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
HTA, TRA WILL MEET JOINTLY
In a racing industry first, Harness Tracks of
America and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations
will hold their annual meetings jointly next
March. The two racetrack trade associations have
announced that their 74 member organizations will
hold joint general sessions Thursday and Friday,
March 13 and 14, 2003, at the Westin Diplomat
Resort and Spa in Hollywood, Florida. The TRA
board of directors will meet on Wednesday afternoon,
March 12, and the HTA’s board the following
afternoon, but all delegates will convene jointly
for morning sessions on Thursday and Friday.
During the past year, the two associations have
worked cooperatively and shared information for
the benefit of both memberships, and the 2003 joint
meeting represents a giant step forward in harness-thoroughbred
cooperation. Chris McErlean,
general manager of The Meadowlands, current
president of HTA and an alternate director of
TRA, said the meeting represents a recognition
of the mutual problems of track management in
both breeds. Stan Bergstein and Chris Scherf, executive
vice presidents of HTA and TRA, will
jointly develop agendas for the general sessions,
with industry leaders and authorities in and out of
racing as speakers, and subjects of common concern
to all track owners and operators.
NEW VOICE ON MEDICATION
At racing industry meetings during the past year,
Gary Biszantz, prominent owner and chairman of
the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association,
has spoken forcefully and consistently on the
issue of medication that has plagued the industry.
Yesterday, at the Jockey Club Round Table Conference
on Matters Pertaining to Racing in
Saratoga Springs, NY, he captured the spotlight,
and the loudest and longest applause,
when he told assembled racing leaders that
the sport needed less medication.
August 19, 2002
Biszantz pulled no punches in his presentation,
saying, “I personally believe that we were led
astray years ago by some, just some, in the racing
industry that led us to believe that increased medication
use would increase field sizes, would allow
us to race longer, that they would make more starts
per year. The facts today clearly show that the
reverse is true for every promise.” Biszantz called
the widespread use of therapeutics “well intentioned
but misdirected” and said some of the blame
lay with veterinarians, noting that “the dollars
speak so loud” and that all owners and trainers
rely too much on vets to get their horses to the
next race. “The permissive and injudicious use of
medication,” Biszantz said, “may get a horse to
the next race with less pain, but the long-term results
are disastrous for the horse.” He told the
racing leaders that “We can’t just know what’s
right. We need to do what’s right.” The fact that
Biszantz chose to make his remarks at the prestigious
conference and was greeted with loud applause
is significant and a hopeful sign. Earlier this
year, when prominent thoroughbred racing figures
like Alice Chandler and Seth Hancock made similar
remarks, they were greeted with relative silence,
and Hancock was criticized in the racing
press for shipping his horses out of Kentucky, in
large part in protest to the state’s permissive medication
rules.
GETTING NASTY IN INDIANA
The language is getting stronger in Hoosierland,
where the racing commission and Indianapolis
Downs are at odds over alleged dealings with a
former chairman of the commission. An attorney
for the commission filed a motion saying, “Indianapolis
Downs insists on operating by its own rules
and in its own sleazy way that does not pass the
smell test.” An Indianapolis Downs attorney responded,
“This document would be more
fitting to be found in a supermarket
checkout stand than in any court or administrative
agency.”