Christie Wins - Does Racing?, Ohio Hurting

The voters of New Jersey have selected Chris Christie to be the next governor of the state of New Jersey and we offer our congratulations to him. Being we are here to talk about harness racing, I will leave the political analysis of his election to others.

That being said, the question is what happens next to racing? Standardbred horsemen in New Jersey apparently are happy with the election outcome as the local horsemen's group had quietly endorsed Christie. We hope they know something we don't. Based on his public
pronouncements, it is not apparent Christie is pro-racing. Here are some questions to ponder:

• What happens to Corzine's blue ribbon panel? Does it disband, does Christie ask them to continue on, or does he appoint his own panel?
• Does Christie go back on his word and now support VLTs? Can he get any meaningful legislation through a legislature controlled by the political opposition?
• Assuming VLTs don't get approved, does a new purse supplement agreement come to fruition?
• What happens to the NJSEA, operators of the Meadowlands? Does the NJSEA continue as is, get altered, or eliminated? What is the impact on the Meadowlands Racetrack?
• Does Freehold Raceway survive?

Make no mistake, I understand the anger horsemen had toward Corzine. They rightfully felt betrayed by Corzine who basically dismissed the work of his own blue ribbon panel before the panel completed their work. We don't dispute Corzine threw racing under the bus, here is hoping it doesn't turn out that Christie is at the wheel driving the bus.

While horsemen in New Jersey may be pleased with the election results, racing interests in Ohio are feeling gloomy. A constitutional ammendment to permit four free standing casinos in Ohio was approved. By 2012, casinos should be operational in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo. The OHHA feels that a majority of racetracks in Ohio will close if the ammendment passed. Racing interests will now be focusing on another ammendment which will be voted on May 15 to allow VLTs at the racetracks. Even if racetrack VLTs are approved, the tracks wil lbe at a disadvantage as they will not be able to offer the table games the casino games will be offering. My guess is the first track to close will be Raceway Park in Toledo. Since Penn National Gaming owns Raceway Park, I suspect the track will be razed to make way for the full fledged casino.

Have We Given Up on Expansion?

Well, the date has been set. On November 28, Hialeah Park, which last raced back in 2001, will have quarter horses running down the stretch of the famed oval for the first day of a forty day race meet (well, technically two twenty day race meets). Ironically, 2001 was the last time quarter horses raced in Florida, at Pompano Park of all places. It is anticipated Hialeah will eventually run thoroughbreds as part of their quarter horse meet, allegedly in anticipation to racing a full thoroughbred meet down the road.

While not a particular fan of either breed, it is certainly nice to see a racetrack return to live racing, especially a historic track like Hialeah. However, let's not kid ourselves, the return of racing to Hialeah has nothing to do with the love of horse racing; it is all about being able to operate a slot parlor. Pending approval of a new Indian gaming compact and assuming the FSBOA's lawsuit is settled before slots are declared unconstitutional, Hialeah will be able to operate a slot parlor after they run their two twenty day race meets. Hialeah is using the quarter horses to get their slots and the horsemen are all too willing to be used; after all it gets them racing dates.

Has harness racing given up on expansion? For sure, there was no harness racing permit available in Florida and getting a quarter horse permit was quicker but wouldn't it have been something if Hialeah opened up with a standardbred meet? After all, a twenty day race meet, while short would have fit in nicely during the summer down time at Pompano. Yes, it would have required some lobbying in the Florida legislature and it may not have been successful, but it would have been worth a try.

What about other states? West Virginia has casinos at their thoroughbred and greyhound tracks with harness racing limited to a short run at the WV State Fair. Yet no one considers trying to get an extended standardbred meet there, even if it means leasing the state fair grounds. You probably couldn't get a full casino there, but maybe you could get a slot parlor (even if you need to close it during the state fair). What about other states that have racinos? It may take a big effort to get a trotting meet in these other states, but if there are people out there looking to use a horse breed to get slots, why not use standardbreds? North Dakota has a three day race meet. Why not work to expand that meet? We need to be out in these and other states to tell possible investors that harness racing wants to be part of the gaming scene and is willing to work them.

I know some of the questions. Doesn't harness racing race too many dates already? Why do we want to race in a new state for a short race meet? Why would we want to be 'used'? Let me tell you why.

While we do race too many dates and our product is diluted, we need to get our sport 'on the ground' in as many states as possible. Sure we have TVG and other ADWs covering harness racing, but as many would admit, harness racing gets the short end with respect to coverage. Why is that? People bet more on the runners than they do on the trotters. Part of that is due to the fact that most of America has never had the opportunity to see a harness race live. How can we expect people to start wagering on a product they never had a chance to experience in person? To these people, harness racing is like jai-lai. They heard about it but don't understand it so they are not about to bet on it.

A one or two month festival of pari-mutuel racing in a state where harness racing does not currently exist could be what we need to introduce harness racing to potential new fans and by having short meets, we may be able to maintain fan interest on an annual basis. Sure they would have a live product to race on for only a month or so but once the race meet ended, these people may start betting on harness racing instead of the runners through ADWs and simulcast locations. Would we be getting used by a track operator to get slots in some states? Sure, but we also get access to a wagering public which we would never have a chance to reach otherwise.

As it is said, a strong offense is a good defense. Maybe it is time for harness racing to go on the offense. Think small and things will continue on a decline. Think big and maybe we can growthe sport. Isn't it worth the risk?

It Happened in Quebec, It Can Happen Here

Dean over at Pull The Pocket talks about Daryl Kaplan's column in Trot Magazine. In Kaplan's column, he talks about the demise of racing in Quebec; how the government there finally said 'Enough' with subsidizing harness racing in the province. More importantly, both Dean and Kaplan talk about how racing has done nothing to reinvigorate the sport from the customer perspective to make racing a more desirable product.

Most anything I can say on this subject will be repeating what Dean and Daryl have already stated so take the time to read both of their comments. Every horsemen and track operator should read these comments.

Explosive Matter Lays an Egg

After winning his elimination of the first heat of the Premio Orsi Mangelli, Explosive Matter picked the wrong time to break ( in what I believe was the first time this season) in the final denying the chance for American glory in Milan, Italy earlier today.

The first heat went as planned. Sitting back the first half of the mile and then making his move, Explosive Matter won his elimination in 1:56.1.



The second heat was won by the eventual race winner, Mago d'Amore.



Here is the video for the final which was won by Mago d'Amore in 1:56.3. Obviously with Explosive Matter self-destructing, the race became much easier for the eventual race winner.



More coverage about the race can be found here.

While Explosive Matter may be the second best 3yo trotter this year, it once again goes to show that nothing is automatic in horse racing (except perhaps a Muscle Hill victory). While everyone felt that Explosive Matter would be the obvious winner, the fact remains he had to ship to Italy, race two heats over a surface he never raced over before against oposition he had never met. There were plenty of obstacles to overcome and for one heat, he rised to the occasion.

Test the New Deal

Now that John Berry wrote about a 'New Deal' for racing where slot revenue goes to reduce the takeout rate, it is time to test the idea out to see if it works in reality. Of course, the problem is how do we test it? After all, we realize most track executives (and horsemen) are down right suspicious and fearful of this theory. If they were to make such a dramatic takeout cut and it did not provide the desired results, how do you restore the takeout rate in the same season? Also, how do you test the theory in the current world when you have ADWs and simulcast outlets ready to cut your signal off if you cut the takeout rate too much?

The answer is you try this at real short race meet. Meets that are short enough where you can reduce the takeout rate for the whole meet, without having to raise it back up during the meet. Short enough that an ADW or simulcast site will be willing to carry the signal even if it means a slight loss to the ADW or simulcast partner if the experiment goes bad.

As alluded to, this experiment will require buy in from all the stakeholders; track operators, horsemen, ADWs, simulcast partners, and state legislatures. ADWs and simulcast partners would need to agree to continue taking the test track's signal during the test period (it may be necessary to offer a slight reduction in their commission for the test period). Track operators and horsemen must be willing to give up a portion of their share of the takeout. State legislatures will need to pass legislation to allow for the reduced takeout during the test period as well as possibly reduce or eliminate their portion of the takeout (if any) during the trials.

We need to identify test subjects for this experiment. Due to most tracks having longer meets, we need the help of our t-bred cousins in this experiment; we should have one track from each breed participating.

Ideal candidates for this test would be The Red Mile (Grand Circuit meet) and Atlantic City Race Course. Next year, The Red Mile will race only an eight day Grand Circuit meet while Atlantic City Race Course traditionally races six days during the year. Each of these tracks would be able to advertise the reduced takeout rate in advance of their meets. At The Red Mile, their race sponsors could be asked to make up any shortfall (if any) in the purse account as a result of the experiment and at ACRC, t-bred horsemen could divert a small portion of the purse supplements targeted for Monmouth and the Meadowlands to ACRC horsemen (themselves) if a shortfall to the purse account occurs.

At the end of their respective meets, the impact on attendance (it would be interesting to see how attendance at ACRC, a few miles outside of Atlantic City is impacted) and handle could be evaluated. We then will have actual figures to review to determine how much attendance and wagering changes when the takeout is reduced x%. Then the entire racing industry (tracks, horsemen, ADWs and simulcast partners) can decide on a nationwide level how to address the takeout issue to the benefit of all.

Let's give Berry's theory a test. After all, we have little to lose and plenty to gain.