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
August 9, 2002
TIME TO BID ON CHI CASINO Illinois attorney general Jim Ryan, who had threatened
to block the settlement, relented, saying his
Now’s your chance if you would like to bid on having
a casino in the immediate Chicago suburbs.
office’s aggressive stand had resulted in a much
stronger deal for the state. “It is not a perfect
Or perhaps even closer. The Illinois Gaming Board
agreement,” he said, “but it is one that could be in
yesterday revealed that it is close to finalizing a
the state’s best interest, provided its terms are
deal under which the father and son team of Donald
adhered to and aggressive oversight is in place.”
and Kevin Flynn, lead investors in the ill-starred
Among the terms is that the Flynns will have to
Emerald Casino in suburban Rosemont, will be
spend an estimated $7 million to tear down the
barred from all future involvement in Illinois casino
gambling, and the license of the last casino in
steel skeleton of the Emerald in Rosemont that
was erected before the Gaming Board put a halt
Illinois will be put up for competitive bidding.
to all operations.
The administrator of the Gaming Board, Philip
Parenti, made his feelings crystal clear on the
Flynns, whom he accused of “egregious conduct”
and lying in their dealings with his board. “We
wanted the Flynns out of Illinois in every respect,”
he said. They may be out of Illinois, but without
any formal finding of wrongdoing they can pursue
gaming interests elsewhere, including neighboring
Indiana where Kevin Flynn’s firm Fleet Street Inc.
is paid $500,000 a year by Blue Chip Casino, according
to the Chicago Tribune, to block a planned
Indian casino from being built just across the Indiana
state line with Michigan. If the tribe does not
open its planned casino by June, 2004, Fleet Street
stands to reap a $5 million bonus. That deal, which
had been a secret when Boyd Gaming bought Blue
Chip from a Flynn controlled company in 1999, resulted
in a $1 million fine for the casino, and was
used by Illinois in its push to oust the Flynns from
Emerald. They’re out now, but other shareholders
still have to approve the settlement, which will
return $63 million (but no profit) to original investors,
more than a million to the Gaming Board for
legal fees and expenses, and the remaining proceeds
from sale of the license to the state of Illinois
for the loss of hundreds of millions in revenues
during the years of litigation over
Emerald.
Although all conditions have not been made public,
bidders for the vacated Emerald license will be
judged not on money alone, but on economic benefit
to surrounding communities, commitments to
charitable giving, affirmative action plans and offers
to fund programs for compulsive gamblers.
BIG AND BUSY WEEK IN RACING
Starting with the opening of the summer/fall meeting
at Freehold Raceway this afternoon, under the
guidance of new general manager Don Codey, a
busy weekend of harness racing is on tap. Codey
is adding a Pick-4 and Pick-7, both with carryovers,
to the betting mix, along with superfectas in the
fifth and last race of each day’s card. The meet
runs through the end of the year.
Elsewhere, the $150,000 Adioo Volo for 3-yearold
filly pacers and the $450,000 Adios for 3-yearold
pacing colts are on the card at The Meadows
tonight and tomorrow; a $1,573,200 program, led
by the $500,000 Hoosier Cup with McArdle and a
$100,000 pace for older horses, is on tap at Hoosier
Park tomorrow night, making it the richest
night of horse racing in Indiana; Northfield Park
features its $150,000 Battle of Lake Erie Saturday
night with Peruvian Hanover and Gallo Blue
Chip as favorites; and Varenne meets Scarlet
Knight in the mile and a sixteenth Jubilee
Trophy Trot in Stockholm.