HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
DO THEY DESERVE HAVING IT?
That’s a legitimate question concerning members
of the Harness Horse Association of Central
New York, who like lemmings have followed
their Pied Piper leader, Joe Faraldo, over the cliff
again. The horsemen now are suing Jeff Gural
for $250,000 for purses lost when Gural closed
Vernon four days early at the end of Vernon’s
2007 season because he already had lost $10 million
last year and was trying to get the legislature
to pass pending legislation, which it did. Faraldo
was quoted in the Utica Observer-Dispatch as
saying, “I just can’t have sympathy for someone
who breaks an agreement.” Gural asked the logical
question of the reporter: Would the Central
New York members have preferred if he had not
reopened Vernon, and left them ship wherever
they had to in order to find racing opportunities?
“We all agree I made a bad business decision,”
Gural said, “but it would seem Faraldo’s
members are the main beneficiaries of it.” No
need to worry. If Gural ever closes Vernon, Joe
will look after the horsemen.
WHO’S RIGHT IN BOSTON?
Depending whom you listen to, Gov. Deval Patrick
either has or does not have enough votes
to pass his three-casino bill in Massachusetts,
which would likely shut out tracks from consideration
for the licenses. Deval says he does, but
the powerful chairman of the Economic Development
Committee in the House says he does
not. Daniel Bosley, a strong gambling foe, says
only “a couple” legislators have switched their
vote on the issue after a PR onslaught by Patrick,
including a slick 12-page brochure, and he
has seen anything that would change his mind
or reverse his position. Rep. Daniel Flynn, who
has introduced a slots-at-tracks bill, says he may
or may not get enough support to pass it,
but if casinos go down “I’ll have the only
game in town.”
March 12, 2008
STILL THE UGLY AMERICANS
We once were loved in Europe, but those days
are gone forever, or at least the immediate present.
The latest expression is from the European
Union, which has began an investigation of the
U.S. Internet gambling industry that could lead
to more problems in the World Trade Organization.
This time it is not some dot in the Caribbean
doing the protesting. European trade
commissioner Peter Mandelson, addressing the
problem for the EU, acknowledges the United
States “has the right to address legitimate public
policy concerns relating to Internet gambling,”
but goes on to say “discrimination against EU
companies cannot be part of the policy mix.”
While a temporary agreement was thought to
have been reached last December, the Justice
Department continues checking on prior European
actions, and the Europeans, already hard
hit by Justice, is up in arms. Clive Hawkswood,
CEO of the Remote Gambling Association based
in London, says, “We cannot simply sit on the
sidelines and watch while our members, who are
already badly bruised by the unlawful U.S. acts,
suffer the double whammy of being prosecuted
for activities whilst U.S. industry is not.” The
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed two
years ago is the genesis, and which exempts horse
racing, was the trigger that fired the present gun
of contention.
SPITZER IS NOT ALONE
Eliot Spitzer is not the only powerful politician
moving to the sidelines. One of Pennsylvania’s
most formidable legislative figures, state senator
Vincent Fumo of Philadelphia, announced today
he will not seek reelection after 30 years of exerting
influence in Harrisburg. A prime mover
in creating Pennsylvania’s casino law, Fumo is
facing health, legal and political problems. He
had a recent heart attack and is facing a September
trial for 139 counts of fraud.