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
INTERESTING DECISION IN PA
In a court decision of particular interest to track
managements, a Pennsylvania appeals court has
upheld the five-year suspension of a jockey who
was acquitted by a jury of fixing races at Penn
National Race Course. The jockey, Felix E.
Pinero, had been found innocent in a jury trial,
but the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission
suspended him anyway, and three Commonwealth
Court judges yesterday upheld that
penalty, saying the suspension was supported
with sufficient evidence. Four other jockeys were
sentenced earlier for their roles in the bad race,
with their sentences ranging from probation to
six months in prison. Two horse owners also were
convicted in the case.
SACCO BACK, AND LOCKED UP
Already a winner with the U.S. Supreme Court’s
refusal to review the Jay Cohen offshore gaming
case, federal authorities have arrested another
offshore operator, Ronald Sacco, and put him under
lock and key after he apparently encountered
visa problems in Nicaragua. Sacco was in the
news eight years ago when he was sent to prison
for four years for involvement with a Dominican-based
gambling ring. The Justice Department
at the time said he ran the largest bookmaking
operation in the Dominican Republic,
and after he went on CBS and discussed the case
he was thrown out of that country. Gambling
authority I. Nelson Rose, speaking of the case,
said, “He had the guts to go on 60 Minutes to
basically thumb his nose at the FBI and say, basically,
‘You can’t do anything about it.’”
They’ve done something about it now. Sacco also
was involved in an important case in 1974 as a
defendant in a case in which the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals handed down an en banc
decision upholding federal anti-gambling
laws as a proper exercise of Congress’s powers
under the Commerce Clause.
August 1, 2002
DATE BATTLES IN CHI...AGAIN
No kidding! Those friendly folks in Chicago racing
are at it again, or more accurately, at one
another’s throats. Date applications for 2003
were filed yesterday with the Illinois Racing
Board, and someone is going to be disappointed.
On the harness front, Balmoral has asked for 205
dates during the entire year, racing Sundays,
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and splitting
the year with its sister track Maywood Park,
which would race Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays for 157 days. Hawthorne, which returned
to the racing calendar this year in successful
fashion, is asking for 107 harness dates
from June 13 to September 27.
The thoroughbred picture is just as scrambled.
Sportsman’s Park wants to race January 1 to
June 8 at Hawthorne; Hawthorne is asking for
dates from May 5 thru June 8 and Oct. 1 thru
Dec. 31; Balmoral wants to return with runners
March 1 to May 10; and Arlington has applied
for May 5 to October 7. The racing board will
hold hearings Sept. 19 and then set the schedule
for next year.
2001 WORST NYRA YEAR EVER
The Schenectady Daily Gazette in New York, obtaining
figures from the New York State Racing
and Wagering Board under the Freedom of Information
Law, announced today that the New
York Racing Association had lost $11.3 million
last year, the largest deficit in NYRA’s history.
NYRA reported, however, that the first six
months of 2002 produced an increase of $3.4
million in gross revenue, which -- combined with
$800,000 in lower expenses -- puts the association
$3.5 million under budget. Closure due to
the 9/11 disaster and legal fees of $3.2 million,
much of them in an unsuccessful attempt
to buy New York City OTB, contributed
to the heavy NYRA losses last year.