnesstracks.com is a wide-ranging conversation with David Willmot, chairman, president
and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group.
June 16, 2006
HELPLESS AND HAPLESS IN PA
INJUNCTION IN ILLINOIS
The commonwealth of Pennsylvania, lost in the fog
of bureaucratic bungling and legislative indecision,
now says it may not issue racetrack slots licenses
until fall of 2007, which would mean no slots until
2008 and no state revenue until 2009. The hapless handling of slots in the state is a disgrace.
The unhappy news came from gaming control board
chairman Tad Decker, who announced the delays.
“I have some doubts about when approving the
licenses is going to get done. It keeps sliding and
sliding.” His announcement came after the board
once again failed to approve licenses for slot machine distributors, a political mechanism in Pennsylvania where the law provides that middlemen
will buy slot machines from manufacturers and
resell them to casinos.
Illinois’ four northern riverboat casinos, trying to
stave off a 3% of adjusted gross revenue subsidy
to state racetracks, have obtained an injunction in
the Circuit court of their home county, west of
Chicago. The TRO blocks implementation, for
now, of the establishment of the Horse Racing
Equity Trust Fund approved by the state legislature and signed last month by Gov. Rod
Blagojevich. The action in effect is a double cross,
since Illinois tracks supported legislation seven
years ago calling for a tradeoff, letting the
riverboats stay docked rather than cruise, a move
that has provided them with an estimated $4.1 billion in added revenue. The riverboats at the time
agreed to have 15% of adjusted gross revenue
from a tenth casino, the ill-fated Emerald, go to
tracks, but the Emerald never was completed, the
license was abrogated, and the riverboats now
have reneged on the clear intent of that agreement.
Why would any state do that? Easy answer. Add
up the patronage and payoffs. The gaming control board next meets June 28, and could -- but not
necessarily will -- approve licenses for up to 22
slot machine suppliers. If that happens, it is conceivable that the board could still approve racetrack/casino licenses by Sept. 30 or early October
of this year, Decker says. But he warns that a
serious new hurdle has arisen. A separate state
regulatory agency is about to enter the picture,
and it could take months to put its seal of approval
on gaming regulations. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, reporting this development, says Decker indicated that if that happens his board would not be
able to approve slots supplier licenses -- and thus
racetrack licenses -- anytime soon. The gaming
control commission, when it was formed, had been
given a two-year reprieve from being subject to
the review commission, but the reprieve ends July
1. Two years, in Pennsylvania, is the flick of an
eyelash, and even Decker now has doubts. “I wonder,” he said, “whether applicants will really stay the course, waiting another year,
tying up their money, spending more for
options on land. This is a serious issue.”
CHANGES AT POMPANO
Isle of Capri Casinos has replaced a racing man
with a casino man as it prepares for a racino at
HTA member Pompano Park. The new boss is
Douglas Shipley, with more than 26 years of gaming experience, most recently as corporate vice
president of gaming with Delaware North. Pompano general manager and HTA director Dick
Feinberg, commenting on the change, said, “We
have had a pari-mutuel ‘parting of the ways.’ I
wish for nothing but success for the Isle of Capri
as Pompano Park enters the racino era.”
HOPE YOU HAD THIS ONE
A pacing mare named Rhiannon O Rhye won the
seventh race at HTA member Buffalo Raceway
last night. Nothing newsworthy about that, except
-- and it’s a big except -- she paid $221 to win.
Hope you were there, or thereabouts, and had
Rhiannon covered.
SHICK IN, CENTAUR OUT, NOW
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, acting on
appeals of Centaur Inc.’s Valley View Downs and
Carmen Shick’s Bedford Downs, has ordered the
Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission to
grant a new hearing to the Shick group, but turned
down Centaur, effectively eliminating them from
building a western Pennsylvania track with a
racino. Shick wants to build a one mile harness
track and racino along state route 422 west of New
Castle, near the Ohio line. The harness racing
commission last November denied his license application claiming his grandfather, Carmen Ambrosia, may have had ties to organized crime in
the Youngstown, Ohio, area years ago. The Commonwealth Court, however, ruled that did not represent sufficient grounds for denial of the license
and ordered the commission to hold another hearing on the Shick application. It rejected, however,
the appeal of Valley View Downs to build a track
near route 60 in Beaver county, upholding in effect the original decision of the racing commission,
which denied the application on grounds of track
size, layout of the facility, and topography of the
ground. Valley View had hoped to build a fiveeighths mile track on its site. Only one of the applications could have been granted, since the commission has only one license left to grant. The
Commonwealth Court did not require the commission to grant Bedford Downs a license -- merely to
reconsider its application -- and if the commission
were to again deny the Shick application it would
open the race to another applicant. The decision
of the Commonwealth Court is posted in the proprietary section of HTA’s Web site for reference
for HTA legal counsel and executives.
CINCY GIVES UP THE FIGHT
Queen City Gaming Entertainment, preempted at
every turn by the Ohio tracks’ Learn &
Earn petition, has abandoned its quest for
a casino for downtown Cincinnati.
June 19, 2006
“DUE TO AN EDITING ERROR”
The New York Times never admits to making a
mistake. It makes them frequently, but covers
them in its “Corrections” column with the phrase
“Due to an editing error...” If it’s good enough for
the Times, it’s good enough for us. So, due to an
editing error, last Thursday’s story in Executive
Newsletter on “Dover Plans Hit a Snag” gave the
wrong impression about events in Delaware. Although the bill that died in the House Gaming and
Pari-Mutuels Committee did contain some benefits
in expanded gaming for Delaware’s three tracks,
all of them -- HTA members Dover Downs and
Harrington Raceway and Delaware Park -- vigorously opposed the bill, which would have created
casinos on the Delaware River in Wilmington.
GRANDMAS HAD IT RIGHT
After hearing Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
chairman Tad Decker say last week that it might
be 2009 before Pennsylvania tracks have slots,
we thought about Jewish grandmothers, many if
not most who probably would have thought PariMutuel was the name of a new movie star. They
had an expression that fit the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania legislators and
their foot-dragging antics perfectly: “You should
live so long!”
CAREER EVENT FOR KIDS
The United States Trotting Association is sponsoring a career education event on Thursday, July 6
for high school students. The event, which is free,
will be held in central New Jersey and start at the
stables of trainer/driver Jacqueline Ingrassia, who
will talk about her career path and advice she
would give to students considering a “hands on”
career with horses. It also will include a trip to the
New Jersey Equine clinic to meet famed equine
surgeon Dr. Patricia Hogan, who did the surgery that saved Kentucky Derby winner
Smarty Jones. Call 732-780-3700.
ANOTHER FIRST FOR TIOGA
Jeff Gural, intent on making his new Tioga Downs
a leader in harness racing, in innovation if not in
size, scored another victory last Saturday. While
others talk of security, Gural acted, and his security force, around 6 p.m. Saturday, saw a horseman, Larry Futter of Vernon, NY, park his trailer
at a rest stop along State Route 17, about five
miles east of Tioga Downs. The security personnel watched Futter enter his horse trailer with several syringes in hand, accompanied by another
Vernon horseman, Joseph Sansone. Futter exited
the trailer several minutes later and discarded the
syringes in a nearby garbage can. Tioga Downs
Security retrieved the syringes and notified Tioga
security director Dave Brenner, who stopped
Futter and Sansone at the stable gate and searched
their vehicle. Futter admitted using three syringes
to inject a homeopathic breather medication,
lactanase and ACTH, and said he had purchased
the drugs easily through Internet websites. He also
said Sansone did not play a role in administering
the medication. Futter has been barred from participating at both Tioga Downs and at Vernon
Downs when that track begins racing, and
Sansone’s status is being evaluated. Futter’s statements and the evidence were turned over to the
New York State Racing and Wagering Board. Jeff
Gural issued a statement as chairman of Tioga
Downs, saying the “unfortunate events and successful conclusion are what I envision not just for
Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs but for all horse
racing.” He also said, “It is nice to have former
New York state steward and presiding judge Art
Gray serving as a consultant to me, as he has established program and is educating the security
division at both Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs
to maximize the level of integrity on the racetrack.” Gray has in recent years been promoting
the use of new safety lines in the sport.
June 20, 2006
SHICK ASKS FOR QUICK ACTION
Carmen Shick, principal owner of Bedford Downs,
the western Pennsylvania hopeful harness track
applying for Pennsylania’s last harness license,
says he hopes the Pennsylvania Harness Racing
Commission can expedite licensing now that the
state’s Commonwealth Court ruled the racing commission erred when it denied Bedford Downs’ earlier application. The Court ordered, 6-1, that the
racing commission must reconsider the Bedford
Downs application, but did not follow suit for the
application of Valley View Downs, perhaps ending
the hopes of Centaur of Indianapolis to gain the
final license. Centaur can appeal, but the action of
the Court on Bedford was fairly emphatic. “It is
absurd,” Judge Rochelle S. Friedman said, writing for the majority, “to believe that the ground
upon which the racing facility is built will induce
Bedford to violate the racing laws.” An earlier
Pennsylvania Harness Commission had based its
Bedford refusal on allegations that the present
owner’s grandfather, Carmen D. Ambrosia, had
ties to Lenny Strollo, a former mob boss in Youngstown, Ohio. Carmen Shick said his grandfather
“was an old man with a lot of money that got
conned, and I’ve been fighting in state, federal and
local courts now to try to recover those funds.” In
asking the racing board to act quickly on the
Court’s decision, Shick said, “I just know that it’s
taken forever — or half of that. So I would hope
things would be expedited.”
NOVA WINNERS ARE TOUGH
For those who doubted HTA’s racing secretaries
when they named Darlin’s Delight our Nova Award
champion as the top 2-year-old pacing filly of last
season, a note. She set a new world record Saturday afternoon at Mohegan Sun at Pocono, pacing
in 1:50.1, the fastest mile every by a 3-year-old
filly on a five-eighths mile track.
MORE MIXED SIGNALS IN PA
The slots situation in Pennsylvania is turning from
a mess to a nightmare. No one, including Gov. Ed
Rendell, seems to sense the urgency of stopping
the political bickering and getting on with applications and implementation of the state’s gaming law.
Rendell says Gaming Control board members “are
working to try to reach a compromise (about slots
suppliers) and I believe they will. I’m optimistic
that the people who are working on this will get it
done.” What triggers his optimism is a mystery.
The chairman of the Gaming Control Board, Tad
Decker, warned last week that it is conceivable
there will be no slots at tracks in Pennsylvania until
2009. Then the Board announced it will have hearings on six applications for track licenses in Harrisburg Aug. 7-9, and that licensing decisions would
be made in September. There are other roadblocks, however. Competing proposals as to how
to set up supplier territories in the state have created political stress, and temporary regulations
expire July 5. Bobby Soper, president of Mohegan
Sun at Pocono Downs, points out that if the temporary regs expire without resolution, it could prolong the licensing process substantially. The Gaming Control Board meets June 28 to consider the
issue. Mohegan Sun also has announced that if
tax proposals of state senator Jane Earl of Erie
are adopted, Mohegan Sun will reconsider its entire operation of Pocono. Earl contends the legislation that enabled gambling requires a $10 million tax share, regardless of host municipality size.
Soper says Mohegan Sun agreed to a 2% of municipal budgets of 2003-4, with a $10 million maximum, which would come to between $2 and $3 million in the case of Plains Township, Pocono’s home
territory. If all went well, Soper says Mohegan Sun
could be operating 1,000 slots before the year is
out.
June 21, 2006
In western Pennsylvania, The Meadows vice president Mike Jeannot says, “For the last 10 years
we’ve been getting hurt by competition from West
Virginia tracks. We’ve been waiting two years
since the Pennsylvania slots law was passed. If it
takes another year or more to approve slot licenses, it would be a devastating blow for The
Meadows. We need to have slots approved as
quickly as possible. We are planning to use those
revenues to save the horse racing industry. If
there’s a 12- or 18-month delay in getting the slots
up, it truly could be a matter of life and death . We
will be devastated, we really will.”
Chester Downs, due to begin racing Sept. 10, also
says it is needs slots quickly. Joe Lashinger, a principal in the project, says, “It’s extremely important for us to get a slots license this fall. It will
cause us pain if we don’t. We have hundreds of
millions of dollars in the ground now.” Lashinger
told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the estimated
cost of the project, which will be operated by
Harrah’s Entertainment, will be $430 million for
the racetrack and more for the racino that will hold
2,750 slots. Bob Green of Philadelphia Park said,
“In this business we have to make certain assumptions and take certain risks. If the board can resolve the suppliers issue on June 28, the 90-day
clock will start running for issuing track licenses
by the end of September. If the Gaming Control
Board cannot resolve the issue of middlemen slots
suppliers, who will buy slots from manufacturers
and sell them to tracks at its June 28 meeting, and
the present temporary regulations expire, it means
that no action could be taken on Pennsylvania
track slot license for 90 days from whenever the
control board gets around to doing it. Lets hope
for all concerned — the state treasury and horsemen as well — that Gov. Rendell’s optimism is
justified.
CA TRACKS WANT MACHINES
California racetracks launched another attempt to
in some way compete with the ever-expanding Indian gaming industry in the Golden State yesterday by proposing legislation to authorize nearly
13,000 “instant racing” machines throughout the
state. The instant racing machines look similar to
slot machines, but they are designed for betting
that is pari-mutuel, and therefore are not explicitly prohibited by state law. Las Vegas- style slot
machines are legal in California only on Indian reservations. With the instant racing machines, bettors wager on the outcome of races taken from a
library of races run in the past. Players are offered certain information about the race, such as
the number of runners in the field and the odds at
the time of the race. They wager and watch the
running of the race on the machine, and win or lose
based on their wagers. The legislation seeks to
specify how revenue generated by the machines
would be split. “We think we have found a potential solution to our problems,” Rick Baedeker, senior vice president for governmental affairs for
Hollywood Park and Bay Meadows told the Los
Angeles Times. Baedeker estimated that the machines could generate $300 million a year in profits for racing. “This is about saving an industry,”
said Assemblyman Leland Yee of San Francisco,
who introduced the bill, AB 2409. Yee’s bill would
authorize up to 1,850 machines at seven tracks,
including the Los Angeles County Fair, Santa Anita,
Hollywood Park, Los Alamitos and Del Mar, and
at two tracks in Northern California, probably
Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows. The bill
would earmark 30 percent of revenue for purses.
The remaining 70 percent would be split between
county fairs statewide, cities in which tracks are
located, jockeys and other racetrack workers.
Needless to say, the California Tribal Business
Alliance, representing six of the states
ribes with casinos, announced
June 22, 2006
its opposition to the proposed legislation. Neither
California’s senate president, assembly speaker
nor Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had voiced a position on the legislation as of late Wednesday.
CLERKS STRIKE AT WOODBINE
Just scant days before Woodbine’s prestigious
Queen’s Plate Day of thoroughbred racing, mutuel
clerks at the Toronto track have gone on strike.
The strike by the 600-member Canadian Racetrack Workers Union follows a vote against the
latest contract proposal from Woodbine Entertainment Group. Jane Holmes, WEG’s vice president
of corporate affairs, termed the Woodbine offer
“very fair.” In spite of the possibility of picket lines,
Holmes said that it will be business as usual at the
track for Woodbine’s big weekend, with as little
customer inconvenience as possible.
A BREAK IN PENN. LOGJAM
The Pennsylvania State Senate will consider legislation that would abolish the requirement that slot
machine manufacturers sell equipment to Pennsylvania casinos only through in-state middlemen.
The Senate State Government Committee on
Wednesday approved the legislation, which is
aimed at alleviating the delay in bringing slot machines to the Keystone State. The committee also
rejected a play to permit the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to make decisions by a majority vote by removing a requirement in the 2004
slots law that gives each of the board’s four legislative appointees veto power. For a year, a dispute between two members of the board, one appointed by a Republican legislator and one appointed by a Democratic legislator, have held up
regulations concerning slot machine distributors.
By law, those distributors must be licensed before
racinos or casinos can be licensed.
HOOSIER CUP ON TAP
Sixteen 3-year-old colts and geldings will vie for a
$500,000 jackpot in the Hoosier Cup this Saturday. The evening of racing, featuring purses in
excess of $1,000,000, will close out the 2006 harness racing season at the Anderson, Indiana track.
Heading the field for the Hoosier Cup is Total
Truth, who comes to Hoosier fresh off a victory in
the North America Cup on June 17. Eliminations
for the Hoosier Cup will be held as races seven
and eight on the program. The top five finishers
from each elimination will return for the final, slated
as race 11 on the card.
CENTAUR TO APPEAL IN PA.
Centaur Corp., backer of the proposed Valley View
Downs in Pennsylvania, will appeal a court ruling
upholding the racing commission’s denial of its license application for the last available harness
racing license in the Keystone State. “This was a
divided court, and we believe that the Supreme
Court will agree that our petition for reconsideration should be granted,” said Centaur’s Jeff Smith
in announcing the appeal.
TROUBLE AT THE ELITLOPP
At a press conference yesterday in Stockholm,
Sweden, it was announced that Jag de Bellouet,
winner of the 2006 Elitlopp, and Lets Go, who finished second in the race, have been disqualified
due to positive drug tests following that race. The
official winner of the Elitlopp is the Swedish horse
Conny Nobell. “This is a tragedy for the Elitlopp,
that both the winner and the second horse tested
positive, and although we now have a Swedish winner of the race, I feel a deep sorrow,” said Ulf
Hornberg, general secretary of the Swedish Trotting Association. This marks the second time this
year that French champion Jag de Bellouet
lost an important race due to a positive
post-race test. In January the horse won
France’s biggest race, the Prix d’Amerique,
June 23, 2006
only to subsequently be disqualified after testing
positive for Tolfenanique, a prohibited substance.
This time Jag de Bellouet tested positive for
Diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
used to treat arthritis. The Italian-based Lets Go
tested positive for Etacryn acid, a drug normally
used to treat heart and blood pressure ailments.
BUT THERE’S GOOD NEWS, TOO
Marvin Goldberg, who did business selling equine
drugs through a Web site and through fax solicitation, has been convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud,
possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, and misbranding drugs. The
40-count indictment, handed down in March of
2005 in federal court in Philadelphia charged that
Goldberg represented himself as a veterinarian
to obtain and sell drugs such as Adequan, Ketofen,
Acepromazone, Clenbuterol, Dexamethasone, and
many others. Sentencing has been set for October 11.
GREYHOUND EXEC DIES
Fred Havenick, who was president of the company
that owned Flagler Greyhound Track, Naples-Fort
Myers Greyhound Track, and the greyhound track
in Corpus Christi, Texas, died Wednesday in
Florida at the age of 62. Havenick is credited with
helping to start the campaign to bring slots to
Florida racetracks. The measure eventually
passed in Broward county but failed in Miami-Dade
county, leaving Havenick’s Flagler track out of the
slots equation.
A REFERENDUM IN MASS.?
After losing with a legislative approach in Massachusetts, Gary Piontkowski, president and CEO
of Plainridge Racecourse said he has begun researching a statewide referendum to give the
state’s tracks slot machines.
Paul J. Estok, Editor
June 26, 2006
VERNON EVICTION UNDERWAY
PRIVACY VS. HONESTY
Vernon Downs began its eviction of some 200
horses over the weekend, in line with Jeff Gural’s
letter to horsemen of June 16 in which he wrote
that “anyone who owes us money or has been a
pain in the ass for the past 19 months can expect
to be asked to leave.” The eviction duties fell to
track spokesman Doug Tudman, who initially
linked the cutback to environmental requirements
of the Department of Environmental Conservation,
but a spokesman for that agency said there was
no such demand, and that a 425-horse limit, mentioned by Tudman, was not in the law that covers
manure disposal, water runoff and other issues covered by CAFO.
Beth Steele, chairwoman of the Delaware Harness
Racing Commission, and Hugh Gallagher, Delaware Harness Racing Administrator, are frustrated
with restrictions on searches of farms and training
centers in Delaware. Gallagher, an official for 28
years, says, “They gave away $631,000 in purses
last week at Harrington, yet we can’t get guys who
hit horses with illegal substances as close as 50
feet away,” referring to a training center located
next to the track. Bill Oberle, speaker pro tem of
the Delaware legislature and a harness harness
owner and breeder, says the commission needs to
take a proactive stance in bringing the issue to
the legislature. In a remarkable statement that
implies horsemen’s privacy supercedes honest racing, Salvatore DiMario, executive director of the
Delaware Standardbred Owners Association, said
giving the harness commission power to search
facilities where horses are kept could invade
horsemen’s rights to privacy. Horsemen either
want honesty in the game or they don’t, and they
should stop talking out of both sides of their
mouths.
While turbulence continued at Vernon, it also was
rampant in Albany, where Gov. George Pataki announced he was replacing Cheryl Buley as chair
of the Racing and Wagering Board with Daniel
Hogan, who has been commissioner of the Office
of General Services and a former executive assistant to board member Mike Hoblock when Hoblock
was Albany County Executive and also when he
was a state senator. John Simoni, a former harness horse owner and friend of Senate majority
leader Joe Bruno, also was named to the board.
Pataki originally wanted Bernadette Castro on the
board, but Bruno would not approve her confirmation by the Senate. Pataki announced last week
that two women, Ellen Paprocki and Lisa Wright,
were being sent to the Senate for possible confirmation, but the governor then withdrew their names
from consideration without explanation.
LIKE FLORIDA? READ THIS
Tired of snow and cold winters? Pompano Park is
looking for a racing secretary, with a racino and
good times ahead. Email resumes to
[email protected] ASAP. No phone
calls please.
ANOTHER HONOR FOR HTA
HTA executive vice president Stan Bergstein has
been named the 2006 winner of the Pfizer Equine
Vision Award, presented by American Horse Publications, the association of some 400 racing publications in the U.S. and Canada with a combined
readership of 4.5 million. The late thoroughbred
and harness breeder John Gaines won the award
last year. Dean Hoffman of USTA was named new
president of the association.
WE LOSE LEW BARASCH
Lew Barasch, one of the last of the old school of
great publicity and PR men, who worked for both
Roosevelt and Yonkers Raceways, died last night.
We have no details as of press time, but send
heartfelt sympathy to his beloved Bunny.
POMPANO GEARS UP, BIG
With the way now clear legally for Pompano Park
to file its formal application for slots, the Isle of
Capri track is shifting gears. Douglas Shipley, a
gaming veteran who worked at Saratoga Gaming
and Raceway and Finger Lakes, has taken over
as vice president of racino operations, and the first
phase of Pompano’s revitalization will see a 157,000
square-foot building that will house 1,500 slots, 34
poker tables, 4 restaurants, and a sports bar open
in early 2007. After that, if all goes well, Isle plans
a 450-room luxury hotel, a 250-room budget hotel,
a 2-acre swimming pool and a miniature golf course
on its spacious property, and perhaps a Tri-Rail
station connecting the track with mass transit.
If all of this appeals to you, as either a racing secretary or an assistant track superintendent, now
is the time to make your move. Both jobs are open.
To apply for the racing secretary’s post, email your
resume to [email protected]. If you are interested in the assistant track superintendent’s job,
your resume should be
emailed to
[email protected]. Do not phone in
connection with either job.
UGLY HEAD IN PENNSYLVANIA
The ugly head of politics has reared itself once
again in the besmirched path to racing salvation in
Pennsylvania. This time it is a move by House
Minority Whip Mike Veon, whose district happens
to take in Beaver county, where Centaur had
hoped to build a harness track until it was knocked
out of the box -- at least temporarily -- by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. The court ordered
the harness racing commission to reconsider a rejected application from Centaur’s rival, Bedford
Downs, for the last harness license, and racino, in
the state, but not Centaur’s Valley View
Downs. Mr. Veon is not happy.
He now is thinking about introducing legislation to amend the gaming law passed two
June 27, 2006
years ago, to separate the slots license that normally would go with a racing license, thus possibly
shutting out Bedford Downs from obtaining a
racino. Bedford Downs would be built in Lawrence
county, and that county’s commissioner, Dan
Vogler, also was unhappy, about Veon’s threat. “I
am disturbed by this blatantly political maneuver,”
Vogler said, adding, “Having lost according to the
rule of law, he now wants to change the rules for
his benefit. If Mr. Veon is truly interested in helping western Pennsylvania prosper, he would throw
his support behind the Bedford Downs project,
which will benefit both Lawrence and Beaver counties by creating over 2,000 jobs....” You’re in the
Pennsylvania jungle, Mr. Vogler, where the animals eat one another.
PEACE AND HARMONY AT SPA
In a refreshing display of cooperative common
sense, the New York Racing Association has announced a first-of-its-kind deal with its next door
neighbor, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway. In return for use of a 50-stall barn at the Raceway for
its overflow supply of horses, Saratoga Race
Course will allow the Raceway to simulcast its premier product during its 36-day classic summer
meeting. NYRA’s progressive senior vice president, Bill Nader, said the agreement will not impact Capital OTB in Albany, saying he doubted
people were leaving the raceway to drive to an
OTB parlor in Albany to make bets. HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway will race nights,
Wednesday through Saturdays, in July, and Tuesdays through Saturdays in August.
A HOLD-UP IN CALIFORNIA
Not the stickem’ up kind, but a legislative impasse.
The chairman of the governmental organization
committee, scheduled to hear a bill for 13,000 VLTs
at tracks, has put off a hearing until August at earliest.
SENATE BOOTS PA MIDDLEMEN
The House still must concur, which is not always a
given in Pennsylvania, but the state Senate yesterday voted, 29-21, to get rid of the middlemen
whose political sponsors were muddying up the
slots licensing process in the state. That issue has
held up any possibility of slots licenses because it
deadlocked the Gaming Control Board. If the
House does concur and the governor should sign
the bill — which is complicated even further because of a controversial amendment by powerful
Philadelphia Democratic senator Vince Fumo that
would cut operators’ gross slots revenue from
some 48% to 44% — it could speed up the process. “Could” in this usage is not a given.
QUEBEC MOVING, SLOWLY
The Harness Edge reports that it will be at least
the end of August before the harness racing community of Quebec sees resolution of the muddled
situation there. Rick Karper, president of the
horsemen’s group, ATAQ, was quoted as saying,
“The matter is getting resolved, but because of
bureaucracy, technicalities and individuals’ holidays it is taking longer than it should. It is going to
happen, but things are moving slower than we
would like.” As it threatened to do, the Quebec
provincial government appointed five new directors to SONACC, which runs racing in Quebec.
That group had refused to sign an agreement
reached last November with Paul Masicotte, the
new owner of Quebec’s four tracks, saying changes
had been made in the agreement by Massicotte’s
Attractions Hippiques. When all of this worked out,
purses in Quebec should rise by 40%, from $17
million two years ago to $40 million. Although it is
hoped that overnight purses will be increased with
resolution of the issue, stakes events will not be
affected this season because of the delays.
Massicotte plans to build a new Hippodrome de Montreal and refurbish his three
other tracks.
June 28, 2006
THIS MOVES FAST: BILL OBERLE
OTBs and slots and racinos may not move fast,
but Bill Oberle still does. It did not take long for
Rep. Oberle, the man who got slots for Delaware
tracks, to get mandatory legislation for flak vests
after his friend, harness driver Hal Belote, was
killed in an accident at Harrington Raceway May
15. The House of Representatives approved the
measure June 22, and both drivers and jockeys in
Delaware now will have to wear safety vests and
helmets for training and racing.
SPEAKING DELAYS, A FLOOD
The little black cloud following Jeff Gural around
perched over his head again today. His Tioga
Downs operation was to open with slots, but the
raging West River ended that and shut Tioga after Tioga County was declared in a state of emergency. Tioga has rescheduled the Grand Opening
of its racino for Saturday, July 1.
NEW OTBS IN OHIO, JERSEY
You probably have noticed by now that things do
not move at warp speed in racing, but they do move.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition now has
two sites tabbed for OTBs, one in Vineland in the
south and another in Woodbridge in the north, off
busy U.S. route 1, in a former A&P supermarket.
The township council involved passed a resolution
of interest at its June 20 meeting and was impressed by a tour of facilities in Philadelphia.
In Ohio, Madison township trustees this week
unanimously approved an OTB facility for an
American Legion post there. The Ohio Racing
Commission must approve the plan, hopefully at
its July 14 meeting, and it is presumed that Thistledown would manage and operate the facility.
PROGRESS IN PENNSYLVANIA
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, after a
nine-month standoff, resolved the dispute yesterday and awarded licenses to 12 slot machine distributors, a move that should pave the way for
racetracks in the state to get their casinos licensed
by September. In what was certainly the understatement of the day, Gaming Board Chairman Tad
Decker said that awarding the licenses is “a major step forward for gaming in Pennsylvania.” The
board action should permit approval of casino licenses by Sept. 26. By law, the slot machines
manufacturers and suppliers must be licensed 90
days before casinos. The board intends to award
the racetrack licenses first, then deal with the
state’s stand-alone casinos after that. Based on
that schedule, racetracks could have slot machines
up and running by the beginning of 2007. Board
member Jeffrey Coy broke the deadlock over how
to implement the distributor system. Coy dropped
a demand that the board create two regions for
suppliers. He had argued that regions would force
slot machine manufacturers to hire suppliers in
eastern and western Pennsylvania, creating more
local jobs. But Coy relented in the face of a July 5
deadline that would have triggered another bureaucratic process that would have delayed licensing
by six months or more. “I was optimistic today,
but until the board passed (the supplier licenses)
there was always reason to be concerned,” said
Mike Jeannot, vice president of operations for
Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns HTA
member The Meadows near Pittsburgh.
HOOSIER HARNESS MEET ENDS
HTA member Hoosier Park concluded its 13th season of harness racing on Saturday. The meet offered 60 days of live racing. Average daily handle
for the meet increased more than 10 percent from 2005. Average daily attendance
was up slightly over last year. “Our Standardbred racing program continues to grab cus-
June 29, 2006
tomers’ attention in simulcasting venues around
the country, thanks to our affiliation with the
Churchill Downs Simulcast Network,” said Hoosier Park President and General Manager Rick
Moore. “Horseplayers have come to expect full
fields from Hoosier Park, something we again offered this season.”
In a related story, Churchill Downs, Inc. announced
the promotions of two members of its corporate
team to the position of vice president. Ted Gay,
director of corporate development, has been promoted to vice president of business development,
and Julie Koenig Loignon, director of communications, has been named vice president of communications.
VERNON NEEDS REPAIRS
While assuring horsemen, regulators and the public that he is committed to opening Vernon Downs
as soon as possible, Vernon principal Jeff Gural
also said that it will take time and money to bring
the track up to a condition that will permit it to
lure visitors. Gural made his comments at a press
conference he held at the track to respond to comments made last week by a lawyer for one of two
rival groups of horse owners, trainers and drivers.
He said he is investing $4 million to remodel the
track and hopes to open later this summer. Gural
said Vernon’s buildings are in worse condition than
he realized when he and a group of partners brought
the track out of bankruptcy earlier this year. “We
can’t just reopen Vernon and pull the switch,”
Gural said. “It’s been poorly maintained. When
you walk into a bathroom there were lights out,
toilets that needed to be fixed, all the things that
make you feel you didn’t want to be there. We’re
not going to open Vernon Downs like that.” Gural
also said that he has put on hold plans to evict up
to 200 horses from the grounds. He said two
state agencies are discussing how the track
will comply with environmental laws.
June 30, 2006
WOLF PROMOTED AT POMPANO
IN OTHER NEWS FROM PENN.
Management of HTA member Pompano Park yesterday announced that Steve Wolf has been promoted to the position of senior director of racing
operations. Wolf, who has spent nearly three decades in the harness industry, has been director of
marketing at Pompano since 2000. His new duties will include overseeing day-to-day operations
at the Florida racetrack. Wolf also will continue
to serve as director of marketing at Pompano.
The Pennsylvania Governor’s office has appealed
to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court a lower court
decision involving the fate of two proposed harness racetracks in Western Pennsylvania, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Earlier this month, a Commonwealth Court ruled that
the state harness racing commission should reconsider its rejection of Bedford Downs, the planned
one-mile harness track that was proposed for a
location west of New Castle near the border with
Ohio. But the court said the commission didn’t
have to afford the same reconsideration to Valley
View Downs, the Centaur Corp.-proposed Beaver
County racetrack. On Tuesday, the state appealed
to the state Supreme Court. Though the decision
technically is being appealed by the racing commission, it is executive branch (governor’s office)
attorneys whose names are on the appeal petition.
The petition asks the Supreme Court to rule that
the Commonwealth Court wrongly overruled the
harness racing commission’s “expertise and judgment.”
HELP FROM MOHEGAN AT POCONO
Ten Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs employees
volunteered their services on Wednesday and
helped prepare some 800 meals for Wyoming Valley residents who were forced to evacuate because
of the swollen Susquehanna River. The threat of
a major flood in the Wyoming Valley and vicinity
forced the mandatory evacuation of 200,000 residents on Wednesday, sending hundreds to shelters in Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding communities. Upon hearing that the Salvation Army
needed volunteers to assist in preparing meals for
those forced to leave their homes, Mohegan Sun
at Pocono Downs asked for employee volunteers
who were not affected by the evacuation order. Answering the call were Robert (Bobby) Soper, president and CEO of the track; Jim Wise, vice president of marketing; Rebecca Norton, group party
coordinator; Mike Bean, vice president of administration; Kawel LauBach, director of human resources; Lynn Segars, director of customer service, and her husband, Vince Esposito; Mindy
Weiss, Maria Zangardi, and Ann Crawford, vendor licensing specialists; and Leslie Martin, employee communication and event specialist. “This
is the type of volunteerism that reflects what our
organization is all about,” said Soper. A large tent
also was erected in the parking lot of the racetrack to serve as a receiving center for
displaced pets, since pets were not permitted at human shelters.
TOURS OF NYRA UNDERWAY
Several prospective bidders for the NYRA’s racing franchise spent this week touring Aqueduct,
Belmont Park and Saratoga Racecourse. This
week officials from Magna Entertainment, Empire
Racing Associates, and the Delaware North Companies gave the places a look-see. Interested parties have until today to indicate their intent to bid,
as well as who their bidding partners are, with bids
due by August 15. An article reporting the tours in
The Saratogian, while noting that Delaware North
“took the tour independently,” did make mention
of the fact that a member of Empire Racing
Associate’s board of directors, Tom Newkirk, is
also a shareholder in Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, where Delaware North built and now runs
the very successful VLT parlor.
NEWS FROM A BUSY WEEKEND
The Fourth of July weekend was not short on
news. Here is a capsulated report:
MEADOWLANDS,CASINOS CLOSED
The Meadowlands has cancelled racing tonight,
and Atlantic City casinos have shut down, as the
budget impasse continues in New Jersey. Chris
McErlean, VP for Racing Operations, said,
“Given the hour-to-hour nature of the negotiations (in the legislature) we will take each program day-by-day. We are moving forward with
the expectations of offering live racing on Thursday night and will make a decision early Thursday afternoon.” In Atlantic City, all 12 casinos
were under state orders to lock up, the first closure in the 28-year-history of the casinos. Gov.
Jon Corzine called the legislature back to a holiday special session as his fight with legislators
over a new budget continued.
July 5, 2006
As expected, Churchill Downs, Magna Entertainment, MGM Grand, TVG and NYRA itself announced intentions of bidding, and partnerships
are almost certain to be announced before bids
are submitted because of the amount of money
needed. Big names involved include Steve Wynn,
Donald Trump, George Steinbrenner, Frank
Stronach, Tom Meeker and a cast of thousands.
NECROPSY ON RUCKER HORSE
A pacing filly owned by the Ken Rucker Stable
and Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association
president Martin Engel and his wife dropped
dead in a race at Balmoral Park last week, and
the Illinois Racing Board has ordered a necropsy
and pathology tests. Rucker, barred from the
Meadowlands, is racing in Illinois under terms
of a temporary restraining order pending a hearing.
HUGE INCENTIVES AT CAL-EXPO
McErlean also announced that the New Jersey
Sports and Exposition Authority is seeking an
exclusive partner for account wagering business
outside of New Jersey. A request for proposal
was sent to every major account wagering company with national broadcasting capabilities, including TVG, Youbet.com, AmericaTab, HRTV,
Philadelphia Park and New York City OTB. The
winner of the competition will get exclusive rights
to signals from The Meadowlands and
Monmouth Park, which produced $150 million
in bets last year. McErlean said the deal could
involve an upfront fee, a percentage of handle,
or a combination of both, depending on how the
bidders structured their proposal.
16 BID FOR NYRA FRANCHISE
Sixteen bidders, including incumbent
NYRA, have indicated they are interested
in grabbing NYRA’s franchise for Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga.
HTA member Sacramento Harness Assn. and the
California Harness Horsemen’s Assn., hoping to
generate larger fields and competitive product,
have announced that every new horse making its
first start at Cal-Expo between Aug. 2 and Marc
31, 2007, will receive a $2,000 bonus, and a $500
win bonus every time it wins. Ben Kenney, president of the CHHA, called initial reaction to the
plan “unbelievably positive.” Average nightly
handle is up 15% and purses up 20% at SHA.
FLOODS RECEDE, SLOTS PROCEED
With flood waters in its area receding, Tioga
Downs finally got to hold the grand opening of
its slots operation today. The track distributed
bottled water and cleaning supplies to residents
affected by the flood in its home area, and served
complimentary buffet meals to public safety personnel including law enforcement officers,
firefighters, National Guard and other public safety personnel.
NJ STILL CLOSED AT POST TIME
As the newsletter goes to press, the Meadowlands, New Jersey casinos and state agencies still
are closed. The battle between Gov. Jon Corzine
and speaker of the Assembly Joseph Roberts Jr.
continues, with no resolution and some very bitter
and unusual barroom language flying back and
forth in the General Assembly in Trenton. The
New York Times, entering the fray editorially, said
this morning that “it is time for Joseph Roberts
Jr., speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, to fold
his cards. He and his colleagues thought they
could bluff their way through a confrontation
with Gov. Jon Corzine over the governor’s proposed sales tax increase. But the bluff has been
called.” One legislator, state Senator Ellen
Karcher, a Democrat like Corzine, said, “This is
less about policy than about people’s personalities.” The Times characterized the dispute as
geographic, noting that Corzine and former governor and Senate president Richard Codey are
from “north of the Raritan River, the Garden
State’s equivalent of the Mason-Dixon line,” and
Mr. Roberts and many of his supporters represent south Jersey. The Meadowlands cancelled
live racing and simulcasting for today and vice
president Chris McErlean said plans for both the
Meadowlands and Monmouth Park would depend on resolution of the budget issue.
BIG BUCKS ON LINE AT POCONO
The New Jersey budget dispute is costing the state
tens of millions of dollars, but hundreds of millions are on the line at Mohegan Sun at Pocono
Downs. Finalized regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue could boost tax rates
on slots at Pocono as high as 63%, far above the
55% on which Mohegan Sun made its decision to
buy the track for $280 million from Penn National
two years ago. Under the purchase agreement, Penn National could be required to
buy back the track.
July 6, 2006
The purchase agreement reportedly included that
stipulation if the Pennsylvania Gaming Control
Board did not issue any gaming licenses by July
1 of this year, which it did not.
Pennsylvania almost went the way of New Jersey, after Philadelphia Senator Vincent Fumo
held up a budget vote in his chamber over gaming issues after the House had passed it 130-68.
Fumo relented a few hours later, and the Senate
passed the $26.1 billion state budget at 12:45 a.m.
Sunday morning by a 28-21 vote.
ELSEWHERE....
SHAWN SCOTT, or at least some of his money,
returned to Washington, DC this week. Scottpaid canvassers from as far distant as California
were being paid $2 a valid signature to collect
some 19,000 signatures, or 5% of registered voters in at least 5 of Washington’s 8 wards, for a
slots initiative that would put up to 3,500 slots
near Martin Luther King Ave. and Good Hope
Road SE. The Scott troops were under scrutiny
because of an aborted attempt two years ago, but
were confident they would get enough legal signatures this time to get the petition on the ballot
next November.
HTA member WOODBINE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP cut purses by 5% this week as a
result of reduced pari-mutuel harness wagering.
Betting through the end of the Woodbine meet
was down 6.5% from 2005, and down 9.5% on
live racing.
In Alberta in western Canada, despite the city of
Edmonton going bananas over their Oilers rush
to the Stanley Cup finals and the team capturing
all media attention, live and simulcast betting increased by $4.3 million over 2005 figures at HTA
member Northlands Park. Chief racing executive
Les Butler said he “was amazed” at the numbers in the face of the preoccupation with the
Oilers.
July 7, 2006
BIG M PLANS FOR SATURDAY
GOODLATTE, LEACH MERGE
Although a budget agreement was reached late
yesterday in Trenton, the Meadowlands must
wait for official passage and signing, which means
the nation’s largest harness track will miss another Friday night of racing. VP Chris McErlean
said, “The timetable of activities in Trenton for
the passage of the budget bill in both houses precludes our opening tonight. We are asking horsemen and fans to check our Web site and phone
lines for the most recent updates on Saturday. A
huge card is in prospect tomorrow night, with
two eliminations for next week’s $1 million Meadowlands Pace for 3-year-olds; eliminations for
next week’s $650,000 William Haughton for older
pacers; the $200,000 Titan Cup for older trotters; and three eliminations for the $375,000
Stanley Dancer Memorial for 3-year-old trotting
colts and $375,000 Delvin Miller Memorial for
3-year-old trotting fillies, those to be raced as nonbetting events at 5 p.m. The budget shutdown
cost horsemen $821,500 in lost purses as of today. The sport’s best horses -- trotters and pacers -- will be in action on tomorrow night’s card,
which ushers in the heart of the summer racing
season.
Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Jim Leach,
Republicans of Virginia and Iowa, respectively,
have merged their Internet gambling prohibition
acts into a single bill, the Gambling Prohibition
and Enforcement Act, which would ban Internet
and telephone gambling. It is expected the bill
will be debated in the House as early as Wednesday of next week, and as presently written it
would exempt betting on horse racing. Even if
it passes, its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Let
us pray.
TIOGA OPENS SLOTS...BIG!
It really was Independence Day for Tioga Downs,
as the nation’s newest harness track opened its
racino on the Fourth of July with 10,000 on hand
and its 750 VLTs achieving $343 per unit of play.
John Arnesen, president and CEO of Nevada
Gold & Casinos, Inc., said of the opening, “Tioga
Downs gaming opened beyond our expectations.
We received great reviews by the customers and
we anticipate a robust summer as we introduce
our gaming product to the marketplace. We believe gaming makes the facility a complete e n tertainment experience with harness racing, live entertainment, great food and now
gaming.
VICTORIA STUNS, OKS BETFAIR
In a development that stunned and angered other
states in Australia, the ruling body of betting in
Victoria, where Melbourne is located, approved
operations by Betfair, the British betting exchange. Peter V’Landys, the chief racing executive in New South Wales, home of the country’s
biggest city, Sydney, was shocked and unhappy.
“This is not a backflip by Racing Victoria Ltd.,”
he said. “It is a triple somersault.” V’Landys
said the move came without consultation with any
other jurisdiction in Australia. The approval was
another indication of the bit-by-bit approach of
Betfair, which earlier this year gained a foothold
in Tasmania. James Packer’s Publishing and
Broadcasting Ltd. is a 50% partner in Betfair’s
Australian operation, and approval is another
indication of Packer’s power.
PICK-6 TO RETURN AT BATAVIA
Mike Kane, VP of gaming and racing at Batavia
Downs, has announced that the popular Pick-6
Progressive will return to the track Aug. 9. The
pool, on races 4 thru 9, requires picking winners
in all six races, with the pool increasing each week
until hit. On closing night of the meeting, Nov.
29, the pool will be distributed to the person or
persons selecting most winners that night. The
pool is open to Players Club members, with
no charge to belong.
July 10, 2006
TIOGA, VERNON DOWNS IN HTA
WOODBINE STRIKE ENDS
Tioga Downs and its sister track, Vernon Downs,
have applied for membership in Harness Tracks
of America. Their acceptance will bring HTA
membership to 43 harness racing organizations.
Jeff Gural will serve as HTA director for both
tracks, with Jason Settlemoir as alternate. HTA
president Brock Milstein, in announcing the applications, said, “The innovative spirit and creative design shown by Jeff Gural and his Nevada
Gold associates in establishing Tioga Downs, and
their determined efforts to benefit harness racing and central New York horsemen in acquiring and working toward the reopening of Vernon
Downs, is heartening. We warmly welcome both
to the HTA family of tracks.”
A 16-day strike at Woodbine Entertainment
Group by members of the Canadian Racetrack
Workers Union ended Friday when the mutuel
tellers voted overwhelmingly to accept a Memorandum of Settlement. Pickets were removed and
normal operations resumed at Woodbine and
Mohawk Raceway on Saturday. Staff personnel
manned the mutuel windows during the strike,
and customers were trained and encouraged to
use self-activated machines during the strike,
with surprisingly good results. Many enjoyed
the experience and indicated they would continue
using the machines, a variation of the “try it, you
might like it” doctrine. Woodbine Entertainment
chairman and CEO David Willmot said of the
mutuel settlement, “We are pleased to have resolved this dispute through the bargaining process with good faith being demonstrated on both
sides, and we are going forward with a renewed
commitment to customer service.”
PLAYING TOUGH ON INTEGRITY
It may be small, but it isn’t timid. If its first two
actions on security are an example, Tioga Downs
is setting an example for others to follow. First
its security caught two horsemen tubing horses
at a highway rest stop enroute to the track, and
banned both. Now it has uncovered an alleged
shadow trainer, and barred her. The trainer,
Ellen Engler of Middletown, NY, has been listed
as trainer of record for horses owned by Sidney
Korn, Alvin Jacobs, David Schneider and the VIP
Internet Stable. Doing a background check on
Ms. Engler, Tioga security personnel noted that
she shared the same address as trainer Tim Case,
the former trainer of the horses who was denied
racing privileges at Tioga. Jeff Gural issued a
statement, saying, “Every effort will be taken to
prevent the practice of allowing suspended or
excluded trainers and owners to simply use
another’s name to circumvent rulings and policies implemented to uphold the integrity of racing. For years this practice has been a major contributor to a negative public perception of
horse racing. Our security division has
several other possible violations of this
policy under review.”
EXCITING TIMES IN CANADA
There is an air of excitement in Canadian racing
as the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency undertakes
a massive review of rules and regulations of the
sport. CPMA executive director Tim Pettipas
leads the effort to bring regulations into modern
times. When current regulations were drafted,
the sport was a different enterprise entirely than
it is today, and many regulations are seriously
outdated or even illogical in the context of present
day racing and technology.
DELAWARE PENALTY UPDATE
The Delaware Harness Racing Commission is
moving toward revising its penalties for
milkshaking. Current rules provide for a 9month suspension and $3,000 fine for a first offense, but the commission feels a maximum 30day suspension and fine of up to $3,000 is
more realistic and workable.
July 11, 2006
STRANGLE IT UNTIL DEAD
HOUSE OKS INTERNET BILL
That seems to be the idea in Pennsylvania, where
money flows down the drain, or out of state, as
slots that were legalized two years ago languish.
The latest blow, which could delay the debut even
longer, is the state Department of Revenue’s announcement that it plans to enforce a $10 million minimum tax on gambling revenue that
tracks and other slot licensees would owe to local municipalities. Mike Jeannot, vice president
of Magna Entertainment’s subsidiary that owns
The Meadows, points out “This isn’t just an issue of concern for the racetracks. This will be
become an issue of concern for all licensees down
the road.” Nothing will happen on construction
there until the “issue of concern” is resolved.
And racing’s exemption holds. The House of
Representatives passed the Internet Gambling
Prohibition and Enforcement Act (HR 4477) today, by a vote of 317 to 93. Despite opposition by
casino and Indian interests, an amendment offered by representatives Berkley of Nevada,
Wexler of Florida and Conyers of Michigan -all Democrats -- to strip the amendments from
the bill was defeated 297 to 114. The language in
the merged Goodlatte-Leach bill, which was what
was approved today, includes a pari-mutuel horse
racing exemption, and what is legal in states on
the Internet issue is preserved. Today’s vote is a
significant victory for the American Horse Council, which fought hard to keep the exemption
alive.
It already is an issue of concern for Mohegan Sun
at Pocono Downs, which has put all racino construction on hold until the tax issue is resolved.
And Ted Arneault, CEO of MTR Gaming Group,
building the new Presque Island Downs near
Erie, is hoping that if Revenue’s decision can’t
be reversed, some of the $10 million might be used
to subsidize marketing or construction costs. A
reversal is unlikely, because legislators are contending the $10 million was clear in the original
legislation, was intended to help local communities, and will not be changed. The track operators of The Meadows, Pocono and Erie see it differently, saying they understood the law to mandate a 2% municipal tax on slots revenue, with a
maximum of 50% of the municipality’s budget.
Anything over that would have to go to a county’s
budget or municipal or economic development
grants, depending on the county, according to
Associated Press. AP also said Philadelphia Park,
Penn National Race Course, and Harrah’s
Chester Casino and Racetrack, now nearing
completion, had planned to pay the $10
million. Whatever ensues, slots still are a
distant dream in Pennsylvania.
A SHAWN SCOTT STUMBLE?
The team pushing Shawn Scott’s bid for slots in
Washington has decided to wait until the next
election. The initiative they were preparing will
not be presented for consideration in November,
although the backers claim they collected the
19,000 signatures to place it there. Jeffrey D.
Robinson, an attorney representing the group,
told the Washington Post that the group had collected 20,000 signatures by yesterday’s deadline,
but rather than engage in a prolonged fight with
such a slim margin, they would continue to collect signatures, turn them in, and wait for the
next election. You can be sure Scott will be back.
A PUBLISHING FIRST
Canadian Sportsman launched its new Web site
today, and with it a complete digital edition, a
first for our industry. The magazine is offering
subscribers the choice of receiving either its high
quality print edition, the new digital edition, or both.
For American readers, the innovation promises to sharply cut delivery time, offering instantaneous service.
July 12, 2006
DUCHOSSOIS BUYS NJC LOAN
TRUMP BUYING UP PHILLY
Duchossois Industries, the operating base of Arlington Park chairman Richard L. Duchossois,
is buying out a $20 million loan held by Chicago’s
Harris Bank on the National Jockey Club, which
owned Sportsman’s Park and now races as a tenant at adjacent Hawthorne Race Course. Exactly
what the move means for Chicago racing is not
clear, but Duchossois told the Daily Herald,
“We’re exploring every angle and throwing everything into the hopper to see what works. I think we
should have a schedule that is economically sound
for everyone. We have to sit down and work together and find out what’s best for the industry.”
The Daily Herald’s Mike Spellman speculated,
writing, “Does DI call in the loan, all but putting
an end to the Bidwill family’s decades of involvement in the Chicago horse racing business? Will
the two sides agree on a schedule beneficial to both
and continue in a business-as-usual fashion? If
NJC ceases to exist, does Arlington Park push for
a longer season for itself and a later start in the
spring and fall for Hawthorne?” Asked if dissolution of the NJC would mean the end of the line for
the Bidwill family’s involvement in the sport, and
particularly patriarch Stormy Bidwill’s association
with horse racing, Duchossois told reporter
Spellman, “I never want to see anyone struggle
financially.” Ed Duffy, general manager of the National Jockey Club, was taken by surprise by the
announcement of Duchossois Industries buying out
the loan, and answered the Bidwill question by saying, “The Bidwills will always have a strong legacy.
As is typical with Stormy, whatever does happen,
he’ll handle with class.” Hawthorne Race Course
is not involved or imperiled by the move, and
Duchossois said, “I think there always has to be
some sort of competition.” When asked if he
thought the move was good for thoroughbred
racing, Duchossois said, “We think it is,
or we wouldn’t have done it.”
Well, not all of it. Just another big hunk to go along
with one already bought, in anticipation that he and
buddy Pat Croce, former president of the Philadelphia 76ers, will wind up with a 5,000-slot casino
when Pennsylvania’s legislators, courts and commissions get around to giving out licenses. Trump
and Croce already have an option on 18 acres of
the former Budd Industries factory park, and yesterday they added another 12 acres, or roughly a
third of the site. The New York Post says that will
give Trump enough room to add a hotel and second parking garage to their plans if business warrants it. The option price is $14.4 million, chump
change on the Trump range.
THE PROS & CONS OF LUNCH
Some 200 business leaders and others gathered
for lunch yesterday in Cleveland, and heard a spirited debate on the pros and cons of Earn and Learn,
the proposal that would place 31,500 slot machines
in play in Ohio with some $900 million slated to go
to cover college tuition costs through scholarships
for Ohio high school graduates. An additional $200
million is projected to go to economic development.
Ohio’s seven tracks are helping back the petition
drive to get the issue on the November ballot, but
not everyone was enthusiastic about that in
yesterday’s debate. Despite the worthiness of the
primary beneficiary, education, Brent Larkin, editorial page director of the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
said he was troubled that Learn and Earn “was
built to save the racetrack industry.” Proponents
already have collected 117,000 of the 322,000 valid
signatures needed to get Learn and Earn on the
ballot. Those signatures will have to be validated
by Ohio’s Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, who
is the Republican candidate for governor. He
is not friendly to the Learn and Earn cause,
being strongly opposed to additional gambling.
ARE THERE TWO RAMSDENS?
The editor doesn’t speak Australian, but he reads
it, and is totally confused. Early this week one
Andrew Ramsden, chairman of the Australian
Racing Board, launched a strong and logical attack on Betfair, the British betting exchange that
gained a foothold in Australia in recent days when
Racing Victoria Limited approved operations by
Betfair in Victoria. Ramsden said, among other
things, “Today’s decision to allow a betting exchange to use Victorian race fields is an immensely
disappointing outcome for racing. The integrity
issue that is at stake here is clear -- allowing unlicensed persons to lay horses is a guaranteed
recipe for undermining public confidence in racing.” After commending the Victorian authority
for imposing integrity conditions of ‘some merit,’
Ramsden damned them with faint praise, saying,
“Unfortunately, however, I believe these measures can at best be ameliorating influences. The
basic problem remains that betting exchanges encourage people to make money out of horses losing races, and that, of itself, is fundamentally incompatible with racing’s integrity.” Hurrah for
that Andrew Ramsden. The other one, also named
Andrew Ramsden and holding the same job, was
back a day later, saying, “Betting operators that
use racing’s intellectual property without making
a fair contribution to the sport have been the bane
of the racing industry for many years now. The
legislative protection of race fields that has just
been invoked in Victoria is truly a watershed development. The Government and Racing Victoria
Limited have confronted the problem head on and
show that there is a workable
solution...Accordingly, July 2006 marks an enormously important turning point...RVL has been
able to say to corporate bookmakers that if they
use racing’s intellectual property then the industry must be properly compensated.
July 13, 2006
“This development is a world first and everyone
involved with making it happen should be very
proud. It is a defining moment that augurs well
for racing’s future prosperity.”
How about it’s future integrity with those guys
betting on horses to lose, Mr. Ramsden? A day
or two seems like a very brief concern about integrity as long as Betfair pays to play.
LAWRENCE LEAVES LOUISVILLE
Bob Lawrence, the racing economist who
founded the Equine Industry Program at the
University of Louisville in 1987 and has run it
ever since, is retiring as director and chairman
as of August 1. Lawrence says he has enjoyed
the challenges and opportunities of the job immensely, “but it’s time for a change, for me and
the program.” Lawrence developed the curriculum that leads to a Bachelor of Science degree in
Business Administration, and his research has long
been sought and respected in the racing industry.
STRANGE PAYOFF AT POMPANO
HTA member Pompano Park is investigating
betting details of a July 5 race in which a 3-1
second choice won and a 130-1 pacer beaten a
total of 41 3/4 lengths in three starts and never
finishing better than sixth finished second, and
formed a $25.80 exacta. A $600 3-horse exacta
box was bet using the longshot, and newly appointed senior director of racing operations Steve
Wolf asked the Department of Business Regulation for assistance in the investigation.
BABY NEEDS NEW SHOES
Dues invoices have been mailed to all member
organizations of HTA. If you get a minute in your
busy summer schedule, please take action and
respond. That cactus jelly gets to be a tiresome
diet.
July 14, 2006
BROOKS’ WORLD NOT PERFECT
COMMISSION PLAYS HARDBALL
Owner David Brooks, who operates the Perfect
World Enterprise stable in harness racing, is discovering it’s not a perfect world after all. Currently under investigation for rigged trading by
his company, according to the New York Post,
Brooks has agreed to pay back investors as much
as $22 million of the nearly $900 million the paper says was wiped out from shares of his former
high-flying DHB Industries and its Point Blank
Body Armor. The payback would end class action lawsuits, but not a probe of what the newspaper calls “a pump-and-dump scheme involving management, cooked books and insider trading.” Brooks was accused in lawsuits of dumping $186 million of his own shares in DHB when
he learned his bullet-proof vests were going to
be recalled for failing to stop bullets. The Post
says Brooks “made a fortune peddling his body
armor to the U.S. military and cops around the
country,” and noted that the Marine Corps had
recalled more than 15,000 vests from its troops
in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa following reports
they didn’t stop bullets.
ordered by the Commonwealth Court to reconsider
Bedford Downs’ application for a harness license,
which it denied earlier, has instead chosen to appeal that order in the state Supreme Court.
Bedford Downs’ officials showed up at a commission meeting yesterday, but the Beaver County
Times Web site reported commission members “ignored the elephant in the room, as well as attendees.” Commissioner Dan Vogler of Lawrence
county, where Bedford Downs hopes to build, said,
“a number of attorneys have told me that the Supreme Court most often chooses not to hear appeals.”
SARATOGA PLANS GET REVIEW
HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway’s
plan to build a two-story nightclub, 300-seat restaurant, and additional office space, and add 400
new VLTs to its racino, faces a public hearing on
environmental impact next Tuesday evening. The
hearing was called by Saratoga Springs mayor
Valerie Keehn, who said she did so “since the
Planning Board has been taken out of the picture with regard to the racino expansion, and I
thought it was really important for the community to talk about the environmental impacts of
that big expansion.” The New York State Division of the Lottery ruled some time ago that
the state and not the city have review authority over the racino. The track plans to
attend the hearing but has not been invited to
make a presentation of its plans.
A GREAT MAN LEAVES US
The world today is not a friendly haven for idealists, but one who swam against that tide died this
week. With the death of Dr. Joe O’Dea at 85, just
11 days after the death of his wife, racing lost a
leading exponent of purity. O’Dea was a hay, oats
and water man, a rarity in these turbulent times.
Dr. O’Dea was a 20-year veterinary member of
the U.S. Equestrian Team, a veterinarian for the
Madison Square Garden National Horse Show,
and a longtime New York state thoroughbred
breeder. A bitter foe of illegal medication, Dr.
O’Dea will be missed by the sport he served so
well and so long.
BIG NIGHT AT THE BIG M
The 31st edition of the million dollar Meadowlands
Pace for 3-year-olds features the Saturday card at
the Meadowlands, but it is hardly the only feature
of the evening. Also on tap are the $375,000 Del
Miller Memorial for 3-year-old trotting fillies; the
$375,000 Stanley Dancer for 3-year-old trotting
colts; and the $650,000 William Haughton
Memorial for older horses, being raced on
the 20th anniversary of his death in a racing accident at Yonkers.
July 17, 2006
ACCORD ON SLOTS REVENUE
A DOG’S LIFE IN BOSTON
Magna Entertainment and its horsemen have
agreed on the split of slots revenue that will accrue after the first 500 machines are installed at
Gulfstream in October. Horsemen will receive
7.5% of earnings, with the share dropping to
6.75% when the maximum 1,500 machines is
reached. Those numbers apply to revenue less
than $200 million. Over that amount horsemen
will get 12.6% of revenues.
Dog lovers in Massachusetts have been trying for
years to ban dog racing, and thought they were
well on their way with a spot on the ballot this
coming November. The commonwealth’s highest court, however, decided last week that they
were barking up the wrong tree, and ruled that
the proposal will not appear as an iniative in the
election next fall. The court sided with RaynhamTaunton Greyhound Park owner George Carney,
who had challenged the ballot question for mixing in unrelated issues. Carney’s lawyer called it
“a significant opinion because it will apply in the
future to all initiatives.” Supporters of the ban
yelped, saying the questions on the initiative were
similar because they all related to animal cruelty, and the chairwoman of the Committee to
Protect Dogs said the decision defied precedent
and called it “a sad day for dogs in the Commonwealth.” Every dog has his day, sad or glad, and
we suppose it depends whether you’re a dog or a
dog track owner as to what kind of a day this
one was for you.
TIOGA, VERNON EXPECTATIONS
Nevada Gold’s CEO H. Thomas Winn told analysts in New York last week that he expects Tioga
Downs and Vernon Downs to produce operating
earnings “in the mid-teens” a year after they begin operations. He said Tioga’s first week “win
per unit” was $193 a day.
IN OTHER NEWS.....
Veteran California horseman and racing official
Bob Gordon has died after a long illness. Services will be held Wednesday at the Lombard
Funeral Home, 1550 Fulton Avenue, Sacramento,
with memorial services following in the Cal-Expo
clubhouse.
The national HBPA has endorsed a licensing
agreement for offshore gaming with hubs in
Curacao and North Dakota, to be operated for
horsemen, despite warnings from its counsel that
the action could be “fraught with danger.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously
ruled that Indian tribes in the state can continue
to offer casino gaming on tribal lands.
Sue Schneider has sold her River City Group of
gambling publications to Clarion Events,
but will continue operating the publications
and interactive gaming conventions and
events.
GREAT THINGS ABOUT RACING
Jay Cronley, writing for ESPN.com, recently
listed “49 great things about racing.” We don’t
have room for his entire list, but some were so
choice that we’re running our top selections here.
Lawyers usually lose at the windows
Surprisingly few people keel over dead at the track
Losers pay the winners
Bets you’re shut out on seldom win
Big time jockeys’ wives are usually something
statuesque
At the small tracks, everybody knows the crooks
Some long shots make no sense to anybody besides
you, and win
No kids, No dogs
And our favorite: Expert handicappers on TV
couldn’t hit their backsides with a jockey’s
whip
FEDS ARREST INTERNET EXEC
Federal legislation may or may not pass the Senate, but the FBI is not waiting to find out. Justice
Department agents over the weekend arrested
David Carruthers, the chief executive of Great
Britain’s BetOnSports, and Gary Stephen Kaplan,
the former New York bookie who founded that company, and 9 others on charges of conspiracy, racketeering and fraud for taking online bets from U.S.
residents. Carruthers was changing planes at the
Dallas-Ft. Worth airport enroute to Costa Rica,
where BetOnSports has operations. Kaplan, who
was arrested on gambling charges in his former
home base of New York in 1993, now lives in Costa
Rica. Carruthers was being held in Fort Worth,
and was led into court yesterday in handcuffs.
Kevin Smith, a BetOnSports spokesperson said,
“Certainly had they told us, we would have been
more than willing to negotiate with them and work
on whatever the charges are.” You don’t negotiate
with federal agents, Kevin. The other nine who
were arrested were in various locations around the
U.S. One of them, Neil Scott Kaplan, Gary
Kaplan’s brother and BetOnSports’ purchasing
agent, was arrested in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Kaplan’s sister also was indicted. Others were arrested in Miami and Philadelphia. Three companies that handled promotional activities for
BetOnSports and are based in Florida also were
indicted. To give you some idea of the magnitude
of Kaplan’s operation, he was charged in the indictment with failing to pay federal excise taxes
on more than $3.3 billion — with a B — in United
States bets. In England, trading in shares of
BetOnSports, which is listed on the London Stock
Exchange, fell 24%, then recovered to $2.24 a
share, before trading was suspended. Sue
Schneider, publisher of Interactive Gaming News,
said, “I imagine the number of executives coming
through the U.S. on connecting flights will
come to a screeching halt.”
July 18, 2006
In other Internet news in Great Britain, regulars
announced that casinos, betting shops and gambling Web sites will be allowed to advertise on
British television and radio late next year, eversing
rules passed 40 years ago. Here, although Senate majority leader Bill Frist’s office said his goal
is to consider the House bill that passed recently,
others close to the scene doubt that the matter
will be addressed before the August recess. One
policy analyst said, “Gambling doesn’t have the
same red-meat alue that abortion or flag burning
has. I can’t see banning Internet gambling as the
difference etween Republicans keeping or losing
the Congress.” An attorney who specializes in gaming issues said, “There doesn’t seem to be the
energy behind it as there was in the House.” But
Ohio’s senator George Voinovich said he is ready
to fight for an Internet gambling ban in that chamber, blaming a whole catalog of social ills on gambling.
AND THEN THERE ARE PANTS
While all of this Internet sound and fury was in
the air, and with the Mideast in flames, the entucky
Horse Racing Authority showed that it was on top
of things by approving 15-day suspensions for
jockeys Kent Desormeaux and Jeremy Rose for
violating rules by wearing commercial patches on
their riding pants in the 2005 Derby.
DOWD RECOVERING AT HOME
Dennis Dowd, senior executive vice president of
racing at the Meadowlands, is recovering at home
from emergency surgery. HTA wishes Dennis a
speedy recovery, and cards and letters can be sent
to him at The Meadowlands.
O’BRIEN THIS WEEK’S STAR
Virginia O’Brien, the 87-year-old dynamo who recently became the first woman inducted into the
Communicators’ Corner of the Hall of Fame, is
this week’s guest on The World in Harness.
THE INTERNET INDICTMENTS
HTA has copies of the June indictments of
BetOnSports and its top management figures. A
federal grand jury in the eastern district of Missouri returned the 22-count indictment, charging 11 individuals and 4 corporations on various
charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud.
Gary Stephen Kaplan, founder of BetOnSports,
was charged with 20 felony violations of federal
laws. His brother and sister also were indicted,
along with one Norman Steinberg, who owns and
operates Millennium Sportsbook, Gibralter
Sportsbook and North American Sports Association with Kaplan; David Carruthers, CEO of
BetOnSports; Peter Wilson, the company’s media director; and one Tim Brown. In addition to
Costa Rica-based BetOnSports, three Florida
companies affiliated with BetOnSports -- Direct
Mail Expertise, Inc., DME Global Marketing and
Fulfillment; and Mobile Promotions -- were
charged. Prosecution will take place in St. Louis,
where undercover federal agents placed bets with
BetOnSports. While the company is attempting
to work out agreements with the Department of
Justice that will allow it to resume operations,
those operations will be without the 11 indicted
parties, including Kaplan, Steinberg and
Carruthers, who face up to 20 years in prison if
found guilty on all counts. The indictment says
the Kaplan gambling empire targeted customers
in the United States, and allegedly spent millions
of dollars in this country advertising its Internet
Web sites and telephone services in magazines,
sports publications, on sports radio, and on television. The indictment says that under RICO
provisions, the defendants will owe, if found
guilty, at least $4 billion in forfeiture of property
to the government. Perhaps the most startling
part of the indictment and TRO obtained by
the government is a list of some 550 domain names that the defendants cannot
transfer or convert.
July 19, 2006
EVANS SUCCEEDS TOM MEEKER
Robert L. Evans, a thoroughbred breeder and
successful business executive, has been named
president and chief executive officer of Churchill
Downs Inc. Evans succeeds Tom Meeker, who
for 22 years has led Churchill to new horizons in
expansion and accomplishment. Evans has held
senior executive positions at Caterpillar Inc.,
Mazda Motor of America, and Accenture, and
leadership roles in international technology and
private equity capital companies. He will assume
his duties Aug. 14, when Meeker will step down,
but Tom will continue in an advisory role until
his contract expires in March, 2007.
YOU SHOULD LIVE SO LONG
The deputy director for marketing of the West
Virginia lottery, Libby White, says that when
Pennsylvania gets underway with its slots (you
should live so long) it will cost West Virginia $100
million a year. Legislators in Pennsylvania have
not yet figured out that the $100 million is Pennsylvania money, and that all those people betting
it are champing at the bit to keep it at home.
A POLYTRACK ‘ENHANCEMENT’
The rush to Polytrack racing surfaces has been
a masterful selling job in North America, with
California mandating them and others rushing
to spend the millions necessary to install them.
We wish them well. We cannot help noting, however, that Turfway Park, one of the first to convert, will “modify” its Polytrack before its next
live meeting begins Sept. 6. Turfway president
Bob Elliston says Polytrack “actually seems to
get better in the hot weather,” but added that the
surface lost some combining properties in the
cold, dry weather of last winter. He still thinks it
is better than any surface out there, “but it could
be improved. It’s probably a good thing to add
some material,,” he said. As a guy who remembers 3-M’s Tartan track, we wish all good
luck long term.
July 20, 2006
IHHA CUTS OFF TIOGA SIGNAL
ILLINOIS LOSES A VETERAN
The Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, for
reasons it chooses not to disclose, has barred
exportation of Chicago signals to HTA member
Tioga Downs from Balmoral and Maywood
Parks. When asked why, IHHA executive director Jack Kelly said he could not discuss the matter. Given that, a curious man might speculate
that it had something to do with Joe Faraldo’s
battle with Jeff Gural over nonrecognition of the
Harness Horse Association of Central New York
at Vernon Downs, or perhaps IHHA president
Martin Engel’s association with the disgraced
Ken Rucker stable, barred in New Jersey but still
operating in Illinois. Or both. Or neither.
One of the early figures of Illinois pari-mutuel
harness racing has died. Jack Hankins, 80, died
Monday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. The father of well known racing official
Kim Hankins, Jack and his wife, Joyce Burright
Hankins, were popular figures for years on the
Chicago circuit. They met on the opening night
of pari-mutuel harness racing in Illinois in June
of 1946, after Jack returned from World War II
where he served as a tail gunner on a B-17, winning a Bronze Star and earning a Purple Heart.
Joyce, a trainer and daughter of the colorful
Maywood driving personality Neva (Grandma)
Burright, died in 1994. Hankins was a founding
director of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association and was elected to the Illinois Harness
Hall of Fame in 1989. Gov. Jim Edgar, a horse
owner, proclaimed barn 41 at the Illinois State
Fairgrounds “the Hankins barn” in 1995, after
the Illinois legislature voted that honor.
LIEBMAN’S QUESTION: WHY?
An outpouring of cash from Kentucky racing
interests for New York’s attorney general Eliot
Spitzer, who would be governor of New York
state, has led racing guru Bennett Liebman to
ask a question: Why? Liebman asked the question in a bloodhorse.com story listing Bluegrass
contributions to Spitzer’s campaign. They included $50,000 from WinStar farm co-owner Bill
Casner, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners
and Breeders Assn. and a board member of
NTRA; $50,000 from breeder-banker Tracy W.
Farmer; $50,000 from Angela Beck, wife of the
president of Gainesway Farm; and $50,000 from
B. Wayne Hughes, owner of Spendthrift Farm.
Former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones,
owner of Airdrie Stud, gave $10,000, as did both
track owner (in New Mexico) R.D Hubbard and
his wife. Racing socialite Marylou Whitney and
her husband chipped in $10,000 each; George
Steinbrenner, part of a group chasing the NYRA
franchise, was good for $15,000. That made political sense. Liebman, pondering the Bluegrass beneficence, said, “It’s unbelievable.
Kentucky for Spitzer.”
MEADOWS GEARING UP
Preparing for the future (whenever that might
be) HTA member The Meadows has hired a contractor out of Buffalo, NY, to manage construction of its $450 million Meadows Racetrack and
Casino project. LPCiminelli, which managed
construction and renovation of the facility at
Wheeling, West Virginia, and is working on
Saratoga in New York, will oversee work on a
temporary casino as well as the permanent,
250,000-square foot, two story facility that will
hold 3,000 slot machines, whenever the commonwealth untangles the knots and gives the blessing.
LATEST PURSE REPORT ONLINE
Brody Johnson’s latest purse distribution report
of HTA member tracks is online in the proprietary section of the HTA Web site. Use your
password to access it.
July 21, 2006
FRIST WANTS INTERNET BILL
NO HELP IN PENNSYLVANIA
The fate of the House-approved Internet gambling ban in the Senate is problematic, but at least
one key figure thinks he can get it passed. Senate majority leader Bill Frist’s office seemed to
be offering two different views -- one aide said it
was doubtful the Senate would get to consider it
before its upcoming month-long vacation and another said they were trying to get something done
before the recess begins August 4 -- but it is clear
that the voice to be heeded was that of Frist’s
chief of staff, Eric Ueland. He made it clear that
Frist wanted the bill voted on in the next two
weeks, spurred by the arrest of David
Carruthers, chief executive of BetOnSports,
when he touched down from London at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Carruthers was to have
a hearing today to see if he must remain in jail
until his trial. While passage in the Senate is uncertain, the danger for racing is the possible loss
of exemption now in the House version.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that there will
be no relief from the $10 million minimum host
municipality tax on slots winnings in Pennsylvania. Gov. Ed Rendell’s spokesman has said the
governor does not plan to address the issue unless the legislature acts to change the formula,
and powerful legislators have made it clear they
have no intention of doing that. HTA member
Mohegan Sun at Pocono, which thought it had
resolved the issue of paying roughly $2 million
to its local municipality, now faces a requirement
that will force it to pay $10 million because of a
2% or $10 million clause, whichever is greater,
in the slots law. Track president Bobby Soper
says that will drive the tax rate from 55% to 62%
or 63%, and Soper says Mohegan is weighing its
options.
BIG M REGAINS TWO DAYS
The New Jersey Racing Commission has approved a makeup of two lost days for the Meadowlands, and the track will feature free admission and drawings for $5,000 in betting vouchers to celebrate recouping the days. The add-on
to the regular season was to ameliorate the losses
from the government shutdown during Gov. Jon
Corzine’s battle with his colleagues in the legislature, and the Meadowlands will take them on
the Friday and Saturday nights following the
Hambletonian, which was the scheduled closing
day. In addition to the other inducements, fans
on Hambletonian Day, Saturday, August 5, will
receive a bounce-back coupon good for August
12 only and a free grandstand admission pass good
for the rest of 2006. Day/night discounts alsow i l l
be offered, with a small coffee, tea, a 16ounce Pepsi or a pretzel reduced to $1
each, and hot dogs to $1.75.
Across the state, Centaur’s Valley View Downs
waited until the final day of an appeal deadline
to petition the state Supreme Court to order the
Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission to
award it a license to build a harness track in south
Beaver township. Valley View contends the Commonwealth Court erred when it ordered the commission to reconsider Bedford Downs application
but not Valley View Downs. It says the
commission’s actions were “a compelling illustration of abuse of administratieve power by a
commonwealth agency.” The commission, for its
part, is challenging the Commonwealth Court’s
court’s Bedford order.
DEFRANCIS A MAGNA DIRECTOR
Joe DeFrancis, executive vice president of Magna Entertainment, CEO of the Maryland Jockey
Club, and principal advisor to Magna boss Frank
Stronach, has been named a director of Magna
Entertainment. Stronach said DeFrancis’ “vast
knowledge of Magna and racing” made him
a perfect fit for the job.
July 24, 2006
HOW FAR TO ST. LOUIS?
CHAIRMAN SHAPIRO UNHAPPY
When the FBI wants to make it tough on someone, it is expert, and when the subject has few
redeeming qualities, the feds can be truly creative. With a Senate vote on Internet wagering
coming up, their arrest at the Dallas-Fort Worth
airport of BetOnSports chairman, David
Carruthers of Great Britain, was the stuff of
moviedom. They knew Carruthers’ itinerary,
and nabbed him in a waiting lounge where he
was relaxing between his flight from London and
one to Costa Rica, where BetOnSports is headquartered, and its fugitive founder Gary Kaplan,
Carruthers’ boss, hangs out. Now comes an even
more fascinating scenario. Carruthers, indicted
with 10 others on 22 counts including racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, is being moved from
Dallas to St. Louis, where the sting operation was
conducted that netted him for accepting bets from
Americans on his online Internet site, self-proclaimed as the largest in the world.
Richard Shapiro, the ultra activist chairman of the
California Horse Racing Board, is a man who likes
to see things done. He and his board did not wait
on artificial track surfaces, mandating them for
thoroughbred tracks in California as a safety measure. He does not like to wait for progress, and he
fires from the hip. At a board hearing at Del Mar
last week, he announced, “I think there can be no
argument that we are asking our customers to
wager using obsolete equipment.” Shapiro wants
racing to update its tote operations with present
day technology so as to create a fan friendly environment, and his ire fell on Scientific Games Racing, which provides tote service to California
tracks. He was agitated about a lack of progress
in a year since the matter was discussed “in this
same room.” Terry McWilliams of Scientific
Games said hardware problems take time to solve,
and told Shapiro that SG is ready to update California equipment in the near future. Craig Fravel
of Del Mar reported that an industry working
group he chairs is developing an RFP -- a request
for proposal -- on the state’s totalisator contract.
It is 660 miles from Dallas-Fort Worth to St.
Louis, which would take perhaps 12 hours of serious driving time, or an hour and a half flight.
In Carruthers’ case “legal experts” said it could
take from a week to a month. The U.S. Marshal
Service, which is holding Carruthers, sometimes
ships inmates in transit to a federal hub in Oklahoma before they are sent to their final destination. Dates for Carruthers’ arraignment and a
new bail hearing have not been set. We’ll let you
know when David arrives as soon as we find out.
His lawyer told reporters, “We are very optimistic that the court in St. Louis can fashion some
reasonable conditions for his release.” Perhaps.
But the FBI, most likely, will not make it easy if
they can. They have made their point forcefully
with the arrest, with estimates indicating that the
FBI message has cost European online
betting services a billion in one day.
THIS IS NOT EASY TO DO
It takes ingenuity and creativity to lose money
with a racino, but the one in Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island, in Atlantic Canada, has
mastered the trick. In its first eight months of
operation, the Charlottetown racino operation
lost $2.5 million, according to the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which runs it. Provincial treasurer Mitch Murphy is optimistic, saying that for
the first quarter of 2006 the racino has moved to
96% of revenue projections. Three weeks ago
VLTs were replaced with slots, and harness racing has enjoyed a resurgence. The racino has
added $2 million to purses, and breeding and ownership are up in Prince Edward Island, where the
sport is very popular.
July 25, 2006
PARTY GAMING DEFIES US
We’re not sure if Gary Kaplan’s BetOnSports
or Party Gaming, funded with pornography
money, is the world’s largest online gaming operator. Both claim the title, and we couldn’t care
less. But we don’t like the idea of Party Gaming
thumbing its nose at our government, and saying it does not intend to be driven out of the lucrative American market. The Party Gaming
CEO, Mitch Garber, says the arrest of his rival
David Carruthers in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport will not deter him from “legally marketing
in the US” through the Internet, television, radio, newspapers and sponsorship deals. We have
an idea. Have him fly to Dallas to discuss his
plans.
PENNWOOD PICKING CHERRIES
Pennwood Racing Group, the partnership of
Penn National Gaming and Greenwood Racing,
has filed a formal site plan seeking to build a
32,795-square-foot betting parlor and nightclub
called The Favorites at the site of Garden State
Park in Cherry Hill, NJ. The township involved
wants the design to reflect the former track at
the site, now a major residential and commercial
development. It also wants Pennwood to preserve
the old track gatehouse, and Pennwood has
agreed, and now is offering a betting site complete with steeples. Pennwood has pledged $1
million to the project, plus maintenance and repair costs. The new community, incidentally and
appropriately, is called Garden State Park.
DUCHOSSOIS WANTS INTERNET
Arlington Park chairman Dick Duchossois may
be 84, but he isn’t out of date. He told state regulators in Illinois yesterday that “if we don’t get up
with technology, we aren’t going to exist anymore.”
He told the Illinois Racing Board, at a
hearing on revitalizing the industry, that
Internet betting is essential.
Noting that bettors currently are wagering some
$50 million on largely illegal Web sites in Illinois,
Duchossois said, “We either join this third party or
eliminate it.” And he added that the answer
“is not all slot machines.”
NOW
ABOUT
GAMES
SCIENTIFIC
The Executive Newsletter yesterday ran a story
on California Horse Racing Board chairman Richard Shapiro lashing out at what he called “obsolete” tote technology, later amended to “archaic.”
Shapiro was angry over what he considered a year
of inaction on the tote front. Our story was interesting, but also incomplete, inaccurate, incoherent,
and poorly written. Other than that, it was fine. It
neglected to fully report that Terry McWilliams,
vice president for sales of Scientific Games, had
taken strong exception to Shapiro’s remarks, pointing out that hardware problems had been solved,
saying SG’s equipment was supremely state-of-theart, and that SG was working with other vendors
on developing the type of wagering devices Shapiro
wants. Most important, the story failed to mention
that Craig Fravel, executive VP of Del Mar, reported that such new technology was at Del Mar
and ready for testing, and would be in use at the
current meeting. SG’s Opera Glass device already
is installed and in use, and waiting to be introduced
is HandStan, my namesake, a wireless personal
PDA wagering tool; Walkabout terminals with wireless teller operation; and Color Tiny Tims, selfservice, Windows-based wireless communication
devices for carrel-type environments.
That said, a respectful suggestion to Scientific
Games. Next time you schedule a “Racing Users
Forum” try not to schedule it on the day of the Little
Brown Jug, a leg of pacing’s Triple Crown. We
doubt you would schedule one on Kentucky Derby,
Preakness or Belmont Day. “Racing Users”
include harness racing executives, many of
them your customers.
July 26, 2006
AN END-AROUND RUN IN PA?
GOLIATH ROUGHS UP DAVID
Either that or a runaround. As Pennsylvania’s
slots fiasco drones on, new developments. It turns
out that the Gaming Control Board, which hasn’t
done much controlling of gaming so far, is going
broke. It may have to lay off employees or even
close down. This, of course, would be fine with
slots opponents, including former pro football
star and now NFL commentator Lynn Swann,
who is running for governor on the Republican
ticket. The Associated Press is reporting the matter could become an election issue. The present
governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, would like
to transfer $10.4 million to the Control Board to
let it get on with getting slots in place, so that his
tax relief plan, on which the slots legislation was
based, can get underway. Rendell expects slots
to reduce property tax bills by an average of 17%,
a big cut in an election year, or any year. One
state official, treasurer Bob Casey, had the audacity to express concern about why the Gaming Control Board had run out of funds, and that
additional scrutiny of the board’s finances might
be appropriate. How dare he suggest such a
thing?
Stripped of his slingshot by the FBI, online gambling executive David Carruthers stands defenseless, and an easy target for Goliath, also known
simply as “G,” Carruthers’ boss Gary Kaplan.
Kaplan, founder and president of BetOnSports,
which hired Carruthers for business savvy and
respectability, fired him yesterday, terminating
his contract and removing him as a director while
he remains in the embrace of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and Department of Justice. One
might think a company for which Carruthers
sacrificed his career and freedom might try to
save him -- lawyer’s fees, perhaps? -- but
BetOnSports, itself under indictment on 22
counts of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud,
announced instead, “Clearly, while he
(Carruthers) remains in the custody of the U.S.
government, he is unable to perform his duties.”
So much for mob loyalty. As for BetOnSports
itself, the government says it fraudulently and
illegally took bets from U.S. residents by phone
and the Internet, and failed to pay excise taxes
as well.
In another Pennsylvania slots development that
the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review headlined “Slots
sleaze,” and a state senator gaming critic called
“slots for tots,” it turns out a lobbyist who can’t
hold a direct financial interest in gaming and still
make political contributions has set up a trust
fund for his children. They, not he, will have an
interest in a company awarded a distributor license for slots in the state.
ONE BUSINESS IS BRISK
In New York, meanwhile, another of the periodic
reports that New York City OTB is going broke.
Controller Bill Thompson says OTB has to hand
over so much money to the state and racing industry that come fiscal 2008, which
starts July 1, 2007, the OTB cupboard will
be bare.
Indian casinos -- there are 408 nationwide, operated by 223 tribes in 28 states -- handled twice as
much as Las Vegas casinos last year. The National Indian Gaming Association reports that
revenue was up 15%, $22.8 billion in 2005 against
$19.6 billion in 2004. Tribal gaming, it says, has
recorded double-digit growth every year since
Congress created the legal framework for it in
1988.
STEVE WOLF STAN’S MAN
Steve Wolf, recently named senior director of
racing operations at Pompano Park, is the
newsmaker guest on this week’s World in Harness. To hear Stan’s conversation with Steve,
go to www.harnesstracks.com.
July 27, 2006
THE INS AND OUTS OF RACING WOODBINE
A lot of personnel changes in the game this week. RACE
Here are some of them:
OUT - Jim Gallagher, resigning as executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority,
effective Oct. 1. The former director of racing for
the New York Racing and Wagering board and vice
president of regulatory compliance and pari-mutuel
operations for the New York Racing Association.
as well as medication expert for the NTRA, said
family issues led to his leaving the Kentucky job.
KHRA chairman William Street said Gallagher had
done an outstanding job as executive director of
the Authority, and that Jim’s industry experience
had been of great value to the regulatory body.:
OUT - Kevin DeSanctis, president and chief operating officer of Penn National Gaming, leaving
the company by the end of the year. Penn National
has retained an executive search firm to replace
him.
IN - Leo C. McNamara, a third generation horseman from one of harness racing’s most famous families, has been selected as the new executive administrator of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey. McNamara is the
grandson of Leo McNamara, whose Two Gaits
Farms in Carmel, Indiana, had a huge impact on
pacing in America through its premier stallion, Hal
Dale, sire of the great Adios and a family founder
in the breed. This Leo has been a member of the
New Jersey SBOA board for seven years, serving
as chairman three years.
OUT and IN - Michael Izzo, leaving the New
Jersey SBOA executive administrator’s job to become chief financial officer of the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association.
JOINS
THE
NY
Woodbine Entertainment Group has joined the
chase for the franchise of the New York Racing
Association, as a member of the Empire Racing
team. David Willmot, Woodbine’s chairman and
CEO, said of the move, “We’re delighted to assist
Empire Racing as they develop their plan for the
future of New York racing.” Willmot said Woodbine considered Empire “well suited to operate New
York racing for the benefit of New Yorkers and as
an integral part of the entire North American racing industry.” Empire chairman Jeffrey Tucker,
noting that Woodbine offered “a world class racing
experience,” said its achievements present “a tremendous model” for New York racing. Woodbine
will not have representation on the Empire board,
but will assist Delaware North, already committed
to Empire, in developing New York operational
plans.
WHICH STATE WAS THAT AGAIN
We know Eliot Spitzer is running for governor, but
we’re not quite sure which state he’s running in.
We thought it was New York, but we’re having
trouble making sure because of the $265,000 he
has received already in recent weeks from Kentucky horse breeding interests, according to a report yesterday by James Odato, the capitol bureau
writer for the Albany Times-Union. Much of the
money, Odato wrote, was pledged after a
fundraiser hosted by Tracy Farmer and his wife
Carol at their Shadow Lawn Farm in Midway, KY.
Some 75 people attended that event, including
Spitzer. Farmer was chairman of the Kentucky
Democratic party in the early 1990s, and explained
the campaign by saying, “We’re trying to get him
elected as governor. Any decisions he makes as
governor would be helpful to the horse industry in
general.” We can hear it now at Churchill Downs:
tens of thousands singing Sidewalks of the
Bluegrass: “East side, west side, all around
the farm.”
July 28, 2006
HISTORIC MOMENT AT THE SPA
TO COURT, WITH GOOD REASON
HTA member Saratoga Gaming and Raceway
held its first-ever simulcast of thoroughbred action from across the street with the opening of
historic Saratoga Race Course, and was pleased
with the result. It marked a milestone in ecumenical cooperation, and some 500 showed up
for the event. Vice president Skip Carlson said,
“We are happy with the crowd, and when it’s
really, really hot, we’ll do better.” Skip could
not have hoped for a better press report than the
lead written by Margarita Raycheva in The
Saratogian. She began her story this way: “For
the first time in more than 30 years, Terry
Scriven, 61, spent opening day of Saratoga Race
Course without being squashed by crowds, worried about parking or bothered by heat. At
Saratoga Gaming and Racing, where he watched
the races this year, he had air-conditioning, a
sturdy chair to sit on and free parking. Scriven’s
partner, Louise Trottier, 56, also was happy -she got to play the slot machines before the first
race. ‘I’m more comfortable here,’ said Scriven,
a lifelong racing fan. ‘It’s cooler, the parking is
not a problem. For us, it’s just more convenient.’” Carlson negotiated the arrangement with
Bill Nader, NYRA’s senior vice president, after
years of discussion. NYRA agreed to allow the
simulcasts in exchange for the right to use one of
Saratoga Raceway’s barns, just across Nelson
avenue from the racecourse, free of charge.
Carlson said the idea is to serve long-term racing fans who don’t go to the track for the atmosphere, but rather to place quick bets. “We want
to get the in-and-out crowd. We don’t want to
take people away from the track. It’s all about
comfort and convenience.” The simulcasts will
continue through the thoroughbred summer season in Saratoga. On dark days, patrons still will
be able to watch simulcasts from other
tracks around the country in the comfort
of the Raceway.
The recently-formed Vernon Downs Harness
Horsemen’s Association, ignored by the New
York Racing and Wagering Board in its bid for
recognition, is seeking to reverse the Board’s decision. It is asking a judge to name it the official
representative of owners and trainers at Vernon
Downs. The racing board ignored the opportunity to factually resolve the issue at Vernon between the new group and the long-established
Harness Horse Association of Central New York.
It could have taken the logical step of ordering
an election. Instead, it said membership information provided by both groups did not prove
who represented the majority of horsemen and
never made an effort to find out the facts itself.
The new horsemen’s group contended it had 360
members; the old Central New York group said
it represented 285. Despite that, and without
holding an election to determine the truth, the
board relied on what the new organization claims
was “irrelevant, outdated and insufficient information.” It called the board’s decision “arbitrary
and capricious, an error of law and violation of
due process rights.”
SEE YOUR FRIENDLY BANKER
That’s what Youbet.com has done, closing a new
$19 million, 4-year “credit facility” with Wells
Fargo Foothill. The $15 million loan and $4 million revolving credit replaces United Tote’s existing bank credit with Manufacturers and Traders Trust, which Youbet guaranteed when it
bought United. Gulfstream Park, meanwhile,
agreed to borrow $25.75 million from a financing arm of its parent Magna Entertainment, to
build its racino. And Magna announced it has
closed on its sale of The Meadows , cutting the
sale price from $225 million to $200 million, with a
$25 million holdback, reportedly because of tax
issues involving local municipalities.
EVERYONE STAND
And raise your right hand. Everywhere you look,
hearings or inquiries or revelations.
In St. Louis, two hearings today, one on the temporary restraining order by the U.S. government
on BetOnSports operations in the U.S., and another on former BetOnSports’ president David
Carruthers’ arraignment.
In Washington, an array of amendments to the
horse slaughter bill, which could kill it. The
House Agricultural Committee voted 37-3 to send
the bill to the House floor with an unfavorable
recommendation. Another amendment grandfathers the three existing slaughter plants, in
Texas and Illinois, the only ones in the country,
thus making the bill meaningless. Texas Rep.
Charles Stenholm, lobbying on behalf of the
Texas slaughter plants, says stopping the bill still
is “an uphill fight.” The House rules committee
will decide if the bill goes to a vote in September
with the changes, or if opponents of the ban will
have to amend the bill on the floor. At least 269
of the 433 members of the House, a majority,
have voted in support of a ban previously.
In New York, two big stories concerning the
NYRA franchise and $$$$$$. In one, Senate
Majority Leader Joe Bruno is accused of having
air flights paid for by a key figure in the Empire
Racing Associates group seeking the NYRA franchise. In another, the New York Daily News says
gubernatorial candidate and crime-buster Eliot
Spitzer accepted more than $200,000 from companies bidding for the NYRA franchise.
In Illinois, a fuss about Arlington Park track consultant Greg Coon writing an independent report on Arlington’s much-discussed track problems, then discussing recommendations
and talking to Arlington officials without
informing the Illinois Racing Board.
One commissioner thought this “serious.”
July 31, 2006
And then -- are you ready for this -- there is Guam,
where the latest sighting of Shawn Scott, or his
loyal crew, is reported. A Guam radio commentator has given all the gory details, complete with
reports that Scott, his mother Victoria, his Washington, DC, crony Robert L. Newell, and -- you’ll
love this -- his old Vernon Downs buddy and excon Hoolae Paoa -- are trying to get slots on the
island.
ON THE WHOLESOME SIDE
Speaking of Vernon Downs, the Breeders Crown
committee of the Hambletonian Society has selected real estate mogul and Vernon co-owner Jeff
Gural as its winner of the 2006 Frederic L.
VanLennep Achievement Award. The award,
honoring the memory of the visionary breeder
and track owner, singles out Gural for his role in
bringing VLT legislation to New York state and
for his efforts in turning old Tioga Park into
Tioga Downs and preparing to return racing to
Vernon Downs.
In an update correction, Pennsylvania’s harness
tracks will get their slots hearings on Sept. 11 in
Harrisburg, with Mohegan Sun at Pocono and
Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack also
having hearings that day. Gaming Control Board
chairman Tad Decker said he expects the board
to issue six track licenses for racinos at a meeting Sept. 27. Harrah’s chairman and CEO, Gary
Loveman, had less wholesome news for racing.
He said after extensive talks with New Jersey
governor Jon Corzine on the issue of slots at
tracks, “I’m not too worried about it.” Corzine
earlier had said on a radio talk show that he
would consider slots at tracks as an option.
WAPLES SUFFERS INJURIES
Ontario driving star Randy Waples, injured in a
three-horse spill last night, has two broken
wrists and two broken elbows.
August 1, 2006
DON’T BET ON SPORTS
NO SPECIAL SESSION IN PA
Former BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers remains in St. Louis today, rather than Costa Rica,
still in custody of federal agents on charges of mail
and wire fraud and racketeering. The 48-year-old
natty executive, now dressed in prison orange,
entered a not guilty plea yesterday, along with
seven other BetOnSport employees, including Neil
Kaplan and Lori Kaplan Multz, the brother and
sister of BetOnSports founder and mastermind
Gary Kaplan. The former New York bookie remains secure in Costa Rica, and no one appeared
at yesterday’s hearing representing BetOnSports.
U.S. attorney Catherine Hanaway said that was
just one more step along the path of not respecting the law. Paul D’Agrosa, an attorney for DME
Global Marketing, which did business with
BetOnSports and was named in the indictments,
said those who did not show up were perhaps
“thumbing their nose at the government. We do
not think much of this case either.” Carruthers’
attorneys were trying to arrange bond, but prosecutors objected, saying he was a flight risk.
The governor of Pennsylvania, Edward G. Rendell,
politely rebuffed three state senators trying to
amend provisions of slots gaming in the commonwealth yesterday. Rendell sent a letter to the three
-- Jane Orie, Bob Regola and John C. Rafferty
Jr., telling them he would not accede to their request for a special session of the legislature to
consider changes in Act 71, the Pennsylvania Race
Horse Development and Gaming Control Act.
Rendell said he shared their interest and has assured safeguards, but would not support changes
“that would slow implementation of Act 71 and
delay providing $1 billion in property tax relief to
the people of Pennsylvania.” Rendell told the
senators that he remained ready to discuss
changes, but did not see the need to call the General Assembly into Special Session. He said that
instead “the General Assembly can convene in
regular session at the convenience of the members to consider and enact legislation” that could
implement changes he proposed in the legislation,
including one that would preclude any public official and their immediate families from owning any
interest in any entity regulated by the act.
WAPLES’ INJURIES SERIOUS
Ontario driving star Randy Waples, injured along
with Jack Moiseyev and Keith Oliver in a threehorse spill at Mohawk Raceway Sunday night,
remains hospitalized. Both of his arms and hands
are in casts, the result of two broken wrists, two
broken elbows, and broken carpal bones in his
hands. Doctors also suspect possible soft tissue
damage in his neck. Moiseyev suffered severe
lacerations of a forearm, requiring 15 staples, and
Oliver, whose horse started the chain reaction
when it fell in the final turn, has a broken collarbone. Moiseyev and Waples, trailing Oliver’s
horse, were unable to avoid the fallen pacer.
Waples will remain in Milton, Ontario, hospital until
tomorrow, and will be sidelined and out of
action for at least 8 weeks.
ESTOK MODERATOR AT THE
SPA
HTA Chief Counsel and Secretary Paul Estok
served as a panel moderator today in Saratoga
Springs, NY, at Bennett Liebman’s annual Racing
Law conference of the Albany Law School.
BERRY TO HEAD POMPANO PR
Veteran harness racing writer John Berry has been
named Public Relations Manager for Racing for
Pompano Park. New Senior Director of Racing
Operations Steve Wolf announced that Berry,
former national president of the U.S. Harness
Writers and current president of the Florida chapter, “has played just about every instrument in
the public relations orchestra.”
August 2, 2006
WAIT ‘TIL THEY’RE WARMEDUP NOT EXACTLY SPEED OF LIGHT
Charlie Hayward of NYRA and Tim Smith of wherever he happens to be traded punches yesterday
at the Racing Symposium in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Smith was on a panel discussing the bidding process for NYRA, and in the question-and-answer
session that followed the formal presentations
Hayward rose in the audience and asked Smith to
explain his role with Empire Racing Association,
one of the bidders for the NYRA franchise. Smith
replied that he did not think the symposium was
an appropriate place to discuss the matter, but also
revealed that he is an investor in Empire, a fact
criticized by Hayward, who said Smith had not disclosed before appearing on the panel that he held
an equity interest in Empire. Smith told Daily
Racing Form “it was better to have this whispering campaign, that I know (NYRA officials) have
been conducting, out in the open, and have a
chance to respond to it.” He was not, however,
the one who brought it out into the open. One thing
appears certain in these early sparring rounds.
The fight is likely to get dirty. Money is flowing
like wine, with “The People’s Lawyer,” New York
attorney general Eliot Spitzer, reportedly getting
most of it, including $200,000 from Kentucky thoroughbred horse breeders and others interested in
who gets the NYRA franchise. A Spitzer spokeswoman said the attorney general is not moved or
influenced by campaign contributions. Senate
president Joe Bruno has been accused of accepting free airplane rides all over the place. At
yesterday’s conference, NYRA’s chairman, Steven
Duncker, a panelist at the conference, presented
numbers he said show 7 of the top 10 tracks in
average purse distribution in America are not-forprofit operations, including of course NYRA’s three
in New York. One thing in short supply yesterday
was oratorical skill, with the presenters, including
jockey Jerry Bailey, less than eloquent.
Excelsior officials would not comment on
Bailey’s compensation deal.
The California Horse Racing Board revealed yesterday that positive morphine test results against
trainer Bobby Frankel had been dismissed. The
charges did not stem from positives last week, or
last month, or last year. They concerned charges
filed six years ago, in June of 2000, when a Frankel
runner named Mohave Moon finished third in the
Californian Stake and flunked his test. Mike
Marten, speaking for board executive director
Ingrid Fermin, said the deliberations were not quite
as long as they seemed. Martin said an agreement to dismiss actually was reached near the end
of 2004 by then executive director Roy Wood, then
chairman Roger Licht, and super lawyer Neil
Papiano. The agreement, however, was “never
culminated,” which we presume means announced,
but now, six years and two months after the infraction, Frankel is home free. The announcement was
part of a clearing of backlog cases left over from
the previous administration, Martin said, calling
that task “a priority” of the present board.
HEAD BUTT FOR AZ RACING
We all know what a splendid sport soccer is, providing wholesome examples for kids like head butts
that flatten opponents. Yesterday Tucson lost its
only pari-mutuel horse track when Pima county supervisors unanimously agreed to move Rillito
Racetrack to nearby Marana, and convert Rillito’s
central Tucson location into 18 lighted soccer fields.
The track’s death notice does not take place until
2010, but its stable area will be torn down after
the 2007 season. To stay alive until 2010, Rillito
would have to build another 300 stalls to accompany the 250 that will be left after another 150 are
torn down. “They’re so antsy to get us out of here,”
the president of the Pima County Horsemen’s Association, Tim Kelly, said, “they’re tearing down
barns already.”
August 3, 2006
HTA ART CATALOG NOW ONLINE In determining which horsemen’s group would repHarness Tracks of America’s 2006 art catalog, resent horsemen, it took the existing group’s word
containing 283 works of equine art in full color, is for membership numbers and rejected the comnow online on the home page of the HTA Web site, peting group’s claims. Now, as an opening date
www.harnesstracks.com. Each of the paintings, nears, it suddenly announces sub-par conditions
bronzes and woodcarvings is enlargeable with the in various areas and says in effect it doubts they
click of a mouse, and all will be offered for sale in can be corrected this year.
a two-day auction Friday and Saturday mornings,
Oct. 6 and 7, in the Tattersalls Sales Arena in Lex- PLAIN TALK, LOUD AND CLEAR
ington, KY. The auction is part of Grand Circuit One of American horse racing’s really straight talkactivities at HTA’s member Red Mile, and as usual ers and writers is Steven Crist, publisher of Daily
all net proceeds of the sale go to the HTA College Racing Form. He fires from the hip, takes no prisScholarship Fund. Track operators, as always, are oners, and is not intimidated by high office or fiurged to avail themselves of the art for major race nancial fortunes.
trophies, office or dining room or other area decoration at their tracks, or personal use. Live tele- Speaking of the babble at the Albany Law School’s
phone bidding can be arranged through the HTA annual racing law symposium Tuesday in Saratoga
office, and no buyers’ premium is charged at the Springs about who gets the NYRA franchise, Crist
auction.
called it just what it was, a “rehearsal” that will
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?
The owners and operators of Vernon Downs announced this week that they would begin racing at
the track -- dark in dispute for almost two years - on August 26. The ink no sooner was dry on
their release than officials of the New York Racing and Wagering Board, who control racing in New
York state, said it was not likely that racing would
return to Vernon Downs this year. They said state
officials had inspected the track last month and
decided it did not meet the standard requirements
for racing. They said improvements were needed
in the paddock area, grandstand, judges’ booth,
stables and veterinarians’ offices, and on the racing strip itself, and that the track must show all
employees are properly licensed. Vernon officials
said they still hoped to have all problems corrected
by the end of the month. Some strange things have
been going on with the Racing and Wagering Board
in arriving at its decisions on Vernon
Downs.
mean little when a new governor and legislature
are in place next year. He also called the bad oratory “a complete waste of time.” It has been noted
by many observers that the bidders for NYRA’s
franchise are, as Crist put it, motivated only by
the fact that Aqueduct is going to have a massive
VLT casino, and Belmont could get one down the
road. The now folded “Friends of New York Racing” -- most of them far removed from New York - portrayed themselves otherwise, as deeply interested in the welfare of racing in that state. Even
now, a curious mix of contributors has poured
money into the coffers of the likely next governor
of New York, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Another influential racing journalist, Ray Paulick, editor-in-chief of The Blood-Horse, called the franchise bidders “contenders and pretenders.” Much
of the pretending was their avowed deep concern
for New York state horse racing. None mentioned
harness racing. It would be interesting to know
their views on that subject in New York state, but
we can guess.
10 YEARS, $100,000 FINE
That was the proposed penalty announced yesterday by the Ontario Racing Commission against
Todd Gray, trainer of the $1.3 million winning pacer
Rair Earth. Gray’s license was suspended immediately after tests confirmed the presence of erythropoietin/darbopoietin, better known as EPO, in
three of his horses, including Rair Earth. Gray,
out of Dundas, Ontario, is 34. In 2004 his stable
won $110,000. Last year it won $939,795 and 56
races. This year, with a third of the season still to
come, his stable has won $944,773 and 52 races.
In announcing the ORC’s executive director, John
Blakney, said, “Simply stated, medication control
means only using medications or products that have
a therapeutic value to the horse. Such control
measures are essential in order to maintain the
health and well-being of the horse, the integrity of
the industry, and the public confidence.”
“COMING FROM EVERYWHERE”
That is how the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette describes
the changes being proposed by legislators of both
parties to Act 71, the slots-enabling legislation in
Pennsylvania. One state senator, Jane Orie, is
renewing her efforts to do away with the provision
calling for middleman companies known as slots
suppliers/distributors, who in an orgy of patronage would buy slots from manufacturers and resell them to racinos and casinos. That change was
passed by the Senate in June, but was not acted
upon in the House. Another proposed change is in
the way the seven-member Gaming Control board
votes. Currently at least five members, including
all four named by the General Assembly, must
approve an applicant. Any one of those four can
now block the application with a veto. Senator
Jeffrey Piccola wants that arrangement changed
so that a majority vote of four of the seven
members will prevail.
August 4, 2006
Both Senator Orie and Senator Piccola want to
remove a provision that permits elected public officials to own up to 1% of a casino company, and
give the state attorney general greater power than
county district attorneys in conducting investigations, which is not now the case. On Wednesday,
three other senators proposed changes, one banning lobbyists from making political contributions
to public officials, currently allowed. Lobbyists for
IGT, the biggest slots manufacturer in the world,
have given $58,000 to Pennsylvania politicians.
Another casino lobbyist, Stephen Wodjak, had two
minor children listed as investors in Keystone
Gaming, another slots supplier. How these proposed changes fare will not be known before Sept.
19, when the legislature is expected to return from
its current recess.
CHURCHILL, MAGNA IN NY BID
Churchill Downs Inc. and Magna Entertainment
Corporation announced today that they have entered into an agreement “to cooperate” in the bidding process for the New York Racing Association
franchise, up for grabs. The announcement said
CDI and MEC “look to join other New York racing and business entities interested in forming a
larger group to bid on the NYRA franchise,” but
did not specify which or any groups. MEC boss
Frank Stronach told a teleconference that “it is
not the goal of either MEC or CDI to control New
York racing. Our intention is to provide our companies’ collective expertise to a bid group comprised of prominent New York enterprises and others.”
$1.5 MIL HAMBO SATURDAY
A supercharged $3.8 million Meadowlands card,
featuring the $1.5 million Hambletonian and the
$750,000 Hambletonian Oaks, is on tap tomorrow.
The Hambletonian will be televised nationally
(CBS) 2 to 3 p.m. EDT.
August 7, 2006
VERNON GETS TEMP SLOTS OK
THE BATTLE FOR OHIO
Nevada Gold & Casinos, which owns 40% of
American Racing and Entertainment, which owns
90% of Vernon Downs (still with us?) announced
over the weekend that it has received a temporary license to operate VLTs at Vernon. Exactly
what that means in the context of Vernon as an
operating entity is uncertain, because the New York
Racing and Wagering Board says certain structural improvements still must be made before it
will allow the track to open. We presume this covers the racino. Nevada Gold can take some consolation in the press coverage it is receiving on its
Tioga Downs operation. Newspapers in
Binghamton, Wilkes-Barre, PA and other area sites
have been generous in both coverage and praise
of the operation, and the latest very solid story
appeared in yesterday’s Syracuse Post-Standard.
Under a headline that read, “Tioga Downs serves
as a model for Vernon,” the newspaper’s Glenn
Coin, who has covered the Vernon story from its
start, wrote that Jeff Gural has brought Tioga out
of bankruptcy and “transformed it into a familyfriendly race track and casino,” and says Gural’s
group plans to do the same at Vernon Downs. Coin
says Tioga “has seen big crowds on weekends,
has provided entertainment for senior citizens and
families, and has boosted sales at local businesses.” One local businessman told him sales
had increased 10 to 15% since Tioga Downs
opened. Coin wrote about the themed decor of
Tioga, “from brightly painted murals to the carousel hoses that flank the entrance to the gaming
floor. Beeping video slot machines surround the
Carousel Bar, and one area of the gaming floor is
called the Funhouse. Wall-sized murals depict
horse races, and midways with rides and games.”
Gural and his associates can be proud of Jason
Settlemoir, the former USTA employee who has
done an enthusiastic and highly effective
job with publicity for Tioga Downs.
A battle rages in Ohio between slots supporters
and opponents. The tracks and their associates
trying to get the issue on the November ballot are
doing extremely well, having collected some
625,000 names. Only 322,000 valid signatures are
needed for a proposed constitutional amendment,
and the names were delivered to Secretary of State
Ken Blackwell, a slots opponent, in 187 boxes in
August 1. Under the track-supported plan, the
slots platform, called Learn and Earn, would use
some $800 million a year from VLTs to finance
scholarships for Ohio students at Ohio universities and colleges. Charlie Ruma, Beulah Park’s
boss and chairman of the Learn and Earn Committee, thinks Ohioans can see the benefit of slots
for this purpose. The Ohio Counsel of Churches
and the Ohio United Methodist Anti-Gambling
Task Force is contending many of the signers were
intentionally misled by workers collecting signatures. It would appear Ohio voters are intelligent
enough to understand what $800 million a year
means to the education of their children. The
Cleveland Plain Dealer, noting that “chances are
good that every voter will have a chance to weigh
in on the issue,” says editorially that “the question now is how many of those votes will be truly
informed ones.” About as many, we would guess,
as those casting ballots in a federal election, given
the information provided by Washington. The federal government, of course, would not mislead anyone.
SCOTT ON THE HIGH SEAS
We reported here last week that the peripatetic
Shawn Scott was in Guam, seeking to install slots
there. Turns out he sailed there from the Northern Mariana Islands, where he told officials, “We
are very excited about coming to Saipan and
launching our Asian financial business from
here.” In the spirit of international comity,
God bless the Marianas.
A MAJOR DRUG BREAKTHRU
In one of the major developments of the year in
racing, the Pennsylvania Equine Toxology and
Research Laboratory, a Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture operation in West Chester, working
in close collaboration with the New Bolton Center
of the University of Pennsylvania vet school, has
developed a test for EPO, until now undetectable.
Dr. Larry Soma, the veteran and highly regarded
equine research director at New Bolton, reported
the success of the research, and the Ontario Racing Commission, a leader in racing, quickly used it
to break a case, suspend a trainer, and recommend
that he receive a 10-year suspension and $100,000
fine. The trainer, Todd Gray, rose to some prominence in the last two years with the pacer Rair
Earth, a winner of $1.3 million. That horse and
two others trained by Gray tested positive to the
new test.
Dr. Soma and laboratory director Dr. Cornelius
Uboh worked on the revolutionary test, starting
two or three years ago with oxyglobin, a simpler
substance than EPO but also protein-based. Their
ultimate goal, now reached, was to isolate the EPO
protein. “We first were able to extract the protein
from plasma,” Dr. Soma said, “through the work
of a team led by Dr. Eric Birks. Then Dr. Fuyu
Guan, who works closely with Dr. Uboh, was able
to develop a brand new method of breaking apart
the protein of the human EPO molecules into small
fractions called peptides, thus allowing positive
identification of EPO itself, using very sensitive
liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometry
technology. Dr. Guan has been working on EPO
and Darbepotetin-Alfa and conducting experiments
with research horses that have been administered
EPO, and he was able to use that information
as a model.
August 8, 2006
“We have optimized the method, and today we are
able to make the positive EPO/Darbepoetin-Alfa
identification, not just the presence of antibodies
that may be produced in the horse by the administration of human EPO in horses.” Both Dr. Uboh
and Dr. Soma are confident about the ability of
the tests to stand up under legal or other scrutiny.
When asked about that, Dr. Uboh without hesitation replied, “They can send these tests anywhere
in the world for verification.”
So the scientists have caught up with the crooks,
at least on EPO, and the discovery should greatly
temper use of the illegal medication.
The willingness of the Ontario Racing Commission and its laboratory to send samples to a laboratory outside their normal testing protocol, and
to bear the considerable price of the sophisticated
new testing, is indicative of how racing as an industry can deal with drugs that are expensive and
difficult to find.
Harness and thoroughbred horsemen in Pennsylvania both contribute to the Toxolgy and Research
Laboratory, as do both racing commissions in
Pennsylvania.
21 IN THE MEADOWS’ ADIOS
Braved by the absence of the dominant 3-year-old
pacer Artistic Fella, 21 colts and geldings dropped
in the entry box for the 40th edition of the late
Delvin Miller’s pride and joy: the Adios. The classic for 3-year-old pacers, one of the few left contested in heats, will feature Saturday’s card, with
three $50,000 eliminations and a $300,000 final.
Artistic Fella was not nominated to the race, which
has no supplementary payments, so virtually all
of the other top 3-year-old pacers in the sport are
taking a shot at the Race for the Orchids. Post
positions were to be drawn tonight.
VOTERS REBUFFED AGAIN IN
FL
It is not the first time, of course, that Florida voters have been told they don’t count. Or can’t count.
But yesterday, by a vote of 2-1, the First District
Court of Appeals in Tallahassee dealt what the
Miami Herald called “a major blow” to slots in
Broward county, reinstating a challenge to the
state constitutional amendment voted two years
ago. The court sent the case back to Circuit Judge
Nikki Ann Clark, who had ruled that the election
had cured any improper signature gathering, as
charged by the Humane Society of the U.S. and
GREY2K USA. The appeals court majority said,
“It is clear that a favorable popular vote cannot
cure deception.” The appeals court ruled that a
trial is necessary to determine whether Floridians
for a Level Playing Field, of which Isle of Capri is
a member, obtained the required number of signatures to place the constitutional amendment on the
ballot in November, 2004.
The appeals court decision, the Herald pointed out,
“could affect not only the Broward parimutuels but
also the three cities hoping to share in the good
times from the parimutuels; public schools, which
were supposed to get tens of millions of dollars in
new slots money; and the agreement that the state
is negotiating with Indian tribes seeking the same
Las Vegas-style slot machines.”
Isle of Capri immediately announced that the reversal of the lower court decision would be challenged, perhaps by a petition for rehearing by the
appeals court en banc, or by filing a motion for
certification to the Florida Supreme Court. Isle
also said it is proceeding with the development of
its racino at Pompano Park and does not anticipate that yesterday’s court decision will impact the opening of the racino in early 2007.
August 9, 2006
“CLEANEST GAME IN TOWN”
In one of the most pleasant and surprising stories
of the year, ESPN.com today carries a long story
by Bill Finley, who writes for that news outlet and
The New York Times, in which he lauds harness
racing’s security efforts through the use of detention barns and concludes, “Harness racing may
not be for everyone. But it is the cleanest game in
town.” Finley, who writes thoroughbred racing for
the Times, also wrote, “Harness racing, and the
Meadowlands in particular, is trying a lot harder
than the thoroughbred game to clean up the
scourge that is illegal drugs. Our sport could learn
a lot from their sport.” Bill quoted Chris McErlean,
vice president of racing operations at the Meadowlands, liberally and favorably on the Meadowlands’ detention barn policy, including McErlean’s
observation that “as far as short-term effects on a
horse, something has to be given 6-8 hours out, so
this certainly cuts down tremendously on the
problem....I wish testing procedures were a lot
better and more conclusive. I’d love to get rid of
the detention barns and have a testing system
where there would at least be some fear. I wish
there were a system where the testing was better
and if you got caught you know you are going to
get penalized. Right now, that’s not something I
would say we have a full degree of confidence in.”
The new test for EPO, announced last weekend,
can provide much of what McErlean is looking for.
POCONO GETS $30 MIL REFUND
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has released details of the $30 million refund it will receive from Penn National Gaming as an amendment of its original purchase agreement of Pocono
Downs from Penn National. Mohegan Sun will
receive five installments -- two of $7 million, one
of $6.5 million, one of $6 million, and one of $3.5
million -- on five anniversaries of the opening of
slots at Pocono.
August 10, 2006
FED ARANESP BUST IN KY
MOHEGAN HAPPY, STAYS IN PA
Another alleged drug smuggler has bit the dust.
It’s a hard way to get rid of rats, but if you have to
do it one at a time it’s worth the wait and patience.
This time federal agents, reportedly assisted by
Standardbred Investigative Service agents, arrested one Joey William McMahon, and obtained
an indictment in United States District Court for
the eastern district of Kentucky, charging
McMahon with intentionally distributing
oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, and
Aranesp, a drug that had been misbranded. These
are violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1952 (a)(3), 21
U.S.C.§§ 231 and 333(a)(2) of the federal code.
Happy, or at least satisfied, with a $30 million rebate from Penn National in the sale price of Pocono
Downs, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has
announced it will not encamp in Pennsylvania. Instead, it will move forward with its huge $200 million commitment to renovate the racetrack and
build a 400,000-square-foot racino at Pocono. The
Downs’ president and CEO, Bobby Soper, said the
track has rescheduled a two-day job fair for midSeptember, an event that had been canceled two
months ago when an issue over local taxes arose.
The settlement with Penn National also eliminates
a buyback provision in the original sale, and Penn
National announced the amended agreement finalizes that sale. In addition, Luzerne county officials said yesterday they would help Pocono Downs
prepare applications for up to $3 million in state
economic development grants to offset any initial
losses. Luzerne county commission chairman Gregory A. Skrepenak said of the move, “We think
this show of good faith in Mohegan Sun will pay
off one thousand fold for the people of Luzerne
county in the years to come.” He called the project
the largest in Luzerne county history.
Count 1 of the federal indictment carries a penalty of not more than 20 years imprisonment, not
more than $1 million fine, and a term of supervised
release of at least 3 years. If a prior drug penalty
is found, the penalty increases to not more than
30 years imprisonment, a $2 million fine, and a
term of supervised release of at least 6 years.
Count 2 carries not more than 20 years imprisonment, not more than a $500,000 fine or twice the
value of the property involved in the transaction,
whichever is greater, and a term of supervised release of not more than 3 years.
Counts 3 and 4 carry not more than 3 years imprisonment, not more than a $10,000 fine, and a
term of supervised release of not more than 3
years, plus mandatory special assessment of $100
per felony offense.
That should be enough to keep Mr. McMahon off
the streets awhile.
We will keep you apprised of SIS participa-tion,
if involved, when and if we hear about it
officially.
A HARNESS OPPORTUNITY
Two of the best known racing personalities in the
country -- Bill Finley of the New York Times and
ESPN, and Dave Johnson, also with ESPN and one
of the game’s best known racecallers -- will host a
racing show called Down the Stretch on Sirius satellite radio channel 125 starting this Saturday. The
first half hour of the show will cover harness racing, and the sport should give serious consideration to pitching in and helping the project financially with sponsorship money. If we don’t help
underwrite projects like this that pay heed to harness racing, we lose opportunities that are rare
and far between. Contact Stan for details.
August 11, 2006
SCI GAMES IN WITH EMPIRE
DOINGS OF THE WEEKEND
In the wild scrambling to join sides with bidders
for the New York Racing Association franchise,
Scientific Games has landed in the camp of Empire Racing. The company says it will lend its expertise to Empire in that company’s bid for the
NYRA jewels. Scientific Games currently is a
major supplier of lottery products to the New York
State Lottery.
The Meadows celebrates its biggest day tomorrow, with the $450,000 Coors Delvin Miller Adios.
Twenty-one declared in, requiring three eliminations and a final.
TWO VIEWS ON MILKSHAKES
With EPO the cocktail of choice these days, California is still trying to catch up on milkshakes. Dr.
Rick Arthur, who is leaving his highly successful
private practice and taking over as equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board
next month, told commissioners Richard Shapiro
and John Harris and executive director Ingrid
Fermin, “We had a disproportionate number of
samples over 36 (millimoles per liter of blood) but
less than 37. We had nine over 36 during the Hollywood Park meet, and two trainers were responsible for six of them.” Arthur said, “it is encouraging that we have had none during the last six
racing days, since we started a new policy of sending out warning letters two weeks ago. We’re dedicated to modifying the program to everyone’s benefit to prevent bicarbonate loading. We have convinced the slow learners that we are serious about
it.”
Trainer Jenine Sahadi, however, had a much different view of the results. She told the panel,
“They’re not slow learners; they’re geniuses. Two
years, and they’ve suffered no consequences.
You’ve send them letters, but they have never been
identified.” Executive director Fermin said the
board would release names as soon as it adjudicates pending cases. Shapiro said, “We wantt o
make it as transparent as possible.” Still
ahead in California: the EPO issue.
At Rockingham Park, memories of days past. The
track will present ‘Past Champions Reunion Day’
Sunday, with former Rock greats returning to do
battle. Among the stars competing are Bruce
Ranger, Jim Doherty, Peter Blood, John Hogan,
and Paul Battis, all former standouts at
Rockingham. Buddy Gilmour, Ted Wing and Gary
Kamal also have been invited.
At Tioga Downs, the transplanted Dr. Harry M.
Zweig Memorial, formerly raced at the Syracuse
State Fair. The 32nd renewal of the race named
for the veterinarian largely responsible for the New
York Sire Stakes carries a total purse of $296,000,
with two $120,000 divisions for colts and a $56,600
filly division. Three Hambletonian starters -Algiers Hall, Global Glide and Race Fan -- are
among those entered.
DOWN THE STRETCH DEBUTS
A new racing show, Down the Stretch, makes its
debut tomorrow on Sirious satellite radio, channel
125, at 10 a.m. eastern time. Racing writer Bill
Finley and announcer Dave Johnson will host the
show, and HTA’s Stan Bergstein and Meadowlands
announcer Sam McKee will be guests.
ELLIOTT ON HTA’S ‘WORLD’
Trainer Steve Elliott, enjoying his greatest year
with the 3-year-old pacing king Artistic Fella, the
$2.5 million winning pacing mare Burning Point,
and the undefeated 3-year-old trotting colt Donato
Hanover, is Stan Bergstein’s guest on HTA’s World
in Harness. Access the show from the HTA Web
site home page. The Elliott interview will
remain up thru Wednesday.
SCORE BIG ONE FOR THE FEDS
The Great Waiting Room Caper worked. The bust
of David Carruthers, chief executive of
BetOnSports, the English online bookie, while
Carruthers was changing planes at the Dallas-Ft.
Worth airport, turned out to be game of falling
dominos. BetOnSports, loyal as outfits like that
can be, fired Carruthers, who did nothing but show
bad judgment in flying through the United States.
Shares of BetOnSports were suspended on the
London Stock Exchange, and now the company has
thrown in the towel, and fired 800 employees in
Antigua and its headquarters in Costa Rica. It is
moving to the less restrictive and furiously gambling grounds of Asia, announcing that “after thoroughly reviewing possible alternative business
plans, we no longer consider the U.S-facing operations of the company....to be viable.” The directors of the company said they want to refund
all customers’ monies, but said that would be “difficult” and would “depend on the company’s ability to persuade banks and cash processors to release the funds.” BetOnSports had been taking
70 to 80% of its bets from U.S. residents. If you
are one of them, good luck! BetOnSports went
public in July of 2004, raising $101 million, and
ended the day with a first day market capitalization of $209 million. When trading was halted last
month on the 17th of July, the shares were worth
about $234 million. In its first quarter of this year,
ending May 6, BetOnSports had taken in bets totaling $735 million and had 50,000 active players.
Some of its largest institutional shareholders are
funds controlled by a few people you know, or
rather whose names you know: Goldman Sachs,
Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. I. Nelson
Rose, the west coast gambling law guru who spoke
at the HTA/TRA Congress in March, says that if
the offshore operations are truly illegal and are
racketeering, the people who finance them
could be criminally liable.
Federal prosecutors, savoring their victory,
August 14, 2006
say they will continue prosecuting BetOnSports
even though it has shut down its operations taking
bets from U.S. residents. David Carruthers’ lawyer says the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, Catherine
Hanaway, has approved conditions for release of
the fall guy. Nelson Rose says BetOnSports closing down won’t hinder the government’s prosecution. “It’s like robbing a bank and on the way out
changing your mind. You can’t give the money
back,”Rose said.
$1 MILLION VOUCHER WINNER
A 56-year-old hospital laundery worker has won a
$1 million grand prize in the NTRA’s “Mystery
Mutuel Voucher. The winner, Fred Holland of
Mounds View, MN, redeemed his voucher at Canterbury Park, where he does his betting. He is the
first million dollar winner in 12 promotions dating
back over six years.
HARNESS LOSES A GIANT
Don Fleming, one of Canada’s great harness racing writers with the Edmonton Journal and more
recently a beloved employee at HTA member
Northlands Park, has died at 86. HTA director
Les Butler, writing an eloquent tribute to Fleming,
had this to say, in part: “In the last few years he
had battled serious health issues and, when he
wasn’t at work his office sat empty and dark with
the door closed. It was never suggested that we
could or should replace him; or even that someone could fill in for him. When I was in the Race
Office and he was there it was comfortable and
joyous to see him; all was right with racing. It’s
past and present were connected and you could
retrieve any historical informaton simply by saying, “Hey Don, when was....? When his office was
empty and dark, as it is today, you knew then, as
we know today, that someone very precious and
irreplaceable was missing. “
$100,000 PLEDGE TO RMTC
In the most significant acknowledgment by far from
harness racing, the board of directors of the
Hambletonian Society, individually and collectively,
have pledged $100,000 to the Racing Medication
and Testing Consortium. Hambletonian Society
president and CEO Tom Charters has been a regular attendee at RMTC meeting, and obviously
played the lead role in getting his organization to
promise meaningful support to the research and
standardization group. Dr. Scot Waterman, executive director of the RMTC, said of the gift, “The
Hambletonian Society’s board’s leadership in helping the RMTC establish a permanent funding
stream will allow us to continue our progress toward uniform medication rules and to continue
funding scientific research that solves the
industry’s problems.” USTA and HTA have been
contributing smaller amounts to the RMTC, but
USTA president Phil Langley, commending the
Hambletonian Society, said USTA would be meeting shortly with Dr. Waterman and Frank Fabian
of Standardbred Investigative Services to discuss
funding mechanisms and where the money could
best be used. “At our fall Executive and Finance
Committee meetings this will be a priority on the
agendas,” Langley said.
VERNON QUALIFIERS, BUT......
They scheduled 11 qualifiers for 90 horses at
Vernon Downs this morning, the first held at the
track since more than a year go, but a meeting in
Schenectady, a lot of furlongs away, will have much
more to do with when the track opens for live racing. The New York State Racing and Wagering
Board, which under its old persona arbitrarily decided the Harness Horse Association of Central
New York represented a majority of horses at
Vernon, finally decided to step in and try to r e solve the issue. It was mediating today’s
meeting.
August 15, 2006
Hopefully the board can end the rancor and bitterness between the HHACNY’s attorney Joe
Faraldo and Vernon’s Jeff Gural, or at least modify
it to get a contract signed. If that is done, only
some construction renovations remain in the way
of the racing board issuing a license, and getting
harness racing reestablished in central New York.
DID SOMEONE SAY “ELECTION”?
There must be one close at hand, because New
York’s state comptroller Alan G. Hevesi is issuing
proclamations and recommendations again. As
usual, the New York press printed every word he
spoke, even though some of them were revealed
as flawed by the man he wrote to, and his objections seem not to have been overlooked by the
subject of his ire. Hevesi wrote to J. Patrick
Barrett, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on
the Future of Racing in New York, alleging that
the Request for Proposal issued by the committee
“fails to adequately address the recommendations
of Getnick and Getnick (remember them) the high
paid law firm hired to oversee earlier violations of
rules by NYRA. Hevesi wants a supplement issued to the RFP to make sure all tracks provide
safe, healthy and humane working environments
for employees. No argument with that. He also
wants assurances that rebate shops that get signals provide full disclosure, that drug testing
should be in place, that all thoroughbred tracks
should have monitoring barns, and on and on. A
Barrett spokesman, Scott Reif, noting that the
committee held four public meetings statewide
earlier this year, commented, “Sadly, Mr. Hevesi
couldn’t find the time to attend a single hearing or
even submit written testimony.” There wasn’t an
election pending then, Scott. Bennett Liebman of
Albany Law School, commenting on the committee report, said, “It’s hard to say they weren’t factoring ethics in their report, given it’s 20% of
the overall scoring.”
RCI, GLI FORM TEST ALLIANCE
Racing Commissioners International president Ed
Martin announced today that RCI had formed an
alliance with the nation’s largest independent testing lab for gaming systems -- Gaming Laboratories International of Lakewood, NJ -- to offer independent testing of pari-mutuel wagering systems to certify that they are secure and operating
as required. GLI services much of the Las Vegas
gaming industry, and its president and co-founder,
James R. Maida, said the company looked forward to working with racing to identify weaknesses
in the pari-mutuel system and recommend ways to
address them. Martin said, “Racing has never
been held to the integrity standard other forms of
gambling have been held to, and it has paid a hefty
price in terms of horrible publicity and suppressed
growth as a result. We believe we can help the
industry minimize its vulnerability to fraud by those
who would compromise the wagering system and
satisfy the needs of the wagering public, regulators and track operators. Rather than fight the
problem after it happens, would it not be better to
prevent if from happening in the first place?”
Asked if he envisioned the program as mandatory
or voluntary, in view of veiled licensing threats
when discussing security issues last winter, Martin said RCI and GLI “would work with anyone
who is interesting in having the work done.” He
said his first preference would be to see all components of the industry participate in the program,
but that he realized it would play out differently in
different jurisdictions.
August 16, 2006
Carruthers did not have a dedicated line, and the
Feds would not let him loose until he got one, so
they could monitor his movements. He got the
phone Monday, but it had some extras, like callwaiting, and the Feds said that would interfere with
their tracking efforts. By yesterday, the phone
company had removed only half the extra services.
They are expected to complete the job today, and
Carruthers is expected to make bail. See you in
St. Louie, David, or will call you on your dedicated
line.
OUT WITH THE MIDDLEMEN!
That’s suddenly the cry in Pennsylvania, and the
governor, Ed Rendell, says he’ll sign a bill getting
rid of the them if the legislature sends him one.
With conditions. There was no reason in the first
place, other than patronage or kickbacks, to have
middlemen buy slot machines from manufacturers
and sell them to tracks for their racinos. Rendell
agrees, but wants four other changes if he is to
sign the middlemen ouster. They are:
Public officials and their immediate families to be
“completely precluded” from owning up to 1% of
gambling operations, as they can now.
Violations of the gambling act to be subject to provisions of the state’s RICO rules.
The state Gaming Control Board to have exclusive power to regulate and control gaming, without local governments having veto power. Rendell
is willing to give “due consideration” to the concerns of local communities.
FREEDOM A PHONE CALL AWAY
Ready to make $1 million bail and settle in St. Louis
with his wife while awaiting trial, former
BetOnSports chairman David Carruthers
discovered that the phone company stood
in the way.
Banning immediate families of casino owners and
top officials, as well as the owners themselves, from
making contributions to state politicians. Approve
those, Rendell says, and the middlemen will be
out.
August 17, 2006
VERNON GETS A DEADLINE
SPA WAITS, SHOVEL IN HAND
It’s a little strange when an attorney for one side
in a dispute makes announcements for a racing
board, but strange things happen in New York. The
Utica Dispatch, reporting on a mediation session
held in Schenectady on a horseman’s contract at
Vernon Downs, reported that “a representative
from the state Racing and Wagering Board could
not be reached Wednesday,” so they turned to Joe
Faraldo and printed his report of the meeting. Joe
said the meeting ended about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
without an agreement, and then said that if there
is no agreement on a contract by 5 p.m. next
Wednesday Vernon Downs may not be allowed to
resume live racing this year. Vernon’s general
manager, Eric Persson, said, “We think we’re going to get it done. We’re anticipating an Aug. 30
start date. We are optimistic.” The racing board
meets Thursday, Aug. 26. Voice mail only there
today, so we’ll check with Joe to see what happens next week.
That’s Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, waiting not
only with shovel in hand, ready to break ground,
but with $12 to $15 million in the bank, waiting for
approval to expand its gaming and racing facility
on Nelson Avenue in Saratoga Springs, NY. The
city planning board is tentatively scheduled to meet
with the state Lottery Division next week to discuss the plans. The state has completed its environmental review, and if approved the project will
increase the racino’s VLTs to 1,724, add a 45,000square-foot addition to the racino with a two-story,
5,000-square-foot nightclub, and install a 300-seat
buffet restaurant. The city has been trying for
months to convince the Division of the Lottery that
Saratoga Springs has a vested interest, and that
issue apparently has delayed the Office of General Services from issuing permits.
FREEHOLD PLANS A PALACE
Freehold Raceway has asked the New Jersey
Racing Commission to approve a plush 759-seat
off-track betting facility in an empty supermarket
in Dover Township. Called “The Favorites at Toms
River,” the facility would be upscale, according to
Freehold Raceway president Don Codey, who told
the board, “It will be done in a first-class manner,” Codey said. “The interior will have granite,
marble, fine woods, rugs.” A number of prominent
New Jersey figures, including Assemblyman
Ronald S. Dancer, Assemblywoman Virginia E.
(Ginny) Haines, state Senator Andrew R. Ciesia,
former Dover police chief Richard Clement, and
New Jersey SBOA representative Leon
Zimmerman, spoke in favor of the Freehold plans.
The facility is projected to generate $40 million in
handle annually, with $2 million going to
purses at Freehold, Monmouth Park and
The Meadowlands.
NEW GM AT PRAIRIE MEADOWS
The board of directors of Prairie Meadows, in a
10-to-2 vote, has chosen Gary Palmer as the new
general manager of the track and racino. Palmer,
a veteran Prairie official who was second-in-command to Bob Farinella, won the job over four other
candidates from out-of-state with casino experience. Palmer is a former small business owner
from Altoona, where the track and racino are located, and was first hired at the track in 1998 after serving a term as a board member.
OTB TESTS GET OK IN ILLINOIS
The Illinois Racing Board has approved antibody
EPO tests, with any horses testing positive to be
placed on the steward’s list and excluded from racing until a clean test shows no presence of antibodies. The board also approved, at the request
of Hawthorne, Maywood and Balmoral Parks, licensing and regulation of off-track stabling facilities for harness horses. The runners already
were covered by a rule.
IT’S A GO FOR HIPPIQUES
Paul Massicotte’s Attractions Hippiques is set to
roll in the province of Quebec, where Massicotte
has promised a new day for harness racing. Attractions Hippique and the Societe nationale du
cheval de course, better known as SONACC,
signed an agreement yesterday for sale of
Quebec’s four tracks to Massicotte’s company.
With the agreement signed, the way is clear, once
racing licenses and permits are issued, for construction of a new Hippodrome de Montreal, once
known as Blue Bonnets to the harness racing fraternity, north of Montreal, and renovations and
upgrading of harness tracks in Quebec City, TroisRivieres and Aylmer, all purchased, with their OTB
Hippo Clubs, by Massicotte. Purses will be increased as soon as the licenses are granted, and
Massicotte, reasserting his belief in the future of
harness racing in Quebec, says he and his highly
professional team “will design high quality entertainment centers to complement horseracing activities, which will appeal to the general public.”
Florent Gagne, president of SONACC, said the
agreement signed yesterday covers not only transfer of assets, but also major commitments on purses
and other racing issues.
DEEP TROUBLE IN XANADU
The governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine, is no
stranger to high finance. He formerly was chairman of the Goldman Sachs investment banking
firm, so when he says he is “deeply troubled” by
the shaky status of the Mills Corporation, developer of the huge Xanadu entertainment and shopping complex at the Meadowlands, he commands
attention. Corzine spoke after the newsletter of a
financial analyst triggered a 20% plunge in Mills
stock yesterday, coming on the heels of a 30%
drop a week ago. The analyst, David Fick of Stifel
Nicolaus, is a former executive of Mills,
and he wrote to investors that Mills would
be “throwing money down a hole” if it goes
forward with Xanadu.
August 18, 2006
Adding insult to injury, he wrote that “We now believe that hole is deeper and wider than we anticipated.”
Mills claims it has “the capability of obtaining the
requisite debt and equity financing,” but the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a recent filing, said Mills acknowledged that it was uncertain
if it could obtain additional construction loans because of a lack of signed leases to use as collateral. Gov. Corzine said, “I am deeply troubled,
not by what I read in the newspapers, but by what
I understand about the financial picture of the Mills
Corporation. We are deeply involved in this and
will continue to be.” He said he believes in the
overall concept, but his predecessor, former governor and state senate president Richard Codey,
does not. He said he thought it might be time “to
take this project off the respirator.”
BOARD SAYS NO IN CALIFORNIA
The California Horse Racing Board yesterday said
no to tracks that had asked for uncoupled entries
as a solution to short fields. The board voted, 5-0,
against uncoupling entries of horses with common
ownership, and went a step farther by saying it
questions whether horses with the same trainer
should be allowed to run as separate wagering interests. Hollywood Park and Bay Meadows reported increases of 13 to 26% in an experiment
allowed by the board on uncoupled entries, but
board chairman Richard Shapiro said he was
troubled by public perception of the practice. “I
feel personally that it borders too close on the integrity of the game. If we did not have a shortage
of horses, I don’t think we would be having this
discussion. While no problem seems to have surfaced at this point, I’m troubled that we could be
playing with the integrity of horseracing. One
problem in the public’s mind is one too many.” New
board member John Amerman said he saw no
compelling reason to change.
August 21, 2006
FIRST THINGS FIRST? MAYBE
NOW HEAR THIS, MARYLAND
We weren’t able to make the Jockey Club Round
Table this year, but reports this morning on
yesterday’s Round Table indicate that concerns
about the future of racing in New York took precedence over those of national interest. Of the stories we have seen, only Matt Hegarty’s in Daily
Racing Form even mentioned the Equine Drug Research Institute in any depth, and some did not
mention it at all. The Institute, reported as now
up and running, has famed Dr. Don Catlin in some
leadership role, but that role and funding of the
Institute itself has been conducted in near secrecy
in the year since the idea was announced at last
year’s Round Table. Yesterday’s report on it,
which was presented by Rogers Beasley, the director of racing for the Keeneland Association, did
little to clarify the picture other than to say the $3
million startup goal had almost been reached.
Keeneland led the financing effort, presumably
with strong support from Ogden Phipps, a longtime proponent of better testing. Beasley reported
that the Institute is working with baseball, a pharmaceutical company, and others on projects. While
the Institute may have reached its financial goals,
the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium,
of which HTA and USTA are members, has not.
Executive Director Dr. Scot Waterman told the
Round Table that financial support generated to
date is not enough to sustain the Consortium’s
budget for 2007. The news reports of the Round
Table dwelt mainly on other matters, including the
political slugfest for the New York Racing Association franchise, synthetic tracks, and an agreement between the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and InCompass Solutions, a Jockey
Club subsidiary that will provide “information technology services” to the TRPB. Despite the lack
of coverage, Rogers Beasley had it right,
saying of drug testing, “There is simply
no more important issue in racing.”
Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. of Maryland, who
has fought a long and hard but unsuccessful battle
for slots at tracks in Maryland, says they will be
legalized next year if he is reelected. Speaking at
the Maryland Association of Counties annual convention, Ehrlich predicted that a school construction budget “that will create 21st century places
of learning with the resources to reach every student in the state and a funding source that will pay
for it (slots) will pass next year.” His nemesis and
bitter foe on slots, House Speaker Michael Busch,
was in the audience, and was quoted by the Baltimore Sun as saying, “Why do you need slots if
you have a $2.3 billion surplus?”
HASTINGS
BATTLE
WINS
A
SLOT
While Maryland is talking of future events,
Hastings Park seemingly has won its battle to get
600 slots. The British Columbia Supreme Court
has ruled that the rezoning of Hastings Park is legal, a decision that will allow for the slots. A determined opposition group, The Hastings Park Conservancy, claiming the parks board has jurisdiction over Hastings, says it will appeal the decision. The city of Hastings argues that Hastings
Park is not a permanent park and is under city
jurisdiction.
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS.....
The Newark Star-Ledger, with the Meadowlands
at its back door and New Jersey’s racing industry
and state green space ignored, yesterday gave
graciously generous space to a long harangue
claiming arguments for slots at the Meadowlands
are based “on assumptions that are incorrect.”
The long opinion letter sounds like an editorial,
until one gets to the last line, giving readers an
idea who authored the piece. It was written
by Joseph A. Corbo Jr., president of the Casino Assocation of New Jersey.
August 22, 2006
BETTING PROTOCOLRELEASED
ONE DOWN, ONE UP, SORT OF
Eight of the most powerful racing organizations in
North America announced today the release of Version 1.0 of their new Wagering Transmission Protocol, which is expected to transform communication of transactional detail betting information and
establish a “host in control” wagering environment.
The new protocol is owned jointly by Churchill
Downs; Magna Entertainment; the New Jersey
Sports and Exposition Authority; the New York
Racing Association; the Jockey Club; the National
Thoroughbred Racing Association; the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) on behalf of its
43 members; and Woodbine Entertainment Group.
The Wagering Transmission Protocol will be licensed for non-exclusive use at no charge in perpetuity for all companies participating in legal parimutuel wagering. The ownership group, along with
all North American-based totalizator companies,
collaborated on the creation and documentation
of WTP. Harness Tracks of America will be involved in the continued development and implementation of WTP, along with North American racing commissions through the Association of Racing Commissioners International, and the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau. Today’s announcement included a request for comments and
suggestions of Version 1.0 during the next five
weeks. Tracks wishing to do so should submit their
input in electronic text, with supporting documentation, to Wagering@ TRPB.com no later than
Sept. 30, for consideration at a WTP working session scheduled for mid-October. The WTP document can be located online at http://www.traonline.com under “Important Links” on the right
side of the page.
Two interesting developments on the penalty front.
The sport’s hottest trotting trainer, Trond
Smedshammer, has been suspended for 30 days
for a driving infraction in the Hambletonian.
Smedshammer, driving Here Comes Herbie, was
set down for bearing out and allowing another trotter trained by him, Blue Mac Lad,
“to needlessly pass on the inside, which constitutes what is properly known as helping.” The suspension notice also included a note that
Smedshammer “failed to maintain reasonable control” of his horse at the top of the stretch, driving
in a careless manner.” The penalty notice said in
the judges’ opinion Smedshammer’s actions affected the outcome of the finish of the
Hambletonian. His suspension comes while the
Meadowlands is dark and ends as the Grand Circuit meeting at the Red Mile gets underway in late
September. He could, of course, be grounded elsewhere during the penalty period by reciprocal action.
HTA CATALOGUES MAILED
HTA’s 40-page full color art catalogues
have been mailed to all member tracks.
Additional copies are available from HTA.
Ken Rucker was back in the news, as his horse
Highland Pride A, which got him barred at the
Meadowlands with elevated titers of EPO antibodies, passed retesting and was removed from the
stewards’ list in New Jersey. That action does not
affect the ban on Rucker racing at the Meadowlands, which still stands while Illinois decides what
it plans to do about positive tests on Rucker horses
there.
ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW....
About who stands to become a millionaire in Pennsylvania when slots licenses are granted. The
state’s Gaming Control Board released the names
of the 1,200 companies and individuals bidding for
licenses, including the shareholders in the 22 companies in the hunt. A revealing list, including
some big names who will become bigger if
they are winners.
August 23, 2006
A MIRACLE IN XANADU
A GOOD IDEA, 28 YEARS LATE
What a difference a week makes. Last week the
governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine, and officials
at the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, were looking at disaster, with the Mills Corporation, developer of the huge Xanadu project at
the Meadowlands, in financial trouble. There is a
Santa Claus, Virginia, and he slid down the chimney with $500 million to keep the project on track,
no pun intended. The savior is Thomas J. Barrack
Jr., a 59-year-old former international finance lawyer who turned to real estate development and has
established a worldwide reputation as a daring and
savvy investor, a specialist in extremely complex
real estate deals. Two years ago he and his company, Colony Capital, stepped in and saved the
Fukuoka Dome, referred to as the Yankee Stadium
of Japan, when it was in serious trouble. Now he
is bailing out Mills on Xanadu, and there is a bright
glow around the entire ambitious project once
again. Barry Vinocur, the editor of an online real
estate newsletter called REIT Wrap, wrote, “Governor Corzine must be feeling like somebody just
delivered a huge Excedrin pill to his office. Last
week, you couldn’t imagine how the project could
go forward.” Carl Goldberg, chairman of the
NJSEA, said, “This creates a new sense of excitement for prospective tenants who now know,
without ambiguity, that the project will be completed. Colony is an extraordinarily capable real
estate investor.” Morningstar financial analyst
Ryan Dobratz concurred, saying, “It seems likely
more retailers will flock to this location now that
this seems quite viable.” Under the arrangement,
Mills becomes a minority partner in the project.
At least one New Jersey power, former governor
and now Senator Richard J. Codey, a longtime
Mills critic, has a want list for Colony. Codey says
he would like an indoor ski slope, a Formula One
racing attraction, and a minor league park
at Xanadu.
In another example that patience is a virtue, and
that good things come to those who wait, ESPN
has adopted an idea first put forth 28 years ago by
the super promoter Bill King of Louisville, the father of Louisville Downs and the discoverer of
Cassius Clay, better known after leaving Louisville as Muhammad Ali.
In 1978 King, who had strong contacts with CBS
television, gave them the idea that a horse race
was a perfect sports vehicle for halftime of a football game. He just happened to have a race for
them, the Kentucky Pacing Derby, at the time the
richest race in the sport for 2-year-old pacers. The
deal was struck, but by the time the race came
around a series of events, including one of the longest last 2-minutes of a first half ever, and a change
of command at CBS, resulted in just the race call,
with no time for commentary.
Now ESPN has announced it likes the idea, and
will enable viewers of the 2007 Breeders Cup
Stakes to switch from ESPN’s Monday Night Football game to ESPN2 to watch the race from the
Meadowlands at halftime.
You were way ahead of your time, Bill King.
HERVE WHO?
Many in today’s generation of harness racing fans
are too young to remember the glory days of Herve
Filion, who has won more harness races -- 15,154 - than any North American driver. He was the John
Campbell of his heyday, a spectacular driver. He
is not, however, the world’s leader in victories.
Germany’s Heinz Wewering, who won his first race
in 1965, won his 16,000th race Tuesday at Tor di
Valle near Rome. Wewering has abandoned Germany for the abundantly richer purses of Italy.
August 24, 2006
VERNON SIGNS, GETS DATES
DECKER SAYS NO TO SOLONS
Vernon Downs and the Harness Horse Association of Central New York reached an agreement
on a horsemen’s contract last night, and the New
York Racing and Wagering Board reportedly approved a 30-day license this morning, enabling the
track to resume live racing starting Aug. 31. The
horsemen’s contract reportedly is a three-year
package that includes a percentage agreement on
earnings from VLTs at Vernon’s racino. The Utica
Dispatch, reporting on negotiations yesterday, said
a representative of the Racing and Wagering Board
was not available. An official racing board release
on licensing conditions, promised three hours ago,
had not been received at press time.
Tad Decker, chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, has taken some heat in the past
for foot-dragging on getting slots underway in the
Keystone state. Whether stung by the criticism
or simply deciding this game had gone on long
enough, he now has denied legislators’ requests
for further delay in issuing slots licenses, and said
they would be issued on Sept. 27, as scheduled,
for racinos, and on Dec. 20 for non-track and resort hotel casinos. Several Republican legislators
had asked Decker not to issue any license until
Oct. 30 at the earliest, so that the legislature would
have time to amend the slot law, now two years
old, when it returns to work in late September.
Decker and fellow Gaming Control Board member Jeffrey Coy told a news conference yesterday
that homeowners and horse owners have waited
long enough for financial benefits from the slots,
and said the legislature “still has ample time” to
amend the law this fall. The Sept. 27 licenses will
be conditional, or temporary, for only 18 months,
but Decker plans to make them permanent for
racetracks on Dec. 20. Hearings on the track
racino licenses will be held in Harrisburg Sept. 1112, with applicants questioned on character, financial and operational capabilities, positive and negative impact on their communities, minority and female hiring plans, and addiction-help programs.
OHIO TO USE NEW EPO TEST
The Ohio Racing Commission, following closely
on the path blazed by the Ontario Racing Commission, announced yesterday it will send suspicious EPO samples to the Pennsylvania Equine
Toxicology and Research Laboratory in West
Chester, PA, which recently developed a new test
that confirms actual presence of EPO, rather than
antibodies to the drug. To our knowledge Ohio is
the first U.S. jurisdiction to utilize the new test. In
addition, the commission approved the purchase
of seven blood gas radiometers to allow for prerace milkshake testing, rather than post race, thus
enabling the scratching of horses with high readings before they race, rather than after. The new
equipment will allow pre-race testing for amplified
total carbon dioxide levels at all Ohio tracks, four
harness and three thoroughbred. Commission
deputy director John Izzo said of that development,
“Now if a horse exceeds the 37 millimoles of TCO2
per liter of blood, he can be removed from the race,
as opposed to discovering the problem after the
race has been run. The board wants protect the integrity of Ohio racing.”
NEW CHALLENGE TO OHIO
PLAN
Ohio’s secretary of state, Ken Blackwell, is determined to throw roadblocks in the way of the Learn
and Earn slot initiative. Blackwell now says “miscounts” in the group’s gathering and submission
of 624,625 signatures endorsing the idea could
threaten having the issue on the November ballot.
A number of county election boards are challenging the validity of the signatures, with Summit
and Cuyahoga counties reporting as low as 4
of 10 valid.
August 25, 2006
THE DEAL AT VERNON DOWNS
PATTI HOGAN GOES BIGTIME
Here are details of the terms and conditions under which HTA member Vernon Downs will reopen
next Thursday, August 31, after signing a contract
with the Harness Horse Association of Central
New York.
Dr. Patricia Hogan, known to the thoroughbred
world as the brilliant equine surgeon who saved
Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, but better known
in the standardbred world as the beauteous wife
of harness trainer Eddie Lohmeyer, is moving to
lofty new heights. Currently chief surgeon at the
New Jersey Equine Clinic in Clarksburg, she will
be co-owner and chief surgeon at a new, 11,700square-foot, $7 million equine clinic near Belmont
Park and Aqueduct in New York. Oddly, despite
their prominence in the thoroughbred world, the
New York Racing Association tracks have had no
nearby major equine clinics, the closest being the
University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center,
the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY, and a clinic at Cornell University in Ithaca,
NY. The new facility, which will include bone scans,
treadmills and a surgical suite with state-of-theart technology for diagnostic treatment of most
conditions affecting racehorses, including of
course trotters and pacers, will be built on property purchased in the last year by IEAH Holdings,
founded by Michael Iavaroane and operated by
Richard Schiavo. IEAH became affiliated with top
veterinarian Dr. James Hunt, who will manage the
facility, be its head veterinarian, and will co-own
it with Dr. Hogan. Hunt, widely respected in New
York, said of the project, “As long as my management abilities are up to it, and Dr. Hogan’s hands
stay as good as they are now, we’ll be able to provide really top notch diagnostic and surgical services. In true ecumenical spirit, harness racing is
happy to share Dr. Hogan with the runners.
The track will conduct a 30-day live meeting.
It will conduct meetings of at least 90 days in 2007
and 2008 with live racing three days a week.
It will give horsemen 8.25% of video lottery terminal revenue in purses on the first $50 million
earned and 7.5% of the next $100 million each
year. All purse money will be maintained in a secure, segregated purse account, with an accounting provided every two weeks.
There will be a purse account of approximately
$1.2 million this year.
Improvements will be made in the stable area.
A race accident insurance policy covering up to
$100,000 a person will be provided.
Eric Persson, Vernon’s new general manager,
called the reopening announcement “the real deal,”
and Vernon’s 800 slots are expected to open by
the end of October. He expects the track will hire
some 50 new employees. The owner of the
Coachway Motel in Vernon, Scott Bellinger, said
of that development, “People are going to be able
to play and drink, and they can’t do that at Turning Stone,” the Indian casino just five miles from
Vernon, where alcohol is not allowed.
In another impending opening, Harrah’s Chester
Casino and Racetrack will host its first
equine performer Monday when the pacer
Bobnoxious gives Chester’s new 5/8ths
mile track its first harness workout.
BROWN, HEBERT IN CAN. HALL
Trainer-drivers Doug Brown and Jacques Hebert
and pacers Armbro Emerson, Armbro Feather, As
Promised and Run the Table were inducted into
the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame last
night.
SCORE 1 FOR THE GOOD GUYS
In a well-written, well-reasoned and well-timed response to an Aug. 20 anti-racing piece in the Newark Star-Ledger by the president of the Casino
Association of New Jersey, legislative lobbyist and
PR consultant Leon Zimmerman stated harness
racing’s case logically, succinctly and successfully
today. The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest
newspaper, gave Zimmerman’s piece exceptional
play, spreading it — with an excellent harness racing action picture — across five columns. The earlier casino letter had warned that placing 5,000
video slots at the Meadowlands would threaten
the future of Atlantic City and its casino.
Zimmerman, a newspaperman for 17 years before
taking his present job with the Standardbred
Breeders and Owners of New Jersey, destroyed
the specious casino argument, pointing out that “It
is mind-boggling, if not disingenuous, for the casino industry to oppose slots at the Meadowlands
as more of a threat to its development in Atlantic
City than the slot machines at a new racetrack in
Chester, PA, on the Delaware River, just outside
of Philadelphia, or in Yonkers, NY, 12 minutes from
the George Washington Bridge.” He acknowledged
state subsidy support for racing, which expires next
year, and noted
that “every discussion (of slots at the Meadowlands) by the horse racing industry has always
called for a partnership with the Atlantic City casinos so that they would realize a profit, not face
competition.” Zimmerman quoted state Agricultural Department figures showing that New Jersey has more than 15,000 racehorses valued at
more than $365 million, and some 81,000 equine
acres valued at $2.5 billion with labor earning $111
million a year. He noted millions of dollars in tax
revenue from the purchase of supplies, equipment,
feed, and farm construction,
and the preservation of thousands of acres
of green space. A superb model for others, now on HTA’s Web site.
August 28, 2006
HARNESS LOSS IN LEX CRASH
Lyle Anderson, 55-year-old owner of Blue Ridge
Farm of Ottawa, Ontario, who campaigned the trotting filly Ally Hall, a $384,000 Ontario stakes winner, and the $626,000 winning trotter Beardmore,
was among the 49 victims of the Delta plane crash
in Lexington, KY, Sunday morning. The Harness
Edge reported that Anderson was heading home
after watching his 2-year-old trotting filly Queen
Charlotte race in a Kentucky Sires Stake at the
Red Mile last Thursday. Also killed in the crash
was Christina Anderson, 39, the estranged wife of
wellknown owner and breeder David Anderson, and
daughter-in-law of major owner Bob Anderson. Ms.
Anderson leaves two daughters, 3 and 4 years old.
Two thoroughbred breeders, Dan Mallory and
George Brunacini, and thoroughbred trainer Jeff
Williams, also died in the crash. The plane crashed
near the Versailles Road farm home of Joe Morris, president of purchasing for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, who handles the
HTA-USTA Member Perks program. Morris said
he was awakened Sunday morning by a noise and
accompanying tremor that shook the house. He
was quoted in the Louisville Courier- Journal as
saying, “At first I thought it was
thunder. Then I thought it might have been an
earthquake.” Joe travels constantly in his NTRA
duties, and said he had flown Comair’s flight 5191
perhaps 50 times heading to Atlanta.
RAVES FOR WEG POLYTRACK
Woodbine Entertainment Group raised the curtain
on its new synthetic thoroughbred track yesterday morning, to rave reviews. Hundreds of runners walked, jogged and galloped over the surface,
and trainers were unanimous in their praise. The
track’s leading rider, Emma-Jayne Wilson, called
it “phenomenal and amazingly consistent.” Trainer
Kevin Attard
said he thought it would help older horses in
particular.
August 29, 2006
NO SIMULCAST FOR ERNESTO
LOU PENA PITCHES A WINNER
HTA member Pompano Park, again in the path of
a tropical storm, is closed for simulcasting and will
remain closed tomorrow. Senior director of racing
operations Steve Wolf expects to reopen at noon
Thursday for simulcasting, with hopes that Ernie
will be gone for the opening of the new session of
live racing scheduled for Friday.
Lou Pena, a perennial driving leader at HTA
member Cal-Expo, scores one for the good guys
tonight in Sacramento, but not at the track. Lou
will toss the ceremonial first pitch in Sacramento’s
Raley Field as the Sacramento River Cats, a Pacific Coast League AAA affiliate of the Oakland
Athletics, take on the Tucson Sidewinders, an AAA
affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Pena, however, will not make the usual walk from the
centerfield bullpen to the mound. He will drive
there, in a sulky behind his
trotter Phipps, a $118,000 winner he owns with
Wade Miller. The horse suffers from EPM —
equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, a form of
equine epilepsy, and Pena and Miller have pledged
to donate his race earnings during the California
State Fair meeting to the Bronte Epilepsy Research Foundation based at UC Davis. After circling the field, Phipps will get to rest until tomorrow night, when he races in the seventh race at
Cal-Expo.
Farther north, heavy rain was expected for today’s
public “sneak preview” of the newly refurbished
track, Vernon Downs. Doug Tudman, regional director of marketing for Vernon Downs and its sister track Tioga Downs, invited the public to “come
on by and bring your umbrella.” Vernon was scheduled to hold full scale qualifiers today, with an announcer, and will host its first racing card in more
than two years Thursday, with a 6:50 post time.
The track’s racino is scheduled to open in October.
In Chester, PA, just south of Philadelphia, former
Pennsylvania harness racing commissioner (and
trainer and owner) Ed Rogers, became the first to
jog a horse over Chester’s brand new track, with
its $11 million clubhouse turn. Rogers ogged the
$593,175 winner Corporate Rrraider, USTA director and trainer Sam Beegle, who sent both Corporate Rrraider and the $768,813 winner Bobnoxious
over the five-eighths mile track, praised the strip,
along with Tim Curtin, who drove Bobnoxious.
Chester opens Sept. 18.
HARRINGTON PURSES UP 10%
HTA member Harrington Raceway will boost its
purses by 10% across the board, starting Sunday.
The increase is expected to kick Harrington’s daily
purse distribution — roughly $10,000 a program
in its pre-slots days — to $145,000. Harrington is
in the third week of its meeting, and will continue
racing with the new purse distribution for another
two months.
DIRT-Y DIFFERENCES IN IOWA
QUIZ: HOW MUCH DO THEY GET
HTA member Prairie Meadows Racetrack and
Casino and its harness horsemen are in a dispute
over the track’s racing surface. The track wants
to compress the thoroughbred dirt rather than remove it down to its limestone base. Prairie s e nior VP says the track can save $300,000.
Horsemen’s president Ronald Grinell calls
compaction “totally unacceptable.”
Betfair, the British betting exchange, is paying
Horse Racing Ireland 10% of its profits on Irish
horse racing, guaranteeing the Irish at least $1.28
million annually. It also will pay an undisclosed
retroactive amount covering 2003 to 2006 racing.
Given this, would anyone like to guess what
Betfair’s take is for the year in question?
August 30, 2006
NYRA RACE DOWN TO FOUR
BAL-CAL MARCHES ON
The frantic race for the hundreds of millions or
billions that will go with a NYRA franchise with
slots in New York narrowed to four yesterday, with
some heavyweights dropping out and the four remaining mustering the strongest political allies
they can find.
The Bal-Cal Pick 4 Challenge, combining two races
from HTA member Cal-Expo and two from
Balmoral Park in Illinois, with a $25,000 guaranteed pool, continues as an interesting betting proposition. The $1 bet has produced $19,000 and
$18,000 payoffs in the last seven weeks. Last
week’s winning combination, combining a $68 winner and odds-on favorite at Balmoral with a $7.20
and $8.60 pair at Cal-Expo, was worth $3,231, well
above a $1 parlay on the four.
Gone from the chase are MGM Grand of Las
Vegas; five New York regional OTBs; Monticello
Raceway Management; TVG as ODS Technologies; LRW Development of Las Vegas; and WNY
Gaming Associates.
Remaining, and drawing up heavy guns and battle
lines, are:
Empire Racing Associates, which includes
Churchill Downs, Delaware North, Magna Entertainment, Scientific Games, Woodbine Entertainment, and SL Green Realty corporation, along with
an exclusive endorsement from the New York
Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
Excelsior Racing, with George Steinbrenner’s sonin-law Steve Swindal at the helm, and Billy
Johnston; former Donald Trump associate Richard Fields; and Tishman Speyer Properties involved.
Capital Play Pty Limited, an Australian bookmaking company.
The New York Racing Association itself, current
holder of the franchise and the only one of the four
interested in running the $2.7 billion annual operation as a non-profit venture.
As they used to say in the Roman Coliseum -- and
I remember it well -- “Let the games begin.”
In Australia, meanwhile, more experimentation
with new bets. Customers at Victoria’s TAB (OTB)
outlets have experimented with wagering experiments called Flex Betting, First 4 and a new “mystery bet” known as 3up, all offered on telephone
account betting, the Internet and on-course.
In Flex Betting, you decide how much you wish to
invest. Whatever the amount, that is the total cost
of the bet. After the bet is processed, the TAB
calculates the percentage of the bet that was wagered, basing that percentage on what the same
bet would have cost regularly. A $15 five-horse
box trifecta, normally a $60 bet on a $1 basis, that
paid $200 would return you 25% of that amount,
or $50.
The First 4, as the name implies, requires you to
select the first four finishers in exact order. It will
jackpot if not won, adding up to major payouts.
The 3up offers a Win, Exacta and Trifecta for one
$3 bet. The computer selects three numbers and
bets $1 on the win of one runner, a $1 exacta on
the first selected runner and one other, and a $1
trifecta with the first two selections and one other
runner. You can win once, twice or three times with
this unique bet.
WE MADE IT! VERNON REOPENS
There were a number of times, in the last two
years, when secret and overt HTA office pools were
being conducted as to whether the editor would
live long enough to see HTA member Vernon
Downs racing again. If we make it another 8 hours
the answer will be yes, and those voting or wishing
otherwise will be disappointed losers.
Persistence on the part of Jeff Gural and his associates, against an array of obstructionists and illwishers, pays off at long last. The track has been
resurfaced, interior refurbishing and improvements
made, and purses expected to rocket upwards after VLTs are installed and become operational in
late October or early November. The track’s
schedule for this inaugural new season calls for 11
nights of racing in September, 10 in October, and
8 in November, with a Nov. 25 closing of live racing but optimism reigning for next year.
IN OHIO, 10 DAYS, 8,716 NAMES
Ohio’s Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, who
would just as soon see no slots in the state, has
announced that the Learn and Earn initiative is
8,716 valid signatures short of getting its constitutional amendment on the November ballot, and has
only 10 calendar days to remedy the shortfall.
Although Learn and Earn had submitted 624,625
signatures to meet the required 322,899, enough
were invalidated to create the shortfall. It did meet
the requirement for counties. Linda Siefkas, a
spokeswoman for Learn and Earn, said the group
expects to have at least 50,000 new signatures for
consideration by the deadline, and added, “We’re
100% sure that Learn and Earn will be on the ballot this fall.” The track-backed initiative is tied to
college scholarship support for high ranking Ohio
high school students.
August 31, 2006
19K TRIBAL SLOTS, NO TRACKS
The Terminator has flexed his muscles again, and
a number of California’s Indian tribes are swooning. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached
agreement with four tribes that could provide them
with an additional 19,500 slots, more than doubling
their present 2,000 each. The increases will range
from 3,000 to 5,500 a tribe, and the tribes in turn
will pay a larger share of their profits to the state.
California tribes do not have to disclose profits,
but the Los Angeles Times estimates they total
some $6 billion a year. Arnold’s agreement still
must be ratified by the state legislature. Somewhere in its files are proposals for 13,000 slots at
tracks, but no one in Sacramento, except the operators of HTA member Cal-Expo, seem inclined
to do anything about such bills.
THEN THERE IS KENNY T.
This story is still bubbling without full details, but
the Washington Post’s Paul Farhi, writing about
Karl Rove’s buddy Kenneth Y. Tomlinson and his
alleged improper hiring, paying and collecting,
wound up his story with this: “The most sensational complaint against Tomlinson might be that
he used government resources to support his stable
of thoroughbred racehorses, potentially violating
federal embezzlement laws.” Tomlinson raises
thoroughbreds at his Springbrook Farm, near
Middleburg, VA. We’re waiting for his commendation, along the lines of “You’re doing a heckuva
job, Kenny.”
TWO VERY CLASSY GUIDES
Two handsome media guides from HTA tracks have
crossed our desk in recent days. Prairie Meadows has produced a spectacularly striking full color
book, a stunning 74-page winner, covering both its
running and harness meetings. The Little Brown
Jug has an ultra comprehensive guide on that
classic, with 108 pages of photos, statistics
and information.
September 1, 2006
BIG RACING WEEKEND AHEAD
MAGNA NOW OWNS AMTOTE
Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer,
the beginning of fall, back to school, and, in harness racing, big doings. Here are a few at HTA
member tracks:
AmTote International now is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Magna Entertainment Maryland.
Magna had acquired a 30% interest in AmTote
in August of 2003 for $3.8 million, and paid $13.6
million for the remaining 70%, with a 10% holdback to be released on a satisfactory audited balance sheet. Magna chairman Frank Stronach
called the acquisition “a unique opportunity” and
Joe DeFrancis, executive vice president of MEC,
said Magna feels AmTote is at a key point in its
history and can contribute to the racing
industry’s future potential. Steve Keech has been
named president of AmTote under the new regime, with CEO John C. Corckran Jr. and his
family bowing out of the picture after the transition. The company headquarters will remain in
Hunt Valley, MD. AmTote began in 1930 when
founder Harry Straus installed part of his new
system at Pimlico. He installed the first complete
system three years later at Arlington Park, and
today AmTote services more than 70 North
American racetracks and other betting entities.
At Mohawk Raceway, they are giving away the
Canadian mint this weekend. The Metro pace,
richest race in the sport for 2-year-old pacers,
carries a purse of almost $905,000 U.S. dollars,
and a $90,000 consolation. The $682,000 She’s a
Great Lady for 2-year-old pacing fillies will be
raced. There are two $50,000 eliminations for
next week’s $800,000 Maple Leaf Trot for the best
trotters in North America. On Sunday there are
two $115,000 Simcoes for 3-year-old pacing fillies, three $95,000 Champlains for 2-year-old
trotters, a $118,000 Ontario Sire Stakes for 3year-old colt pacers, and three more Champlains
Monday.
At Freehold Raceway, on Labor Day, the
$301,587 Cane Pace, first leg of the Triple Crown
for 3-year-olds; the $126,000 Battle of Freehold
for 2-year-old colts; and two $79,000 divisions
of the Shady Daisy for pacing fillies.
At Hippodrome de Montreal, four $90,000 Coupe
de l’Avenirs for 2-year-olds and four $118,000
for 3-year-olds.
At The Meadows, a bevy of $100,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes.
At Georgian Downs, a $118,000 Ontario Sire
Stakes Gold final for 3-year-old colt trotters.
Northfield Park, Indiana Downs, the Red Mile,
Flamboro and Rockingham all have features of
$50,000 or more, and in far southern Illinois non-member Duquoin offers the
$530,000 two-heat World Trotting Derby
and a $200,000 filly division tomorrow afternoon.
INDIANS LOSE A CAL BATTLE
In what came as a surprise to some who understand the huge influence and clout of native Indian tribes in California, the state’s legislature
yesterday, in another rebuff to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, refused to approve his deal to
increase slots at five powerful tribal casinos. The
legislature voted on only one of the five proposals, which would have paid California more than
$22 billion over the next 25 years, and then adjourned without considering the others.
Schwarzenegger had negotiated the contracts
personally, offering the five tribes an additional
22,500 slots in return for the increased payments
to the state, but the legislature refused to go along.
Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez, who led
the opposition, said Democrats were
“pretty irritated” that the compacts were
submitted so late in the session.
WOW! TALK ABOUT COVERAGE
If this is any indication of coverage to come,
Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack is in
very good shape. The Delaware County Daily
Times sports section devoted three full pages, lavishly illustrated, to the impending opening of the
new track and racino. And that’s two weeks before opening. The full front page showed a pacer
in action, with the headline “Here They Come.”
The second full page, with a picture of a horse
entering the track and a bylined article by
Millard S. Beatty III, was headed, “A new game
in town for harness fans.” And the third entire
page, with Beatty’s story continued and another
three column picture of a horse in crossties,
rounded out the score. Now for the Inquirer.
SLOTS DEAD IN CAL, FOR NOW
The California legislature ended its 2006 session
last week, without action on a bill introduced by
the Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Leland Yee for
slots at tracks. The Senate had earlier pulled it
from consideration, and the Assembly backed
away when the Indian gaming issue heated up
and the legislature refused to endorse Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s compacts with five
tribes. Yee is from San Francisco, and had hoped
to block destruction of Bay Meadows in San
Mateo.
STEM CELLS FOR HORSES?
An interesting experiment in Alberta, where a
veterinarian at the Alberta Equine Hospital south
of Calgary is conducting research in stem cell
treatment of horses’ injuries. No embryos are
involved. The vet, Dr. Andy Guccione, harvests
stem cells from a horse’s rump fat, near the tail,
then sends them to Vet-Stem Inc. in San Diego,
California. That company distills the cells, sending them back to Guccione, who injects the
material into the injured horse. The turnaround process must be completed within
two days.
September 5, 2006
Guccione then injects the material in the injured
part. If a knee tendon is injured, the stem cells
are injected there. Guccione says it will be a
month before he will see any conclusive regenerative results and know if the treatment works, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.
MAKE RESERVATIONS NOW!
Two events of compelling interest to all member
tracks coming up shortly.
The 14th annual TRA-HTA-AQHR International Simulcasting Conference is scheduled for
Oct. 16-18 at the Sheraton Society Hill in Philadelphia. The conference gets underway Monday
morning, Oct. 16, with the popular Simulcasting
101 scheduled from 10:30 to noon, following a
2020 committee meeting. The afternoon session
begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday sessions will run from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday’s from 9 to 11:30
a.m. Simulcast award entries must be received
in DVD preferred format by this Friday, Sept. 8,
with six copies submitted to Simulcast Award
Entry, TRA, 420 Fair Hill Drive, Suite 1, Elkton,
MD 21921-2573. Hotel reservations should be
made directly to the Sheraton, $159 single or
double. Call 215-238-6000 and ask for the International Simulcast Block. Cab fare from the airport is $20, USA limos $8 a person each way, at
1-800-872-6070.
HTA’s 9th annual Security Directors Conference
will be held Oct. 18-20 at Saratoga Gaming and
Raceway and the Holiday Inn in Saratoga
Springs, NY. The special room rate is $95.95 a
night, single or double, for Wednesday and
Thursday evenings, with reservations to be made
through the Standardbred Investigative Service
offices by Oct. 2. The phone number is 410-3922287, fax 410-398-1499, e-mail sisinfo@ trpb.com.
A $40 fee per attendee must accompany registration, which includes receptions and two
meals on Thursday.
September 6, 2006
MORE ON INDIANA PENALTIES
DUCHOSSOIS PULLS TRIGGER
More details on the hammer dropped on three
trainers and an owner whose horses turned up
positive at Hoosier Park’s spring meeting for
dexamethasone, a potent, quick-acting corticosteroid. In each case, Indiana’s testing laboratory, Truesdail, said the concentration level of the
drug with blood indicated in the horses’ blood
indicated that it had been administered within
24 hours of racing. Indiana’s racing rules prohibit the presence of any foreign substance, other
than furosemide, during that time.
The balance of power in Chicago thoroughbred
racing took a wide swing yesterday, when Arlington Park owner Dick Duchossois fired a second - and perhaps fatal -- salvo at the Bidwill family’s
National Jockey Club. The first blast came in
July when Duchossois bought a reported $28 million NJC loan from the Harris Bank. Yesterday
he called it in, demanding payment from his competitor, which lost Sportsman’s Park and now
races its meetings at Hawthorne. With date allocation hearings of the Illinois Racing Board just
two weeks away, National Jockey Club president
Charles Bidwill III is in a very precarious position. Duchossois confirmed to Chicago newspapers that he was demanding payment, telling the
Sun-Times, “The note is due and payable and
there’s no visible means of paying it, and if this
thing keeps going they’re not going to have any
money for a meet. The only way that can be
stopped is if we call the note. We’re saying we
want our payment.” Charles Bidwill said, “I’m
not done yet. I’m speaking with my lawyers.
That’s why there are the courts.” If the NJC
does not get the Feb. 23-May 4 dates it is seeking, Hawthorne’s Tim Carey presumably would
like them. Neil Milbert, the Chicago Tribune’s
racing writer, speculated that it was “unlikely
Duchossois will make a pitch to add the February through April dates to Arlington’s May 4September 30 date request. Instead, he is expected to ask the board to shorten the Chicago
thoroughbred schedule and give Arlington more
down-time revenue from simulcasts of out-ofstate races so that he can increase purses significantly at his meeting and thereby upgrade the
quality of racing.”
Indiana’s rules also specify a maximum penalty
of $1,000 and suspension for two months by its
judges, but the commission, through its executive director, can assess greater fines and penalties, up to $5,000 for each separate violation. One
of the horsemen -- owner-trainer-driver Mark
P’Pool -- had 10 horses test positive for
dexamethsone on 11 occasions during Hoosier’s
meeting, and executive director Joe Gorajec
threw the book at him. He ordered P’Pool to be
suspended for six years, and fined $30,000.
In the case of trainer Leo Banks, who had three
dexamethasone violations in May, Gorajec ordered a two-year suspension and $10,000 fine,
and gave the same penalty to the owner of the
three horses involved, who also participated in
their training. The fourth trainer, Craig
Conrachione, also had three horses test positive,
and he received the same $10,000 fine and twoyear suspension as Banks and Bush.
Gorajec, a graduate of the Race Track Industry
Program of the University of Arizona, has been
executive director of the Indiana commission for
16 years, and has been a consistent and determined foe of illegal medication. He wrote
stiff new security rules for the state last
winter.
LEARN & EARN TRIES AGAIN
Ohio’s tracks have submitted another 43,879 signatures for a November referendum on slots,
hoping to pick up the 8,176 valid names it
needs to get on the ballot.
September 7, 2006
NO SLAUGHTER BILL PASSES
ANOTHER HOMELAND THREAT
The House of Representatives, at 3:01 this afternoon, passed H.R. 503, the bill to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption that could
close three slaughter houses in the United States.
We do not have a vote tally or details at press
time, but the bill survived a setback that arose
yesterday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its opposition. The USDA’s Mike
Johanns said he felt there was a significant chance
that the bill, if passed, “could result in a reduction
in the humane treatment of horses.” The Senate
has not taken action on the issue as yet.
Forbes.com reports that the English betting company Sportingbet PLC said that Peter Dicks, the
company’s non-executive chairman “was detained
in the early hours of this morning whilst visiting
the US on non-Sportingbet business.” A statement
from the company said a hearing for Dicks was
scheduled for today and that “pending clarification of the situation the Board has sought immediate temporary suspension of Sportingbet’s shares.”
MORE DISSENTION IN ILLINOIS
If you like sure things, and who doesn’t, just keep
betting that Illinois will be the last state to have
peace and harmony in racing. The latest dispute
has the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association pulling the Arlington Park signal from TVG,
hoping to get the upcoming Hawthorne running
meet on Youbet.com. The issue is complex. As reported by BloodHorse.com, the thoroughbred
horsemen denied the Arlington signal in an attempt
to force negotiations between TVG, with whom
Hawthorne has an exclusive agreement, and
Youbet.com, which must pay TVG a licensing fee
to carry the signal. Youbet.com does not plan to
carry the fall meet from Hawthorne. Joseph
Kasperski, president of the Illinois THA, told
Blood-Horse, “This is happening because of a dispute TVG is having with Youbet. This will impact
our thoroughbred purse account at Hawthorne.
There is litigation ongoing concerning Hawthorne
signing the exclusivity contract with TVG without
our consent. We allowed the signal to go to TVG
during the spring meet, but we haven’t any simulcast contracts for the fall meet, and based on what
we know, we would not give them exclusivity for
the signal.” On and on.
SEMANTICS REAR UGLY HEAD
There was some interesting banter in the Legislative Council’s Rules and Regulations Committee
in Arkansas yesterday, as the members debated
the issue of allowing “electronic games of skill” at
the state’s two pari-mutuel tracks, Oaklawn Park
and Southland Park, a greyhound track. The state
racing commission on Aug. 1 approved the rules
for the two tracks to have up to 1,000 of the games,
and the legislative committee was voting on the
matter. A state senator, Kim Hendren, asked racing commission manager Shelby McCook if the
new rules would allow him to play a slot machine.
According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, this
dialogue followed: McCook said, “They are not
called slot machines. They are called games of
skill.” Hendren asked, “What’s the difference?”
McCook answered, “A game of skill requires you
to make some judgment or some physical motion
that does not leave the outcome up to chance
alone.” Hendren replied, “I don’t know much about
this. I always thought that it is how hard you pulled
the handle,” and he asked McCook if that was
part of the skill. “No, sir” McCook answered,
and the committee voted to clear the “games of
chance.” A circuit court ruled against lawsuits filed
by opponents, but they have appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which will pull the final
handle.
HOUSE OK; NOW FOR SENATE
The House of Representatives moved to stop commercial horse slaughter for foreign food consumption yesterday, 263-146, but it seems unlikely the measure will gain Senate approval in
the 14 legislative days left in that body.
Yesterday’s vote generated hours of heated and
passionate debate, with actress Bo Derek on hand
campaigning hard for the bill. Clint Eastwood
and Willie Nelson and Paul McCartney previously had deplored the three U.S. slaughterhouses, two in Texas and one in Illinois. Opponents of the measure included the American
Horse Council, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the Department of Agriculture, all claiming the ban will produce more
rather than less inhumane killing of unwanted
horses. The House floor produced a lot of eloquent oratory yesterday, and some nonsense as
well. Rep. David Drier of California, the Rules
Committee chairman who helped move the bill,
said, “When you’ve got Bo Derek twisting your
arm, what can you say?” Rep. Jim Moran of
Virginia chipped in with, “Look at the monument
in front of the Capitol -- it’s a horse!” Rep. Zoe
Lofgren of California said, profoundly, “I’m for
the horsies too; I’ll vote for it.” Rep. John
Sweeney of New York and Rep. Ed Whitfield of
Kentucky, prime movers of the bill, were elated,
but Rep. John Dingell of Michigan was not. He
said of the bill, “It’s a triumph of emotion over
common sense. We have before us a solution, a
poor one, to a nonexistent problem.” The press
was scornful of the four-hour debate. Time magazine headlined its story, “Horse Slaughtering:
The New Terrorism,” and its lead read, “With
all the other problems piling up -- soaring energy costs, the war in Iraq, tens of millions of
Americans with no health-care insurance, skyrocketing federal debt -- Republicans were
bound to get a kick in the rear when the
only bill they considered this
September 8, 2006
week was one to look out for the welfare of horses.”
Time quoted House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer
of Maryland as saying, “I’m concerned about
horses, but I’m much more concerned about the
American people.” The Washington Post’s Dean
Milbank echoed the same sentiments, asking,
“What are House Republicans thinking?” He
added, for emphasis while stressing the same major issues facing the nation as Time, that
yesterday’s legislative action also included H.R.
2808, the Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin
Act. He wrote there was nothing inherently offensive about minting coins to commemorate the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, but that the House of
Representatives might take a look at some of the
dire problems facing the nation and its future.
MORE TROUBLE FOR DETROIT
International borders can present problems, and
because American and Canadian governments
see issues differently, Detroit area racetracks face
new competition. Windsor, across the Detroit
River, opens a multimillion sports betting operation today -- a 170-seat facility called Legends
Sports Lounge -- which will offer wagering on
professional football, hockey, and baseball, and
on college football and basketball. Only four
states in the U.S. are grandfathered to do that,
and Windsor is so optimistic about the results
that it has rehired 25 laid-off workers and will
have 41 employees manning the new facility,
which will have 36 high definition TV sets, a 119foot long sports ticker, point spreads, over-under wagers, and proposition bets.
JAMIESON ON HTA INTERNET
Jody Jamieson, who drove the winners of both
the $754,000 She’s a Great Lady and the $1 million Metro pace at Mohawk Raceway, is the interview guest on the current edition of HTA’s The
World in Harness, accessible from
www.harnesstracks.com.
THEY’RE OFF AT CHESTER!
If the press coverage and public reaction is an
indication, Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack is off to a thunderous start. Right now it is
just Harrah’s Chester Racetrack, the Casino part
coming sometime after the first of the year. The
public praised the “up-close” design of the grandstand, forgave the unfinished amenities such as
six restaurants, and liked the free admission and
free parking in the six-story parking garage.
Horsemen were unanimous in praise of the fiveeighth mile racing surface. It is four years since
former HTA director Joe Lashinger Jr. announced his dream, and yesterday he and his two
original partners saw it fulfilled. HTA is proud
to have the sport’s newest track as a member.
THEY’RE OFF IN HARRISBURG
After more than two years of hassling, arguing,
debating, pondering, and negotiating, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board met today in
Harrisburg to hear two-hour racino presentations from Pocono Downs, Chester Downs,
Presque Isle Downs in Erie, and Penn National
and Philadelphia Park. Despite continued
grumblings in the state Senate about further
amendments to Act 71, the enabling legislation
for slots, Gaming Control Board chairman Tad
Decker says enough time has passed and he plans
to award racino licenses by the 27th of this month.
If he does, racinos could be in operation in temporary facilities shortly after the first of the year.
SPORTING BOSS SPRUNG IN NY
Peter Dicks, chairman of Britain’s big bookie
Sportingbet, who was arrested on arrival from
England in New York Friday on a fugitive warrant, has been stripped of his passport and released
on $50,000 bail. It turns out a routine customs check showed he is wanted in Louisiana for gambling by computer, and that
state wants him extradited.
September 11, 2006
LINCOLN CONVICTIONS HOLD
A federal appeals court in Boston has upheld the
convictions of Daniel Bucci and Nigel Potter, the
principals in a conspiracy trial that charged them
with paying up to $4 million to a law firm of former
Rhode Island House Speaker John Harwood. The
two were accused of trying to win support for additional slots for Lincoln Park. Bucci, who was general manager of the track, was sentenced last October to 41 months in prison. Potter, who was the
chief executive of Wembley PLC, which owned the
track at the time, was sentenced to three years.
Both men claimed the money was intended as a
performance bonus or retainer fee for Harwood’s
law partner, Daniel McKinnon, who did legal work
for Lincoln Park, but the 1st U.S. Court of Appeals
in Boston rejected that argument, saying the evidence was clear that the money was intended for
Harwood and that Bucci and Potter had used coded
language
to
conceal
their
intent.
HARDBALL AT HARD ROCK
A great lead by the Associated Press today about
doings at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Pompano Park. The story began with
“The name of the game is the Swipe and Win
progressive jackpot, but to Freddy Howard it
feels more like the win and swipe.” It seems
Howard won, or thought he won, a jackpot worth
nearly $260,000, and AP says he was paraded
around the casino and presented with a giant
cardboard check. Fifteen hours later, the Hard
Rock called Howard and said, according to him,
“You know the jackpot that you won? We’re not
going to pay it.” The casino acknowledges the
mistake, but says a verification process showed
that Howard did not actually win after swiping
his Players Club card. The casino is part of the
Seminole reservation, and not governed by state
or federal laws. The tribe is investigating, and
Howard has hired a lawyer. Good luck, Freddy.
IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER
If anyone thought yesterday’s hearings for racino
licenses in Pennsylvania would be bland and pro
forma, they learned differently in a hurry. Bill
Paulos, co-owner of Las Vegas-based Millenium
Gaming, which now owns The Meadows, went
toe-to-toe with the Gaming Control Board on projections for revenue from the proposed operation. The board had a report that it had prepared estimated that revenue would be between
$115 million and $173 million lower than the
track’s projections. The state’s projections were
between $100 million and $123 million.
Millenium’s numbers were between $215 million
to $296 million. Paulos told control board chairman Tad Decker quickly and bluntly that if state
revenue projections are right, “you should not
put a casino at The Meadows. You’re talking
about $100 million. It doesn’t pencil. You
couldn’t do it. We wouldn’t do it” He pointed
out that he had to pay a $50 million license fee to
the state, handle a total tax burden for state,
county and host town of 54%, and pay labor
costs, debt on loans and other operating costs.
Paulos said Millenium’s financial consultants -Christiansen Capital Advisors, Innovation
Group, Bank of America and Merrrill Lynch
Capital Markets -- made him feel certain a racino
at The Meadows would produce a minimum of
$215 million a year “in gross gaming revenue,”
the amount remaining for the racino operator
after slots winnings were paid. Chairman Decker
said, “We have to go back and study this. The
spread is huge. Somebody has to prove that it’s
likely this racino will be financially viable. We
are looking for some comfort that this project
will work.” Decker said the board has three
choices. “We could approve, deny, or defer.”
Paulos said if the board approves on Sept. 27,
Millenium would tear down the Meadows
clubhouse and build a $40 million temporary racino adjacent to the site.
September 12, 2006
Next year it would start building a $135 million
casino on the site of the demolished clubhouse,
which he estimated would take 14 months to complete. If the Control Board defers approval, it
will delay slots in western Pennsylvania for an
indefinite period. Decker refused to release the
board’s report, calling it confidential, which set
off a second dispute from close observers as to
whether that was accurate or not. An attorney
for Senator Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia, who
played a key role in passage of Act 71, the enabling legislation, said any financial document
used by a public agency in making a licensing
decision would be considered public information
under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know law. Political expediency was cited by others as a reason
for withholding the report. Paulos said
Millenium had received only a page from the report, and that the faxed copy was so bad “we
couldn’t read it.” So much for transparency in
Pennsylvania.
Other applications went smoother, and Mohegan
Sun at Pocono Downs and Philadelphia Park
both announced recruiting fairs to hire personnel to run their racinos. Pocono CEO Bobby
Soper told the board that his track was ordering
only 2,000 slots, rather than 3,000 it could use by
law if it gets its racino, until it has “a better understanding of the market.” Its racino is being
built with flexibility to utilize the full amount.
MAGNA ON HOLD IN MICHIGAN
Things are moving even slower in Michigan than
in Pennsylvania. Sixteen months after the racing commission awarded a license to Magna Entertainment to build a $100 million track and
entertainment complex called Michigan Downs
on a 212-acre site near Detroit’s Metro airport, a
legal challenge by an unsuccessful applicant is
holding up all work. A thousand jobs hang in
the balance.
ORC:
BILL ELLIOTT IS OUT
The Ontario Racing Commission, following a
hearing this morning, confirmed the decision of
Woodbine Entertainment Group not to allow
four of trainer Bill Elliott’s horses to start in major stakes this weekend at Mohawk Racetrack.
A horse in Elliott’s stable returned an elevated
TCO2 reading, a milkshaking violation, and
Woodbine notified Elliott that it was refusing all
entries from his stable. That included Here
Comes Herbie, a Hambletonian starter that had
been transferred recently to the Elliott barn from
the Trond Smedshammer stable and was entered
in an elimination this Saturday for the Canadian
Trotting Classic, and three 2-year-olds -- Laughing Art, Running Book and Mr. Market -- entered in the Nassagaweya stakes. The ban caused
the draw for those races -- originally scheduled
for those races -- to be postponed until the Commission acted today.
That action, and the scratching of two horses at
Tioga Downs from the stable of owner-trainerdriver Alessandro Spano and a ban of a trainer
at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, indicates a
general tightening of rules and a strong proactive approach to violations at HTA tracks.
THOUSANDS JAM POCONO FAIR
Mohegan Sun’s two-day job fair, held at
Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre
Township yesterday and today, drew an estimated 10,000 seeking 430 positions advertised for
the first phase of Mohegan’s racino operation.
The jobs include 25 people for the Information
Technology Department, and hundreds of other
positions that are expected to pay around $14 an
hour. Anyone hired will have to pass a state background check. Disco music played at the job fair,
and cocktail waitresses handed out water
and soda to potential employees.
September 13, 2006
NEW TRACKING AT WOODBINE
Woodbine Entertainment Group is introducing
a new wireless tracking system at its thoroughbred meeting in Toronto, and if all goes well it
will be used for harness racing as well when the
trotters and pacers return to Woodbine Oct. 9.
The system, developed by Boston-based Trakus,
will use trackside antennae, combined with lightweight radio transponders mounted in the
saddlepads, to track position and speed of every
horse in every race, and ultimately create reenactments of the races. The technology is similar
to that used by Autochart, which has a wireless
tracking system in operation at Freehold.
THAT CHICAGO SITUATION
The soup got thicker in the Chicago simulcast
mess today, with the announcement that
Churchill Downs had cut off Youbet.com and
AmericaTab and its affiliates, including Brisbet,
from Arlington Park’s signals before the track
ended its meeting yesterday. The dispute involves
Chicago’s thoroughbred horsemen, TVG and
Youbet. The horsemen, trying to force negotiations between TVG and Youbet over a user fee
Youbet must pay for the upcoming Hawthorne
signal, which prompted Youbet to drop
Hawthorne. That blackout, the horsemen’s association says, could cost thoroughbred horsemen half a million dollars in purse money.
Churchill said that when horsemen revoked their
permission to send the Arlington signal to TVG,
it enabled Churchill, under terms Arlington’s
TVG contract, to revoke authorization to send
the Arlington signal to TVG sub-licensees, including Youbet.com and AmericaTab.
LEARN & EARN IN CINCINNATI
The Learn & Earn group seeking slots at tracks
in Ohio now says it will share proceeds with the
city of Cincinnati, which had been shut out of
participation.
September 14, 2006
DON’T MESS WITH THE PRESS
A HASTERT MISCALCULATION
The chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Tad Decker, who is not enthused
about transparency, earlier this week refused to
release the board’s commissioned report on projections of revenue for slots at The Meadows. It
was naive to think he could keep the report secret, and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quickly
obtained a 23-page portion of the study, which
was done by Pricewaterhouse Coopers. It predicts $108 per machine per day, or $118.8 million a year, against the $236.6 million projected
by consultants hired by Millennium Gaming, the
new owners of The Meadows. The figure also is
less than half the $229 a machine produced by
slots at tracks in neighboring West Virginia. A
number of Pennsylvania legislators are not happy
with the secrecy of the gaming board. Paul
Clymer of Bucks county near Philadelphia asked,
“Why are they keeping this report in the dark.
All it does is make you wonder what they are
keeping secret.” Rep. Tom Tangreti of
Greensburg in western Pennsylvania said, “All
of this ought to be transparent. They ought to
do it voluntarily. Absent that, we ought to amend
the act to make sure that information is available to the public.” At last report, chairman
Decker still was calling it “confidential,” and said
a request filed under the Pennsylvania “rightto-know” law might yield “a few pages.” It
doesn’t pay to fool Mother Nature, state legislators or newspapermen. David Atkinson, executive assistant to Senate president pro tempore
Robert Jubelirer, a slots opponent, said, “This
whole enterprise is supposed to be built on public confidence. It should be released, whether
they have a legalistic interpretation of how this
fits into the open records law or not.” Melissa
Melewsky, media law counsel of the state newspaper association, also called for release,
saying since a page had been released it
cannot be considered confidential.
It isn’t often that the Speaker of the House in
Washington miscounts votes, but Dennis Hastert
apparently did yesterday, when he tried to pass
a bill limiting Indian casino expansion in California under suspension of the rules, and fell
short of the two-thirds vote needed in that procedure. Hastert and his Republican colleagues
grew overconfident after a 27-9 vote in the Resources Committee in July on the measure, which
was co-sponsored by the committee’s ranking
Democrat, Nick Rahall of West Virginia. Rahall’s
fellow Democrats did not agree, and 154 of the
171 votes against the measure yesterday were cast
by Democrats. Only 16 were Republicans. The
bill has been in work for two years, but tribal
lobbyists put on a strong show to defeat it. The
issue involved two dozen California tribes building casinos outside their current reservation lines.
Also in Washington, Jon Kyl is back again with his
anti-Internet gambling bill, this time with support
of Senate Majority leader Bill Frist. This version
has overtones of the original Leach legislation, and
Frist hopes to attach it to a defense appropriations
bill. In its present format horseracing’s exemptions would hold, protecting Internet wagering on
horses in states where it is legal
Good news -- always good when a friend wins -in Rhode Island, where Lincoln Chaffee, who
once in the dim past shod trotters and pacers,
won his Republican primary battle for reelection.
Good men are hard to find, and Chaffee is a very
good one.
ERIC SPECTOR GETS A TRACK
Eric Spector, who tried mightily to buy Vernon
Downs, finally has acquired a racetrack. The California entrepreneur has purchased Wyoming
Downs in Evanston.
September 15, 2006
MINN. TRACK MAY BE DELAYED
WILKE NAMED AT LOUISVILLE
The owners of the harness racetrack being built in
Anoka County, Minnesota, say they might not wrap
up financing for the track soon enough to make a
late fall 2007 opening possible, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We have
to get final construction bids, get building permits,
finalize plans,” said Jim Druck, CEO of Southwest
Hotel and Casino Corp., the track’s primary investor. “There’s still a chance. We’re 90 percent
done.” Druck noted that if ground isn’t broken
for the track by early next month, the track stands
no chance of opening in time to offer the 50 days
of live racing needed to make 2007 profitable. If
construction doesn’t begin in October, the
groundbreaking will most likely occur next spring,
with the track opening in 2008. The Minnesota
Racing Commission is putting pressure on the
track’s owners to open next year, said Dick
Kreuger, the commission’s executive director. The
track’s other primary investor is Mountaineer
Racetrack and Gaming Resort.
Richard “Rich” Wilke has been appointed director of the Equine Industry Program at the University of Louisville. Wilke has been on the faculty
of the program since 1995. He succeeds Bob
Lawrence, who retired at the end of August after
18 years as head of the EIP. Wilke’s previous
experience includes stints as executive director
of the Maryland Million and executive vice president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association.
APPOINTMENTS IN ILLINOIS
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich made two recent appointments to the state racing board. In
late August, he appointed Angelo “Sam”
Ciambrone, replacing longtime commissioner John
Simon. Ciambrone, a former mayor of the City of
Chicago Heights, was nominated to a six-year term
effective August 28, 2006.
In another move, this one for a six-year term effective September 11, 2006, Blagojevich appointed
Joseph Sinopoli to the racing board. Sinopoli
served as the racing board’s deputy director and
legal counsel from 1986 through 1990, and as executive director from 1991 until 1998. An independent floor trader since 1998, Sinopoli is
the owner of an IOM seat at the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange and IDEM seat at
the Chicago Board of Trade.
“SOPRANOS” TO TIOGA
Three actors from HBO’s Emmy Award-winning
superhit “The Sopranos” will visit the racino at
Tioga Downs tomorrow night. Steven Schirripa,
who plays Bobby Bacala on the show, Michael
Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti, and
Vice Curatola, who plays embattled New York mob
boss Johnny “Sack” Sacramoni, will have dinner
with 80 lucky casino patrons at a special “Meet,
Greet and Eat” event and then will sit down to an
hour-long autograph session later in the day. The
successful first live racing meet ends at the Nichols,
New York, oval today.
NJC NOT SEEKING 2007 DATES
The financially troubled National Jockey Club,
which has been licensed to hold race meets in the
Chicago area for 75 years, told state regulators
on Thursday that it was withdrawing its request
for 2007 race dates. “NJC appreciates that it is
not in the best interest of the industry, the Illinois
Racing Board or the State of Illinois to complicate
the upcoming dates hearing,” NJC President
Charles Bidwill III wrote in a letter to the racing
board. The announcement comes on the heels of
Dick Duchossois demanding payment on a $20
million loan the NJC owes Duchossois Industries,
which bought the loan in July from Harris Bank.
NJC hopes to “fix” its finances and resume
racing in 2008.
September 18, 2006
NEW JERSEY “SYMPOSIUM”
MOHAWK MEET EXPANDING
Racing officials and pleasure horse interests in
New Jersey are hoping to highlight the importance
of the equine industry to the state by participating
in the first “New Jersey Horse Industry Symposium” on Wednesday, September 20 at Monmouth
Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. More than 200
people are expected to attend the invitation-only
event sponsored by the Standardbred Breeders
and Owners Association of NJ, the NJ Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Thoroughbred
Breeders’ Association of NJ, the Rutgers University Equine Science Center, and various pleasure
horse groups. Dennis Dowd, senior vice president
for racing for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and an HTA director, will be among
the featured speakers. Topics for the Symposium
will include “The Importance of Working Together”; “The Economic Impact of Racing on New
Jersey’s Horse Industry, Traditional Agriculture,
Commerce and Tourism”; and “The Importance
of Being Involved in the Legislative Process.” For
more information or to secure an invitation to the
Symposium contact SBOANJ Lobbyist/Publicist
Leon Zimmerman at 609-394-8303.
The 2007 Pepsi North America Cup will be hosted
at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ontario,
according to a release by Woodbine Entertainment
Group. WEG has been using the race as the finale of the Woodbine harness meet. Two years
ago, WEG changed its focus by creating the
Mohawk summer meet. Positive customer response to the “Summer Nights” racing concept at
Mohawk prompted the decision to extend the meet
in 2007 to include the North America Cup. “The
objective was to create a very customer friendly
atmosphere at Mohawk during the summer months
and we’re quite pleased with the response to the
first two years,” said Jaime Martin, WEG vice
president of standardbred racing. “Mohawk has
enjoyed great success hosting the Breeders Crown
in the past and we anticipate beginning the Victoria
Day weekend next year will only add to the momentum heading towards the North America Cup
and into the summer.” Pending approval of the
Ontario Racing Commission, the Mohawk summer meet will increase next year to 105 dates, from
80 dates, while the overall number of WEG harness race dates will remain at 260. Harness racing will begin at Mohawk on May 17 and run
through October 8, at which time harness racing
will return to Woodbine Racetrack.
MAGNA HAS PLANS FOR LAUREL
Magna Entertainment has unveiled plans for developing land next to Laurel Racetrack in Laurel
Park, Maryland. To help energize the racing facility, Magna is planning to put seven retail buildings totaling more than 750,000 square feet, two
parking garages and a 350-room hotel on the site.
OHIO REP. NEY PLEADS GUILTY
Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican congressman from
Ohio, pleaded guilty on Friday to making false
statements, conspiracy to commit fraud and violating post-employment restrictions for
former congressional aides. The plea
comes as the latest event in the saga of
disgraced gaming lobbyist Jack Abramhoff.
MGM MIRAGE READY, WAITING
MGM Mirage has assured officials in New York
that it is ready and willing to begin construction of
a VLT casino at Aqueduct Racetrack, just as soon
as it is given the go-ahead by the state lottery division. In a letter to the NY Non-Profit Racing
Association Oversight Board, MGM expressed
its desire to move forward “expeditiously,” when
the lottery approves the contract between MGM
Mirage and NYRA. The contract, submitted last
June, also will be binding on whoever holds the
New York racing franchise, according to counsel for MGM.
September 19, 2006
POLITICS IN RACING. C’MON
THE SHADOW OF ABRAMOFF
Surely you jest. Alan Hevesi, the state comptroller of New York, today accused the New York
Lottery Division of playing politics in not approving VLTs for the New York Racing Association.
Blood-Horse, reporting the story from Tom Precious, called Hevesi’s letter “scathing,” which it
should be. “It is not in the best interests of the
state’s taxpayers or the future of Thoroughbred
racing in New York, Hevesi wrote, “to create the
appearance that the state is deliberately forcing
the current franchise to fail.” It is doing exactly
that, however, and doing a good job of it. At issue
is the long-stalled contract permitting MGM Mirage to proceed with construction of a racino at
Aqueduct. MGM understandably will not go forward until it gets the official nod from the Lottery
Division. With a racino, NYRA could survive and
thrive. Without it, it will go down, and probably
will not have its franchise renewed. Hevesi, in his
letter, spelled this out: “Delay in establishing this
facility creates a substantial risk to the state’s financial plan, potentially exacerbating the gaps to
be faced by a new executive, which my office already estimates could exceed $13 billion.” He
warned that the state’s financial plan includes the
assumption that a racino would be open by October of next year, and that 5,000 VLTs would produce $300 million in revenue in the first year of
operation, and up to $600 million when fully operational.
Hevesi urged the Lottery Division to avoid “bureaucratic delay” of wavering, and he called on it
to “work expeditiously” to jointly arrange a mutually satisfactory contract with NYRA and MGM
if there were problems with the present plan.
MGM has made it clear that any contract it signs
would extend beyond 2007 to whomever might
wind up with Aqueduct. Albany will decide all of
this, with outgoing Gov. Pataki’s carefully
appointed board making the decision. Sort
of. I’ll vote for Hevesi for any job.
Politics is an issue of the day in Ohio as well as
New York. Learn and Earn has been certified
for the ballot in November, and it will be up to
the voters whether Ohio tracks get slots. The
voters also apparently may have to put up with
Bob Ney a little longer, as Jack Abramoff’s friend
— who pleaded guilt to federal corruption charges
— sees no reason that corruption should force him
to leave office. Another sign of the times.
THREE BLIND MICE IN WVA
Charles Town Races in West Virginia has fired
three placing judges — three — who called the
wrong order of finish in a race on Sept. 9. All
three admitted they posted the wrong winner in
the race. The chief state steward was planning
penalties against the trio, when Penn National,
which owns Charles Town, saved him the trouble
and booted them. Three current employees have
replaced the placing judges, who call the order
of finish and post running positions on simulcast
feeds. Fortunately that job is being taken over,
but not fast enough, by technological automation.
GOOD HORSE, GOOD BUSINESS
That old maxim was borne out once again at
Saratoga Gaming and Raceway last Saturday
night, when eight New York Sire Stakes championship finals produced an all-time handle record
for the track. On-track handle was up 6.3% over
last year’s Night of Champions, but off-track
business soared more than 73%, up from
$239,983 to $415,980. Vice president of racing
Skip Carlson credited simulcast director Mike
Sardella with adding significant new outlets, including the signal for two races in the middle of
the card that went to California for the first time.
YOU HEARD THIS BEFORE
And you’ll hear it again. The HTA art
auction is Oct. 6-7. Be part of it.
September 20, 2006
A CRIME TO LET PUBLIC KNOW
LEARN, EARN AND FIGHT HARD
Tad Decker, the chairman of the Pennsylvania
Gaming Control Board, has his own ideas of where
the public fits into the scheme of things in government. He told the House Republican Policy Committee yesterday that the public has no right to
see the details of a state-commissioned study predicting how much racino slots would return.
Decker’s reasoning is that the study done by
PricewaterhouseCoopers contains proprietary information, and he says it could be a crime to make
it public. Pennsylvania taxpayers, presumably,
paid for the study, which would seem to entitle them
to some idea of what they got for their money.
Decker, not agreeing, got into what the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review called “a heated exchange with
reporters,” telling the newsmen, “You can make
all the damn arguments you want. You’re not getting it. It’s proprietary. File your lawsuit. File
your Rights-to-Know Law request.” Decker said
that the public, in its ignorance of what the report
says, should not “jump to a conclusion” that the
dispute
over
who
is
right
-PricewaterhouseCoopers or Millennium Gaming’s
consultants -- as to how much slots at The Meadows will produce. He said to conclude that the state
won’t receive the money it expects because of
Meadows’ numbers would be “a gross exaggeration.” The governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell,
and legislators of both parties have said the Control Board should release the study, and several
have suggested they might put forward legislation
demanding release, or at least insisting on receiving it before they make any changes in the slots
legislation that the Control Board is requesting.
Decker says the Board may release raw numbers
from the study next week, when it is scheduled to
award the first slot licenses, but it will offer “no
explanation” of the numbers. He says no court or
regulatory body would allow the Board to
release the study.
Now that they are on the November ballot, with
the public to make the decision, Ohio’s racetracks
can concentrate on convincing Ohioans that education in the state will be hugely aided by the 31,500
slots the iniative will provide. The tracks, faced
with a shortage of more than 8,000 votes on petitions, went back to the drawing board (and the
bank) and collected 26,081 more valid signatures
for the proposal, which will be known as Issue 3 in
November. Proponents of the measure, which will
provide scholarships and grants for worthy Ohio
students, say the slots can prevent a “brain drain”
from the state. As the Secretary of State announced
the issue had made the ballot, opponents announced they hope to raise $3 million for an antislots campaign.
NEW ALLIANCE PACTS SIGNED
HTA member Sacramento Harness Association,
which operates the Cal-Expo meeting, has reached
an agreement with the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association to send its signal to Nevada, where it will
be offered by 86 race and sports books. John
Avello, the Race and Sports Book director of the
Wynn Resort and Casino, said the Bal-Cal
(Balmoral and Cal-Expo) guaranteed pools have
sparked interest from their harness customers,
and he thought it would be “a great later evening
fit” for the members of the Pari-Mutuel association, of which he is a director. Chris Schick,
Sacramento’s GM, said he thought his northern
and southern California fans who make frequent
trips to Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe would
be pleased.
In another pact, AmTote International and Cantor
Index have signed an agreement for AmTote to
implement on its tote system the Choose Six and
Group Bet, proprietary pari-mutuel wagers developed by Cantor. Cantor’s Joe Asher called it
“a significant step in bringing the bets to the
mass market.”
September 21, 2006
NJ RACING COALITION MEETS
YONKERS SLOTS DELAYED
A good idea is worth duplicating, and New Jersey
racing interests have formed their version of
OHRIA, the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association that scored notable successes under its
former director Jane Holmes. The New Jersey
group, called the New Jersey Horse Industry Alliance, is a coalition representing all segments of
the state’s equine interests. It kicked off its activities yesterday with a symposium at Monmouth
Park that drew 250 representatives of horsedom
in the Garden State. Eight of 12 legislators on
hand took advantage of the gathering to address
the group, and all pledged support for the racing
industry. Possible extension of the supplement
agreement with Atlantic City casinos, which resulted in record purses at New Jersey tracks since
its inception, was discussed. The agreement expires at the end of next year. An encouraging note
was recognition by Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts of the need for New Jersey to maintain high
purses in the face of new slots competition from
Pennsylvania, and Roberts told the group that Gov.
Jon Corzine is fully aware of that need. He also
made it clear, however, that the legislature was
mindful of the economic impact of Atlantic City’s
casinos, which wield huge power in the state. The
Alliance founding members were the Standardbred
Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey,
the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Thoroughbred Breeders of New Jersey, and the Rutgers University Equine Science
Center. Other groups represented at yesterday’s
symposium included the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board, the New Jersey Horse Council, the
Association of Equine Practitioners, Breeders Cup,
and the U.S. Equestrian Foundation. Dennis
Downs, senior VP of racing for the Sports and Exposition Authority, said it was uncertain if the
Meadowlands would race runners after
2007.
Slots fans in the New York City metropolitan area
have waited five years now for the opening of the
Delight on the Deegan, the racino that one of these
days will offer slots at Yonkers Raceway on the
Deegan Expressway, one of the busiest highways
in America. Those fanciers will have to wait a bit
longer. Yonkers announced yesterday that the
planned opening of the play-for-pay palace has
been delayed again, to an unannounced future
date. If waiting makes the prospect more delightful, Yonkers should knock them silly when it finally
gets to unveil its $240 million racino.
POCONO DOWNS UPS PURSES
Pennsylvania, where slots players have waited for
action -- along with the state’s racetracks -- for
only two years, is preparing to allocate licenses
next week. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is not
waiting, however, to let the blessings flow down to
horsemen. Pocono GM Conrad Sobkowiak and
Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association
president Earl Beal Jr. announced yesterday that
purses at the Wilkes-Barre area track will be
boosted 15 to 20% for the remainder of the 2006
season, which runs until Nov. 11. Pocono’s open
pace will rise from $12,000 to $15,000, open class
fillies and mares will race for $12,000 rather than
the current $9,500, and the lowest class non-winners of a pari-mutuel race will get an increase from
$3,400 to $4,000. Beal said horsemen are happy
with Mohegan Sun’s commitment to racing, demonstrated by purse increases of some 40% over
the last year. Track management announced that
preference will be given to horsemen who have
raced all season at Pocono, and to those with at
least five starts at the track. The new purse schedule goes into effect with the Sept. 29 card. What
happens after Pocono gets slots makes for pleasant speculation.
KEEP YOUR LEFT UP, BOYS
There is danger ahead in Washington, where they
are messing around with our livelihood. Two current threats have surfaced, both cloaked with danger for racing. When legislators start fooling
around with a subject they don’t really understand,
it gets downright scary, and this is one of those
cases. Make that two of those cases.
U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield, who along with
his Kentucky racing commissioner wife loves
horses, yesterday introduced something in the
House called the Jockeys Insurance Fairness Act.
It may be that for jockeys, but it wouuld send owners reeling out of the sport in droves if it ever
passed. Whitfield and his co-sponsor, Bart Stupak,
a Michigan Democrat, have the endorsement of
the Jockeys’ Guild, naturally, but when owners
learn of what Whitfield is proposing -- if early reports on the bill are accurate -- they will go ballistic. The Louisville Courier-Journal says the bill
“would require that at least 50% of owners’ and
trainers’ revenues from simulcast racing agreements be given to state racing authorities, who then
would be required to use the money to offer insurance coverage to jockeys.” Whitfield has discovered that racing is a very dangerous sport, which
all participants know full well. Like race drivers
or test pilots or crocodile taunters they accept the
risks inherent in their professions. We do not know
all of the details, not having seen the bill yet, and
we do not know what Stupak knows about racing,
but we challenge his statement that “there is plenty
of industry money to cover such a plan. The bill
goes farther, and would ban entering any horse
that has been administered anabolic steroids of
any kind. Anabolic steroids are being researched
by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium,
and chemists and veterinarians -- not politicians - should weigh the dangers and impact of
such substances.
September 22, 2006
Whitfield and Stupak would do all they propose by
amending the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978
to require insurance funding for jockeys. This is
an absurdity on its face, and a danger that racing
cannot afford to tolerate. Opening federal legislation that was a work of intense industry cooperative negotiation and has worked well for racing
for 28 years to insert bleeding heart mandates on
horsemen’s money is inexcusable. I never thought
I would find myself agreeing with Marty Maline,
the executive director of the Kentucky HBPA, on
anything, but I am in total accord with his alarm on
this measure. He says the proposed legislation
“would be the death knell to racing.”
DANGER IN THE SENATE, TOO
Majority leader Bill Frist and Arizona’s Jon Kyl
are working in the Senate to find a compromise
that will work on the ban on Internet gaming.
We’re all for compromise, and hope the result is
something closely akin to the Leach bill or House
bill, both of which have built-in safeguards for racing where Internet gaming is legal in both sending
and receiving states. The danger here is not with
what they are attempting to do, but what might
result from things they are not attempting to do.
Attempts are being made to attach the Internet
compromise, whatever it turns out to be, to defense legislation and must-pass spending bills.
Reuters notes that John Warner, Senate Armed
Services committee chairman, has a reputation for
not allowing non-germane measures to be attached
to defense legislation. We’ll breathe easier when
the deal-making ends and our interstate exemptions remain intact.
SPITZER, FASO AGREE
New York’s candidates for governor, Eliot Spitzer
and John Faso, agreed yesterday that the New York
lottery should approve NYRA’ MGM contract,
and also that the state, not NYRA, owns the
three NYRA tracks.
September 25, 2006
NO ONE LIKES WHITMAN BILL
A MISSED DEADLINE IN NY
If early returns are any indication, no one except
Representatives Ed Whitfield of Kentucky and
Bart Stupak of Michigan, co-sponsors of the Jockeys’ Insurance Fairness Act, like their proposed
legislation. The bill calls for not less than 50% of
all monies going to horsemen’s groups to be paid
back to their racing commissions for use in providing insurance for jockeys, exercise riders, trainers and backstretch personnel. Alan Foreman,
CEO of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, called the bill “absolutely absurd.” Greg
Avioli, CEO of the Breeders’ Cup and NTRA, said
the NTRA “strongly opposes this effort to amend
the Interstate Horseracing Act.” Marty Maline,
head of the Kentucky HBPA, called it “the death
knell of racing.” D. G. Van Clief, when he heard
of the proposed legislation while still commissioner
of the NTRA, wrote to Whitfield telling him, “To
open the IHA for amendment is fraught with peril,
as opponents of gaming and horseracing in general will use that opportunity to offer amendments
which could literally decimate the largest agri-business in your home state. More specifically, mandating health insurance by hijacking revenue from
carefully constructed simulcast agreements would
upset numerous economic balances in our industry...” Chris Scherf, executive vice president of
Thoroughbred Racing Associations, who had not
seen the bill when contacted by The Blood-Horse,
said if the proposal was talking about purse money,
“the first people who are going to raise holy hell
will be the jockeys, because they will be getting a
massive pay cut. Purses will decline dramatically.
If they are talking about the minuscule percentage that goes to fund horsemen’s groups, that’s
not going to fund much of an insurance program.
The bill is either destructive or inadequate.” Scherf
thinks the legislation stemmed from a “misunderstanding” of racing in Congress.
Gov. George Pataki’s select Ad Hoc Committee
on the Future of Racing has decided to defer its
non-binding choice for ownership of the New York
Racing Association to sometime in that future. The
chairman of the committee, J. Patrick Barrett,
announced after a meeting last Friday that after
spending several weeks evaluating the materials
from the four bidders who submitted proposals for
the state’s racing franchise, his committee agreed
unanimously that a thorough and reasoned deliberation could not occur by the committee’s selfimposed Sept. 29 deadline. No date was set for
when a choice might be forwarded to the governor.
A PROFILE IN COURAGE
It takes guts for a highly successful veterinarian
now running integrity issues for California to tell
the world that he plans to hold veterinarians accountable when their clients are found in violation
of medication rules, but that is what Dr. Rick
Arthur did addressing a thoroughbred breeders’
seminar last weekend. Jack Shinar, reporting for
Blood-Horse, quoted Dr. Arthur as saying, “I think
we got that backwards” after recounting an incident in which a trainer receiving a 30-day suspension and his vet who administered the prohibited
medication was fined $300. Arthur thinks vets will
be more inclined to stay within legal limits if they
know they will be held responsible.
NJ RACING GETS A BIG BOOST
One of New Jersey’s most influential newspapers,
the Asbury Park Press, gave strong editorial support to slots for New Jersey tracks in its Saturday
edition. The seven-paragraph endorsement ended
by saying, “Legislative leaders must impress upon
casino advocates...that the financial health of both
the casino and horse industries is vital to the state’s
economy.” For casinos, the competition will
hardly matter.
September 26, 2006
14TH SIMULCAST AGENDA
NEW COO AT GREAT CANADIAN
The 14th TRA/HTA/AQHR simulcast conference,
set for Philadelphia Oct. 16-18, will use the Internet
for its theme platform. Changing consumer standards, the impact of the Internet, simulcast signal
quality, media rights, tote technology and attracting and keeping simulcast bettors will be discussed
by panels during the three-day gathering that annually draws 400 track and supplier attendees.
Deadline for hotel reservations at the Society Hill
Sheraton is Sept. 29, and for registration with TRA
Oct. 6. Additional information is available on the
TRA Web site, www.tra-online.com, or by contacting Tony DeMarco at 410-392-9200, email
[email protected].
Vincent Trudel, a 25-year veteran of casino and
lottery management in Canada and Europe, has
been named Chief Operating Officer of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation. Trudel will take over
the COO duties from Great Canadian’s chairman
and CEO Ross J. McLeod, who has also held the
COO post during a transitional period since February. McLeod said, in announcing Trudel’s addition to his management team, that Trudel’s casino
management experience includes a strong record
of transforming new development projects into successful operations. Trudel will begin his duties
Nov. 1 and will oversee management and operation of Great Canadian’s 17 Canadian and Washington state gaming properties, including current
and future expansion and development projects.
Great Canadian’s four harness tracks -Georgian
Downs and Flamboro Downs in Ontario and Fraser
Downs and Sandown Park in British Columbia -all are members of HTA.
Also coming up is the 9th annual Security Directors Conference, to be held Oct. 18-20 at Saratoga
Gaming and Raceway and the Holiday Inn in
Saratoga Springs, NY. A special room rate of
$95.95 a night, single or double, for Wednesday
and Thursday evenings is available through Standardbred Investigative Services, 410-392-2287,
fax 410-398-1499, email [email protected], with an
Oct. 2 deadline for reservations. A $40 per attendee fee, which includes receptions and two
meals on Thursday, must accompany registration
for the conference.
GREG DEFRANK TO POMPANO
Greg DeFrank, son of Hall of Famer Joe DeFrank
but a star in his own right, has been named as the
new racing secretary at Pompano Park. Greg has
worked at six HTA tracks in his career -- Northfield
Park, The Meadowlands, Scioto Downs, Indiana
Downs, Vernon Downs and most recently at Tioga
Downs, where he was VP and Director of Racing.
DeFrank said it was a difficult decision to leave
Tioga, where he was treated royally, but the prospects at Pompano and chance to return to
Florida were deciding factors.
BALLY GETS POCONO RACINO
Bally Technologies says it has signed a contract
to provide a complete casino management system
to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, including an
initial battery of 1,100 iVIEW touch-screen displays for all slot machines planned for the racino’s
opening later this year. Bally also will provide an
advanced suite of Power Bonusing products and
more than 20% of the initial slot mix, including
some of its premium titles. Bobby Soper, Pocono’s
president, said Mohegan Sun had chosen Bally
“because of its long-term demonstrated commitment to gaming system technology, product enhancements and customer service.” Pocono currently is undergoing a major expansion that will
allow for the eventual installation of 2,000 machines. The track plans to place a high level of
emphasis on player tracking and player marketing.
September 27, 2006
HALLELUJAH! SLOTS IN PA
POMPANO ‘CHRISTENS’ BARNS
It took more than two years, but the Pennsylvania
Gaming Control Board this morning unanimously
approved conditional licenses that bring slot machines to the state’s existing five racetracks. HTA
members Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack,
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, and Millennium
Gaming’s The Meadows now can move as fast as
possible in starting or finishing construction of their
racinos. The gaming board will decide on permanent licenses in December. Magna Entertainment,
which sold The Meadows to Millennium and
Oaktree Capital Management, says it expects
payment of its first note on the sale, $175 million,
to be made around Nov. 3, subject to approval of
Millennium-Oaktree’s lenders. The $25 million
second note will remain intact, but MEC has agreed
to release the security requirement for the holdback amount and defer receipt of holdback payments until the opening of the permanent racino
at The Meadows, in exchange for MillenniumOaktree providing an additional $25 million of equity support for the track. Magna said the first
note payment “will enable MEC to significantly
reduce its outstanding debt and strengthen its balance sheet.”
When creative Steve Wolf starts thinking about
innovative ways to announce developments at Pompano Park, sparks fly. This week it was the “christening” of three new barns on the track’s backstretch. The ceremony took place at 11 a.m., and
the track’s leading trainer-driver, Bruce Ranger,
duly showed up with his pacer Eleven A.M. for the
ribbon cutting. Ranger was quoted as saying,
“This is, indeed, a momentous occasion in bringing a state of the art environment to horses and
horsemen.” That pronouncement had a Wolfian
ring to it, but we’ll take Steve’s word that Ranger
said it. One undisputed statement was that of Vice
President of Racino Operations Doug Shipley, who
said, “No doubt, it’s a proud day and yet another
step in our quest to make Pompano Park simply
the best in so many ways.”
Pompano spent $1.7 million on the three new barns
-- about $10,000 a stall for the 170 horses that will
occupy them. The track has spent millions more
since Hurricane Wilma last October, repairing and
rebuilding the race paddock, racing office, drivers’ lounge, signage and the main building housing both grandstand/clubhouse.
Officials at Harrah’s said that the conditional approval keeps Harrah’s on course for a fully operational racino by January, 2007. Given permanent
licensing in December, Harrah’s will open a
100,000 square-foot casino floor featuring 2,750
slot machines, 6 new restaurants, 3 lounges, an
11,000 square-feet of banquet space. When fully
operational, the $430 million project is scheduled
to employ 800 to 900 people, and Harrah’s says it
expects to draw close to 10,000 visitors a day,
which would make it one of Pennsylvania’s most
popular tourist destinations. Senior VP and GM
Vince Donlevie says the community “seems
excited about what’s to come.”
BATTLE OVER, WAR GOES ON
The battle by Ohio racetracks to get on the November ballot with their slots-funded Learn and
Earn scholarship program is won, but a fight still
remains as opponents marshall their strength to
defeat the idea two months from now. The projection of $2.8 billion in annual revenue, with $850
million going to the scholarship fund, has been challenged, but the tracks think the numbers are realistic. A total of 31,500 slots in nine locations would
have to bring in $247 a day, but that number seems
reasonable with neighboring Indiana’s slots producing $322 a day. Learn and Earn’s director of
operations called the Indiana numbers “a third
party validator.”
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
Smoking -- or more accurately non-smoking -- is
taking on new significance in racing and gaming.
Those tracks already impacted by non-smoking
bans understand the effect the bans can have, and
others are finding out. Profits at Casino Windsor
in Ontario are expected to plunge 75% over a
three-year period, and the casino and local officials are laying the blame on the provincial government, calling the drop “a spin-off of the nonsmoking legislation.” The chief executive of the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, Duncan
Brown, called the ban “one factor” in his projections that profits would fall from $101.1 million to
$25.2 million in 2008. He blamed the precipitous
drop on the smoking ban, increased U.S. competition, the stronger dollar and a drop in cross-border visits. Casino Windsor is not the only Canadian venue hit. Brown said the two Ontario casinos in Niagara Falls will see profits drop from
$136.2 million in 2005 to $32.8 million in 2008. The
Windsor casino, incidentally -- or perhaps not incidentally -- is in the midst of a $400 million expansion, which includes a 400-room hotel and a
100,000 square-foot convention center that will
house a 5,000-seat entertainment facility. A Michigan-based analyst, Robert Russell, said Casino
Windsor management “has done a remarkable job
navigating extremely unpredictable waters.”
That’s analyst talk, folks, for making all forecasts
error-proof.
A smoking ban created an instantaneous stir in
the Pittsburgh, PA, area yesterday, when Allegheny county officials who passed anti-smoking legislation Tuesday discovered Wednesday that they
were “blindsided” by a state Senate bill passed
yesterday that exempts Pennsylvania casinos and
racinos from local anti-smoking legislation. The
state senator who sponsored the legislation, Jane Orie, said, “I’m not a soothsayer. I can’t see that the day we passed this
September 28, 2006
out of committee the county passes legislation to
ban smoking.” County officials said their concern
was that small businesses like bars and restaurants would face a competitive disadvantage if
smoking was permitted in casinos but nowhere
else. A smoking ban approved in Philadelphia last
week also exempted casinos. An aide to powerful
state senator Vince Fumo of Philadelphia said the
amendment to the gambling bill was intended primarily to protect Philadelphia casinos from losing
revenue to out-of-state casinos that permit smoking. The Senate casino exemption now goes to
the House, which could approve it, amend it, or
reject it.
West Virginia legislators, now facing the reality of
early Pennsylvania slots competition, began an
immediate acceleration to their campaign for table
games at track racinos as an antidote. One delegate said that without table games West Virginia
could lose up to $50 million in revenue when the
Pennsylvania slots begin operation.
In Ohio, Bob Roberts, the Cleveland Plain
Dealer’s veteran racing writer, editorialized that if
Ohio tracks are to remain competitive, voters had
better support the slots bill that will appear on the
November ballot. He pointed out the disparity in
purses between Pennsylvania and Ohio tracks
even before slots arrive in Pennsylvania, and he
blasted “the hypocritical party line of Sen. George
Voinovich and Gov. Bob Taft,” who oppose an expansion of gaming in Ohio. Roberts suggested that
his readers ask those officials how may lottery
games were added to the schedule in Ohio during
their administration.
In Australia, much merriment and serious questions about South Australia’s betting agency accepting a bet on a horse that died two weeks earlier. Red faces are plentiful and refunds are
being issued.
September 29, 2006
WHAT’S UP AT OHIO STATE?
NEW COMMISSIONER IN PA
We hope that none of our four track members in
the state of Ohio will mind, but the editor will root
as hard as he can against Ohio State for the remainder of the racing season. That seems only
fair given the university’s strange reasoning on
the Learn and Earn proposal to be voted on by
Ohio citizens in November. Ohio State’s board of
trustees yesterday issued a statement urging voters to defeat the ballot amendment, saying, “While
it promises to provide additional funds for college
scholarships, it does not fully address how we make
higher education more affordable or more available to more Ohio students.”
It came as a surprise to him, and he wasn’t quite
sure how he came to be nominated, but Thomas
Stanko, a retired English professor at Edinboro
University, is a new member of the Pennsylvania
Harness Racing Commission. Active in civic affairs and the Washington county Democratic committee, Stanko, 75, had casually mentioned to a
friend, former state Rep. Brian Clark, that he
would like to serve the state in some public capacity. Clark had been a nominee for the harness racing commission himself, but his nomination by Gov.
Ed Rendell was withdrawn after he failed to get
support from the Republican-controlled Senate,
which must confirm all nominees. The first Stanko
knew about his nomination by Rendell was a phone
call from a longtime friend, state senator J. Barry
Stout, and another from Rep. Tim Solobay, both
Democrats. Stout said Stanko was “a person of
good character, good standing.” Solobay is from
Stanko’s home town of Canonsburg, near The
Meadows. Stanko, who taught at Edinboro for 34
years, has owned thoroughbreds, but not harness
horses. If confirmed, he will help decide who gets
Pennsylvania’s final harness racing license, and
racino. The Pennsylvania House is expected to
debate a bill shortly, already passed by the Senate, that calls for 31 amendments to the slots bill
passed two years ago. The amendments include
giving the state legislature sole authority to decide whether smoking will be allowed or banned in
the 14 casinos and racinos in the state, and making middlemen slot suppliers and distributors optional.
That statement is stupid, and would be if it came
from junior high school students rather than trustees of a university that prides itself as a major
center of learning (and football). Linda Siefkas, a
spokeswoman for the Learn and Earn initiative
supported by our tracks, pointed out the stupidity
when she told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “I think
it is ludicrous to say that it doesn’t address the
affordability issue when we are talking about making a full tuition available to every child in Ohio.
If that is not making college affordable and accessible, I would love to know what is.” So would we.
The amendment promises to set aside 30% of gaming proceeds each year for tuition payments. We
share the skepticism of Cuyahoga (Cleveland)
county commissioner Timothy Hagan who asked
if the Ohio State board, appointed by Gov. Bob
Taft, was pressured by the governor to take the
position. A spokesman for the governor did not
deny that possibility, but merely said, “The governor didn’t have to direct the board on issue 3. There
are no shrinking violets on the board. They know
bad policy when they see it.” We know political
pressure when we see it, and this is an academic
disgrace. Go Iowa! Go Michigan State!
Go Michigan! Go anyone!
WEG TERMINATES EVANS
Chris Evans, vice president of thoroughbred racing at Woodbine Entertainment, has been fired,
following suspension of his license for three years
by the Ontario Racing Commission for involvement in an extramarital affair with a married
commission steward he had endorsed for the
job.
INTERNET BILL ANALYSIS
What follows is analysis and comment on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006,
which passed Congress in the last minutes before
the election period recess, without some senators
even seeing the final version of the legislation, according to them. I. Nelson Rose, the noted authority on gambling law, said it “was rammed
through Congress by the Republican leadership,
as title VIII of a completely unrelated bill, the Safe
Port Act, HR 4954, based on the Leach and
Goodlatte bills, HR 4411 and 4777, but with some
important differences.
October 2, 2006
illegal under the Wire Act. The DOJ insisted that
any Internet prohibition passed by Congress not
expressly authorize Internet betting on
Horseracing. The DOJ believes this will allow it
to continue to argue that the Interstate
HorseRacing Act does not do exactly what it says
it does, legalize interstate horseracing. This new
statute requires that Internet gambling be ‘unlawful.’ But it would be difficult to find a federal,
state or tribal court that clearly made a specific
Internet bet illegal.
With permission of Professor Rose, we are providing some pertinent excerpts of his analysis of
the bill as passed. The material is copyrighted
and is a registered trademark of Prof. Rose as
Gambling and the Law, and passages are chosen
at random and not in consecutive order.
“It is interesting that Congress decreed that states
can decide for themselves if they want to have athome betting on horseracing, but not on dogracing.
(Editor’s note: there is no Interstate Dog racing
Act). Congress also decreed that tribes can operate games that link reservations, even across state
lines, but not the states themselves; state lotteries are not exempt.
“The Act begins with Congress’s findings and purpose. These include a recommendation from the
discredited National Gambling Impact Study Commission, whose chair was the right-wing Republican incompetent Kay Coles James. Findings include the doubtful assertion that Internet gambling
is a growing problem for banks and credit card
companies. It correctly states that ‘new mechanisms for enforcing gambling laws on the Internet
are necessary,’ especially cross-border betting.
“The great unknown is how far into the Internet
commerce stream federal regulators are willing to
go. The Act requires institutions like the Bank of
America and Neteller to i.d. and block transactions to unlawful gambling sites, wherever they are.
But, while the Bank of America will comply,
Neteller might not, because it is not subject to U.S.
regulations.” The full text of Professor Rose’s interesting analysis is being reproduced on HTA’s
Web site www.harnesstracks. com.
“The Act contains a standard clause that it does
not change any other law or Indian compact. It
repeats this many times, to make sure that no one
can use the Act as a defense to another crime, or
to expand existing gambling.
Jay Hickey, president of the American Horse Council, which fought hard and successfully for racing’s
exemption, said “After nearly a decade of consideration, Congress finally passed Internet gambling
legislation. The bill includes the racing provisions
that were in the bill passed by the House this summer and protects racing’s interstate wagering activities by maintaining the status-quo with respect to such activities under the Interstate
Horseracing Act. The President is expected
to sign the bill shortly.”
“Most importantly, the Department of
Justice is arguing before the World Trade
Organization, in the dispute between the U.S.
and Antigua, that all interstate gambling is
IMMEDIATE INTERNET IMPACT
The passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act had immediate consequences in
Great Britain, as Internet gambling stocks there
fell sharply yesterday and some major bookmaking companies announced they would no longer
accept bets from the U.S. The outlawing of the
use of credit cards, checks and electronic funds
for online wagers in the new law created drops as
deep as 67% in some gambling shares.
PartyGaming, the biggest of all the online operators, said it would discontinue its U.S. business,
and Sportingbet, which had two officers arrested
in the U.S. in recent weeks, saw its stock value cut
almost 70% overnight. 888 Holdings, which took
a 48% bath, said it was suspending its U.S. operations. Gaming Law author Nelson Rose, whose
copyrighted analysis of the bill appears on HTA’s
Web site, noted that “the new bill says you can’t
transfer money directly to gambling operations.
But that doesn’t stop consumers from paying
through online payment services such as NoTeller,
as they have before.”
THE RACINO WHIRL
Busy doings in the rush to slots. HTA member
VERNON DOWNS announced that it expects to
begin slots operations in its racino Oct. 28, with
777 machines. A study done last year forecasts as
much as $9 million profit, with half of the money
generated going to the state lottery for education
under the New York law.
HTA member SARATOGA GAMING AND
RACEWAY broke ground yesterday for a $15
million addition to its racino, which when completed
will increase VLT terminals by 400, to 1,724 from
1,324. The expansion, a 45,000 square-foot twostory structure, will include a 5,000 squarefoot nightclub and a 300-seat buffet restaurant, and will result in the addition of
115 employees to the present force of 450.
October 3, 2006
In Florida, the state granted its first license for
slots to Mardi Gras Racetrack and Gaming Center, formerly Hollywood Greyhound track. The
licensing came almost two years since Florida voters approved slots for Broward and Miami-Dade
counties. Miami-Dade rejected the idea, but
Broward could get underway by the second week
in October. HTA member POMPANO PARK reportedly has not completed its paperwork as yet,
according to the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, but is moving forward on construction of its
racino. Pompano still hopes to be operational with
slots by early next year.
FLAMBORO SEEKS LESS DATES
In Ontario, HTA member FLAMBORO DOWNS
seeks to reduce its 2007 racing schedule by 52
days. Great Canadian Gaming’s vice president of
racing operations and HTA director Chuck Keeling said, in explaining the request to the Ontario
Racing Commission, “Simply put, if we use common retail theory, we are flooding the marketplace
with product and not getting the favorable response
desired. When that happens can you blame anyone for changing the way they do business?” Keeling said the change is not about the profitability of
Great Canadian. He said the status quo is just not
working, with the track suffering “a relentless decline” in betting, and he intends to attempt to decrease quantity and increase quality of its racing.
“We’ve listened to our customers,” Keeling says,
“and they want more quality. There is also an issue of horse population during the summer months,
which is why we have elected to go to three days
from April through September and not compete for
horses with the small tracks that open up for that
period.”
STILL TIME TO BUY ART
If you would like to buy beautiful racing art for
trophies or decor, call Stan at 520-241-7145
for exclusive personal shopping.
October 4, 2006
BETTER OFFER? MOVE TRACK
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
That’s what Windsor Raceway has announced it
plans to do. Standardbred Canada reports that
the Ontario track across the river from Detroit
has decided to accept an offer from the town of
Tecumseh to move out of Windsor and build a $50
million Ice Track complex, with a 6,500 seat arena
with three ice pads, a Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant, a museum, and -- of course -- a slots parlor.
The report says Windsor’s decision “stunned”
Windsor city officials, which had delayed acting
on investing $15 million into the project, while
Tecumseh’s council unanimously agreed to the
idea. Windsor officials immediately “expressed
outrage” that Ice Track would negotiate with two
municipalities at the same time, but they also drew
criticism that they had dragged their feet on the
issue of a new civic ice arena. The Ontario Lottery Gaming Association announced that it would
not interfere with Windsor’s move as long as its
interests were protected. Ontario Harness Horse
Association executive vice president Brian Tropea
said the new facility would “drive a renaissance in
harness racing in southwestern Ontario.”
Lisa Underwood, named yesterday by Gov. Ernie
Fletcher as the new executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, succeeding Jim
Gallagher. Ms. Underwood, who has been acting
general counsel for the Authority, also has been
deputy commissioner for the Department of Public Protection, working with 10 state agencies. She
is a graduate of the University of the South and
the University of Kentucky law school.
ARTSPLACE IN TROUBLE
Harnessracing.com, the Web site of Horseman and
Fair World magazine, reports that the outstanding sire Artsplace is at the University of
Pennsylvania’s famed New Bolton Center being
treated for laminitis, a life-threatening foot disease. The 18-year-old stallion joins another famous New Bolton patient, the thoroughbred runner Barbaro, at New Bolton. He was moved to
the facility from Southwind Farm in Pennington,
NJ. Owned by a syndicate, Artsplace has been
managed by George Segal’s Brittany Farms Stallion management. A brilliant star on the racetrack,
Artsplace carried that greatness to the breed- i n g
shed, where he sired 14 pacers that each
earned more than $1 million in their racing careers.
David Siegel,
president of Equibase’s
Trackmaster system, became harness racing’s
fastest amateur driver at HTA member Sacramento Harness Racing at Cal-Expo when he drove
the pacer My Roomie to a 1:52 2/5 mile victory.
Siegel, a graduate of Stanford, reported a carefully planned intellectual approach to his record
performance, having calculated the likely moves
of other leading contenders in the race and executing his strategy and tactics perfectly. A driver
for only two years, Siegel gave Sacramento GM
Chris Schick credit for strongly supporting amateur racing at the track, noting that it was “something special that only harness racing can provide.”
Joe Morris, president of HTA/USTA Member
Perks, announced that UPS has become an official partner, and will be offering its broad range of
products and services at significant discounts.
$15 BILLION, NICE BIG NUMBER
That’s the figure that Harrah’s Entertainment says
Apollo Management and the Texas Pacific Group
has offered to acquire Harrah’s, the largest casino operator in the world, its holdings including
HTA member Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack. Its shares rose 14%, but analysts speculate that competing offers could emerge.
BACK FROM ANOTHER ART AUCTION
Greetings. We’re back from another HTA art auction, this one grossing just over $300,000 for the
two days of selling woodcarvings, oils, watercolors and sculptures. It was, as usual, a horrendously
expensive project, involving logistics of staffing,
advertising, transportation, housing and all the rest,
and we will provide the Scholarship Committee with
net results as soon as the huge undertaking can
be reconciled. The sale topper was a set of 10 oil
paintings of famous American trotters, done in the
late 1890s and early 1900s by the noted American
equine artist Gean Smith, which brought $15,500.
A magnificent large Zenon Aniszewski oil of a field
of charging trotters brought $10,000, as did a 1929
George Ford Morris polo oil; a superb John
Kittelson woodcarving that won best of show sold
for $7,500; a 1910 oil painting of Home to Thanksgiving brought $6,500 (the Currier & Ives lithograph of the original 1857 painting now is selling
for $32,000 in New York); a harness racing oil by
famed Hungarian artist Pal Fried sold for $6,000;
an exceptional large oil by David Pavlak brought
$5,500; a small 1902 George Ford Morris of a
saddlebred went for $5,200; another Aniszewski
sold for $5,000; and an oil of the Ascot Gold Cup
by Alfred Egerton Cooper went for $4,700. Full
results of the auction can be seen on the home
page
of
the
HTA
Web
site,
www.harnesstracks.com.
A POL WITH SOME PASSION
No, not Mark Foley. We’re talking about a passion for humankind, and the former governor of
Massachusetts Paul Cellucci. Governor from 1997
to 2001, and then an executive for Magna Entertainment and Ambassador to Canada, Cellucci
closed out his political campaign account, worth
around half a million dollars, giving the money to
charitable causes like the Boys and Girls Clubs of
Massachusetts, afterschool programs, and
a 4-H foundation.
October 9, 2006
ONLINE BAN GENERATES NEWS
Whatever results it may create, the federal ban
on Internet gaming is providing grist for the news
mills of the world. In England, the British government is trying to lure its gambling companies home
from places like Gibraltar and the Isle of Man by
providing them safe haven and tax breaks. Although one company, Empire Online, said it is planning to diversify its investments, others are waiting to see how much zeal the Justice Department
will use in pursuing and prosecuting. Party Gaming, the world’s biggest online operator, and 888
Holdings said they plan to stop accepting bets from
U.S. customers if President Bush signs the bill, as
expected. PartyGaming derives 76% of its revenue from the U.S., and 888 says more than 50%
of its business comes from here. In American news
sources on the issue, millions of words of speculation already have been written, and more are certain to come. Alan Feldman, who speaks for giant
MGM Mirage, said that “Trying to stop Internet
gambling is akin to holding a wave on the sand
and trying to stop the ocean from sending any
more.” Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, says there are between
2,500 and 3,000 offshore sites, and only a hundred
of them are public corporations listed on European
exchanges. He told the Wall Street Journal that
while there might be a temporary halt in online
gambling activity, “new companies will pop up. The
money will find its way there.” An interesting view
was expressed to the Journal by Steve Verdier,
director of congressional relations for the Independent Community Bankers of America, which
represents almost 5,000 U.S. banks. He said that
if the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury, who will
write the regs, “find that the banks just don’t have
the technology to track and block these transactions, then we don’t have to. The Fed and Treasury are not supposed to ask us to do the impossible.”
October 10, 2006
POCONO SETS ITS SLOT DATE
DON’T WANT IT? TURN IT DOWN
It isn’t clanging yet, but a massive Powerball slot
machine was unveiled at the track yesterday by
Mohegan Sun at Pocono CEO Robert Soper, who
said that if all required approval is in place, the
Powerball and hundreds of others like it will start
operating at the northeast Pennsylvania track Nov.
14. “Casinos are happening,” Soper told attendees at a slots ceremony yesterday. “It’s for real.
I think there’s a feeling not only of relief but excitement that we’re able to move forward, and we
have an actual opening date that is not too far off.
The bulk of our new customers will be slot players
who currently do not wager on horse racing. We
plan to try to market horse racing to these new
customers in hopes that some of them enjoy it.”
Soper said he expects most of his gamblers to be
from northeastern Pennsylvania, but he also expects some from New York and New Jersey. Soper
has hired 400 new employees, from thousands who
applied for the jobs, to staff the $70 million racino,
with its 40,000 square-foot slots parlor, two gambling floors, and 1,083 machines. Five hundred of
them will be reel games, 450 video and video poker
in denominations up to $100 a pull for high rollers.
The machines were delivered from WMS Gaming
Inc. of Waukegan, IL. Pending approval, the machines will receive private invitation tests on Nov.
10 and 12, and if successful the public will get its
first chance at slot machines in Pennsylvania on
the 14th. The racino that is opening is located in
the present track building, but construction will begin next year on a separate racino, on a former
track parking lot, which will hold as many as 2,000
slots, a food court and three full-service restaurants, an 18,000 square-foot nightclub, retail shops
and a ‘Kids Quest’ child care center. When Pocono
introduces the slots age to Pennsylvania, the Keystone state will become the 12th in America with
legal slots.
Soper says he is proud to set the precedent.
The world is changing hourly, but bureaucracies
stay the same. The Office of Budget and Management in Ohio, instead of welcoming a huge influx of money for education in the state, is bickering over how much that influx will be. Backers of
the Learn and Earn amendment predict $853 million a year will be available for scholarships for
worthy Ohio college students. The OBM scoffs at
that number, saying slots would generate only
about $324 million a year for scholarships. It says
Ohio can support only 10,035 machines, rather than
the 31,500 the backers of the amendment are projecting. We are impressed by both numbers, and
instead of trying to impress voters with their number-crunching prowess -- if in fact it is prowess -the OBM should concentrate on getting State Issue 3, the Learn and Earn program, passed. If
they aren’t happy with $324 million -- their number -- fine; let them turn it down. A spokesperson
for Learn and Earn said, “The (OBM) report is so
appalling and so ridiculous that we’ve asked a
group of third graders to review it, because the
math is so bad.” Only time will tell who is right,
but if the measure passes next month it will be
interesting to see the figures next year.
TWO WELL-KNOWN FIGURES DIE
The sport has lost two popular participants in the
game. WARREN J. DICKEY, close associate and
administrative assistant to harness horse owner
Joe Hardy, owner of the giant 84 Lumber company, died at 83 in his native Indiana. Dickey, a
close friend of Delvin Miller, was a genial and
popular figure in the sport for years. HERMAN
HYLKEMA, who came from Holland and served
as an assistant trainer to Joe O’Brien, Leon Boring, John Patterson and Howard Beissinger before campaigning his own stable, mostly at The
Meadows, died in his native Holland at 76.
Beissinger called him “one of the hardestworking men I ever knew.”
October 11, 2006
YONKERS OPENS CASINO
BID FOR HARRAH’S RAISED
The long-awaited video lottery casino at Yonkers
Raceway opened its doors at 10 a.m. this morning, and people jammed the shuttle buses carrying
them from the parking lot to the casino. Empire
City Gaming at Yonkers Raceway, as the reborn
facility is called, initially will operate on a limited
basis. Only the first floor of the track’s renovated
clubhouse, with approximately 1,800 video lottery
terminals, is open for business. The upper floors
of the clubhouse and an adjacent building, where
most of the racino’s 5,500 total planned VLTs will
reside, are still under construction. Racing at the
107-year-old track will not resume for another
week to 10 days, according to Timothy Rooney
Jr., the track’s general counsel and son of owner
Timothy Rooney. Under an agreement ending a
lawsuit brought by the track’s horsemen earlier
this year, the track will make up the missed racing
dates. Empire City at Yonkers Raceway is the closest casino gaming available to New York City, and
is projected to reap millions per week for the state
in addition to big purse money for horsemen. The
track is planning a more formal grand opening once
the project’s first phase is completed, sometime
before the end of the year.
Two private equity firms, the Apollo Management
Group and the Texas Pacific Group, have sweetened their bid to take over Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino operator, according to a report in The New York Times. The new
offer, said to be more than $15.5 billion, came after the company’s board of directors rejected the
group’s original offer of $15.05 billion in cash, or
$81 per share.
ISRAELIS HEAD TO THE RACES
After 10 years in the works, the city of Afula was
scheduled to be the venue for Israel’s first-ever
modern thoroughbred and Arabian race meet today in the new Gilboa Racetrack. Racing at the
track may be short-lived, as controversy has surrounded the project. Although no official betting
was to be permitted at today’s inaugural race meet,
questions have arisen regarding what the
Jersusalem Post called “horse racing’s tendency
to promote a culture of gambling and crime.” The
multi-year development plan put together by various horse lovers and entrepreneurs calls
for building a grandstand (there currently
is none), a shopping mall and a hotel.
NEWS FROM CANADA
Alexis Nihon Real Estate Investment Trust is
hunting for a new chief executive officer after Senator Paul Massicotte announced that he plans to
step down in early 2007. “Now, having led the
company through strong growth and its reorganization into a REIT, I would like to focus on other
interests,” Senator Massicotte said. He cited his
duties as a member of the Senate and his ownership of Attractions Hippiques Quebec Inc., which
will soon own and manage four horse racing tracks
in Quebec, including HTA member Hippodrome de
Montreal. Senator Massicotte said he will continue to serve on Alexis Nihon’s board of trustees.
DIXON PROJECT IN STRETCH
The Dixon, California, City Council began final
discussion and deliberation on Magna
Entertainment’s proposed Dixon Downs on Tuesday evening, and could vote either up or down on
the project as early as next Friday night. The deliberations come after six public meetings on the
proposed $250 million track. The city planning
commission also held seven public meetings in the
proposal in September. At Monday’s meeting,
more than 100 union members from the local building trades showed up wearing t-shirts showing support for Dixon Downs. The approval comes six
years after Magna Entertainment Corp. proposed building a casino and racetrack on the
260-acre site.
SANTAYANA WAS RIGHT
More than 100 years ago, the Spanish-born American author George Santayana wrote that “those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it.” Others over the years have paraphrased that truism into “those who cannot remember history are forced to relive it.” For those
who can recall the birth of Harness Tracks of
America 52 years ago, when pari-mutuel tracks
rebelled at what then was breeder-control of the
USTA, the reason for HTA’s existence became
clear again yesterday. Yonkers Raceway, with the
introduction of slots, opened what can be a new
era for harness racing and harness horsemen in
New York. The chairman of the USTA, which represents tracks as well as horsemen, was on hand,
protesting the opening and suing Yonkers. Joe
Faraldo slipped off his USTA hat and slipped on
his Standardbed Owners Association hat for the
performance, of course, but he cannot separate
himself from his USTA responsibilities by changing hats. Faraldo launched a blistering attack on
Yonkers, saying its opening of the racino before
resuming live racing “is in total disregard of the
horse industry.” Faraldo’s SOA filed a lawsuit in
State Supreme Court and sought an order to show
cause, and he told his members, “We may ask the
Division of the Lottery to take over the operation
of the machines until the Rooneys open for racing....” Faraldo apparently was sorely upset by a
ribbon cutting ceremony “to which we were not invited.” He says the SOA “will continue to move
on all fronts, some of which I really can’t discuss
here.” He also stressed his chumminess with the
New York Racing and Wagering Board, saying
“from my walk-through at the track with the Racing Board staff I have been told that because the
track has not complied with things like installing
race cameras; TV monitors for the patrons and
judges; repaired a paddock left in
shambles; installed an area to bet.......”
leaving the sentence unfinished.
October 12, 2006
The next sentence read, “Is it hard to figure why
Racing and Wagering won’t give them an OK?”
It seems from this distance that Faraldo outlined
the precise reasons Yonkers is not yet ready to
open for racing. Tim Rooney made it even clearer,
saying he would not open until construction -- presumably including the matters Faraldo outlined -was completed. Tim Rooney Jr., now Yonkers’
general counsel, pointed out that a portion of the
money generated by the racino will still go toward
racing purses. “It’s beneficial to all of us -- the
state, the raceway and the horsemen -- to get open
as quickly as possible with the video gaming site.”
Personal pique and sensitivity should play no role
in this dispute. What good could possibly accrue
from delaying a soft opening of Yonkers’ racino
simply because it was ready for business before
racing? Actions like these from the chairman of
the USTA -- but certainly not from the USTA itself
--recall the history of HTA’s beginnings. That’s
exactly why there is a vital HTA today, and why it
is an organization that is needed by pari-mutuel
track operators everywhere, including Yonkers.
MORE PROBLEMS IN OHIO
In a setback for Ohio tracks hoping for public approval of slots next month, the Cleveland NAACP
is urging its 9,000 members to vote against the
Learn and Earn proposal, Issue 3 on the November ballot. That constitutional amendment would
permit slots at nine sites in Ohio, with 30% of revenues going to college grants and scholarships for
worthy Ohio students. The NAACP told its Cleveland members that, “Gambling clearly provides a
great deal of revenue and some segments of the
community clearly benefit. Unfortunately, the
great majority does not.” Top Cleveland business
leaders, the mayor of Cleveland, U.S. Rep.
Stephanie Tubbs Jones and county commissioners are supporting Issue 3.
October 13, 2006
INTERNET BAN NOW LAW
A MIXED BAG AT YONKERS
As expected, President Bush this morning signed
the Safe Port Act, which passed with an Internet
gambling ban called “The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” tacked on, making Internet
gambling illegal in the U.S. Happily, horse racing’s
exemption under the Interstate Horseracing Act
of 1978 remains intact. Although some are skeptical as to its effect, the bill already has had a dramatic effect overseas, with Sportingbet selling its
U.S. business line for $1 and Betcorp closing its
U.S. operations. Betcorp issued a statement saying that once Bush signed the bill, “the Group will
no longer be able to accept funds transfers from
customers resident in the United States. Given
that a substantial proportion of the Group’s customers are located in the United States, this will
have a very material adverse impact on the
Group.” In Antigua, government regulators are
urging the 44 licensees in that country to divert
their business to Asia. Antigua, which won a World
Trade Organization ruling last year in a trade dispute with the U.S. involving Internet betting, now
is amending its complaint to the WTO to include
the new law as signed today. The WTO, in its earlier decision in favor of Antigua, said the U.S. has
inconsistently applied gaming law so as to prejudice foreign countries, a violation of GATS, the
General Agreement on Trade in Services. Both
Antigua and the U.S. are members of GATS. Interactive Gaming News, which covers Internet
gambling, carried interesting comments on the new
law. Martin Owens, an attorney specializing in
online gambling problems, wrote, “The very
people the Department of Justice and the Republicans claim to be fighting -- the pirates, the wise
guys, the fly-by-night brigade -- these residents of
the shady side feel no responsibility toward the
public. They’re there for the money, period. And
Bill Frist has just handed them a new lease
on life.”
As indicated yesterday, Empire City at Yonkers
Raceway, the new racino operation smack on the
Deegan Expressway, one of the world’s busiest
stretches of urban highway, got underway with a
“soft opening.” Horsemen protested because racing did not begin simultaneously, although they
reportedly will receive $60,000 a day for their purse
account from slots operations. Then, facing
charges that it discharged raw human and animal
waste into the Bronx River, Yonkers settled with
the state by paying a $9 million fine. Under the
agreement with attorney general Eliot Spitzer and
the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the raceway agreed to stop the ongoing
pollution and take remedial steps to help clean up
the river. Part of the problem was horse manure
that routinely flushed into storm sewers that flow
into the river. A spokesman for Spitzer, who is
expected to be the next governor of New York,
said the attorney general held off announcing the
penalty until after the racino’s opening ceremony.
“From our perspective,” a Spitzer spokesman said,
“it really didn’t make a difference. We’re more
concerned with the result.” Yonkers said that although it “strongly disagreed” with the factual findings in the settlement, it believed it was in the best
interest of all parties, “particularly the children of
New York who are the biggest beneficiary (of the
VLT program) to promptly resolve this matter to
ensure the environmental protection of the Bronx
River and the generation of funds for education in
New York.” Under the agreement, Yonkers will pay
$6 million toward storm water pollution reduction
projects, $2 million in penalties to the state, and
$1 million to an environmental education center in
Yonkers. The Bronx Zoo and Bronx Botanical
Gardens also were cited by Spitzer, and completed
remediation measures mandated by the state. The
City of Yonkers was fined $1 million for slow action.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
An irony in the slots situation in Yonkers, NY, and
Chester, PA. At Empire City at Yonkers, where
the racino is now open but racing is still dark, 3,000
Empire City Players’ Club cards were issued the
first day, and lottery officials say the machines are
netting more than $400,000 a day despite the
“soft” opening with only 1,879 machines in operation. Some 5,500 are expected to be online by the
end of the year, and 7,500 ultimately will be in operation when Yonkers’ construction is completed.
That construction work has resulted in a delay in
starting live racing, a situation SOA president Joe
Faraldo calls “disgraceful.” The public’s response
has been different, with enthused gamblers hailing the convenience of the location and a number
telling reporters they no longer plan to go to Atlantic City.
In Chester, there is racing but no racino yet, as
Pennsylvania closes in on introducing slots. Track
officials are pleased with the response to racing,
and anxious to get rolling with the 2,750 machines
they expect to come online in January. Response
to the physical plant and restaurant food and facilities has been highly favorable to date.
THE BATTLE DRAWN IN OHIO
If you live in Cleveland and read the Plain Dealer,
chances are you’ll vote for slots next month. If
you live in Columbus and read the Dispatch,
chances are a little more iffy. The Columbus paper has been waging war on the idea of slots, the
latest salvo claiming that each of the 340,262 signatures that were obtained to get the issue on the
ballot cost $11.76, based on what the paper says
was $4 million spent in collecting the signatures.
The Plain Dealer, in a Sunday editorial, said,
“Learn and Earn: Yes” and said it was time f o r
Ohio to join the majority of states that
profit from slots.
October 16, 2006
The paper said Issue 3, the slots proposal, “would
entail some social costs, and it falls far short of
perfection as a constitutional amendment, but its
benefits still outweigh the negatives.” It noted that
it will create 5,300 permanent jobs in downtown
Cleveland alone, eventually would help finance a
new convention center and major medical-merchandise mart, and of course provide somewhere
between the $324 million projected by the state
and the $853 million predicted by the tracks for
college grants and scholarships for Ohio students,
that money coming from 38% of proceeds from
the 31,500 machines allowed under the proposal.
SAME DAYS, FEWER RACES
That’s what the California Horse Racing Board’s
Strategic Alliance Planning Committee has proposed for the Golden State. The president of the
Thoroughbred Owners association, Drew Couto,
agrees, saying, “It’s better to eliminate races
rather than race days.” Jack Liebau, president of
Hollywood Park, was a strong dissenter, saying,
“Decisions like this will just cause the earlier demise of Hollywood Park.” California Horse Racing Board chairman Richard Shapiro, commenting on this, said, “While we respect Hollywood
Park’s investment, we have to look at the deeds
that have been done; look at the marketing and
advertising over the years and a long-term commitment we can count upon.”
RACING INFO CHALLENGED
Errors in program information at Woodbine tracks
are being investigated by the Canadian PariMutuel Agency after a racing fan filed complaints
of inaccurate information. The complaint focuses
on chart lines, where the fan has compared race
video to the charts and found what he claims are
serious charting mistakes. Woodbine is introducing electronic charting to eliminate chance of
human error.
October 17, 2006
THE OLD 12TH HOUR CHANGES
IF YOU’RE IN NY, PAY HEED
The Pennsylvania House was expected to discuss
and adopt a package of 31 amendments to the
state’s gaming law today, but there were no assurances it would take action. If it does not, the Senate, which approved the amendments in September, may not have time to do much about it tomorrow, the final day of the session before the Nov. 7
election. The Senate wants, among other things,
middlemen suppliers of slots equipment to be optional rather than mandatory; elected officials to
be barred from owning up to 1% of a racino or
casino; the state attorney general to have more
investigatory powers; children to be barred from
being licensed as investors; and the state, instead
of cities or counties, to have sole power over regulation of smoking in slots facilities. One key senator, Republican Jane Orie, said she is “cautiously
optimistic” that the House will act on the bill today and give the Senate time to take final action
tomorrow. If that doesn’t happen, it may not happen at all. The Senate has only two more days in
2006 scheduled, after the elections, and the current session ends Nov. 30. After that, new legislators won’t convene until January.
He isn’t governor yet, but it is likely he will be
after Nov. 7, and the New York Sun says he already has picked his administrative team. Like
Spitzer, most are lawyers and graduates of prestigious eastern law schools. They include Lloyd
Constantine, a powerful antitrust lawyer; Paul
Francis, a Yale and NYU law graduate who was a
managing director of Merrill Lynch Capital Partners, CFO of Ann Taylor Stores, and founding CFO
of Priceline; Michele Hirshman, a Yale Law graduate and former federal prosecutor who runs
Spitzer’s office; David Nocenti, a Princeton and
Columbia Law graduate who is Spitzer’s in-house
attorney; Spitzer’s wife, Silda Wall, a Harvard Law
graduate formerly with the huge Skadden, Arps
law firm; and William Mulrow, another Yale man
who is an investor in Excelsior Racing, a bidder
for the NYRA franchise.
VICTOR, DALEY, SUE IN INDIANA
Adam Victor and Son, who campaign a powerful
harness stable, and their trainer, Noel Daley, have
sued the Indiana Racing Commission and its executive director, Joe Gorajec, for scratching three
stakes fillies and another horse at Indiana Downs
in August. Daley had served a six-month illegal
medication suspension in New Jersey last winter,
but was not under suspension at the time of the
scratching of the horses. The Victors and Daley
claim a violation of their constitutional due process rights, and seek damages. Gorajec calls the
suit “without merit,” and says it will be “vigorously defended.”
A ‘LAW SCHOOL’ FOR TRAINERS
mindful of its role of “maintaining and protecting
the integrity of the sport,” is inaugurating a pilot
Trainers’ Responsibility Integrity Program that
will provide free testing of member trainers and
their employees and could provide mitigation of
fines and suspensions issued under the trainer’s
responsibility rule. All trainers in the state will be
required to sign a document saying whether they
will join the program, called TRIP, and doing so is
optional.
BETONSPORTS AGREEMENT?
Bloomberg News reports that Antigua-based
bookmaker Betonsports, under a federal indictment, has reached an accord with the U.S. government to end litigation. A federal judge gave the
company and the government a week to complete
the agreement to resolve the feds’ civil suit against
Betonsports. An assistant attorney general says
he believes there are no substantive disagreements remaining.
SENATE HAS SLOT CHANGES
The Pennsylvania House passed more than 40
changes to the state’s slots bill yesterday, and the
state Senate has until tonight to accept or reject
them before the election recess, and only two days
after the election to consider them if it doesn’t act
today. The changes approved by the House that
were approved earlier by the Senate include preemption of local zoning authority and allowing a
Gettysburg casino developer to apply for a slots
license, over the objections of Civil War buffs at
putting a casino near the historic battlefield site.
The House also approved prohibiting public officials from owning up to 1% of a casino or gaming
company, and gives the state attorney general
more authority to investigate wrongdoing at casinos. The House did not accept the Senate rejection of middlemen suppliers of slots equipment
entirely, modifying it to make middlemen suppliers mandatory for one year, or until their licenses
expire in 2007, and then making the use of suppliers optional. It remains to be seen what the Senate will do about that House change.
END OF LATE ODDS CHANGES?
A full report on the TRA-HTA-AQHA International
Simulcast Conference in Philadelphia and the
Florida Gaming Summit in Fort Lauderdale will be
sent shortly to all HTA directors and key member
track personnel. In one highlight of the Philadelphia conference, J. Curtis Linnell, director of wagering analysis for the TRPB, said that starting
January 1, “Pari-mutuel associations will be able
to institute a ten-second forced win odds cycle that
will report at least 95% of the pool, which almost
guarantees approximate final win odds. This is a
huge development from where we were two years
ago. Tracks have told us that they did not want
dramatic odds shift 30-40 seconds after the start
of the race. That came from fans.”
October 18, 2006
GOOD WORK & A GOOD
SCORE
Congratulations to HTA member THE MEADOWS for its special 8-page insert in the Washington Observer-Reporter, its local newspaper. Nice
features, color pix, and a message from general
manager John Marshall.
A fine example of what you can do with money from
THE MOUNTAINEER RACE TRACK AND
GAMING RESORT, one of Ted Arneault’s track
holdings that also include HTA member Scioto
Downs, Presque Isle Downs and Jackson Raceway. The track’s Media Guide is one of the classiest publications in racing, and everyone who had a
hand in its production, from executive editor
Tamara Cronin down, including design and production by Vance Wright Adams and Associates of
Pittsburgh, photographers Chuck Saus and Ethel
Riser, researcher Bill Mooney, contributors
Debbie Howells and Joe Narcavage, and printer
Knepper Press of Oakdale, PA, deserve credit for
a superb, slick and exceptionally professional publication. We have a hunch that Director of Racing
and Corporate Secretary Rose Mary Williams had
a big hand in this production, and President and
CEO Arneault and his associates can be proud of
this big and glossy beauty of a press guide.
A big score for HTA member BUFFALO RACEWAY in the important 20-page “First Sunday” section of The Buffalo News. Sharing the full color
front page with two lovely models was driver Jim
Morrill, and inside was a smashing spread, with a
giant page and three-quarter color photo of Jim,
in a feature called “Born to Drive” by News feature writer Charity Vogel. The story dealt with
Morrill’s decision to give up a lucrative spot as a
top Meadowlands-class driver “for a life of simplicity, family and freedom” at Buffalo Raceway.
Well written and illustrated, it was a powerful plus
for Buffalo.
October 19, 2006
A WORLDWIDE SICKNESS
ON AND ON, AND ON AND ON
Two positive tests, a world apart, on two of the
most important horses in their sports, highlight the
sickness that has infected horseracing.
One of these days it will end, but for now the issue
of slot legislation in the state of Pennsylvania flows
on, like Niagara Falls. If you don’t see it today,
try tomorrow, or the next day. The Senate, running out of time to consider the 40 amendments to
the racing bill passed by the House on the next to
last day of the legislative session, said they would
need more time to study the proposals and resolve
differences between the House and Senate versions. The legislators have gone home to campaign for Nov. 7, leaving their staffs and negotiators to work out the details. The House was scheduled to be back in Harrisburg next week, and the
Senate added Monday as a working day, so stand
by. We should have news by Tuesday, but if not
there are always Tuesdays after election day, or
next year, or sometime.
In Chicago, the Illinois Racing Board announced
the disqualification of the world’s fastest harness
racehorse, the pacer Holborn Hanover, as winner
of the $203,000 American-National for older pacers, contested at Balmoral Park August 26. Owned
by John Fielding and Canamerica Capital Corporation, trained by Brett Robinson, and driven by
George Brennan, the winner of more than $1.8
million returned a positive sample of pyrilamine,
an antihistamine not allowed in Illinois racing. The
state has a zero tolerance rule, and as a result of
the test Holborn Hanover was disqualified, trainer
Robinson fined $2,500, and Lis Mara, who finished
second, declared the winner.
TWO LOSSES FOR RACING
In Japan, where much of the nation takes
horseracing to its heart, shock waves reverberated with the announcement that the country’s
equine hero, Deep Impact, which finished third in
France’s most important thoroughbred race, the
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Oct.
1, returned a positive for Ipratropium, legal in Japan but banned in France. Some 5,000 Japanese
racing fans had traveled to France for the Prix,
and French officials acknowledged that in announcing the positive, France Galop’ Henri Pouret saying, “There was a real craze for this horse and this
incident is regrettable.” Pouret said Deep Impact
could face suspension, but called that possibility
remote, saying, it would be “extremely rare and
not on the agenda.” It was the third bitter blow for
French racing this year, the country’s best trotter,
Jag de Boullet, being disqualified from both of
France’s most important trotting classics, the Prix
d’Amerique and Prix de France.
Harness and thoroughbred racing are losing a good
friend and top notch reporter in Cleveland, where
veteran racing writer Bob Roberts, one of the few
true double-gaited writers left on the scene, is taking a voluntary buyout from The Plain Dealer.
Roberts is one of 64 of the newspaper’s employees to accept an offer of voluntary departure in
return for a severance package, and there is a
good possibility that the paper will not replace him.
The Plain Dealer made the offer to all of its 1,450
workers, and its president and publisher, Terrance
C. Z. Egger, said he felt “very good” about the
outcome of the buyout. Those with 20 years of
service who chose to leave get two and one-half
years salary and health care benefits. Roberts is
one of them, and hopes to remain writing. Racetracks could do themselves a favor to consider hiring him.
In Canada, Mac Cuddy, once one of the most important owners in the sport, died just short of his
87th birthday, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
IT AIN’T OVER TIL IT’S OVER
Everyone in racing knows full well that where politics are involved, you had better hold your tickets
until the official sign goes up. This lesson was
taught again yesterday in Pennsylvania, where it
turns out the House now is toying with the idea of
taking the fourth harness racing license --- which
the former racing commission bollixed up by not
awarding it to either applicant -- and converting it
to a stand-alone casino that could be built anywhere
in the state. This is the license that Bedford Downs
and Centaur of Indiana battled over to a no-decision verdict, after which Bedford Downs, but not
Centaur, was allowed to resubmit an amended application. Now harness racing could lose the last
racing license to be awarded in Pennsylvania, and
breeders and others in the game are up in arms.
So, hopefully, the Senate will be as well, when it
meets next Monday for a last day of deliberation
before the election recess. Some state senators,
including Democrats Robert Mellow of Scranton
and powerful Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia, say
they will oppose the House proposal and work to
undo it next Monday. Paul Spears, executive director of Pennsylvania’s Standardbred Breeders
Association, was reported to be “livid” over the
House action, saying, “The loss of the fourth harness track would be a mortal blow to our progress
in promoting the state’s harness racing.”
THE LIP DEAD WRONG ON THIS
It was Leo (the Lip) Durocher of the old Brooklyn
Dodgers who said, “Nice guys finish last.” Give
him an error on that one, as yesterday’s announcement from Woodbine Entertainment proves. Two
of the good guys, Bruce Murray and Jamie Martin, were promoted by WEG, Martin moving up
from Vice President, Standardbred Racing, to Senior Vice President, Racing, overseeing both
harness and thoroughbred racing at WEG
tracks.
October 20, 2006
Murray, who first handled publicity duties for harness racing and then became Director of Events
and Marketing, now becomes Vice President, Standardbred Racing, reporting to Martin. Our congratulations to both, and to Woodbine for its good
judgment in naming them to their new high posts.
A TALE OF TWO (OR 3) CITIES
The owners of world recordholder Holborn
Hanover -- John Fielding and Doug Hyatt and
Albert Imbrogno, racing as Canamerica Capital
Corporation -- are appealing the Illinois Racing
Board’s disqualification of their pacer as winner
of the $203,000 American-National for older pacers at Balmoral Park. The horse tested positive
for pyrilamine, a class 3 non-performance enhancing anti-histamine, and the trace amount makes
no difference, large or small, since Illinois has a
zero tolerance rule which includes the substance.
Top vets say the drug can have significant side
effects on both horses and humans, which led to
its being banned. Trainer Brett Robinson vehemently denies using illegal medication on the horse.
In Stockholm, meanwhile, the first announced penalties in the disqualification of both Jag de Bellouet,
the disqualified French winner of this year’s Elitlopp
classic at Solvalla in Stockholm, and the second
place finisher, Let’s Go. The latter tested positive for Etacryn, a heart and blood pressure medicine for humans, which is not registered in Sweden, and Jag de Bellouet tested positive for
Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory. He also was disqualified as winner of France’s most prestigious
trotting race, the Prix d’Amerique, which he won
at Vincennes in late January. The case of the
French horse still is pending, but Holger Ehlert,
trainer of Let’s Go, has been fined $27,500, according to harnessracing.com.
SURGERY FOR JOHN CAMPBELL
October 23, 2006
John Campbell, who suffered a badly fractured left
leg in a racing accident at Woodbine Saturday
night, was operated on yesterday in Ebitocoke
General Hospital, near the track. The surgery was
to stabilize the grossly swollen leg, and doctors
said Campbell will need further surgery on the fractured leg after it has been stabilized. Campbell
won four Breeders’ Crown eliminations -- with
Adelaide Hall, Olay Olay, Little Miss Dragon and
Glidemaster -- Friday and Saturday nights before
the accident.
South Florida harness owners shared in a jackpot
of their own Saturday night, when two 2-year-olds
owned by them shared a $100,000 bonus by winning the finals of the Florida Breeders Stakes. Ace
Mactavish, a 2-year-old pacer that has won 11 of
13 starts this year under Michile Lorenzo’s training, earned the $50,000 bonus for owners Rod
Lorenzo and Souren Hovsepian of Deerfield
Beach. The colt trotter Blake Island won his
$62,338 final by 16 1/2 lengths for owner John
Campagnuolo of Loxahatchee. New Hall of Fame
driver Wally Hennessey drove both winners, and
three other finals on the track’s Super Night card.
OK FOR GUYS, BAD FOR DOGS
I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING
Twelve men and one woman have been charged
with drugging dogs with male sexual enhancement
medication at Mobile Greyhound Park, and collecting $67,000 on the slowed-down racers. Three
track employees and two trainers were among
those accused of feeding the dogs pills designed
to boost men’s sexual performance, and the others charged made bets on longshots in the races
involved. The Mobile county district attorney
prosecuting the case said the pills’ ingredients increased the greyhounds’ heart rates, leading to
early exhaustion. Gary Guccione, executive director of the National Greyhound Association, called
the scheme the worst he has encountered in 27
years in the industry.
BIG BILLBOARDS FOR POMPANO
HTA member Pompano Park, gearing up for the
introduction of slots after the first of the year, plans
to promote them with what Steve Wolf calls “a
very, very ambitious billboard campaign, starting
Dec. 1. Gulfstream Park, which plans to open its
racino in mid-November, will be the first south
Florida track to operate slots, with Mardi Gras,
formerly the Hollywood Greyhound Track
set to open in December. Each of the
Broward county tracks will have 1,500 machines.
That line, spoken by a woman watching Meg Ryan
faking sexual ecstasy in the movie “When Harry
Met Sally,” applies this week to Vernon Downs,
hoping to emulate Batavia Downs performance
with VLTs. Vernon opens its racino Thursday night
with 777 machines, and if it does as well as Batavia
it will be on the road to immediate recovery.
Batavia, with 580 machines, has been bringing in
nearly half a million dollars in gross revenues a
week, and a total of more than $17 million this year.
Purses have more than doubled, and local merchants are beaming at extra business in Batavia.
Mike Kane, Batavia’s general manager, told the
Syracuse Post-Standard, “We would not have reopened had it not been for video gaming.” Jeff
Gural, responsible for Vernon’s rebirth, echoed the
sentiment, saying, “We wouldn’t have spent $60
million on Vernon Downs without them.”
NYRA BANKRUPT THIS WEEK?
The Albany Times Union reports that the New
York Racing Association plans to seek protection
from creditors in the U.S. Bankruptcy court this
Thursday. Capitol bureau writer James M. Odato
says NYRA infuriated Gov. Pataki with a letter
blaming his administration for its financial problems.
October 24, 2006
THIS ONE WORTH WAITING FOR
MAGNA GETS ITS CAL TRACK
Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, its racino construction still underway and only 1,870 of its 5,500
VLTs in action, has outdistanced all slots operations in New York by almost two-thirds in its first
week of operation, and netted $3.8 million in the
week ended Oct. 21. By comparison, Saratoga
Gaming & Raceway netted $2.3 million, with 1,331
machines, during the same week. Yonkers has netted $6.1 million since its opening Oct. 11. Some
$3.3 million of that total goes to the state lottery’s
fund for education in New York state. Yonkers’
weekly share of some $2 million also will produce
major purse supplements for the live racing that
Yonkers now plans to resume Friday, Nov. 3.
After six years of discussion and debate, the City
Council of Dixon, California, last night approved,
by a 4-1 vote, allowing Magna Entertainment to
build a racetrack in the city. The decision was not
without further debate, but after long discussion
the mayor, vice mayor and two council members
voted in favor of the project. The lone dissenter
said that while he was pro-business, he was not
convinced that Dixon Downs would create quality
jobs or draw people downtown. One councilman
said that while he was concerned that the track
“would threaten Dixon’s small-town charm,” he
voted in favor of the track because “while this is
going to cause change, no doubt, I think it might
be a risk worth taking.” Opponents of the track
said they would launch an immediate referendum
campaign, hoping to get 700 signatures necessary
to force a special election on the issue next March.
Trade union members favor the project. The Magna proposal calls for a $250 million development
on 260 acres near Interstate 80, with a mile and
an eighth track, a grandstand pavilion to hold 6,800
for racing and as many as 15,000 for concerts, and
a stable area for up to 1,440 horses. A large hotel
and conference center and 950,000 square feet of
retail space also could be included in the project.
Under the best of circumstances, it will take between a year and a year and a half for site planning, bidding and obtaining necessary permits, so
construction is not likely for another 18 to 24
months. A Magna spokesman said it is not likely
that racing would begin before 2010.
SENATE PROTECTS 4TH TRACK
The Pennsylvania Senate, meeting last night and
into this morning, voted 50-0 to approve a package of 30 amendments to the 2004 slots law, but
deleted from their bill a House provision that could
have endangered the fourth Pennsylvania harness
track license. The House Republicans are in caucus today at press time, and hopefully they will
approve the changes as passed by the Senate and
send the amended bill to Gov. Ed Rendell for his
signature. HTA will present a summarized version of final events late tomorrow with resumption
of The World in Harness, our Internet radio interview show. Mike Jeannot of The Meadows will
be the guest.
LATEST PURSE REPORT ONLINE
HTA’s latest purse distribution report now is online
on the proprietary section of our Web site. The
October report, the Simulcast Procedures Manual,
also is online. The August and September monthly
reports, a comprehensive analysis of 2003 purses
at HTA member tracks, has been delayed
by acquisition of data, and will be ready
next month.
NJSEA GUARDS AGAINST VIRUS
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
has issued a ban on ship-ins to Monmouth Park,
and limited access to the Meadowlands, following
an unconfirmed case of equine herpesvirus at
Monmouth. A barn of recent ship-ins there has
been quarantined.
October 25, 2006
TO AND FRO IN PENNSYLVANIA
VERNON SLOTS TOMORROW
We had hoped to tell you today that the slots bill in
Pennsylvania was on its way to Gov. Ed Rendell’s
desk, but the political ping pong between the House
and Senate continued yesterday, and there is further delay. The House contends the Senate made
numerous “drafting errors” and “clerical mistakes” in the bill, and declined to act on them without having the errors corrected. If you like watching tennis, you’ll love watching the Pennsylvania
legislature in action, right to left, left to right, back
and forth. Rep. Paul Clymer, a Bucks county Republican, said, “We aren’t trying to kill the slots
amendments. We are trying to make them better.” Rep. Robert Freeman, a Democrat from
Northampton, said, “Shame on the Senate if they
don’t pass the corrected version of the slots bill
that we send them.” The House majority leader,
Sam Smith, a Punxsutawney Republican, warned
his colleagues that upsetting the Senate might
make it impossible to pass final amendments before the current legislative session adjourns Nov.
30. A major negotiator who worked with senators
on the amendment, Smith said, “You are changing
the dynamics in a way that I can’t be responsible
for.” Mike Jeannot, vice president of The Meadows, interviewed on this week’s World in Harness,
HTA’s Internet radio show, said he doubted the
amendments to the bill, and their final reconciliation, will have much effect on the implementation
of slots in the state, and said he expects The
Meadows temporary racino to be ready for operation sometime in the spring of 2007.
While Pennsylvania’s wait for slots goes on, the
waiting ends for Vernon Downs tomorrow, when it
opens its racino between Syracuse and Utica.
Seven hundred seventy-seven VLTs will start
clanging, and hopefully will end the long financial
drought at the central New York track. They arrive just in time. Earnings releases from
TrackPower, 20% partner in Vernon and Tioga
Downs, indicate in the three months ended Aug.
31, TrackPower reported a $963,000 loss on its
position in the Tioga-Vernon enterprise with American Racing, and that partner lost $4.8 million in
those three months. TrackPower said that under
terms of the partnering agreement, it and other
principals in the two tracks are responsible for
funding shortfalls, and it might have to issue additional common stock and debt securities with an
equity conversion option to help fund its share.
Those moves could reduce the ownership share
that TrackPower holds in the joint venture.
To hear The World in Harness, which resumes today after the HTA art auction break, go to the home
page of our Web site, www.harnesstracks.com, and
click on that designation. The Jeannot show will
be online late this afternoon.
3D SURGERY FOR CAMPBELL
John Campbell, harness racing’s Mr. Everything,
faces a third surgical procedure later this week as
specialists at Etobicoke General Hospital near
Toronto seek to stabilize his shattered left leg.
Campbell tried to brace himself by hitting the
ground feet-first when he was catapaulted out of
the sulky Saturday night at Woodbine when unable to avoid a fallen horse, and the shock shattered his tibia and jammed up leg bones surrounding his left knee. He will remain at Etobicoke until doctors permit him to be flown home to New
Jersey by private charter.
IT ISN’T JUST US, FOLKS
The runners have problems with illegal substances,
just as we do. Thoroughbred racing’s leading
trainer, Scott Lake, has been suspended 30 days
and fined $1,000 for a clenbuterol positive in
Delaware.
October 26, 2006
SLOTS NOW, STARS SATURDAY
BROCK GETS A BOOST
After two years of agony, Vernon Downs enjoys
ecstasy today, with the opening of its 777 electronic
touch VLTs. The central New York HTA track
opened its racino at 10 a.m. this morning, and track
spokesman Doug Tudman said it was the beginning of a “12-month-a-year- entertainment venue.”
Tudman said the video gaming “will help to make
this facility a success.” Tudman said Vernon expects to do slightly better than its sister track,
Tioga Downs, which drew about 3,000 people a day
to its racino operation. As a benchmark,
UticaOD.com published revenue from other
racinos in New York for the week ending Oct. 21.
They were:
Batavia Downs
$415,598
Fairgrounds at Buffalo
$805,853
Tioga Downs
$820,910
Monticello
$1,408,407
Finger Lakes
$1,734,818
Saratoga
$2,256,343
Empire City Yonkers
$3,770,378
HTA president Brock Milstein, deeply engaged in
an expensive election campaign that could bring
slots to Ohio’s tracks in November, got help yesterday when William A. Burga, president of the
Ohio AFL-CIO, endorsed Issue 3, the Learn and
Earn program supported by the state’s racetracks.
Burga’s letter of endorsement to the Columbus
Dispatch read, in part, “The Ohio Learn and Earn
proposal is designed to create thousands of construction jobs and new permanent jobs statewide
with health benefits,” and added that passage of
the measure would benefit local governments and
provide worthy Ohio high school students with
funds for college. Milstein announced that if Issue 3 passes, he plans extensive improvements
for Northfield Park, including a 150-room hotel and
casino with a spa and fitness center and 5,000-seat
arena, restaurant and shopping areas that would
create “new construction and development that
hasn’t taken place in decades.” He said he was
talking about an expenditure of between $200 million and $300 million to develop Northfield’s 120
acres into a major entertainment center. “We’re
not just opening a gaming facility,” Milstein said.
“Passage of Issue 3 will be a catalyst for bigger
and better things.”
Vernon will follow up its racino opening with an
on-track attraction of major national interest Saturday night, when two of the world’s best trotters,
Mr. Muscleman and Vivid Photo, square off in a
$20,000 handicap. Mr. Muscleman, last year’s
king recently returned to action from lameness,
showed at Woodbine that he was back in form with
a mile in 1:52.2. Vivid Photo, which equaled the
world record of 1:50.2 at Colonial Downs, is predicted to be the world’s best next year by his coowner and trainer-driver Roger Hammer. Now 4,
Vivid Photo has been assigned seventh post and
Mr. Muscleman the outside eighth post position
for Saturday’s matchup. In Ontario, meanwhile,
the colts and fillies for the Breeders Crown finals
for 2- and 3-year-olds were taking final workouts
at Woodbine in preparation for Saturday’s
huge card, with seasonal championships on
the line.
TVG AND TOC SPAR IN WEST
Television Games Network and California’s Thoroughbred Owners Association take their battle
over TVG’s hub rates to the California Horse
Racing Board today, but the general manager of
TVG thinks resolution of the matter rests with the
state legislature and not the racing commission. A
solution does not seem close at hand, and there is
a possibility that the racing board, which threatened to impose lower rates at its September 21
meeting, may tire of the dispute and do so now.
Racing board chairman Richard Shapiro urged
both sides to find a solution of face action.
October 27, 2006
IT’S DOWN TO 3 BIDDERS IN NY
MANZI HITS 12,000
Only three bidders remain in the running for the
franchise to operate the biggest of New York’s
thoroughbred racetracks. On Thursday, the Ad
Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing in New
York unanimously voted to disqualify Australian
bidder Capital Play Pty Ltd. from the process for
failing to submit a complete bid. According to Scott
Reif, spokesman for the Ad Hoc Committee, Capital Play was removed because its bid did not include a $1 million bond to protect the committee
from lawsuits, as required by the franchise RFP.
The three remaining bidders are Empire Racing
Associates, Excelsior Racing and the New York
Racing Association.
Hall of Fame driver Cat Manzi registered career
victory number 12,000 at Freehold Raceway on
Thursday, winning the second race with Crimson
Dynamo. Only Herve Filion, with more than
15,000 career victories, has more wins than the
56-year-old Manzi. Manzi, who in 2005 was the
oldest driver to lead North America in winning
drives, was the 2005 HTA Driver of the Year.
ANOTHER PA LICENSE ISSUED
State gaming regulators awarded a slot machine
license to Presque Isle Downs, allowing the track’s
owners to build and open a casino alongside the
racetrack being built near Erie, Penn. The conditional license was the sixth awarded by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, and it comes one
month after the board approved conditional licenses for five other racetracks. After the board’s
vote Wednesday, Ted Arneault, the president and
CEO of Presque Isle owner MTR Gaming Group
Inc., said a slots parlor with 2,000 machines will
open at the track in mid-February, followed by live
racing in September 2007. The $250 million dollar facility will feature five bars, a buffet and a
restaurant overlooking the track.
CAMPBELL FLOWN TO JERSEY
John Campbell, harness racing’s all-time leading
money-winning driver who suffered a broken leg
in a racing accident last weekend, was flown by air
ambulance to New Jersey on Thursday. The 51year-old Campbell was expected to be admitted to a hospital closer to his New Jersey home. Reports indicate he is in need
of further surgery on the broken leg.
OHIO COMMISSIONERS FOR ISSUE 3
Three of Ohio’s racing commissioners are on
record as supporting Issue 3, the ballot measure
to permit slots at the Buckeye State’s seven parimutuel racetracks. Highlights of the commissioners’ comments were reported in The Plain Dealer
by veteran racing writer Bob Roberts, who wrote
that racing commission Chairman Norm Barron,
along with commission members Charlie Luken
and John Meeks, offered their opinions on Issue
3 when asked by Kent State University students
who attended a commission meeting as part of a
government class. Barron told the students, “In
Ohio over the last 10 years, we have been subjected to an ongoing assault from neighboring
states that have ancillary support for their racing
industry. Indiana has riverboats, West Virginia
has slot machines. Pennsylvania is getting them,
and Illinois has casinos.... I say the horse racing
industry desperately needs this.”
CALLING HTA PUBLICISTS!!!
HTA is issuing the call to all member organization
publicists, marketing personnel and promotions or
group events staffs. Please put HTA on your list
of recipients for information such as press releases, newsletters and marketing and promotions
materials to HTA. Add HTA to your list and distribute materials to [email protected], or
to our fax at 520-529-3235, or by mail to HTA
at 4640 East Sunrise Drive, Suite 200, Tucson, AZ 85718.
October 30, 2006
RENDELL GETS PA SLOTS BILL
LIKE MONEY? LIKE WARMTH?
And all this time you thought it wouldn’t happen.
You’re excused for good cause, but the Pennsylvania Senate passed the final version of the slots
legislation-- at least for now -- and the measure
now is on Gov. Ed Rendell’s desk and should be
signed this week. HTA tracks in Pennsylvania -Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Harrah’s Chester
Casino and Racetrack and The Meadows -- expect to be up and running as soon as possible, the
first two in winter, the third in spring. Among the
happy amendments made to the bill by House and
Senate was the removal of the middlemen, who
would have had the plum pudding of buying the
slots and reselling them to tracks. When we say
the measure is finalized “for now,” we are mindful
of the warning of state Senator Tommy Tomlinson,
a Republican of Bucks county. “This legislation
is a moving target,” he said. “We’ll be visiting the
gaming bill again, and again, and again.” Fair
warning, folks.
If you do and are a track superintendent on the
way up, you should contact senior director of racing operations Steve Wolf at Pompano Park. That
HTA track in Pompano Beach, Florida, needs a
good man right now, and is offering top salary and
health benefits for a qualified racetrack superintendent who can start immediately. Steve suggests
you “come work and have some fun in the sun at a
track that will have casino gaming this winter.”
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Contact Steve at
[email protected] if you are interested.
THE GREAT ARTSPLACE DEAD
Artsplace, one of the most dominant pacing sires
of the modern era of harness racing, is dead at 18.
The superb racehorse and stallion was euthanized
at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton
Center to save him from the irreversible ravages
of severe laminitis, a disease of the hooves that
causes extreme pain in horses. Artsplace serviced
182 mares this year, standing at Southwind Farm
in New Jersey, and his sons and daughters have
won $114,996,479 to date. Fifteen of them are
millionaires. As a racehorse, Artsplace was undefeated in 16 races as a 2-year-old, trained by Gene
Riegle and driven mostly by John Campbell, and
when he closed his career under Bob McIntosh’s
training at 4 for owners George Segal and the late
Brian Monieson, he had won 37 of 49 career
starts and $3,085,083.
PIERCE SUSPENDED 10 DAYS
Ron Pierce, harness racing’s leading money-winning driver this year with $11,895,450 won by his
mounts, has been suspended for 10 days by the
Ontario Racing Commission. The penalty was
assessed as a result of the pacer Total Truth, which
Pierce was driving, bearing in near the finish of a
Breeders Crown elimination Oct. 21 at Woodbine
Racetrack, causing an accident in which John
Campbell, the sport’s all time money winner, suffered a badly broken left leg. Campbell has been
flown home to New Jersey, where he is hospitalized while the orthopaedic surgeon who repaired
his broken elbow two years ago attempts to repair
the shattered leg.
TRACKPOWER REDUCES SHARE
TrackPower, which has held a 20% overall interest in American Racing and Entertainment, the entity controlling Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs,
has sold half of that interest to Southern Tier Acquisition and Oneida Entertainment for $2.3 million in cash. With the sale concluded, TrackPower’s
ownership continues to receive a monthly management fee and a preferred dividend of $2.5 million out of the first $5 million in profits. One million of the sales proceeds were used to pay off
senior debt.
Oct. 31, 2006
NYRA SAYS NO TO THE MONEY
TESTING PICTURE BRIGHTENS
It isn’t often that someone says no to $19 million,
but the New York Racing Association did yesterday when the state Non-Profit Racing Association
Oversight Board gave its approval for release of
the funds by the Division of the Lottery, but with
conditions that were unacceptable to NYRA. The
board said it wanted NYRA to agree not to file for
bankruptcy for six months, and offered a threetiered release of the $19 million, $7 million tomorrow, $6 million Dec. 1, and the remaining $6 million Jan. 1, 2007. NYRA’s senior vice president
Bill Nader said that was unacceptable, and that an
understanding reached last week to have the entire $19 million released this week was being ignored. Nader said in response to questions that
he felt the changed proposal brought NYRA “one
step closer” to filing for bankruptcy protection.
The board, for its part, merely said it was “uncomfortable” releasing the entire $19 million, which is
part of a $30 million bailout package negotiated
last year. An oversight spokesman said the board
felt its offer was “reasonable” in performing its
function. After all, what would these guys do if
they weren’t overseeing? William Cunningham, a
former adviser to New York City mayor Michael
Bloomberg and not a spokesman for NYRA, called
the oversight board’s proposal “another in the long
line of promises that have been made but not fulfilled by the state.”
Good news in California, where Dr. Rick Arthur is
tightening the screws on testing procedures. The
state now has introduced random testing, with
Arthur announcing, “We’re just going to show up.
It’s going to be unpredictable, and that’s a real
key to this. If you know I’m going to be coming
around and testing on the 15th of every month,
you’re going to find some way to get around it.”
In Maryland, Alan Foreman, chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, urged caution,
calling out-of-competition testing, which California is now using, “a very tricky area.” Foreman
asked, somewhat surprisingly, “If a horse is just
walking around the grounds with a drug in its system, what difference does it make? The purpose
of this testing is not to have the racing police sticking horses at all hours of the day.” Arthur, answering this, says, “It lets people know it’s a new
era, and that we’re going to be paying attention to
this. If we never have a positive, I would be happy.
But we want people to know that what they see in
the Racing Form is what they’re going to get.”
Trainer Mike Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times
that he thought California is “going way too far,”
but Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg said, “It
ain’t who the best trainers are, it’s who the best
chemists are,” adding, “If you’re not a horseman,
you don’t belong on the racetrack.” Significant
was the view of Nick Zito, one of thoroughbred
racing’s best and most respected trainers. “Only
a fool -- only a moron -- could think nothing’s going on,” Zito said. “Is every baseball player on
steroids? I hope not. Is every football player on
something. I hope not. I’ll give the same answer
about EPO in horse racing. I hope they’re all not
on this.”
“ON TRACK” IN MINNESOTA
Thomas Fox, president and CFO of Southwest
Casino and Hotel Corp, which is planning a new
harness track in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area with
MTR Gaming, operators of Scioto Downs, has told
the Minnesota Racing Commission that financing
of the $50 million project is “nearly complete,” and
only one environmental approval was needed
before construction got underway, this year
or next.
In other hopeful developments, Illinois is asking
for out-of-competition and off-track testing, as
is Delaware.
November 1, 2006
SEILING NOMINATED FOR ORC
MUD GETS IN YOUR EYES
Rod Seiling, a former National Hockey League
player with a long and strong background in
harness racing, has been nominated to succeed
Lynda Tanaka as chair of the Ontario Racing
Commission. Mrs. Tanaka’s term expires at the
end of the year, and the Standing Committee on
Government Agencies has tapped Seiling for her
job. Most recently president and chief executive
officer of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association,
Seiling, if the appointment is approved as expected, will return to a sport in which he was
long active as an owner and breeder. He and his
family raced horses with trainer Keith Waples
for many years, and Ontario’s Minister of Government Services, Gerry Phillips, told The Harness Edge, “Mr. Seiling has an excellent professional record and is very familiar with ORC’s
operations and procedures, having served as a
member of the Commission and as a former licensee.
This nomination supports the
government’s commitment to fulfill its responsibilities ensuring the honesty and integrity of
horseracing by regulating the industry in the
public interest.” Seiling at one time was a vice
president of the Ontario Jockey Club, now
known as Woodbine Entertainment Group; was
executive director of Racetracks of Canada; and
served as general manager at Elmira Raceway.
One could wish that all racing commissioners had
as extensive a background in racing, and HTA
wishes the chairman nominee all the best and
hopes he is confirmed.
Elections are near at hand, which means that in
the stress of homestretch campaigning, worried
parties are slinging mud. It is happening in Ohio,
where it is touch and go whether slots get approved next Tuesday, and it also is happening in
New York, where Jeff Gural is attempting to unseat Joe Faraldo as a USTA director. In Ohio,
the Toledo Blade reported that a “series of commercials is designed to portray backers of Issue
3 as untrustworthy, with background music that
one would usually expect to accompany TV villains. The newspaper said opponents of Issue 3,
the Learn and Earn amendment that would pour
money into a scholarship fund for Ohio college
students, have committed to a $1.4 million media buy compared to “anticipated spending of
about $20 million” by supporters of the measure.
In New York, Faraldo, with a straight face, said
Gural’s running as a membership director presented “potential conflicts too great, and it is simply not possible to sit on both sides of the negotiating table.” Joe should know. As for schools
and education, Ohio is not alone in that pursuit.
In Pennsylvania, officials in Harrisburg announced that the Philadelphia School District
alone will receive $5 million a year to upgrade
classrooms under the newly revised slots bill. The
city is expected to receive some $24 million a year,
or 4% of gross receipts of two casinos there.
In more good news for a racing commission -but a loss for Rosecroft Raceway--Rosecroft’s director of operations and veteran of 13 years service at Rosecroft, Mary Manney, is leaving the
Maryland track for her native Minnesota, where she will become Deputy Executive Director of the Minnesota Racing
Commission.
Here in Arizona, Indian casinos sent a record
$26.3 million to the state in revenue sharing for
the quarter ending Sept. 30. That is up 15.4%
over the record same quarter last year. Indian
casinos of Arizona have contributed $235.5 million to the state in the three-plus years since a
measure called Proposition 202 passed and permitted tribes to add blackjack and more slot machines to their gambling menu. In return,
the tribes agreed to share between 1% and
8% of gaming winnings with the state and
open their books to state auditors.
November 2, 2006
SAD ENDING TO A SAD STORY
RENDELL SIGNS SLOTS BILL
A civil suit in Windsor, Ontario, with an out-oftown judge presiding, is revealing sad details of
the plight of the late Tom Joy, whose ownership
of Windsor Raceway apparently brought him to
financial ruin. The case involves events nine
years old, when, according to testimony reported
by the Windsor Star, Joy’s Arizona bank discovered he had been kiting checks for months -- as
many as three a day for $50,000, $60,000, $70,000
-- in a futile effort to keep Windsor Raceway
afloat. John Millson, Joy’s confidante and president of the track at the time, testified that Joy,
who died in 2001 of bone cancer, was devastated
and panic stricken, believing he was going to jail
when the Arizona bank refused to honor the
checks being sent from Windsor to Arizona.
Those checks were intended to cover checks going back to Windsor to keep the raceway alive.
Millson said Joy called his friend and lawyer, one
Doug Lawson, and begged him, “Please, please,
please” to find him $2 million. Lawson did -- $1
million from him and $500,000 each from two
prominent Windsor businessmen -- but with conditions. The loan provided for compensation for
Lawson and the other two, at terms beyond the
norm, according to the suit now in court, which
seeks reimbursement of $3.7 million. The original $2 million was repaid by 1999, at 8% interest, a year after Windsor got slots. But there was
another provision in the loan. The three lenders
would become consultants, splitting 1% of slots
revenue in perpetuity. The two businessmen were
bought out of their consulting contracts for
$971,080 each in 1999, according to The Star, and
Lawson’s fees were cut off in 2003. The plaintiffs in the current suit contend the consulting
fee was in reality interest, and when added to the
original 8% far exceeds Ontario’s legal limits. The
track now is owned by Tony Toldo Jr., son
of a prominent Windsor philanthropist.
Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell signed the
state’s newly revised slots bill yesterday, providing greater transparency to the issue, but no
sooner had done so than a Philadelphia coalition
of community groups, gaming opponents, and
businesses filed a suit challenging the law. It was
not the first attempt. The state Supreme Court
upheld the constitutionality of the original slots
law last year, but the new suit questions the legality of the appointed Gaming Control Board
to grant licenses. It contends only elected officials should have that right.
A NEW HIGH. OR RATHER LOW
Speaking of litigation, which we’re forced to do
frequently these days, try this one for audacity.
A thoroughbred owner-trainer has sued Calder
and its owner, Churchill Downs, alleging one of
his horses was the victim of “intentional acts of
foul play” that resulted in its death. The plaintiff, one Dennis Fisher, says the tracks had a vendetta against him, “based on information or belief concerning (Fisher’s) knowledge concerning
possible corruption at the tracks.” Fisher contends the tracks’ misconduct, including defaming him with allegations he drugged his horses,
dates back two years.
AN AUDIT IN KENTUCKY
Daily Racing Form reports today that an audit of
the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund
“has uncovered serious problems in the owners’
awards program that will likely result in the revamping of the program.” Lisa Underwood, now
executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing
Authority, declined to discuss details, but said, “For
a long, long time people have not been properly
watching over the fund. We decided we needed to
resolve the issue now.” The fund has been receiving .75% of on-track and 2% of all in-state betting at intertrack sites.
November 3, 2006
NYRA FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
BULLETS IN BUFFALO, TOO
The major racing news of today centers around
two Big B’s: the filing for bankruptcy protection
by the New York Racing Association, and the Big
Test in the Breeders’ Cup Saturday for
Bernardini, thoroughbred racing’s newest and
brightest star. The 3-year-old will be meeting the
best older horses in thoroughbred racing. In New
York, NYRA, victim of political ploys in Albany,
filed for bankruptcy after failing to get $19 million from the state, part of a $30 million loan that
was approved by the legislature last year. Normally, legislative approval would suffice, but in
New York the Pataki administration exercised executive privilege by detouring the procedure. The
State Lottery Division refused to give final clearance to NYRA to get its Aqueduct racino underway, a move that NYRA’s chairman, C. Steven
Duncker, called “unfortunate and frankly inexplicable.” Interestingly, one rival trying to get
NYRA’s license is Empire Racing, whose CEO is
Jeff Perlee, a former director of the Lottery Division under Pataki. The final blow leading to
bankruptcy came this week, when a state oversight board approved distribution of the $19 million still unpaid on NYRA’s $30 million loan, but
added strings unacceptable to NYRA, which
turned down the offer. Pataki’s Budget Division
spokesman, Scott Reif, said, “It goes without saying that the state did everything possible to assist NYRA,” a view that NYRA understandably
does not share. In its filing for bankruptcy,
NYRA said it suffered a net loss of $3.2 million
in the first eight months of this year, with operating revenue of more than $200 million. It reported assets of some $153 million and liabilities
of almost $310 million. One key issue that will
affect the NYRA franchise is who owns the
tracks, NYRA or the state of New York. If a federal bankruptcy judge were to rule for
NYRA, it could have authority to sell its
tracks or borrow against them.
Elsewhere in New York, another battle for control. The Seneca Nation prepared to break
ground for the foundation of a planned casino
near downtown Buffalo, even as a federal judge
heard legal arguments from a group seeking to
stop the project. Opponents charge that the U.S.
Secretary of the Interior erred in allowing the
project to go forward, and seek a review. They
say the site does not meet statutory requirements
to be on Indian land. Federal attorneys say everything concerning the project followed the law,
and that the Senecas are able to game on the site.
A CHECK FOR $50 MILLION
With the signing of the amended slots bill in
Pennsylvania, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs
president and CEO Bob Soper lost no time in
reaching into the cookie jar. He came up with a
check for $50 million, and presented a symbolic
version to Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell in
Wilkes-Barre today, making Pocono the first operation in the state to pay the fee for a gaming
license. Rendell’s promise of tax reform thus gets
its first actual boost, and Mohegan Sun, with approval of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control
Board, will open the state’s first racino with flair
on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Celebrants will have a
choice of 500 reel games, 450 video machines, and
video poker, in denominations from 1-cent to $25.
A non-smoking section of the racino will offer
300 games.
ALLEN WOULD BE PROUD
For all his clowning around, the late and inimitable Allen J. Finkelson of Pompano Park would
be proud of the scholarships being offered to
Florida residents by the Florida chapter of the
U.S. Harness Writers Association. Applicants can
get details from the Scholarship Committee,
USHWA, 1800 SE Third Street, Pompano
Beach, FL 33069, phone 954-972-5400.
November 6, 2006
NYRA GETS $8 MILLION BOOST
A CATSKILL MYSTERY
It isn’t the $19 million they have coming which New
York state has tied up, but the New York Racing
Association has picked up $8 million to keep it
afloat while it reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That loan was released in a
separate action in bankruptcy court when the state
comptroller’s office agreed to release the money,
at 4% annual interest. NYRA senior VP Bill Nader
said the money “will keep us going,” and Richard
Violette, vice president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, took an optimistic
view. “Delta Airlines went bankrupt,” he said,
“and they didn’t miss one flight. So we’re hoping
it’s the same thing with NYRA.” A key question is
when the New York Lottery Division, slower than
the slowest horse at NYRA, will approve a NYRA
management contract with MGM Grand to get the
Aqueduct racino underway. The Division, which
has approved arrangements with all other New
York tracks, says its review “is under way.” One
has to wonder if the delay has anything to do with
aspirants for the NYRA franchise, but New York
state meanwhile loses millions, with the Lottery
Division fiddling like Nero while NYRA burns.
Ever since the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and its
Headless Horsemen, the dark Catskills have provide mystery and drama. Last week another mystery: who knew what about Empire Resorts to
make its stock suddenly fluctuate sharply? Management professed to know nothing, but something
or someone was moving the price of Empire shares.
They fell 76 cents, or 9.1%, to $7.63 in afternoon
trading on the Nasdaq last Thursday, with volume
exceeding 2.3 million shares as opposed to the daily
average of around 179,000. Empire and its partners, the St. Regis Mohawks, have been waiting
for issuance of a finding of no significant impact
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in connection
with St. Regis participation in a casino at
Monticello, and Empire says it knows of no change
in the proceedings.
MORE SURGERY FOR CAMPBELL
John Campbell, world harness racing’s leading
money winning driver, has undergone another
round of surgery on his fractured left leg, shattered in a racing accident at Woodbine Oct. 21.
Now back in New Jersey, surgeons had waited
for swelling to subside in the leg, and operated last
Thursday. Campbell had been reported to be in
severe pain, but doctors told his wife Paula that
they are optimistic over chances of full recovery
following the last surgery. Whether Campbell, 51,
returns to racing undoubtedly depends on the extent of that recovery. He had returned from
a fractured elbow and was enjoying another superb year.
VOTE HERE AND GET RICH
We like Arizona for a number of reasons -- it’s in
the 80s and balmy today for one of them -- but we
might make a huge leap forward tomorrow. One
of 20 propositions on tomorrow’s ballot in this state
would establish a random drawing every two years
for all voters who participated in the primary or
general elections. All those woould be eligible for
the first prize, a cool $1 million. Proponents think
it would increase voting by thousands. Another
proposition would do away with polling places and
have ballots mailed to all eligible voters, to be returned by mail. And then there is an initiative, which
might well carry in the anti-immigrant atmosphere
of today, which would make English Arizona’s official language. We read that one very, very carefully, to make sure it didn’t impact us, or our staff.
Have a great election day -- particulary if you live
in Ohio -- and be sure to vote. We’re heading out
to push that million dollar lottery idea. Our dentist is pressing us heavily.
November 7, 2006
THEY’RE HAPPY, WE’RE HAPPY
MESSENGER TO JEFF GURAL
The boys at the Breeders Cup have to be happy
about the record betting on this year’s eight races
-- it should total $134 million when all returns are
in -- up 14% over a year ago, with the Classic
match with Bernardini and Invasor up 44%, $8.1
million over a year ago. We’re happy for them.
HTA’s highest honor, the Stan Bergstein Messenger Award, goes this year to Jeff Gural, who
returned Vernon Downs to life and opened a
model small track at Tioga Downs during 2006.
Beset by problems and obstacles thrown repeatedly in his way, Gural persevered for more
than two years and saw both of his objectives
accomplished, at huge personal cost. The Messenger, named for the English thoroughbred
that founded the harness breed in America,
goes annually to an individual or organization for
exceptionally outstanding and meritorious service to the sport. Gural fulfills all of the qualities sought by HTA. He overcame every roadblock thrown in his way, and they were frequent,
plentiful and some purely mean and spiteful. He
succeeded in both projects by persistence and
by expending a very large sum of his personal
fortune in restoring Vernon to live racing and
opening a refreshing new track in Tioga. Construction of that track, which has won wide acclaim for creative design and customer service,
exemplifies Gural’s belief that harness racing
must create a fan base catering to young, new
fans. A longtime owner and breeder in the
sport, Gural is chairman of Newmark Knight
Frank, a full service commercial and industrial
real estate management firm that manages
some 150 buildings in the New York metropolitan area, and has ownership interest in 41 of
them. He is chairman of a host of charitable
organizations, including the New York chapter of
The Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation,
and a board member of more than 15 other philanthropic groups. The Messenger bronze will
be presented to Gural at the HTA Awards Banquet at the Diplomat Country Club in Hollywood, Florida, Sunday night, March 13. Gural
also is being honored by the U.S. Harness
Writers at their annual dinner in February
in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
They can’t be too happy about the six hours on
ESPN, which drew an overnight rating of .9, the
lowest ever for the Breeders Cup in its debut on
ESPN, down 47% from last year’s 1.7. An executive VP at ESPN, John Skipper, tried to paint a
bright picture, calling the telecast a success, in part
because of increased exposure on other ESPN
properties. The show was very well done, with
good talent and direction, and it should make the
Hambletonian Society and others in harness racing happy. With all of its huge buildup and publicity on ESPN and ABC, its 0.9 rating, or 770,000
homes, was only 39,000 homes higher than this
year’s Hambletonian, which drew a .7 rating,
equivalent to 731,000 homes.
YEAR ALREADY? YOU JEST
We’re painfully aware of the calendar spinning
faster, but it’s hard to believe Hollywood Slots at
Bangor, Penn National’s Maine operation, has
been open a year. Hollywood’s GM, Jon Johnson,
calls the first year “a great success, by any measure you would choose.” Bangor has become a
tourist center for the state, the racino has had almost 800,000 visits, and the 475 slots have generated a gross handle of more than $520 million.
Under Maine’s law, the state had collected more
than $22.5 million in taxes, the city of Bangor more
than $1.3 million, and purses have gone from
$520,000 to $1.2 million. Penn National now plans
to open a $90 million complex, with 1,500
spaces for cars and a new hotel, in mid2008.
DOUBLE TROUBLE IN OHIO
There is thick gloom in post-election Ohio today,
and with good cause. The state’s seven racetracks,
which had looked for an equalizer with slots now in
neighboring Pennsylvania, suffered a stinging setback with the resounding defeat of Issue 3, the
Learn and Earn bill that would have given the
tracks slots with which to compete. Ohio voters,
for the third time, refused to approve slots, even
though this measure was tied to education, with
30% of gross revenues from the slots earmarked
for college scholarships for Ohio students. A crushing blow to the vote came in the final days of campaigning, when Senator George Voinovich made a
personal robotic phone call to Republican households urging them to vote against the bill, saying it
would increase crime, cause economic distress and
“enrich nine men,” presumably referring to track
operators, of which there are only seven in Ohio,
and two others who would have run stand-alone
casinos. Several Ohio trainers were quoted as saying they would sell their homes and move their operations to slots states, but whether or not that
materializes, another heavy blow fell on the Ohio
tracks with the passage of Issue 5 and defeat of
Issue 4. Issue 4, a constitutional amendment
backed by R. J. Reynolds tobacco company, would
have exempted some organizations from the smoking ban; Issue 5, not a constitutional amendment
but now a law, backed by public health groups including the American Cancer Society, provides for
no exemptions for facilities like tracks, a move
that has negatively impacted racing in other states
with similar laws. The tracks, which spent a reported $20 million in Ohio to get the slots issue on
the ballot and passed, now will have to seek other
relief, and Ohio will have to find other means of
providing monies for education. The state is in
the same position as a young Akron voter, one
Carlisa Brinson, 24, who told the Akron
Beacon Journal she had voted against
November 8, 2006
Issue 3 because “There are lots of other ways to
raise college tuition,” adding, “What they are, I
don’t know.”
In other election results, gambling expansion in
Rhode Island, through a Narragansett Indian casino to be operated by Harrah’s, was trounced, as
was a proposal to expand keno in Nebraska. Arkansas voters, by more than 2 to 1, approved expansion of gambling by authorizing bingo and
raffles for charities. Clark county in far southern
Indiana, near Louisville, approved gambling after
twice previously rejecting it, leading to speculation that a Cincinnati-based casino might choose
to move there. South Dakota voters spoke decisively, 2-to-1, against repealing the state lottery,
and in Arizona a proposal to make voters eligible
for a lottery with a million dollar first prize, with
the money coming from unclaimed Arizona state
lottery tickets, was trounced by almost 2-to-1,
despite the strong efforts of the editor to get it
passed in the hope of covering dental bills.
$200 MILLION FOR ZIA PARK
Zia Park, built and opened a year ago in rural southeastern New Mexico, but near the Texas oil cities
of Midland, Odessa and Lubbock, is being sold to
Penn National Gaming for $200 million. Zia has
746 slot machines, a mile track, 1,500 stalls and
320 acres. It was built at a cost of $45 million to
$50 million by former Hollywood Park president
R. D. Hubbard and associates, and reported $69.7
million in revenue, and $24.5 million in EBITDA,
in the year ending Sept. 30.
MAKE THAT FOR JOURNALISTS
The Florida chapter of U.S. Harness Writers scholarships, referred to here last week, have conditions. They are for journalism and communications students who reside in Florida.
NJSEA CUTTING 40 JOBS
In an attempt to reduce employee costs by $3 million a year, New Jersey Sports and Exposition
Authority president George Zoffinger has announced the Authority’s 220 employees -- down
from 300 in 2002 -- will be offered a buyout Jan. 5.
If that tactic doesn’t provide adequate savings,
Zoffinger says layoffs will follow. “The reality is
that we’re not different than any other well-run
company in America,” Zoffinger said yesterday at
a monthly board meeting. “The stadium is going
away, and the way people gamble nowadays is different. They gamble by the Internet, they gamble
by phone, and they gamble at casinos. The demographic of people at the racetrack is -- well, dying.” The track, unfortunately, has been carrying
a good deal of the burden of the rest of the complex. Continental Arena is projected to lose $3.4
million this year, and perhaps half of that next year,
largely because of millions of dollars in payments
to the NHL’s Devils. Zoffinger thinks that will
improve in 2008, doubting that the Devils can build
a new arena for $365 million, as announced. He
pointed out that an Orlando project is scheduled
for $480 million, and a proposed arena in Sacramento is expected to cost $500 million. While track
profits have declined substantially, Zoffinger
complimented Dennis Dowd, Chris McErlean and
others running the horse racing operation. “Our
guys have done the job there,” he said. “The problem is the revenue numbers.”
COAST LOOKS FOR HELP, TOO
Tightening financial control is not an eastern phenomenon. The California Horse Racing Board
yesterday announced that Richard (Bon) Smith, a
specialist in oversight and control of financial planning with a strong background in finance, has been
named assistant executive director of the board,
and will coordinate and assist in budgeting
and operations.
November 9, 2006
BIG M WARY OF EQUINE HERPES
The Meadowlands, where harness racing returns
for the track’s fall meeting a week from tomorrow,
Nov. 17, is taking precautionary steps to address
the recent outbreak of equine herpes virus in thoroughbred racing in New Jersey. Vice president of
racing operations Chris McErlean announced,
“We fully understand the ramifications of this disease and how it spreads, and how it can devastate
a racing program. We want to make sure our horsemen know we are proactive in this case, and they
should have no concerns coming in to stable or
race at the Meadowlands.” Toward that end, barns
3, 4 and 5 and the New Jersey Racing Commission testing barn are being stripped, thoroughly
power washed and disinfected -- twice -- before
incoming horses are permitted into those areas.
Incoming horses will be required to have a current
negative Coggins test, a 48-hour health certificate
with each horse’s temperature will be required,
proof of an EHV-1 vaccination no less than 7 days
and no more than 90 days prior to arrival will be
necessary, and no exceptions to those requirements will be made. McErlean said he realizes
those requirements may seem an inconvenience
to horsemen, but “we want to ensure the health
and safety of all participants at the Meadowlands.”
PRAIRIE DISPUTE UP TODAY
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission hopes
to resolve the dispute between HTA member Prairie Meadows and horsemen over 2007 dates today. Neither harness racing, thoroughbred racing
nor quarter horse groups have signed contracts
with the track, the harness horsemen’s association calling the track’s wish to stop paying $1.3
million for races on the county fair circuit “devastating.” This is the second year the commission
has been asked to step in and intervene in scheduling at the tracks. It set the 2006 racing season this year.
AROUND THE TRACKS....
YONKERS RACEWAY will reopen with live racing Friday, Nov. 17. The New York Racing and
Wagering Board issued a conditional track and
simulcast license to the new Empire City at Yonkers today, calling for a five-day a week racing
schedule. Board chairman Daniel D. Hogan said,
in announcing the license, “Yonkers Raceway has
been hard at work upgrading their facility to ensure its compliance of the racing laws, and, most
importantly, assuring a safe and secure environment for all of the returning race fans. The Board
recognizes that a few issues are still left outstanding, but remains confident Yonkers will meet those
items before the betting windows will be allowed
to open.”
PRAIRIE MEADOWS has agreed to pay $1 million -- a cut of $300,000 -- to support county fair
racing in Iowa. GM Gary Palmer says the HTA
track still wants to phase out the county fair contributions, but agreed to the 2007 payments as part
of a settlement yesterday in which the track was
licensed by the Iowa commission after offering
$19.68 million in thoroughbred, harness racing and
quarter horse purses. Prairie increased its harness racing meeting from 14 to 18 days, and upped
purses for that meeting from $642,000 this year to
$800,000 for 2007.
THE ONTARIO RACING COMMISSION was
ordered to pay starter Tom O’Dwyer $50,000 to
cover pay he lost as starter and patrol judge at
Rideau Carleton Raceway when the commission
refused to renew his license. The order was issued by a Superior Court of Justice judge, after
the commission explained it was investigating
O’Dwyer for possible violations of hidden ownership rules involving his step daughter. The commission could not substantiate the charges,
and the judge levied the maximum penalty
allowed under Ontario law.
November 10, 2006
THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE partially lifted a quarantine of the
Monmouth Park backstretch yesterday. The order allows some 1,000 runners to leave Monmouth,
with some 100 that were directly exposed to four
horses that tested positive still impounded in isolation. The entire horse population had been quarantined since Oct. 26.
HARRAH’S CHESTER CASINO AND RACETRACK, an HTA member, has taken delivery of
its first 467 slot machines, the forerunners of 2,750
the racino will offer when it is fully stocked.
JACOBS ENTERTAINMENT has purchased 3.6
million shares -- a 13% interest -- in MTR Gaming, and owner Jeffrey Jacobs has suggested that
a vacancy on the board of directors be filled by
Ian M. Stewart, a longtime executive officer of
Jacobs Entertainment with expertise in financial,
accounting and business matters. Jacobs Entertainment owns, among many other properties,
Colonial Downs in Virginia.
NEW YORK STATE plans to ask a U.S. Bankruptcy Court not to allow the Chapter 11 application filed by the New York Racing Association,
claiming it has no right to be shielded from creditors owed $309 million. The state oversight board
says it has “significant questions” as to whether
NYRA should be allowed bankruptcy protection.
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT has reached a settlement with BetOnSports, the English bookmaking
outfit, permanently barring it from accepting bets
in the U.S. Criminal charges remain pending
against BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers, still
under house arrest in a St. Louis suburb, facing 22
fraud and racketeering counts.
KIKIKATIE, sold to an unannounced buyer for
$500,000 at Harrisburg, becomes the highest priced pacing broodmare ever.
November 13, 2006
WELCOME BACK, BOB
CHURCHILL FORMS TECH TEAM
Bob Farinella, a former HTA director from Prairie
Meadows, has been named Senior Vice President
and General Manager of Tioga Downs and Vernon
Downs in New York. John Arnesen, president and
COO of Nevada Gold and Casinos, announced
Farinella would replace Eric Persson, who is leaving general manager posts at both tracks to return to Las Vegas. Farinella, who holds degrees
in commerce from the University of Maryland and
an MBA from the University of Utah, has wide
gaming experience and was president and general
manager of Prairie Meadows Casino and Racetrack for 10 years. HTA welcomes him back to
the fold.
Hoping to bring cutting edge technology to racing,
new Churchill Downs president and CEO Robert
L. Evans is dispatching a six- or eight-person team
to SiliconValley in California. “We’ll benefit from
the perspective of those outside the traditional
racing business,” Evans said, adding that “I think
we have a pretty aggressive plan.” He declined
to give specifics, saying, “I don’t want to tip off
everybody else what we’re doing for a while.”
More likely he still is working on the idea, since
he said he would provide specifics early next year.
GOV-ELECT FOR SLOTS IN MD
Martin O’Malley, the governor-elect of Maryland,
has called on the Maryland General Assembly to
legalize slot machines at tracks. O’Malley said
the state’s racing industry could collapse if the lawmakers did not find common ground, and he said
that after watching futile efforts by his predecessor Robert L. Ehrlich for three legislative sessions
he was “sick of this issue.” State Senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat like
O’Malley, said he is optimistic a tracks-only slots
bill will be passed early in O’Malley’s term, and
predicted that if it were not he expected to see
“racing just give up and go to other states and the
Preakness move on.” Not everyone in Maryland
government agreed, however. Peter Franchot, a
Democrat who was elected comptroller last week,
said he hoped O’Malley would not press the “divisive issue,” saying he thought the bill would fail
again even with O’Malley’s backing. “I personally think it’s a loser of an issue,” Franchot said.
“Voters threw out the No. 1 cheerleader for slots,
Bob Ehrlich.” O’Malley’s aides said the new
governor probably would not introduce a
slots bill, but hoped legislators would do
so.
THE HAIRGROVES LEAVE US
Not everyone in the present generation of track
operators will remember Dick Hairgrove, but those
who do will recall him fondly. He was a key representative for Autotote for years, and he and his
wife Shirley never missed an HTA meeting during
his association with the tote company.
Early in the morning of October 28, Dick and
Shirley’s home in Newark, Delaware caught fire,
and Shirley perished in the blaze. Dick, badly
burned, was hospitalized in a burn center, but was
released Nov. 7 to attend Shirley’s funeral. At 4
a.m. the following morning, Dick died. HTA extends its condolences to the son and daughter and
grandchildren of Dick and Shirley, longtime friends
of this association.
CHARLEY RUSSO DEAD IN NY
Charles F. Russo, a longtime harness racing
breeder and one of the founders of the New York
Sires Stakes, died Nov. 5 at his home in Spa Circle,
NY. Russo was executive director of the Harness
Horse Breeders of New York from the group’s inception in 1957 until his retirement in 1985. He
won the U.S. Harness Writers’ Proximity Award
for major contributions to the harness racing industry in 1988.
THE SUN RISES AT POCONO
Mohegan Sun at Pocono ushered in a new era for
Pennsylvania today, becoming the first track in the
state to open a racino. Pocono had almost 1,100
slots in play for the debut, and all were occupied
within half an hour of the 10 a.m. opening as a line
of eager patrons waiting in the rain poured into
the building. With all machines occupied, a long
line waited to get player cards. Conrad Sobkowiak,
Pocono’s vice president of racetrack operations,
said the opening “went very smoothly, with parking and traffic well under control. It was a drizzly
day, but we had 1,000 people waiting to come in at
10 a.m.” Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor,
Catherine Baker, was on hand, along with Bruce
(Two Dogs) Bozsum, chairman of the Mohegan
Tribal Council, which owns all Mohegan Sun Properties. Bazsum gave an opening ceremonial
prayer.
The present temporary racino is 90,000 squarefeet, part of a $70 million renovation of the track,
with a second phase scheduled for next year that
will see construction of a 400,000 square-foot
racino that will open with 2,000 machines.
Mohegan Sun paid $240 million for Pocono to Penn
National Gaming, which had to divest itself of the
track under Pennsylvania’s one-venue law, and
then paid the state $50 million for the slots license.
Mohegan Sun expects the machines, when all 2,000
are on line, to gross $230 each a day, which would
provide total annual revenues of $167.9 million.
While the first guests arrived at Pocono today,
hoping for slots winnings, the first of five applicants hopeful of obtaining one of two stand-alone
casinos in Philadelphia testified yesterday before
the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg. Seven days of hearings are scheduled over
four weeks, with the Philly hearings to
take five days.
November 14, 2006
The first to testify today was billionaire Chicago
developer Neil Bluhm, who said during his two
hours of testimony that it was not in the state’s
best interest to have Atlantic City casino owners - Donald Trump and Pinnacle Entertainment -operate Philadelphia casinos, since they are better off keeping their customers in New Jersey,
which has more favorable casino tax rates. He
said he had no Atlantic City holdings, and would
fight to keep customers in Pennsylvania. Bluhm
also defended his intention of building a riverfront
hotel, saying Philadelphia is not oversupplied with
hotel rooms.
Planet Hollywood, as might be expected, tried glitz,
showing videotaped messages of support from
Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone and promising community development.
The Gaming and Control Board, for its part, continued its mode of secrecy, releasing little information in the way of maps or basic fact sheets or
even site plans or architectural renderings, saying (are you ready for this?) that to do so would
reveal the location of security cameras.
GLIDEMASTER AT YONKERS
Given their choice, harness racing trainers prefer
bigger tracks, and spurn half milers, despite the
fact that the sport’s most successful years came
over the half-mile tracks at Yonkers and Roosevelt
Raceways. Their objections melt away, of course,
in the face of dollar signs and special laurels, and
now trainer Blair Burgess, who conditions
Glidemaster, winner of the Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity -- the first two jewels in the Triple
Crown of trotting -- has decided to ante up $60,000
to supplement his colt for the upcoming Yonkers
Trot, third leg of the Crown. Glidemaster has won
7 races and has been second 7 times in 14 starts
this year, without ever racing on a track smaller
than seven-eighths of a mile.
CAMPBELL ON HTA WEB SITE
John Campbell, resting at home in New Jersey
following surgery on his shattered left leg, took
time for an interview for Harness Tracks of
America’s World in Harness Internet show, and
the interesting result can be found on the home
page of HTA’s Web site, www.harnesstracks.com.
Campbell discusses his accident, the impact of
racinos at Yonkers and in Pennsylvania on racing
at his home base, the Meadowlands, illegal medication, and his thoughts on security. John’s mounts
have won $240,638,270, first among all world harness racing drivers and fifth among drivers and
American thoroughbred jockeys. Only Pat Day,
Jerry Bailey, Chris McCarron and Laffit Pincay
Jr. have earned more with their mounts, and
Campbell leads Gary Stevens, Alex Solis, Eddie
Delahoussaye, Kent Desormeaux, Jose Santos
and Edgar Prado, who are closest behind him on
the all-time money-winning list.
HENSLEY PROMOTED AT DOVER
John Hensley has been named Senior Director of
Harness Racing at HTA member Dover Downs.
John started at the Delaware track six years ago
as assistant race secretary, and worked briefly
after the harness season in Dover’s Motorsports
Marketing. He then was named Manager of Harness Racing, and more recently has been Director of Harness Racing, where he has been responsible for significant improvements in both live and
simulcasting products. In his new job, he also will
supervise Dover Downs’ mutuels department.
YONKERS BACK ON TRACK
Dark for 17 months, Yonkers Raceway resumes
live racing Friday, with a nine-race program and
7:40 p.m. post time. The track has been
idled by $240 million in racino and other
construction, and returns with a Friday thru
Tuesday racing schedule.
November 15, 2006
Sunday programs will start at 5 p.m. This
Saturday’s card will feature eliminations for the
$750,000 Yonkers Trot, final jewel in the Triple
Crown of Trotting, and $750,000 Messenger, final
jewel in the Triple Crown of Pacing. The track,
now known as Empire City at Yonkers, underwent
a state inspection yesterday to clear the way for
reopening, and general counsel Tim Rooney Jr.
said some final corrections were made during the
inspection, with a report not yet received. The
track racino currently has 2,370 VLTs in operation. Since opening Oct. 11, Empire City has netted $18.2 million, with $9.9 million going to education in New York state. Purses, which were $45,000
a night when Yonkers closed in June of 2005, will
average $100,000 a night next week, and could
rise to $200,000 once additional VLTs become
operational.
OHIO TRACKS NOT GIVING UP
Ohio tracks, including four HTA members in
Northfield Park, Scioto Downs, Lebanon Raceway
and the Delaware County Fair, are not giving up
in the wake of last week’s decisive turndown by
voters on slots and racinos. An “Instant Racing”
bill is under consideration in the General Assembly, using an electronic format of past races, and
River Downs general manager Jack Hanessian
told Blood-Horse that tracks may draft another
slots proposal more appealing to voters and try
for approval on a state ballot.
In Maryland, Maryland Jockey Club president and
CEO Lou Raffetto Jr. told Blood-Horse that “We
can hold our own through 2007, but I can make no
assurances about racing past that. The clock is
ticking.” Raffetto said, after a Maryland commission meeting, that he hopes a 15-year revenue
sharing agreement hammered out earlier this year
between harness and thoroughbred groups might
spill over into the political arena.
POCONO: $7 MILLION FIRST DAY
It may have been dark and dreary and raining outside, but the sun (the Mohegan Sun) was shining
brightly inside the racino at Pocono Downs on
opening day. In the first 14 hours of operation,
gamblers pushed almost $7 million through the
1,093 slots that were operating during the day.
Pocono said 16,000 patrons passed through the
racino on Tuesday, and between the opening at 10
a.m. and midnight they pushed $6,708,000 through
the machines. The casino’s win averaged $632 for
each of the machines that operated at least part of
the day which was almost three times higher than
the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority projected
in its Pennsylvania application. The state’s regulators thought that projection was unrealistic, and
said they thought $180 a machine was a more likely
expectation. Track president and HTA director Bob
Soper, while elated with the results of opening day,
tempered his elation with realism, saying, “It’s still
way too early to make any determination about
the robustness of the market,” noting that pentup
anticipation and being the first racino in Pennsylvania certainly affected the results. The largest
jackpot Tuesday was $16,000, and Soper said daily
win can be affected by jackpot returns. Soper said
Mohegan Sun now has 465 people working around
the clock, but might hire more if business continues to exceed projections. Of the total $6.8 million
put through the machines on opening day, Pocono
received $690,915, but $380,003, or 55% of that
total, went to the state in taxes.
Gulfstream Park also opened its racino, with an
initial 516 machines and spectacular decor, although a reporter for the Miami Herald wrote that
the walls could have been institutional gray illuminated with naked light bulbs dangling from extension cords, as far as the throng
of players was concerned.
November 16, 2006
The writer, Fred Grimm, might have been a bit put
off by the response he received from one
“properlooking grandma” he tried to interview. He
asked her what she thought of the racino’s $140
million under-the-sea theme, including a 13,000gallon cylindrical aquarium and ceiling fixtures like
blue and white bubbles. He said she barely looked
up, and “waved me away like I was an unctuous
waiter,” keeping her eyes fixed on the electronic
face of a machine named Enchanted Unicorn. “I
don’t need anything, honey,” she told the reporter,
ignoring his question and dismissing him summarily.
All in all, it was a big day for Magna Entertainment. It and its partner, Forest City, received
final approval from the city of Hallandale Beach,
for the development of The Village at Gulfstream
Park, a 60-acre, master-planned “lifestyle destination,” whatever that may be.
Magna also closed on its sale of The Meadows to
Cannery Casino Resorts, owned by Millennium
Gaming, for $200 million, and received a second
and final vote of approval from the Dixon, California, city council to move forward with its plans for
a track in that city. A citizens’ group continues efforts to block the track through a referendum.
USTA PROPOSES BIG BOOSTS
The Executive and Finance Committees of the
United States Trotting Association, at a semi-annual meeting in Columbus, has proposed boosting
the organization’s contribution to the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium from $15,000 to at
least $100,000. The committees also approved
raising its funding of Standardbred Investigative
Services, the sport’s security arm. Increasing visibility of the sport through print media ads featuring high profile individuals as spokesmen also
was approved.
AROUND THE TRACKS......
THE MEADOWLANDS reopens for its fall meeting tonight, a session that will extend through the
end of the year and will feature fall championship
events for older horses and juveniles. The first
stage of a two-part, $10.5 million renovation of the
track’s paddock will be unveiled tonight, with the
second stage, including a 27,000-square-foot addition, will be completed near the end of next year’s
summer meeting. The improvements include new
lighting, heating and cooling, new rest rooms and
changing rooms, and accommodations for 12 races
rather than the present six. The paddock’s backstretch kitchen has been renovated and will include
a cooking grill, and both interior and exterior of
the existing paddock have been repainted and the
front area repaved. The paddock has been in use
since the track opened 30 years ago.
ATTRACTIONS HIPPIQUES, Paul J.
Massicotte’s ambitious privatization of Quebec
harness racing, has announced its first step in a
major project to revitalize the sport in the province. Trois Rivieres is the first of the Massicotte
tracks to receive attention, with a $15 million
expenditure for land, construction, equipment
and indoor renovations. Massicotte says his organization will provide “new branding, infra
structures adapted to an integrated offering that
includes horse racing, and marketing that uses
cutting-edge technology.” Rather than focusing
strictly on youth, Massicotte hopes to attract a
new, affluent clientele of people 35 and older “who
are looking for entertainment conducive
to socializing.”
NORTHLANDS PARK opens a fall-winter meeting tonight that will be highlighted by 16 days of
racing through Dec. 16, featuring the
$50,000 Snowshoe on November 25 and
the $50,000 Prairie Magic on December
2.
November 17, 2006
SANDOWN PARK, HTA’s far west member in
British Columbia may have raced its final live harness race. Sandown is owned by Great Canadian
Gaming Corporation, and that company’s Scott
Sinclair confirmed yesterday that the track will not
host harness racing this summer. Located on
Vancouver Island, where horse racing has existed
for 150 years, Sandown’s demise ends an era.
Great Canadian thought it could save Sandown
with slots, but the North Saanich council, the body
which governs where the track is located, turned
down Great Canadian’s rezoning application for
slots on Sept. 18. Howard Blank vice president of
Great Canadian, said he informed the council that
without slots the track is not viable. Blank says
he has no animosity toward the council, and hasn’t
closed the door on working with its members to
revitalize the track and bring back live racing. The
mayor of North Saanich appeared to leave the door
open, saying he was “no champion of slots, but I
was a champion of Sandown, and if it took slots to
do it, so be it.” But the town and Great Canadian
could not agree on terms. Great Canadian HTA
director Chuck Keeling, whose grandfather Jim
Keeling Sr. opened Sandown in 1978, said he had
a personal attachment to the track, where he
started working as an eight-year-old, but “if we
can’t make a business case to redevelop, then it
makes sense to me to support the decision.” Simulcasting will continue at Sandown.
YONKERS RACEWAY holds its first live race
since June 25, 2005, tonight, following completion
of the $240 million construction of its racino, Empire City at Yonkers.
PEOPLE: Top drivers Mike Lachance and Ron
Pierce will race and sightsee in Italy, with their
wives, for a week or so in mid-December. Trainer
Doug Ackerman is moving his winter training base,
long established at Del Mar in California, to
Pinehurst in North Carolina.
November 20, 2006
DELAWARE LEADS THE WAY
THE CHASE, COAST TO COAST
While others talk and ponder, the little state of
Delaware has taken the lead in imposing meaningful penalties for illegal drug infractions. In a
trailblazing move, the Delaware Harness Racing
Commission has passed rules that provide $10,000
fines and 10-year suspensions for the possession
or use of blood doping agents, including EPO,
DPO, Oxyglobin, Hemopure or any other substance that abnormally enhances the oxygenation
of equine body tissue. The rule covers any horse
entered to race; any horse that was entered or
raced within 60 days of entry and racing; any horse
showing the presence of EPO, DPO and similar
antibodies; any horse in the care, custody and control of a trainer having a horse that has tested positive for EPO, DPO and similar substances through
a screening test; any horse that dies, consistent
with commission rules.
The new rules provide for secondary samples at
the request of owners or trainers whose horses
test positive. The penalties provide for a MINIMUM penalty of $10,000 and/or a 10-year suspension, forfeiture of purse money, and assessment for cost of drug testing. The full text of the
new Delaware rules will appear on the HTA Web
site, www.harnesstracks.com, and in this week’s
edition of Track Topics. Hugh Gallagher, administrator of racing in Delaware, said of the tough new
rules, believed to be the first in the nation for possession of blood enhancers as well as use of them,
“We will be ramping up our testing on this and other
substances, and will go after offenders with both
hands.”
Racing interests east and west are fighting pitched
battles for ground. Here is a brief up-to-date report.
POSITIVE TEST CONFIRMED
The positive test on Holborn Hanover, winner of
the $203,000 American-National at Balmoral Park
Aug. 26, has been confirmed by the testing lab at
Louisiana State, according to
www.harnessracing.com, and the purse
redistributed, with Lis Mara now the official winner.
IN PENNSYLVANIA, despite the election defeat
of Rep. Mike Veon, a supporter of Beaver county’s
bid for a harness track, the county commission
chairman said, “We have no intention of walking
away” from supporting Centaur of Indiana’s plans
for a track in the county. Jeff Smith of Centaur
was due to meet with county officials this week.
IN NEW JERSEY, the state attorney general has
14 days, starting today, to decide whether to approve, deny, or make no decision on an off-track
betting parlor to be operated by Freehold Raceway co-owners Greenwood Racing and Penn National. The state racing commission approved the
site last week. The mayor of Toms River, where
the OTB will be located in a former supermarket,
said he thought the AG would approve it, adding,
“He has no reason not to approve it.”
IN MASSACHUSETTS, the Boston Herald editorially outlined why the state needs to legalize
slots at tracks to pay for governor-elect Deval
Patrick’s ambitious plans for schools and 1,000
new police. “Hey,” the paper said, “if it’ll finance
all-day kindergarten, it ought to be considered.”
The Herald pointed out that “Deval may do all the
‘homework’ he’s promised and still decide the revenue from expanded gambling isn’t worth it. But
without that annual revenue (in the hundreds of
millions, by many accounts) we await word on how
he’ll pay for those big ideas.” The headline on
BostonHerald.com read, “Under Gov. Patrick, let’s
get in the game.” The sentiments expressed are
valid elsewhere, particularly in Ohio.
November 21, 2006
DISCORD IN DIXON
LOOKS LIKE A VERY GOOD BET
A group of residents in Dixon, California, opposed
to Magna Entertainment’s plans to build a $250
million track and entertainment complex there,
gathered 1,400 signatures -- 700 more than needed
-- to force a referendum on the issue. It took the
group three weeks to gather the signatures, and
now they have to do it all over again. The city
council of Dixon had passed both resolutions and
ordinances covering building of the track, and the
city attorney said that required the citizens’ group
to gather at least 700 valid signatures again and
present their petition once more. They have 30
days to do so, with the deadline Dec. 14. If the
citizens’ group meets it, the Dixon city council
would be required to set a special election as early
as March, 2007. Magna said it will wait to see if
the citizens gather the required signatures before
it launches a campaign for the track. Dixon is located on Interstate 80 between San Francisco and
Sacramento, closer to Sacramento where HTA
member Cal-Expo operates its year-round meeting. Magna plans to build a mile and an eighth
thoroughbred track, with a capacity of 15,000, and
a hotel and conference center on 260 acres, and
opponents are concerned that it would erode the
small town charm of Dixon.
Barring a bad break, which is unlikely although it
is his first race on a half-mile track, Glidemaster
should become the sport’s eighth trotter to win the
Triple Crown Saturday night. Blair Burgess, who
trains the 3-year-old for his wife, his father, Marsha
Cohen and George Segal’s Brittany Farm, is betting $60,000 -- the supplemental entry fee for the
$728,930 Yonkers Trot -- that the colt will win the
race, the Triple Crown and clinch 3-year-old honors over Majestic Son, who has beaten him in all
three meetings this year but is not eligible to the
race and was not supplemented. Glidemaster, already winner of the Hambletonian and Kentucky
Futurity, lays over the field on paper, and is likely
to send his earnings for 2006 over $1.7 million
Saturday. George Brennan replaces the injured
John Campbell in the sulky.
JACKSON TO KY AUTHORITY
Ken Jackson, who operates Kentuckiana Farm
with his father-in-law Tom Crouch, has been appointed to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
by Gov. Ernie Fletcher. Jackson, a lawyer in Lexington, replaces John Cashman as the only harness racing representative on the Authority. His
term will run through January 6, 2008. Two thoroughbred horsemen, Frank King from northern
Kentucky and Dr. Jerry Yon, a Lexington doctor,
also were added to the board. Members
Connie Whitfield and Dell Hancock remain
on the Authority.
A LITTLE WIRELESS POKER?
You will be able to play if you wish, along with
baccarat, blackjack, slots and other games, under
a new agreement between Cantor Gaming and
Aristocrat Technologies. Aristocrat will provide its
game content via Cantor’s mobile gaming system
to wireless, handheld devices in casinos worldwide.
Cantor Gaming managing director Joe Asher called
Aristocrat’s content “innovative and popular” and
said the partnership would enhance Cantor’s reputation as a leader in mobile gaming.
LEO PINCKNEY DEAD AT 89
Leo Pinckney, former president of the Vernon
Downs chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association, died yesterday, one day after his 89th birthday. Leo, sports editor of the Auburn, NY Citizen
for 37 years, also had been an Associated Press
correspondent for 30 years and was an enthusiastic booster of harness racing throughout his career.
November 22, 2006
EXCELSIOR GETS THE NOD
NOT BAD FOR OPENERS
In a battle of big names, George Steinbrenner
proved he still is a force to be reckoned with, as
his Excelsior Racing Associates won the recommendation of New York state’s Committee on the
Future of Racing in New York to take over the
franchise of the New York Racing Association.
Steinbrenner’s son-in-law, Steve Swindal, is the figurehead of Associates, but looming large to racing
people is the father-son team of Billy and John
Johnston. The Johnstons control harness racing
in Chicago and have been dominant in Illinois for
years, and now move east as minority partners in
Excelsior. Steinbrenner and Swindal are partners
of the Johnstons in Balmoral Park in Chicago, and
it seems certain Billy and John will play a major
role in racing strategy if the Excelsior recommendation holds under New York’s new governor and
legislature. John Johnston told the Chicago SunTimes that Excelsior’s plans for New York tracks
include development of real estate owned by the
tracks, VLTs (perhaps at Belmont as well as Aqueduct) and “revitalization” of racing.
Guests at Mohegan Sun at Pocono poured $39.3
million through Pennsylvania’s first racino in its
inaugural week, but a cautious and conservative
president Bob Soper said he “still doesn’t know
what to expect.” Of the total play, gamblers got
back $35.3 million. The remaining $4.08 million
produced $1.4 million for property tax relief, the
cause on which Gov. Ed Rendell pitched slots.
Local government picked up $163,000 in the first
week, economic development and tourism got
$204,000, and the state’s racing industry some
$490,000. The racino picked up $1.83 million, less
operating expenses, during the week, when machines were occupied steadily until nearly 3 a.m.
Pocono currently has 1,100 machines operating,
with another 900 to come. With no competition at
the moment, the machines were averaging from a
low of $313 each on a Monday to a high of $734
each on Saturday, Nov. 18. Still to come is Philadelphia Park’s racino in late December, Harrah’s
Chester Casino and Racetrack in January, and The
Meadows in the spring.
While the committee recommendation does not
guarantee that Excelsior will be the ultimate winner, its other members include the politically powerful casino developer Richard Fields, a close
friend and financial backer of Spitzer. Fields contributed $200,000 to Spitzer’s campaign through
various organizations he controls, and loaned his
private plane to the new governor during his campaign. This would indicate that Excelsior’s two
rivals, Empire Racing and NYRA itself, have a very
tough battle for the crown, since Spitzer and the
new legislature will have the final word on who gets
the franchise. The award of the committee surprised some, given that Churchill Downs, Woodbine, Magna Entertainment and Delaware North
were allied with Empire, and former New
York governor Hugh Carey recently joined
its team.
GEORGIAN IRATE AT OHHA
Chris Roberts, director of operations for HTA
member Georgian Downs, is unhappy with the
Ontario Harness Horse Association. Roberts told
The Harness Edge, “We thought we had struck a
deal that was great for all involved. Our management team met with the OHHA leadership on Nov.
3 and left thinking we had a deal. The rejection of
that deal certainly sends a message to us that
OHHA’s negotiating team isn’t interested in working with track management.” The Nov. 3 discussion included OHHA president Jim Whelan, COO
John Walzak, and three district directors, who
agreed to a seven-week extension of the track’s
present contract. Roberts says he was shocked
to learn that members had rejected the offer, particularly that only 10 members showed up to
vote in a district consisting of hundreds.
A TRACK MERGER IN OHIO?
HTA president and Northfield Park chairman
Brock Milstein says he is open to exploring possibilities of a merger of Northfield with Magna
Entertainment’s thoroughbred track Thistledown,
only a few miles up Ohio’s Route 8 from Northfield.
Milstein, commenting on the recent voter turndown
of slots in Ohio, said formal discussions have not
been held, but “one or the other of us, or both,
owning both tracks probably makes the most
sense.” Milstein said “a very basic conversation
has been held discussing a way to work better together.”
There was conciliatory talk in Massachusetts, too,
where slots at tracks still are only a dream.
Charles Sarkis, owner of Wonderland dog track in
Boston’s close-in suburb of Revere, has been a
severe and savage critic of Mohegan Sun in neighboring Connecticut, where it and Foxwoods have
drawn Massachusetts customers by the thousands.
Now, with slots seemingly no closer, Sarkis reportedly is floating talk of having Mohegan Sun take
a position in Wonderland. So far Mohegan has
evinced no interest in the idea, drawing Boston
gamblers to its own operation.
LAW IS A GOOD PROFESSION
Because there is horse racing, that’s why. The
latest boom for lawyers is a dispute between the
New York Racing Association (as if it doesn’t have
enough other troubles) and the New York City OffTrack Betting Corporation. NYCOTB owes
NYRA $9.1 million in simulcast fees, and NYRA
is considering withholding its signals if that money
is not paid. NYRA could withhold its signal to New
York homes after a 45-day notification period, but
could not pull the signal from OTB parlors in the
city because state law required it to give
all OTB branches in the state its signal, or
none at all.
November 27, 2006
NYCOTB president and HTA director Ray Casey
said, “I can’t believe they’d even contemplate that.
We can’t hold the fans hostage again.” Casey said
cash flow was a problem, and payments due in 30
days were moved back to 90 because of a lack of
funds. NYRA’s Bill Nader said discussdion on a
payment schedule was expected today.
In Kentucky, Churchill Downs is suing its domestic account wagering partner, TVG, for breach of
contract. Churchill says TVG did not seek its approval for foreign broadcasts in planning to simulcast races from its U.S. partners to the United
Kingdom though a subscription service. TVG says
it will challenge the suit.
In Ontario, HTA member Flamboro Downs has
offered the Ontario Harness Horse Association
(OHHA) a deal to run backstretch stabling and
apartments at the track, with a $1 a year lease.
Ron Bosanac, Flamboro’s director of operations,
says the track, owned and operated by Great Canadian Gaming, will give up control of all operations and maintenance for the stable area under
the lease, and would work with OHHA during a
transition period. He said Flamboro would offer
OHHA support during the due diligence process.
In Washington, DC, the district Court of Appeals
has blocked a Shawn Scott plan for slots for the
nation’s capital. The court unanimously reversed
a Washington Superior Court judge, saying only
the United States Congress can authorize gambling
in Washington. The lower court had upheld a
Board of Elections and Ethics ruling for Scott, but
three community activists challenged the Board’s
action and won. A three-man Court of Appeals
panel ruled that a referendum on the issue “would
exceed the legislative powers granted to the District and its citizens by the Home Rule Act.”
November 28, 2006
HTA PURSE ANALYSIS ONLINE
JOE JOYCE DIES AT 77
A monumental purse analysis report for 2003, consisting of 304 pages in two sections and covering
all HTA member tracks, is now online in the proprietary section of the HTA Web site, accessible
by password. A second report, for 2004, is near
completion and will be distributed in similar fashion shortly. Each individual track’s statistics are
accessible easily by clicking on the track’s listing
in the index. Brody Johnson of our staff compiled
the report with major work done by Pam White
and David Carr of USTA.
Joe Joyce, one of harness and thoroughbred
racing’s best known executives, has died in Palm
Springs, California, after a six-month illness. Joe
was an active HTA director during his years as
chairman of Roosevelt Raceway, and later became
a part owner of Arlington Park in Chicago, where
he launched the Arlington Million in 1981, the first
million dollar thoroughbred race in the U.S., a year
after the Meadowlands presented its first million
dollar Meadowlands Pace. Joe took charge of Arlington in 1976 as president, later moved on briefly
to Amtote, returned to Arlington as a part owner,
and was bought out in 1987 by Dick Duchossois.
Joe had started his racing career as general counsel for New York City OTB in 1971, and ended it
27 years later as owner of Wyoming Downs in
Evanston, Wyoming, which he bought in 1990 and
sold in 1998. Although it was small, Joe’s son Eugene said it provided Joe with the most fun he had
in racing, and Joe soon appeared in cowboy hat
and boots, full regalia for his role. A graduate of
Holy Cross and Fordham law school, Joe served
as a marine in Korea and received a Purple Heart
in that campaign. His son Eugene is president and
general manager of Turf Paradise in Phoenix, and
another son, Michael, is an on-air analyst at TVG.
HTA extends its deepest sympathy to Elizabeth,
Joe’s wife for 52 years, and to their 13 children.
A GREAT IDEA FROM BIG M
The annual competition for Caretaker of the Year,
co-sponsored by HTA and Hanover Shoe Farms,
is underway. All that is required is a letter of nomination, which gets each nominee a beautiful satin
jacket indicating he or she was a nominee for the
title. A committee of present harness racing executives, most of whom were caretakers themselves early in their careers, judges the letters and
selects the caretaker who they feel is symbolic of
the contributions of all. The winner receives an
oil painting of himself or herself with their favorite
horse, done by nationally known artist James
Ponter. Last year’s entry was disappointing in numbers, and to help boost response this year the
Meadowlands’ Chris McErlean has had a large
HTA announcement of the competition printed daily
on the back of the track’s overnights. Similar treatment, or an ad in your past performance program,
would be appreciated greatly. If you have not received camera ready copy of various announcements, in various sizes, let Cindy or Jen at HTA
know and they will fire them off to you.
To all HTA racing secretaries, please return your
ballots for Nova award winners ASAP. You can
wait until after this weekend’s Meadowlands juvenile championships to return
them.
NO MINNESOTA TRACK TIL ‘08
Southwest Casino and Hotel corporation, which
planned to open a new harness track near Minneapolis next year, has been forced to push back
the opening until 2008. The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to figure out how to preserve artifacts from an early Indian village at the proposed
site, and until it either succeeds or signs off, construction cannot begin. Tom Fox, CFO and president of Southwest, had hoped to open the track
next fall.
November 29, 2006
HARRAH’S IN PLAY?
STAFF CHANGES IN MONTREAL
The New York Times reports this morning that
Penn National Gaming, currently the third largest
gaming company in the United States, and hedge
fund D. E. Shaw, are considering making a cash
and stock offer for Harrah’s Entertainment, with
financing and equity interest by Lehman Brothers
and Wachovia Corporation. That effort will require big numbers, since the private equity groups
Apollo Management and Texas Pacific reportedly
have offered to buy Harrah’s for $15 billion, and
have since raised their offer by another $500 million to $15.5 billion. On paper, the deal would be
the shark eating the whale, since Penn National’s
market capitalization is $3.3 billion and Harrah’s
$14.2 billion. Harrah’s had no comment on today’s
report, other than to say its committee of non-management directors is reviewing the earlier ApolloTexas Pacific bid. Penn National shares were down
58 cents, or 1.5%, at $38.16, while Harrah’s were
up $1.91, or 2.5%, at $78.46.
Four new vice presidents have been named at Attractions Hippiques, formerly Hippodrome de
Montreal and before that Blue Bonnets. The four
are Jean Bourdeau, CP of services; Antoine
Beauvais, in charge of marketing and sales;
Christiane Labelle, finance; and Gerard Landry,
racing. All four will report to president Paul
Massicotte. Out in the shakeup are Richard
Castonguay, manager of Hippodrome de Montreal
since 2003, and Claude Grise, former director of
programming and briefly manager of Hippodrome
d’Aylmer, one of Massicotte’s four tracks.
Along with the announcement came persistent published rumors that Chris McErlean was leaving
the Meadowlands to take charge of racing operations at Penn National. Chris, who started his meteoric career as executive assistant at Harness
Tracks of America following graduation from
Scranton University, picked up an MBA at
Fairleigh-Dickinson in New Jersey while working
for HTA, then was hired by the Meadowlands and
rose quickly to his present post of vice president
of racing operations.
WE THOUGHT IT WAS COLD
It was breezy in Tucson this morning, and we grudgingly put on sweaters. Then we heard that HTA
director Les Butler had called off racing at
Northlands Park tonight, because of forecasts of 20 below zero Fahrenheit. We feel
warmer already.
ORC TO WINDSOR: START OVER
The Ontario Racing Commission has turned down
Windsor Raceway’s application for 2007 dates, and
ordered the southern Ontario track to submit a
new application. Windsor had requested a racing
schedule of 101 days of live racing, down from 138
allocated (but 10 or so less actually raced because
of a shortage of horses) this year. Windsor is
moving to a new track in Tecumseh, Ontario, but
the commission said it shared Ontario Harness
Horse Association concerns about lack of sufficient efforts in track maintenance and the racing
product.
The commission also disallowed the application of
HTA member Flamboro Downs to reduce its number of live racing dates for next year. Great Canadian Gaming owns Flamboro, and it sought to
reduce the live racing schedule from 258 dates to
208. Departing ORC chairwoman Lynda Tanaka
said that request “was not in the public interest or
in the best interests of horse racing,” constituting
as it did a reduction of more than 20% of the live
racing schedule. She suggested that if Flamboro
wished to avoid racing at the same time as Woodbine, “there are dates available that are not an
issue.”
GOV SAYS NO TABLE GAMES
State representative H. William DeWeese, who is
expected to be named Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in January, has drafted legislation that
would legalize table games at racinos and casinos
in the state. On hearing the news, Gov. Ed Rendell
sent clear signals to DeWeese not to waste his
time, saying he would veto any such legislation.
DeWeese’s rationale was that “there is no practical difference between putting $20 in a slot machine and $20 on a blackjack table.” Rendell’s
response was that it was far too soon to consider
such a move. “We have to make sure that over
time, the expansion of gambling is successful, it
works well, and whatever negative sides there are
to it, that we control them. And until we’ve had a
significant test period to see that in operation, I
don’t think any of these bills should be considered
and I wouldn’t sign them.” The Pennsylvania
Senate’s new Republican leader, Dominic Pileggi,
issued a similar view. “I think it’s a reasonable
position,” he said, “to see how the introduction of
expanded slots across Pennsylvania works in practice, what sort of revenues it generates, what sort
of problems it creates.” Pileggi’s home district
includes Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack.
Only one state -- Iowa -- currently allows table
games at its racinos. West Virginia would like to
become the second, and may get it done with a
new session of its legislature. The outgoing House
Speaker, Bob Kiss, has been reluctant to bring the
issue to the floor, but his two most likely successors, delegates Rick Thompson and Scott Varner,
both have expressed support for the idea. Iowa
passed its table games legislation without a referendum of voters and without much opposition, but
does require a referendum every eight years asking voters if they wish to keep or eliminate gaming. The most recent vote, in 2002, produced a smashing 74% vote in favor of
retaining the games.
November 30, 2006
WANT A SHOT AT THE BIG TIME?
The New Jersey Racing Commission is seeking
candidates to interview for the post of Presiding
Judge at The Meadowlands.
If interested, you must have graduated from an
accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s
degree; have three years of overall general administration, of which two years shall have included
experience as an official presiding over horse racing related activities; have a valid license to officiate harness horse races as an official, accredited by a school for horse racing officiating recognized by the New Jersey Racing Commission. The
job carries a full range of medical, dental, prescription drug and pension benefits, and the salary will
be based on education and experience.
If you are interested, forward your resume to
Frank Zanzuccki, Executive Director, New Jersey
Racing Commission, P.O. Box 088, Trenton, NJ
08625, phone number 609-292-0613.
NOW FRANCE BARS FALLON
Kieran Fallon, champion jockey of Great Britain
six times, is setting new records. Barred in Britain and in Hong Kong, he now has been given a
six-month suspension in France for testing positive to minimal trace amounts of prohibited substances in a drug test in July at Chantilly. It is
expected that the new ban will be accepted reciprocally worldwide. Fallon was suspended in England pending a trial into charges of conspiracy to
defraud bettors. He has until midnight tomorrow
to appeal the new charges.
THAT BUZZING IS CELL PHONES
Nokia, which should know, says there will be 3 billion cellphones in use next year, a full year ahead
of predictions. It says the 4 billion mark will be
reached in 2010.
HTA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Harness Tracks of America has announced the
winners of its $50,000 in college scholarships for
2006. The six winners were chosen by HTA’s
Scholarship Committee from 54 applicants. They
are:
ERIC WILLIAM MCCARTHY, 18, a $10,000
scholarship winner from Newberry, FL, a prevet freshman at the University of Florida. He is
the son of the late trainer-blacksmith Ivan Amos
and Janet McCarthy, a lifetime horsewoman who
worked for Delvin Miller and Jimmy Takter,
among others, and then formed their own
Scandia Stable, sending out the top notch Merrie
Annabelle winner Cayster and Dygert Memorial
winner Work Force among others. Eric graduated in the top 3% of his high school class of 300.
BRITTANY SCHWARTZ, 19, of Strasburg, PA,
a $10,000 scholarship winner who is a freshman
majoring in equine studies and business at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA. A daughter of Paul and Priscilla Schwartz, Brittany has
worked as a highly regarded groom in the Jim
Groff training stable for three years. During her
senior year at Lancaster Christian high school
in Lancaster, PA, she enrolled as a dual student
at Harrisburg Community College in Lancaster
and attained high 90s averages at both schools.
Class president for three years, she was captain
of the cross-country team and a National Honor
Society scholar.
ESSIE LYNN HENNESSY, 20, of Grand Blanc,
MI, a $7,500 winner and junior majoring in applied biology and pre-vet studies at Ferris State
University in Big Rapids, MI. She worked as a
veterinarian’s assistant and groomed for
her parents, Ed and Sandra Hennessy,
both trainers. An honors student, youth
soccer coach and gymnast, she was class
treasurer her junior and senior year.
J
December 1, 2006
NATHAN ERIC WILCOX STEIN, 18, a $7,500
scholarship winner from Rochester, NY. A
straight “A” student at Greece Odyssey Academy, he is pursuing courses in engineering, physics, political science and history at the University of Rochester to determine his future choice
of a profession. His family has been involved in
harness racing for more than 50 years, through
his grandfather Dick Wilcox, who raced at
Batavia Downs, and his mother’s cousin Hugh
Beatty Jr., who races at Scioto Downs. The son
of Mark and Mary Lou Stein of Rochester,
Nathan has been active in varsity baseball and
basketball, jazz band, the National Honor Society and Natural Helpers.
MICHAEL JOHN LATESSA, 25, of Columbus,
Ohio, a junior at Ohio State University College
of Veterinary Medicine and a $7,500 winner. A
third generation harness horseman, Michael
plans on specializing in equine surgery after
graduation. His father and grandfather competed on the New York Sires Stakes circuit for
years, campaigning the successful pacer Sly Attorney among others. His grandfather’s brother,
Don Latessa, was formerly presiding judge at The
Meadowlands. Michael’s mother Paula and father Gerald, a former trainer-driver, now an air
traffic controller, live in Columbus.
LISA KATHRYN NAROTSKY, 18, of
Willowbrook, IL, a $7,500 winner and freshman
at Illinois Wesleyan University. An outstanding
student in mathematics, she was a tutor in that
subject and in Spanish at Hinsdale South High
School. One of Illinois’ outstanding scholastic
athletes, she was pitcher and captain of the twotime All Conference Hinsdale South fast-pitch
softball team and was the winner of the U.S.
Army Reserves’ all-area scholar-athlete
award. Lisa is the daughter of Eliot (Doc)
Narotsky, Mayood Park racing secretary,
and his wife Jean, a financial manager.
NYC: MERGE OTB, NYRA
The city of New York, acknowledging a financial
crisis for both the New York Racing Association
and the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation, has asked the legislature to consider a
merger of the two entities. Daniel L. Doctoroff,
deputy mayor for economic development and
rebuilding, has sent a long letter to legislators,
saying, in part, “The combination of these two
forces -- marketing failures and the heightened
competition for the wagering dollar -- calls for
immediate action from the New York racing incumbents to rescue the industry from its current
unsustainable situation, one that puts at risk
thousands of jobs and significant revenues to the
state and city.” Doctoroff says a merger of
NYCOTB and NYRA, “working together to create a more entertaining consumer experience,
with better awareness and simpler products that
can be accessed through a wider variety of channels,” would be an ideal solution. He says the
city believes that four key actions must be taken
to accomplish this vision:
1. Broaden the entertainment focus by delivering new gaming technologies at upgraded, inviting facilities;
2. Invest in the strategic marketing and presentation of the New York racing product;
3. Better align the relationships and economic
interests of the New York tracks and the OTBs
through a statutorily authorized merger. Alternatively, this could be done by enacting a legislative change that would fix the current revenue
distribution scheme and provide financial incentives to improve the racing product;
4. Allow New York tracks to seize the opportunity presented by the new VLTs to
create major entertainment destinations.
December 4, 2006
Doctoroff then elaborated on each of the four
points, and in regard to “fixing the current revenue distribution scheme” he had this to say:
“The current legislative scheme for statutory distribution of wagering revenues puts NYCOTB
and NYRA in a cycle of perpetual conflict over
how best to share revenues. The structure leaves
little, if any, incentive for NYCOTB and NYRA
to cooperate in critical areas such as marketing
and product innovation. The counterproductive
effect of this misalignment is that the racing entities are distracted from jointly addressing the
need for revival of consumer interest in racing
and are instead required to focus narrowly on
their individual financial survival in an ongoing
competition for wagering dollars from New Yorkers.” It is interesting to note that since the days
of Roosevelt Raceway and Yonkers battling and
showing no interest in mutually unified advertising, HTA has consistently espoused the idea
for thoroughbred and harness racing, since the
two in most cases offer their racing products in
noncompetitive time frames, afternoon and night.
It is heartening to see the city of New York, 35
years after the introduction of off-track betting,
embracing and endorsing the idea of selling racing as racing, rather than a single track product.
STEROIDS OUT OF THE CLOSET
A discussion of anabolic steroids, and a recommendation by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium that they be regulated in American racing as they are overseas, will be part of
the presentations at the University of Arizona’s
Racing Symposium that gets underway with registration today in Tucson. How regulators, who
have been slow to address the issue of steroids,
will respond is questionable, and although Drs.
Rick Arthur and Scot Waterman of the Consortium think the time has come for action, another
Consortium member, attorney Alan Foreman,
thinks little will be accomplished this week
other than dialogue.
December 5, 2006
SYMPOSIUM TIME IN TUCSON
OHIO LOSES, FLORIDA WINS
More than 900 toilers in the racing vineyard —
harness, thoroughbred, quarter horse, greyhound
—assemble this morning for the opening session
of the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program’s annual Racing Symposium. They
meet in glossy new quarters — the Westin La
Paloma, a few miles west of HTA’s offices on Sunrise Drive, and although this year’s outsourced
program promises innovation, the usual roster of
unchanging racing problems will be revisited during the next three days, including wagering integrity, Internet gambling, modern and future tote issues, marketing and medication. One twist is a
keynote speech by a “noted futurist,” John
Petersen, who will address today’s luncheon session on “high impact surprises — wild cards —
and the process of surprise anticipation.” That
should be helpful for all in racing. HTA will be represented by a larger than usual list of our member
track directors, led by president Brock Milstein
of Northfield Park, and including on the early registration list Jim Boese and Patti Key of Harrington
Raceway, Tim Carey of Hawthorne and Suburban
Downs, Don Codey and Lennon Register of Freehold Raceway, Chuck Keeling of Great Canadian’s
four member tracks; Mark Lowe and Darron Heldt
of Prairie Meadows, Jon Schuster of Indiana
Downs, Phil Terry of the Delaware County Fair
and its Little Brown Jug; John Van Lindt of New
York City OTB, and Steve Wolf of Pompano Park,
who is speaking on a panel on Marketing to Ethnic Players at Racinos. Other familiar HTA faces
and friends on the program include former executive assistant Maury Wolff, SIS president Frank
Fabian, American Horse Council president Jay
Hickey, Ontario Harness Horse Assn. COO John
Walzak, Delaware North president Ron
Sultemeier, former Yonkers and Meadowlands publicity director Allen Gutterman. We will
keep you informed of newsworthy developments.
No, not the national championship of collegiate
football, but Dr. Richard A. Sams, Ph.D, one of
the leading analytical toxicologists working in the
field of illegal medication in racing today. Dr. Sams,
a professor and director of Ohio State University’s
College of Veterinary Medicine’s Analytical Toxicology Laboratory for 28 years, and the school
where he earned his Ph.D in pharmaceutics and
pharmacokinetics, is taking over as director of the
University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Racing Laboratory, which handles testing of
all racehorse and greyhound samples in the state.
Sams also serves as chairman of the Pharmacologist committee of the Association of Racing Commissioners.
THE COST OF PA SLOTS RISES
The only nickels that have dropped in Pennsylvania slots so far are those at Mohegan Sun at
Pocono — a lot of them — but the state’s Gaming
Control Board, concerned about regulating the new
industry, yesterday approved a 29% increase in
its budget, calling for $34.1 million for the fiscal
year starting July 1. The board currently has a
staff of 275 jobs authorized, but plans to add another 67, bringing the total to 342 by mid-2008.
Philadelphia Park is scheduled to open its racino
Dec. 21, Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack
in mid-January, and Presque Isle Downs in Erie in
February. The Meadows hopes to open its racino
in May, and Penn National will join the club late
next year. All slots in Pennsylvania will be controlled by one central computer.
NEED A TRACTOR OPERATOR?
You might check with Flamboro Downs, where one
drove onto the track in the path of an onrushing
field of horses in Sunday night’s fifth race. All
cleared the tractor, but one horse had to change
direction sharply to avoid it and all money wagered on him was refunded for interference.
INTERESTING DAY IN TUCSON
A long and interesting day in Tucson yesterday,
at the Racing Symposium. Integrity was discussed, of course, but mostly in the frame of reference of wagering security and not medication.
On that issue, the news was made 2,000 miles
away, in Ontario, where Woodbine Entertainment announced that its leading trainer this year,
Cassie Coleman, will have to race her stable from
the track’s retention barn henceforth. Two
horses from her stable have died in recent weeks,
but results of the necropsies -- mandatory in
Ontario when a horse dies at the track -- have
not been announced as yet. Woodbine said the
deaths did not play a role in the directive, which
starts with tomorrow night’s racing program.
Back in Tucson, another Canadian, Ron Nichol,
director of the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency,
said in moderating a panel called Wagering Integrity, Who Cares?, “There’s very little disagreement on the direction the industry should be taking, which is ironic since it hasn’t taken it yet.”
That’s only partially true, since progress has and
is being made on wagering security and uniformity. Paul Bowlinger, executive vice president
of the Association of Racing Commissioners, said,
“If we do not maintain integrity, then we will run
head first into a wall....I believe we’ve already
lost bettors because they don’t trust the system.”
And he said regulators and customers both care.
Another member of the panel, Frank Fabian, was
listed in the Symposium program as president of
the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, but
not as president of Standardbred Investigative
Services, and he took that cue and talked as a
TRPB man only. How harness racing is regarded
by the Symposium was not hard to perceive. Of
75 speakers on the program, 2 were from harness
racing: Steve Wolf of Pompano Park, and
John Walzak of Ontario’s OHHA, a former
instructor at the RTIP.
December 6, 2006
If you count Fabian as a half, that makes 2 1/2
representatives, but that half was not visible yesterday.
In his copious introductions and comments on
the RTIP at the start of the Symposium, Doug
Reed made no mention of the close cooperation
between HTA and RTIP’s students, a number of
whom work on projects for credit and for publication by HTA, working with HTA’s executive
assistant Brody Johnson, an RTIP graduate.
Admittedly it is a two-way street, and HTA values the relationship greatly.
Other than integrity, yesterday’s issues included
keeping horses -- thoroughbreds, naturally -- in
training, and another RTIP grad, leading trainer
Todd Pletcher, discussed the economics of racing. Had there been a harness man on the panel,
the other side of equine economics might have
been mentioned, and germane: the vastly better
odds of return on investment in harness racing,
when comparing thoroughbred yearling prices
against earning possibilities. The best case in
point came last Saturday night at the Meadowlands, in the four fall championships for 2-yearolds of both gaits and sexes. Ogham, winner of
the $437,700 Valley Victory for trotting colts, sold
last year as a yearling for $34,000; Falls for You,
winner of the $410,000 Goldsmith Maid for trotting fillies, was a $35,000 yearling; Isabella Blue
Chip, winner of the $439,000 Three Diamonds,
brought $40,000 last October; and Sutter
Hanover, winner of the $450,000 Governor’s
Cup, was a $20,000 yearling.
Discussing how casinos could help racing market its product, Mark Midland of Harrah’s Louisiana Downs suggested racing withhold one quarter of one percent from handle for national jackpots, saying total U.S. handle could provide
$750,000 a week to provide “life-changing”
opportunities for patrons.
WOLF DOES HARNESS PROUD
Harness racing got only one shot at this year’s
Racing Symposium, but Steve Wolf, Pompano
Park’s Senior Director of Racing Operations,
made the most of it. Steve did a sterling job in
what was billed as Marketing to Ethnic Players
at Racinos. Steve told the audience that Hispanic
and Asian populations in the U.S. will double by
2025, and that their discretionary income will
double in the decade between 2000 and 2010. He
discussed Pompano’s promotions targeted at specific groups, including St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco
de Mayo, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on
which Pompano features a race with all black
drivers. He noted South Florida demographics,
with 5.5 million residents within 30 miles of Pompano, and 1.2 million tourists within 20 miles,
70% of whom are white, 27% African-Americans, only 2% Asian, and 1% other. He expressed
his belief that focus groups are expensive but
important, and he feels the high cost $5,000+, is
well worth the results. “Do it correctly,” he told
the audience, “and it will pay for itself, providing knowledge for years to come.” He said Isle
of Capri, which owns Pompano, believes not only
in filling seats, but in establishing itself in its community as a leader and supporter of ethnic
groups. And he urged track executives to utilize
their parking lots, track aprons and grandstands
for festival events. Good job by a top publicist
now in an executive role.
16 DAYS, $1.7 MIL FOR SCHOOLS
Gulfstream Park, off and running with slots in
Florida, generated $1.7 million for Florida’s
schools in the first 16 days of slot operations.
That represented one-half of the $3.43 million in
slots revenue, derived from $35.56 million sent
through the machines. One Ohioan at the
Racing Symposium opined that had the
ballot propositionin Ohio read, “To produce college funds for 33,000 students,”
December 7, 2006
instead of “To provide 33,000 slot machines in
Ohio,” the ballot result might have been more
hospitably received by voters. However, the language was provided by the secretary of state, a
bitter foe of slots.
DANGER SIGNS IN INDIANA
It took two years to get it, but the Indiana General Assembly now has an efficiency report it ordered in 2004, and its recommendations should
stir concern in Indiana horse racing circles. The
report includes, among its more than 150 recommendations, one to review the riverboat subsidy
that supports both harness racing and thoroughbred racing in the state. That subsidy amounted
to $27 million last year, with 40%, or $10.8 million, going to purses, 40% to tracks, and 20%,
or $5.4 million, to the state breeding fund. Legislators have considered cutting those monies -which HTA director Rick Moore of Hoosier Park
calls “economic drivers,” not a subsidy -- but
have bowed to industry and public protests.
Moore says “the state has really received a return on its investment. There are racehorse
breeding operations and training operations in
all 92 counties in the state of Indiana. If that
inducement goes away, that economic development is in a very precarious position.” We hope
Indiana legislators will consider that economic
fact of life, and the agricultural and business activity it simulates, rather than listening to
riverboat casino interests in the state. If it wants
to do away with the subsidy or economic drivers, let it replace it with slots at the state’s two
dual breed tracks.
JACKPOTS IN SPOT AGAIN
Swedish, Australian and French racing officials
told attendees at the Racing Symposium yesterday of successes with jackpot bets. Sweden’s V75,
Australia’s First Four, and France’s Quinte are
the biggest pool generators in those countries.
HTA ANNOUNCES CHAMPIONS
Racing secretaries of Harness Tracks of America’s
43 members have selected their season’s champions of 2006. Owners of the 12 divisional champions will receive HTA’s prized bronze Nova awards
at the Westin Diplomat Country Club in Hollywood,
Florida, Sunday night, March 11, 2007. The winners are:
December 8, 2006
2-year-old pacing filly: Luck of Michelle, winner
of 9 races and $615,091 in 2006, owned by Karen
E. Carroll, Shedden, Ontario, and Natalie R.
Pentland, Dorchester, Ontario.
2-year-old pacing colt: Artzina, winner of 7 races
and $486,229 this year, owed by Kalman Saul
Liebowitz, New York City, and Marc Rubach, West
New York, NJ.
2-year-old trotting filly: Pampered Princess, winner of 10 of 12 races and $626,244 in 2006, owned
by Bob Anderson of St. Thomas, Ontario, and his
son David, of Hillsburgh, Ontario.
3-year-old pacing filly: Darlin’s Delight, winner of
10 races and $940,352 this year, owned by Joseph
S. Parisi’s White Birch Farm, Allentown, NJ.
2-year-old trotting colt: Donato Hanover, winner
of 8 of 9 races and $662,587 this year, owned by
David B. Scharf, New York City; Paul Bornogna’s
Golden Touch Stable, Fair Lawn, NJ: and Steven
Arnold, Purchase, NY.
3-year-old pacing colt: Total Truth, winner of 8
races and $1,494,222 in 2006, owned by J. Patrick
and Marianne P. Callahan’s Only Money Inc.,
Hartly, Delaware, and George and Brenda
Teague’s Teague Inc., Houston, Delaware.
3-year-old trotting filly: Passionate Glide, winner
of 13 of 15 races and $1,087,900 this year, owned
by George Segal’s Brittany Farms, Versailles, KY.
Older male pacer: Lis Mara, winner of 10 races
and $967,485 this year, owned by Michael Gulotta,
James Hess, John Jarka and Otis Ray’s MJG
Stable of Annandale, NJ, and Louis A. Willinger,
Louisville, KY.
3-year-old trotting colt: Glidemaster, winner of 8
races and $1,918,701 this year, owned by Robert
B. Burgess, Campbellville, Ontario; Karin Olsson
Burgess, Milton, Ontario; Marsha A. Cohen,
Asbury, NJ; and Brittany Farms, Versailles, KY.
Older male trotter: Sand Vic, winner of 10 of 18
races and $1,130,380 in 2006, owned by August
Fredrik Miedel, Pompano Beach, FL.
Trotting mare: Peaceful Way, winner of 5 races
and $709,763 this year, owned by Marvin Katz, Al
Libfeld and Sam Goldband of Toronto, Ontario;
David S. Tingley, Guelph, Ontario; Angie M. Stiller,
Arva, Ontario; and Barbara and Joe Myers and
Linda Ann Worrell’s Goin My Way Stable, Holland, PA.
Pacing mare: Glowing Report, winner of 9 races
and $569,268 in 2006, owned by Marvin J.
Rounick, Narberth, PA.
HTA ONLINE ART GALLERY
Harness Tracks of America has opened an online
art gallery, offering harness racing paintings,
bronzes, woodcarvings, and rare-out-of print books
on horses and horse racing. Photographs and descriptions of all works can be found on the HTA
Web site, www.harnesstracks.com, by clicking on
the HTA Art Gallery. Net proceeds of all sales go
to the HTA College Scholarship Fund, which has
helped send 123 students to college through grants
totaling $612,950.
December 11, 2006
TVG GETS BIG M EXCLUSIVE
GOOD NEWS FROM THE GOV
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
has cast its television lot with Television Games
Network, granting TVG exclusive distribution and
account wagering rights to both the Meadowlands
and Monmouth Park. TVG obtained the rights
after competitive bidding, and it sends the number
of TVG exclusive contracts with U.S. tracks to 26,
with agreements with venues in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Japan adding an additional 55
tracks in those countries. David Nathanson, general manager of TVG, said, the network was
pleased that the NJSEA chose TVG “from a field
of strong bidders to showcase their world class
racing products.” It marks the first time Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racing will be shown
on TVG, which serves nearly 20 million homes in
the U.S. and will reach 11 million overseas shortly.
The governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, said Friday that reviewing the subsidy to horse racing in
the state “is just not a priority of mine at this time.”
The suggestion was one of some 150 submitted to
the General Assembly in a government efficiency
report ordered by the legislature two years ago.
As reported here Friday, challenging the subsidy,
which Rick Moore of Hoosier Park prefers to call
“an economic driver” because of its widespread
impact in all 92 counties of the state, generated
concern among horsemen and management of
Indiana’s two dual breed tracks, Hoosier Park and
Indiana Downs, both members of HTA. Michael
Brown, speaking for the Indiana Horse Racing and
Breeding Coalition, said that an American Horse
Council study showed that horse racing generated
$294 million in annual economic impact. That
translates to an $11 return on every $1 the state
provided for horse racing, a number that Brown
called “a pretty good investment” on the $27 million paid to tracks.
WORST KEPT SECRET IS OUT
No, not Troy Smith winning the Heisman, but Chris
McErlean leaving the Meadowlands. Both the Big
M and Penn National confirmed it last week, and
all of us at HTA wish Chris new horizons at Penn
National. It all started here, and we’re mighty
proud about it.
JEFF GURAL WINS PROXIMITY
Jeff Gural, Harness Tracks of America’s Messenger 2007 award winner, has added another
major industry honor to his laurels. Gural is the
winner of the U.S. Harness Writers’ Proximity
award for achievement. In other USHWA awards,
George Segal’s Brittany Farms’ sensational year
of successes earned it the Owner of the Year
award; Mickey Burke was named trainer of the
year; John Campbell will be honored as driver of
the year; Ontario’s Jody Jamieson gets the Rising Star award; and Jason Settlemoir of Tioga
Downs and Vernon Downs has been named
winner of USHWA’s Breakthrough award.
THESE GUYS RUNNING WILD
Driving stars are putting up some remarkable numbers in the sport. Rick Zeron won five races at
Woodbine Saturday night, Wally Hennsessey won
four at Pompano, Ron Pierce won five at the Meadowlands, and Tim Tetrick, out of control at Dover
Downs, won eight races on the Saturday night card.
Tetrick also won the featured pace at Harrash’s
Chester. If these super performances keep up,
someone will start calling for tests on the drivers
as well as the horses.
BAYSTATE SLOTS STILL IN
PLAY
Two new slots bills were introduced in the Massachusetts House today, their sponsor, Rep. David
Flynn, saying, “We must compete with Connecticut and Rhode Island.”
$16 BILLION BID FOR HARRAH’S
The bidding for Harrah’s Entertainment has widened, but there is no clear sign that the huge gaming giant will be sold. Penn National has signified
it would like to buy Harrah’s, and so has the hedge
fund D. E. Shaw. Now the Wall Street Journal
reports that Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group intend to raise their bid to $87 a share,
which would put valuation of Harrah’s around $16
billion. Ain’t slots wonderful?
In West Virginia, where the tracks have slots and
want more gaming, the governor seems ready to
make a deal. Gov. Joe Manchin says he will support allowing local county option elections on table
games at the state’s four tracks as long as part of
the money is earmarked for senior programs. His
position is a clear compromise, since the track’s
owners know they can win four county elections
much easier than they can win a statewide election, which has been the route of action in the past.
LIFE IN THE LAND OF PLENTY
Ever since John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath,
those looking for better times have headed west
to California. Horsemen have too, knowing penalties there have been few and far between, and
mild when imposed. Now, in the glare of national
publicity, with the Associated Press and USA Today leveling their big guns on west coast laxity,
things may change. The Orange County Register
reported that only 14% of all California drug violations since 2000 resulted in disqualification, and
found that California horses tested positive more
than four times as often as horses in New York,
and seven times as often as horses in New Jersey,
and that “tens of thousands of urine and blood
samples collected in California have never been
tested. “Racing commission chairman Richard
December 12, 2006
Shapiro was quoted as saying, “I’m as frustrated
as everybody else. I do believe the punitive measures that are enacted need to be higher.” The
board will consider tougher sanctions next month.
IT’S XMAS, TIME FOR GIFTS
And if others don’t give them, give them to yourself. In Las Vegas, where money is counted differently than in the rest of the country, the big top
executives at MGM Mirage decided to get some
holiday dough to buy their Christmas gifts. To
make sure they had enough, they exercised stock
options and then sold them. Terry Lanni, chairman and CEO, exercised 440,000 options at $12.74
each and sold them from $44.57 to $45.65, a $
14,294,400 return; Jim Murren, president and
CFO, exercised 100,000 options at $6.66 a share
and sold them for $45, a $3,834,000 pickup; Gary
Jacobs, executive vice president, excercised
100,000 options at $16.66 a share and sold them
for $45, good for $2,734,000. Lesser lights cashed
in from vice president Alan Feldman’s $653,004
down to vice president Putnam Mathur’s puny
$43,040. No joy or toys in the Mathur household
this Christmas.
DEATH TAKES NO HOLIDAY
Sadness at holiday time in harness racing, as in
life everywhere. Gone are Dorothy Rose, the Indiana dynamo known as the Hoosier Historian, who
spent a lifetime promoting the immortal pacer
Single G. A columnist and avid harness racing fan
and breeder, she died at 78. Also gone is Quinton
Patterson, the first employee Delvin Miller hired
when he opened The Meadows in 1962. Quint was
part of the track, the hardest worker in the sport,
and loved by all who knew him. In Ontario, former
HTA director and president of the Canadian Trotting Assn. Ed Bradley, a member of the Canadian
Horse Racing Hall of Fame, has died.
SONACC ACCUSED IN QUEBEC
In a savage attack not in the spirit of the holiday
season, the auditor general of Quebec fired a blast
at SONACC, the former administrative body of
Quebec racing, saying he had “never encountered
this degree of mismanagement in any Crown corporation. The report, issued yesterday, said
SONACC had spent more than a million dollars on
employee meals and issued millions of dollars of
improper salary raises, bonuses and car expenses
during a period that the province of Quebec was
paying emergency funds to help SONACC weather
a tough financial period. It said the provincial government had invested some $260 million in
SONACC before the agency was privatized last
year, when Paul Massicotte’s Attractions Hippiques
took over as owner of Quebec’s four racetracks.
The auditor general, Renaud Lachance, said,
“There are pages and pages about some questionable and unacceptable practices.” In addition to
free meals for employees and managers of Hippodrome de Montreal worth $1.1 million before the
Massicotte takeover, Lachance said 14 SONACC
managers and executives claimed $740,000 in expenses, half of which Lachance claims were unjustifiable; $20,000 in annual car allowances for five
executives; and an $82,500 signing bonus for one
executive later hired by SONACC as a consultant
and paid twice, for a total of $300,000. Lachance
is asking the government and the authorities to be
repaid some amounts that were improperly paid to
SONACC directors and officers. He said he had
no plans to turn his report over to police, but expects authorities to assist the province of Quebec
in recouping the money. The alleged irregularities
occurred while Parti Quebecois, now out of power,
was in control of the provincial government, but a
financial critic noted the auditor’s report did not
allude to any political interference in SONACC’s
spending, and said police and government
should do their jobs.
December 13, 2006
CENTAUR NOW OWNS HOOSIER
Centaur today purchased Churchill Downs’ 62%
share in Hoosier Park, adding it to its own 38% to
give it sole ownership of the Indiana dual breed
track, a member of HTA, and its three Indiana
off-track betting parlors in Indianapolis,
Merrillville and Fort Wayne. Centaur will assume
management responsibilities for Hoosier Park and
its OTBs, while the Churchill Downs Simulcast
Network will continue to distribute Hoosier’s simulcast signal. The purchase agreement is subject to approval by the Indiana Racing Commission, which meets January 7, and by the city of
Anderson Department of Parks and Recreation,
and is expected to close during the first quarter of
2007. Centaur president (and former HTA president) Jeff Smith said his company was “excited to
take full ownership of Hoosier Park,” and looked
forward to working with Hoosier Park president
and HTA director Rick Moore and his staff.
MINNESOTA BACK ON TRACK
Southwest Casino and Hotel Corporation, which
has been held up in building its planned harness
track in Minnesota by an Army Corps of Engineers review of Indian artifacts, now has received
Army clearance. Thomas Fox, president and CFO
of Southwest, says the company plans to break
ground January 18, and could open the new track
as early as February, 2008. Southwest is
partnering with Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort of West Virginia, and will ask for legislative approval to simulcast thoroughbred racing
as well as conduct live harness racing. The executive director of the Minnesota Racing Commission, Dick Krueger, said he thought that a reasonable request, since it amounted to $56 million
for Canterbury Park last year, but noted that the
new track will be obligated to race 50 live harness dates first, regardless of legislative approval.
ORC: 10 YEARS, $100,000
FINE
The Ontario Racing Commission, still leading the
way in North America on meaningful penalties, has
suspended owner-trainer-driver Brian Scott for 10
years for use, possession and acquisition of drugs,
and fined him $100,000 for distribution of drugs,
the penalties to be carried out consecutively, putting Mr. Scott out of action in racing for 20 years.
The commission also has ordered the immediate
suspension of thoroughbred owner-trainer Kenneth
Parsley for possession and acquisition of drugs.
Parlsey has filed a notice of appeal. The commission executive director, John L. Blakney, also announced that with the support of the Equine Medication Control Advisory Group, the ORC is committed to a program of out-of-competition testing
for a range of non-therapeutic drugs. These tests
may be prompted by reasonable cause or any abnormal or unexplainable change in a horse’s performance. Blakney said new advancements in testing technology have made the process efficient and
accurate. The Ontario Commission, with its latest
actions in both harness and thoroughbred racing,
has made clear that the acquisition, possession and
administration of illegal and non-therapeutic drugs
will not be tolerated in Ontario’s horse racing industry.
COAST OKS COMMINGLING
Santa Anita and Golden Gate will allow Canadian
bettors to commingle wagers into their pool, starting between Christmas and New Years. Canadians will bet directly into Santa Anita’s pools starting Thursday, Dec. 28, the second day of Santa
Anita’s winter meeting, and common pools with
Golden Gate will start the same day. A $2 Canadian bet on the coast Pick 6 pools will be accepted,
as will the Place Pick All in some Canadian jurisdictions. That bet awards those selecting the most first or second place finishers in all races on a card.
December 14, 2006
BARRON BACKS A WINNER
Andrew Cohen is chief legal analyst for CBS News.
He also owns harness horses, and he helped the
sport immensely this week with an article that
Barron’s Online titled “Picking Up the Pace.” In
it, Cohen told of the lower cost and substantial
earning power of trotters and pacers in comparison with runners, saying the standardbreds are
“cheaper to purchase, easier to train and keep,
race more frequently and compete for purses that
are fairly rich and getting richer.” Cohen’s father
owned harness horses in Montreal back in the
1970s, and he took the plunge himself last year.
He bought his first horse in February, and now is
part owner of three. He wrote that although he is
still in the red, he is having the time of his life.
“What other investment,” he asks, “allows your
kid to spend Sunday morning delightedly riding
behind a horse or prompts friends to ask if they
can join you to watch a race?” He quotes statistics on average purchase price and earnings, and
then says, “But the whole point of investing in a
harness horse is to put this intriguing math aside
and appreciate that this is also a lifestyle choice:
an opportunity to experience raw anticipation and
excitement each week that is nearly impossible to
describe.” But he describes it when he concludes
his article, “Take it from me, there is nothing like
passing through a crowd of race fans as you make
your way into the winners’ circle. It’s a feeling of
satisfaction and a pure and unrefined joy. That’s
what makes the investment a delightful hybrid of
a reasonable financial wager and emotional fulfillment. It’s not for everyone. But these days, it is
for anyone.”
IHHA LOOKS FOR EXECUTIVE
The Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Assn. is seeking
an executive director. Send resumes to Sam Lilly,
Search Chairman, IHHA, 15 Spinning Wheel Rd,
Suite 432, Hinsdale, IL 60521, before Jan.
12.
DRIVER INJURED AT N’LANDS
Driver Warren Grant is in stable condition and
awaiting surgery following an accident in the final
race at Northlands Park on Wednesday. The 53year-old Grant was driving Red Star Alvin when
the horse collided with Im All Shook Up. Grant
was thrown from his sulky and hit the rail, according to reports. Paramedics at the track reached
the injured driver quickly, stabilized him and transported him to the Royal Alexandria hospital. Grant
suffered a broken jaw, broken sternum and four
broken ribs. Today’s surgery is to repair the broken jaw. The driver of Im All Shook Up was unhurt in the accident, but the horse had to be destroyed. Grant’s horse was unharmed in the accident.
December 15, 2006
Apollo Management Group and Texas Pacific
Group to take the company private for more than
$15.5 billion. Another option being considered was
a plan to recapitalize the company by borrowing
money to give the shareholders a large dividend
or to repurchase shares to boost shareholder
value, a source close to the matter told the Associated Press. In the meantime, published reports
indicate that Penn National Gaming has made a
much-anticipated cash bid for Harrah’s. Sources
told the Las Vegas Review Journal that Penn National was offering $88.50 per share for Harrah’s,
putting that deal’s value at $16.5 billion. Shares
of Harrah’s closed Thursday at $79.10 on the New
York Stock Exchange.
IN PA, THE MONEY ROLLS IN
SENTENCES IN DALY MURDER
Three of the men who were guilty of the murder of
Matthew Daly, son of harness owner Matthew
Daly Sr., were sentenced to life in prison this week.
The three Hamilton, Ontario, men were convicted
of second degree murder. A fourth man was found
guilty of manslaughter in the case. Daly was
beaten after leaving a party with his girlfriend in
May of 2001 and died 12 hours after the attack.
The senior Daly is best known as one of the owners, along with his brothers Pat and Dan, of 1997
Triple Crown winner Western Dreamer.
Pennsylvania’s first racino, HTA member
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, continues to post
stunning numbers, attracting total slot machine
revenue of $85 million from its opening on November 14 until the end of November. Of that amount,
players won back a total of $76.3 million, or about
90 cents on every dollar. The share to breeders
and owners, 12 percent of the gross terminal revenue -- calculated as the difference between the
amount wagered and the amount paid to winners - totaled more that half a million dollars for the
abbreviated month. Pocono officials called the
numbers “an excellent start.”
HARRAH’S MUM BUT PENN BIDS
A special board committee of casino giant Harrah’s
Entertainment, owner of HTA member Chester
Downs, ended a meeting on Thursday without announcing a decision on whether it will back a multibillion dollar buyout offer. The special committee,
comprised of all 11 members of the board except
chairman and chief executive Gary Loveman, had
been meeting in New York since Wednesday to weigh any offers it received by the
end of Tuesday. Among the offers was one,
reported on earlier, from private equity firms
CALLING HTA PUBLICISTS!!!
HTA is issuing another call to all member organization publicists, marketing personnel and promotions or group events staffs. Please put HTA on
your list of recipients for information such as press
releases, newsletters and marketing and promotions materials. Add HTA to your list and distribute materials to [email protected], or to our
fax at 520-529-3235, or by mail to HTA at 4640
East Sunrise Drive, Suite 200, Tucson, AZ
85718.
TURBULENCE EVERYWHERE
In New York state, where three groups are battling viciously for control of the New York Racing
Association, the present franchise holder filed a
155-count suit against the state of New York and
several government officials. NYRA renewed its
long-held contention that it, and not New York state,
owns the three racetracks it operates, but it went
much farther. It accused the Pataki administration, now ending its rule in New York, and Gov.
George Pataki himself, of systematically forcing
NYRA into bankruptcy. The suit charges the
Pataki regime of withholding final approval of the
Aqueduct VLT project with MGM “at least in part
to make the franchise...more attractive to prospective for-profit bidders.” It claimed Pataki himself
and a senior member of his staff had confirmed
this by telling the chairman of NYRA’s board of
trustees that they would not permit final approval
of slots at Aqueduct “because that would interfere
with the request-for-proposal process.” Steven
Crist, writing in Daily Racing Form, said, “If true,
NYRA’s allegations are a far more serious case
of corruption and violation of public trust than anything the beleaguered racing association has itself been accused of amid five years of federal
and state investigations. If the slots had begun
spinning at Aqueduct two years ago as initially
envisioned, state coffers would be bulging, New
York’s racing would be by far the nation’s richest,
and the NYRA tracks would be showcases with
badly needed safety improvements and customer
amenities.”
In New Jersey, Howard M. Schoor, owner of Showplace Farm, was indicted on federal charges of bribery, involving payments to a former mayor and
Sewerage Authority chairman The charges apparently resulted from an FBI sting called Operation Big Red that resulted with the arrest
of 11 county officials last year.
December 18, 2006
In Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
reported that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control
Board, with some of the highest salaries in the
state, had spent $25 million preparing for slots
during the last two and one-half years, including
leasing new cars for board members. Five of the
board’s seven members received new cars, with
Pennsylvania paying up to $650 a month on the
leases, and four members spent a total of more
than $12,000 traveling to the U.S. and Canadian
west. The paper singled out one member of the
board, Jeffrey Coy, whose $47,315 Cadillac is twothirds paid for by taxpayers. It reported that Coy,
who lives in Shippensburg, less than 45 miles from
Harrisburg, spent at least 27 nights at the Harrisburg Hilton at a total cost of $3,633.37. The Control Board also paid for members’ trips to Las
Vegas, Phoenix and Vancouver, British Columbia.
A board spokesman said the trips were to gather
information on regulations of Pennsylvania slots.
The Control Board’s executive director, Anne
Neeb, earns $180,011, more than Gov. Ed Rendell,
and the board’s investigator, David Kwait, makes
$144,216 a year, more than Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Tom Corbett. Board members are
paid $145,000 a year, more than public gambling
regulators in New York, New Jersey, or Nevada,
the newspaper reported.
A PALACE REVOLT AT BATAVIA?
The board of directors of New York’s Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation will meet
Friday morning to discuss the future of the OTB,
including its ownership of Batavia Downs. The
board is split on management and direction issues,
and Batavia Downs could be put in play, with both
Nevada Gold, controlling owners of Vernon Downs
and Tioga Downs, and Delaware North reported
to be interested in the HTA track, where debt has
been reduced sharply, from $4 million two years
ago to $100,000 in 2006.
HARRAH’S SAID TO OK OFFER
The Associated Press has reported that Harrah’s
Entertainment’s board has approved a $16.7 billion offer from two private equity groups, and that
an announcement is due momentarily. Neither
Harrah’s, nor Apollo Management Group and
Texas Pacific Group, the reported winners in bidding for Harrah’s, had any comment. The deal
would value Harrah’s at $90 a share, a 36% premium over the company’s share price on Sept. 29,
the last trading day before the proposed buyout,
when the two groups offered $81 a share. Apollo
Management and Texas Pacific also would assume
$10.7 billion in debt. Penn National Gaming, which
reportedly had offered $87 a share, mostly in cash,
apparently was eliminated from the bidding.
Harrah’s shares rose yesterday 3.4%, or $2.68,
to close at $81.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Harrah’s Chester casino, meanwhile, ended its first
45-day harness racing meeting with an average
daily purse distribution, without slots, of $70,000
a night. That figure is expected to rise to $160,000
when harness racing returns to Chester for 95 programs from July 9 through December 20, 2007,
with slots fully in place. Cat Manzi, this year’s
leading driver, closed out the session by winning
six races on the final card.
Saratoga Gaming and Raceway brought its live
meeting to a close Saturday night. Saratoga resumes live racing February 2.
Philadelphia Park became Pennsylvania’s second
racino today, opening with 2,200 slots in place, a
bar, and a buffet.
In Massachusetts, a state senator friendly to
Raynham-Taunton dog track blocked legislation
that would extend the state’s simulcast law
beyond Dec. 31.
December 19, 2006
That leaves tracks and their employees in limbo
for the second year in a row. Robert Creedon, the
senator who blocked extension of the simulcasting agreement, said he was doing so to push the
tracks to compromise on the simulcasting issue to
allow dog tracks to take signals from around the
country. Raynham-Taunton is in Creedon’s district. Senator Scott Brown, whose district includes
HTA member Plainridge Racecourse, said, “If this
(extension) isn’t done by the end of the year, it will
put a lot of people out of work.” Massachusetts’
four tracks were closed briefly last year by the
same dispute, and lawmakers, who could not reach
a compromise themselves, are pessimistic about
concessions this time around.
GET PAID FOR LOSING
The Ontario Harness Horse Association has announced terms of proposed agreements with little
Dresden and Woodstock Raceways, with a new
wrinkle. The OHHA says the agreement will provide $100 to every owner who starts a horse and
finishes out of the purse money, the subsidy to be
paid from the purse pool “to help offset the increasing costs of maintaining racehorses.”
MCERLEAN ON HTA’S “WORLD”
Chris McErlean, who joined HTA as executive
assistant in 1989 after graduating with a degree in
economics and finance from Scranton University,
went on to become vice president of racing operations at the Meadowlands, and now is leaving the
Big M to take the same position with Penn National Racing, is the guest on this week’s “World
in Harness.” You can find the interview on the
home
page
of
our
Web
site,
www.harnesstracks.com, and enjoy McErlean’s
recounting of his meteoric career and his views on
racing, not only in New Jersey or Pennsylvania
but nationally. HTA wishes Chris all the best in
his new venture.
December 20, 2006
FULL UP IN PHILADELPHIA
SOBKOWIAK LEAVING POCONO
Philadelphia became the nation’s largest city with
slot machines today, when the Pennsylvania Racing Control Board awarded gaming licenses to
Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia and
Sugarhouse Casino to build along the Delaware
river waterfront in Benjamin Franklin’s adopted
hometown. In Pittsburgh, the winner was Detroitbased casino developer Don Barden, and
Mohegan Sun at Pocono got competition for its
slots operation when the board also awarded a license to Louis DeNaples for a Pocono mountain
resort and to Las Vegas Sands Corp. to build a
casino in Bethlehem. In Philadelphia, Foxwoods
of Connecticut will partner with ComcastSpectacolor chairman Ed Snider, 76ers president
Billy King, and Quincy Jones, among others to
build a casino, 2,000-seat entertainment complex
and restaurants and shops in a $560 million complex on 30 acres in south Philadelphia. Sugarhouse
Casino is a $550 million project to be built on 22.6
acres of the city’s central waterfront, which will be
anchored on both north and south ends by the
projects. Sugarhouse is a consortium including
widely known auto dealer Robert Potamkin, Chicago developer Neil Bluhm, attorney Richard
Sprague, developer Dan Keating, and former state
Supreme Court justice William Lamb. The commission, continuing its secretive ways, gave no
explanation of the awards, saying a written rationale will be issued later. Losers in the quest were
New York’s Donald Trump, campaigning as Keystone Redevelopment; Las Vegas-based Pinnacle
Entertainment; and Riverwalk Casino LP, consisting of Planet Hollywood CEO Robert Earl, New
York hedge fund manager Douglas Teitelbaum, and
several minority investors. In Pittsburgh, Isle of
Capri made a strong bid for the franchise, linking
with the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose franchise had
expected to be sold this week, before the
deal fell apart.
Conrad Sobkowiak, Mohegan Sun at Pocono
Downs’ vice president of racing operations and
longtime HTA director, is leaving the Pennsylvania track as of the end of the year. Conrad said he
felt that with Pocono solidly on its way to racing
and gaming success under Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority leadership, he felt it was an appropriate time to move on and pursue new opportunities. A University of Arizona Race Track Industry
Program graduate, Conrad is a veteran of 27 years
in pari-mutuel racing, having worked at NYRA,
Delaware Park, Atlantic City, Tampa Bay Downs
and the TRA before switching to harness racing.
FLAMBORO GETS 225 DAYS
The difference of opinion between Great Canadian Gaming, operator of Flamboro Downs, and
the Ontario Harness Horse Association over 2007
dates has been resolved by the Ontario racing commission. Great Canadian originally wanted to reduce live race dates from 258 to 208. The Ontario
Harness Horse Association wanted Flamboro to
be required to race 258 days, as this year.
Flamboro then requested 220 days. Faced with
those conflicts, the ORC, “after carefully considering all matters provided to it,” resolved the dispute by awarding Flamboro 225 days of live racing and 364 of simulcasting, as recommended by
staff, noting that even with the reduction Flamboro
Downs will race more days of harness racing than
any other track in Ontario.
SOLVE THE MIDDLE EAST MESS
With the announcement that Leon Black, founder
of the Apollo Group, has completed three days of
deals totaling $37 billion in acquiring Harrah’s
Entertainment, Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and
Sotheby’s Realty, a solution to the Middle East
crisis. Have Black buy Iraq and run it. Next
case, please.
December 21, 2006
JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS
THERE IS SOME GOOD NEWS
harnessracing.com, the Web site of Horseman and
Fair World magazine, reports today that Mickey
Burke, leading race-winning trainer in harness
racing this year and second leading in money won
by his trainees with $5.6 million in purse earnings,
has been hit with a positive test for Lidocaine, a
class 2 drug. Burke has been notified that the pacer
Doggone Incredible returned the positive after a
second-place finish at the Meadowlands on Dec.
9. He has asked for a test of the split sample.
Class 2 positives carry suspensions and fines, and
if Burke is set down it would mean that the leading standardbred and thoroughbred trainers in
North America this year both are sidelined for drug
positives. Thoroughbred trainer Todd Pletcher recently lost an appeal in New York of a 45-day illegal medication suspension and $3,000 fine for
mepivicaine found in one of his runners at
Saratoga two years ago.
Slots play at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs,
Pennsylvania’s first racino operation, already is
having a dramatic impact on purses at the track.
Horsemen will see a 60% increase in purses when
the 2007 meeting opens March 31. Purses will
jump from $60,000 a day to approximately
$100,000 a day, which will mark the fourth purse
increase in purses since Mohegan Sun bought the
track. Pocono director of racing Saul Needle said
two of the track’s features that honor famed figures in the sport -- the Max C. Hempt Memorial
Pace for 3-year-old colts and the James M. Lynch
Memorial Pace for 3-year-old fillies will get major
boosts. The Hempt will be raced for an estimated
purse of $300,000, and the Lynch for $250,000,
representing a 70% increase for the colts and 75%
raise for the filly event. The W. N. Reynolds will
go from $100,000 to $200,000. Open paces will go
from $15,000 to $20,000. When the season begins in March, Pocono will operate Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons, with a new
post time of 2 p.m.
Burke recently was named Trainer of the Year by
members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
harnessracing.com says there is no word whether
he will retain the title. There is a precedent.
Trainer Joe Anderson was named Trainer of the
Year a few years back, but was stripped of the title
after a positive test.
In other glad holiday tidings, Scott Lake, the
nation’s leading thoroughbred trainer in number
of wins, has dropped an appeal of a 30-day suspension for a clenbuterol positive on one of his
horses; seven jockeys have been kicked out of
Tampa Bay Downs, and two banned at Calder Race
Course, possibly in connection with a bad race at
Great Lakes Downs in Michigan in August; and a
greyhound hauler has been handed a life suspension and fined $140,000 for hauling 140 missing
greyhounds from Tucson Greyhound Park and being unable to tell authorities where they
are or what happened to them. Guess.
SIX YEARS AND COUNTING
It is now six years since off-track betting was legalized in New Jersey, and you don’t have much
longer to wait. The first OTB is scheduled to open
in mid-February, at Vineland in southern New Jersey, operated by Greenwood Racing. A second, in
Toms River in central New Jersey, and a third, in
Woodridge Township, are due for completion in
mid- and late-2007. The Woodridge facility will be
operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, parent of the Meadowlands, just
off busy Route 1.
CHECK OUT DEC. HTA REPORT
HTA’s December report, An Update of Racino
Legislation in the United States 2004-2006, is
now on our proprietary Web site. Use your
password for access.
WE’RE NOT KIDDING, FOLKS
It’s Christmas, with New Year’s Day looming just
ahead, and the HTA/TRA annual meeting just two
months away when the calendar turns. Hotel reservations for the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood,
Florida, are to be made through Cindy in the HTA
office, NOT the hotel, and you have the month of
January to do that, with cutoff in early February.
MORE IMPORTANT, air travel during our dates,
March 9-13, is tight, so we strongly suggest you
not wait to make your air reservations. YOU
SHOULD PLAN ON ARRIVING AT THE DIPLOMAT FRIDAY, MARCH 9, (THURSDAY,
MARCH 8 FOR EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE
COMMITTEE MEMBERS) OR BEFORE, AND
LEAVE TUESDAY, MARCH 13, OR WHENEVER YOU CHOOSE.
We will be providing rough agendas of meeting and
social schedules next week, with detailed ones to
follow with specific topics and speakers. We are
concerned about air travel only because it is spring
break time for many colleges in the U.S. and for
Canada, and we don’t want you to have to walk or
drive unless you wish to do so.
HARRAH’S:BUSINESS AS USUAL
The $17.1 billion is not in the bank just yet, nor
the assumption of $10.7 billion in debt, but Harrah’s
expects both Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group will take care of those details. Meanwhile, unless Harrah’s finds a better offer in the
next three weeks, CEO and president Gary
Loveman says customers should see no real
changes in Harrah’s facilities. “It is a change of
ownership,” Loveman says, “but it’s really not a
change in direction at all. I don’t think our customers or the vast majority of our employees will
see any difference in what we’ve been working on
to ensure great service for our guests and great
careers and great experiences for our employees.” The sale is expected to take a
year to close.
December 22, 2006
MORE AND MORE AND MORE
The investigation of an apparently bad race by HTA
member Sacramento Harness, racing at Cal-Expo,
and the subsequent seven-month investigation that
followed, has led to what deputy state attorney
general Maggy Krell calls “a groundbreaking
case.” It resulted in the conviction on a felony
bribery charge of Raymond Burt, a Sacramento
driver who has pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe
not to use his best effort. He also faces charges
of conspiracy to commit grand theft as well as aiding and abetting grand theft. Krell says, “This is
the first case in California where we’ve actually
prosecuted.” The investigation continues, and
more arrests could come within a month, Krell
says. “You can’t have your own conspiracy,” she
says. “Someone else must be involved.” Three
other drivers were implicated in a trifecta in a race
last May 5, the brothers Jason and Danny Maier
and veteran trainer-driver Todd Ratchford. The
three were suspended by Sacramento Harness a
week after the race. Danny Meier did not drive in
the race in question, and now is reportedly driving
at Monticello Raceway in New York. Sacramento
Harness general manager and HTA director Chris
Schick said, “We thought there were suspicious
actions during the race, and we took all the information we developed to the racing board.”
In the east, a 10th jockey has been denied access
following a TRPB investigation, this one at Philadelphia Park, and the Ontario Racing Commission
is proposing a third $100,000 fine and 10-year suspension in the last two weeks, this one against
owner-trainer Dennis Moffat.
In New Jersey, we misidentified the location of an
imminent OTB. It is in thriving Woodbridge, not
little Woodridge, and on that note we wish you a
very Merry Xmas.
See you Tuesday.
December 26, 2006
SLOTS FOR BIG M IN 2007?
SOME HOPE FOR ROCK, TOO?
Nothing has happened yet, but a story out of Trenton should bring a bit of holiday cheer to the Meadowlands, and its parent the New Jersey Sports and
Exposition Authority. Gov. Jon S. Corzine, an opponent of slots at the Meadowlands during his race
for governor, now says he is no longer firm in that
opposition. “I’m still against them,” he said in an
interview
with
Pete
McAleer
of
pressofatlanticcity.com, “but I’m a little less adamant about it. I’m not wavering. I want to see the
facts. If we see day traffic erode sharply in Atlantic City, should we just do nothing?” Northern New
Jersey legislators, led by former governor and now
senate president Richard J. Codey, continue to ask
Corzine to approve VLTs. The governor acknowledged that “It’s attractive in concept as a way to
raise revenues for the state without raising taxes,”
and he added, “I think we’re surrounded with VLTs
everywhere else, so we’re going to take the hit
without seeing any of the potential benefits. The
market’s going to show, one of these days, whether
this is something that needs responding to.” Atlantic City casinos agreed in 2003 to support New
Jersey horse racing with $86 million over four
years in return for a promise that track slots would
not be approved. That agreement expires next
October. Corzine said, “I would like to see that
support continue,, but that’s tied up in this VLT
issue too.” The Atlantic City casinos contend that
slots at the Meadowlands would hurt, not help,
Atlantic City compete against emerging slots jurisdictions, but the casinos conveniently ignore the
impact of racing on the economy in New Jersey.
Corzine does not. He says New Jersey should not
base its decision on just the casino industry’s bottom line, but rather “on what it does to our competitive position with regard to gaming broadly as
a state and the overall economic opportunities.”
HTA member Rockingham Park, like the Meadowlands, needs slots too, and its chances seem
brighter since the November election. The political landscape in New Hampshire has changed, with
Democrats now in control of the legislature, and
the new House speaker, Tene N. Norelli, says a
study committee already is examining various revenue options, including some gambling ideas. An
opponent of the idea, Jim Rubens, executive committee chairman of the Granite State Coalition
Against Expanded Gambling, acknowledges that
the odds have changed. “This is the toughest year
yet,” he says. “The pincers have grown tighter.”
His allies in opposition to slots include the state’s
Lodging and Restaurant Association, the New
Hampshire Chiefs of Police, and the New Hampshire Council of Churches. Rockingham and
Seabrook Greyhound Park both currently host
Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, which they can
do under state law if the games are organized to
benefit a charitable organization. Rockingham’s
have included the Boys and Girls Club and
Kiwanis. The law requires that at least 35% of
gross revenues go to charity, less any prizes paid
out. The tracks’ poker operations typically return
up to 75% of entry fees to the players. The executive director of the New Hampshire PariMutuel Commission, Paul Kelley, says Texas
Hold’em in New Hampshire is a $100 million a
year industry. Pamela Lynch, a spokeswoman for
governor John Lynch, a Democrat, says the governor would have to see evidence that expanded
gaming would not hurt New Hampshire’s quality
of life or its economy before he would support slots
legislation. Rep. Anthony DiFruscia, a Republican who is authoring a bill to establish a state
owned casino, said he thinks the popularity of
poker at the tracks and the fact that thousands of
Granite Staters leave the state to gamble elsewhere, has increased slots’ chances.
December 27, 2006
WALDROP NEW NTRA CEO
ELIZABETH ERVIN DIES AT 99
Alex Waldrop, former president of Churchill
Downs, was appointed president and chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing
Association (NTRA) at a special meeting of that
organization’s board of directors today. Waldrop,
a partner in the law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant and
Combs, will assume his new duties on January 15.
Of his appointment, Waldrop said, “The NTRA will
succeed in moving the industry forward by concentrating on issues of paramount importance to
its members -- racing and wagering integrity, advocacy in Washington and a heightened industry
profile.... Issue management, including exploring
ways to improve account wagering economics, also
will be a priority.” Prior to his recent work in private law practice, Waldrop spent more than 12
years with Churchill Downs, first as its general
counsel, then as president of the racetrack, and
most recently as senior vice president of public
affairs for Churchill Downs Inc. Waldrop replaces
current NTRA interim CEO Greg Avioli, who will
continue to serve as interim CEO of Breeders’ Cup
Limited.
Elizabeth Griffith Ervin, widow of the late Hall of
Fame trainer Frank Ervin, died early this morning
at her home in Orlando, Florida. Ervin was 99 and
had been in declining health. A funeral service
will be held at Cox-Parker Funeral Home in Orlando. The time and date have not yet been announced. Ervin will be buried with her husband in
Sedalia, Missouri. She is survived by nieces
Marjorie Farrar, Nadine Peake, Betty Schlobaum,
Carol Sue Powell, nephew Jim Hollaway, and greatnephew Jay Farrar. Ervin was a supporter of the
Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, and
memorial donations in her name are requested to
the museum at P.O. Box 590, Goshen, NY 10924.
In addition to the appointment of Waldrop, the
NTRA board made Turfway Park President Bob
Elliston its executive chairman. Craig Fravel, an
NTRA board member who served as chairman this
year, said of Elliston’s new position, “The appointment of an executive chairman is becoming more
and more commonplace as companies and organizations seek a clear delineation between board and
management responsibilities. Bob brings to the
NTRA a wealth of expertise from within and outside the industry. He will serve as a direct conduit between management and the full board and
be available to support management whenever
called upon to move the industry forward. “Before joining Turfway, Elliston worked for
U.S. Bank N.A. and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
SLOTS OFF FAST AT PHILLY PARK
Just as everyone expected, slot machine gaming
at Philadelphia Park will bring much-needed revenue to the track, horsemen and state and local
governments. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week, Philly Park took in about $1.75 million in gross terminal revenue -- which is wagers
minus the machine payouts -- according to the
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Last Tuesday, its “soft opening day,” the racino attracted
about 10,000 customers and paid out $100,000 in
jackpots of $1,200 or more. Overall attendance
at the slots palace has averaged 7,000 per day.
POSITIVE FOR JEREME’S JET
Officials at the Illinois Racing Board are reporting that Jereme’s Jet, winner of the 2005 Nova
Award for 2-year-old pacing colt or gelding, tested
positive for pyrilamine, a prohibited substance,
after winning the $250,000 Windy City Pace in
early November at Maywood Park. The racing
board has ordered the purse money to be redistributed and trainer Tom Harmer has been fined
$2,500. Harmer and owner Jolene Leahy have
appealed the disqualification and purse redistribution.
December 28, 2006
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
TIM TRANSFORMED BY SLOTS
Empire Racing Associates, struggling to gain the
New York Racing Association franchise despite not
being chosen by the selection committee appointed
by outgoing governor George Pataki, has cut its
ties with Jared Abbruzzese. Saying the announcement “is the culmination of a process that began
in October when Mr. Abbruzzese decided to leave
the Empire Racing board, citing a distraction created by inquires into activities unrelated to the
company,” Empire said it had reached a mutual
agreement to buy Abbruzzese’s shares, a 6%
stake in Empire. The “distraction” mentioned was
the FBI investigation into business dealings between Evident Technologies, a private
nanotechnology firm in Senator Joe Bruno’s district, and Bruno, the powerful leader of the New
York Senate. Abbruzzese is a former member of
the Evident board, and initial funding for the company came from an investment firm run by
Abbruzzese. The Associated Press reported earlier this month that Bruno had directed $500,000
in state grants to Evident over the past two years.
Tim Rooney, like his father, is a charmer. He is
warm and personable with his friends. New York
horsemen, however, have been hard on Tim, castigating him and calling him names when slots came
to Yonkers before trotters and pacers returned.
Never mind that the plant wasn’t ready. He was
vilified by the Standardbred Owners Association,
whose leader Joe Faraldo sued him for daring to
open Yonkers Empire City slots before returning
live racing to the former Giant of Trotting.
THE AUSSIES STILL WANT IN
Although Steve Swindal’s Excelsior Racing Associates, with Billy and John Johnston prominently
involved, have the rail in the race for the NYRA
franchise, the Australians who want it are not giving up. They have offered $1.8 billion to New York
and its racing industry for the franchise, saying
they would introduce the “Australian model” that
makes going to the track a social event Down
Under. Australian racing, according to its trade
journals, is in no better shape than its American
cousin, social standing or no. The hats at the Kentucky Derby are the same, or close, to those at
the Melbourne Cup, and the same pressures weigh
on Australian racing as impact the U.S. and Canadian versions of the sport.
Now, in a remarkable reversal, Harness Horsemen International has announced Tim is their Man
of the Year, and will be officially installed at their
annual awards dinner in Florida March 7. HTA
offers its sincere congratulations. We revere Tim,
with or without slots.
POWER STRUGGLE AT THE TOP
Gaming Today of Las Vegas reports this week on
an interesting behind-the-scenes power struggle
won by Harrah’s Entertainment chairman Gary
Loveman against a group of directors led by Steve
Bollenbach, co-chairman of Hilton Hotels. One
source called the contest “a gutsy move by Gary,
very high stakes poker,” saying he put his job on
the line when he persuaded Harrah’s board of directors to approve the sale for $27 billion.
Bollenbach wanted the deal to provide him the
right to fire any member of senior management up
until the deal closes, a move the newspaper says
was aimed at Loveman, who apparently incurred
Bollenbach’s wrath by urging approval of the
buyout proposal when it first was offered at $81 a
share. Apollo and Texas Pacific stood firm in their
refusal to meet Bollenbach’s firing provision, reportedly saying they were “buying management.”
Hilton’s co-chairman, Barron Hilton, wound up with
$450 million for his 5 million shares of Harrah’s.
DESPERATE SITUATION...AGAIN
December 29, 2006
A HOLIDAY FOR PENN NATIONAL
Massachusetts’ four racetracks, including HTA
member Plainridge Racecourse, are preparing to
close down operations next Tuesday, Jan. 2, after
they failed to reach an agreement on simulcasting
and the House killed an extension bill that had been
approved by the Senate.
Penn National Gaming closed yesterday on its
purchase of the 121-room Holiday Inn on Main
Street in Bangor, Maine, and the Bangor Daily
News reported that all the company needs to begin construction of its $90 million gaming complex
is a wrecking ball.” Demolition is scheduled to
begin in February, and the racino -- the track is
across the street -- is scheduled to open in mid2008. Another hotel, the Main Street Inn, was
razed in June and Penn National plans to build on
the site of the two, across from Bangor Raceway.
The two were among the few commercially-zoned
properties large enough to accommodate the
116,000-square-foot planned facility and still meet
state law that requires the building to be within a
2,000-foot radius of the track. When completed,
the casino-racino will house 1,500 slots, a fourstory, 1,500 space parking garage, a restaurant
and retail space. Penn National currently is operating out of a temporary facility, Hollywood Slots,
which opened in a former restaurant on Main
Street a year ago.
Following two sessions of late night maneuvering,
including a compromise yesterday that Senate
members thought resolved the crisis by extending
the present simulcasting agreement until November, the Senate president called key legislators and
told them the deal was falling apart. By last night,
it was off. Senator Michael Morrissey put it
bluntly: “It is the Raynham-Taunton folks,” he
said, referring to George Carney’s RaynhamTaunton dog track. “Three tracks have agreed
and one hasn’t (Raynham-Taunton) and it seems
every year that we are back here for the same
reason by the same people pushing it, and I don’t
get it.” Thousands of workers face layoffs. Louis
Cairlone, who represents union workers at Suffolk Downs, laid the blame directly on Rep. David
Flynn, who has been carrying the battle for
Raynham-Taunton. “No matter how he tries to
spin this, he is the culprit in putting people out of
work,” Cairlone said. It was Flynn who blocked
the bill in the House with an objection, calling the
Senate bill “worthless.” Rep. Daniel Bosley, outgoing House chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies
and governor-elect Deval Patrick’s appointee as
a special economic development adviser, was asked
by a reporter about the incoming administration’s
view of the situation. He replied curtly, “We’re
not in yet. Talk to the new administration.” Although it didn’t make clear how it would happen,
the Boston Channel ended its report of the House
killing the bill with, “A deal could still be
reached before the new year.”
A MILLION $$ YONKERS TROT
Elsewhere on the slots front, Yonkers Raceway has
asked the New York Racing and Wagering Board
to approve a Thursday night program and allow it
to switch Tuesday nights to afternoon racing, in
the wake of the success of its slots. Publicity director Frank Drucker says Empire City at Yonkers is planning ultimately to turn the Yonkers Trot
into a million dollar race.
FAREWELL TO ELIZ. ERVIN
A memorial service for Elizabeth Ervin, trainer
Frank Ervin’s widow who died this week at 99, will
be held Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Cox-Parker
Funeral Home in Winter Park, FL. Memorial contributions may be made to the Harness Racing
Museum in Goshen, NY.
That’s it for 2006. See you next year.

Executive Newsletter - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

Transcription

Similar documents

- the Troy Main WSA Snocross Racing Team Website

Custom Car April 74 Page 2

2007 CRKC AD GOODWOOD RACEFAN MOD NOV 30 [2007] .eps

2012 Vintage Festival Poster

Bernard Gallay Yacht Brokerage

Power, Steering Proxes R888 sticks to the track whilst you stick to

Canrpaign to tackle Mat Rempit off to good start

NHDRO Racer Spotlight : Ceslie Shellhass Ceslie Shellhaas, the

SWinG CLubS - XLR8 Alpine Racing

Mechanical Heartbreak Hits McColligan at USTCC