2002 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
MAGNA BUYING FLAMBORO
Charlie Juravinski, who has performed somersaults
in winner’s circles from the Meadowlands
to Woodbine, has real cause to do one now....and
cartwheels as well. Frank Stronach’s Magna Entertainment
has agreed to buy Juravinski’s racetrack,
Flamboro Downs, for $47 million (U.S.). The
move, in a sense, completes a racing circle for
Stronach, who left the then Ontario Jockey Club
in disagreement a few years back and now, after a
wild buying spree of major and minor tracks in the
U.S., returns to Ontario with his first Canadian
acquisition. Stronach says his purchase of
Flamboro “represents another important step in
MEC’s program of expanding its North American
racing operations,” and Juravinski says he thinks
Magna will be able to fulfill his vision of making
Flamboro a major tourist and family destination.
“I have the vision, but I don’t have the energy,”
says Juravinski, who says he is “in my 73d year.”
He says he can see Magna adding a hotel complex
and perhaps a spa at the 230-acre site he and
his wife, who own Flamboro under their Flamboro
Downs Holding Ltd., are selling. In addition to
the property and the track, Magna will get its share
of revenue from the 750 slot machines operated
at Flamboro by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming
corporation, along with seven off-track betting sites
operated by Flamboro. Last year’s handle at the
track was $140 million Canadian, with 260 programs
year-round. The sale involves $21 million
in cash and assumption of a $21 million mortgage.
Flamboro’s record handle came on August 27,
1995, when the track handled $1,033,538, and its
attendance record of 8,282 was set on August 28,
1988. It’s major race, the $600,000 Confederation
Cup, attracts some of the sport’s best 3-yearold
pacers. The half-mile track, which opened in
1975, is located on Highway 5 in Dundas,
Ontario, some 45 miles from Toronto.
June 5, 2002
ARIZONA SLOTS TO VOTERS
With the governor and the president of the state
senate taking bitterly opposing views on the issue
of gaming in Arizona, the state’s Indians have
taken the matter in their own hands and are bypassing
the politicians and going straight to the
voting public. Gov. Jane Hull wanted gaming restricted
to the state’s Indian casinos. Senate president
Randall Gnant -- who campaigned on the platform
of taking politics out of politics -- wanted the
state’s racetracks to share in having slots, and
blocked Hull’s bill. Now the Colorado River tribes
in western Arizona have filed nearly 30 boxes of
petitions, with 165,222 signatures, aiming to put
the measure before voters in November. If 101,762
of the signatures are validated by the secretary of
state’s office, they will get their wish.
YOUBET ON THE MOVE
Youbet.com’s new CEO, David Marshall, is losing
no time in moving his company forward with aggressive
marketing. He announced a licensing deal
with Winnercomm, which controls horse racing content
on ESPN.com, that could put live odds and
online audio and video streaming of selected races
on that carrier as early as the end of this week,
and also announced a co-marketing content agreement
with the California Authority of Racing Fairs,
better known as CARF. That group conducts racing
meetings at county fairs at San Joaquin,
Alameda, Solono, Sonoma, Humboldt and San
Mateo, as well as the California State Fair and
Fresno District Fair. Marshall said the California
fair agreement will provide broad Youbet.com exposure
on CARF tracks and on its simulcast signals,
and he said the Winnercomm deal could generate
7,000 to 9,000 unique visitors to Youbet.com’s
Web site. “This is right in line with the new marketing
philosophy we adopted six months ago of
working with industry partners to attract new
fans to the sport,” Marshall said.