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
INDY DOWNS LOSES A ROUND
A Superior Court judge in Indianapolis has dismissed
a lawsuit by Indianapolis Downs, which
sought to block disciplinary proceedings currently
before an administrative law judge and bar Indiana
racing commission executive director, Joe
Gorajec, from taking any further action in the
matter. The track said Gorajec had overstepped
his legal authority by appointing the administrative
law judge and subpoenaing track phone
records, but Judge Moberly dismissed the suit for
lack of jurisdiction. She said the track had to exhaust
all administrative remedies before going to
court. A commission attorney said the decision
means that the commission is the proper forum to
address the issues. Indianapolis Downs’ attorney
Robert Hammerle said the track would appeal the
decision.
JOINT MODEL RULES CLOSER
The recent approval by the board of the Association
of Racing Commissioners International to
move forward jointly with the North American Pari-
Mutuel Regulators Association on packaging a
first-ever set of model pari-mutuel racing and wagering
rules is good news for the sport. The effort
to assemble one set of rules has one more hurdle
to clear, when NAPRA’s board addresses the issue
at its upcoming board meeting September 29
in Las Vegas.
KEENELAND SALES SLIDE
Yearling prices at the huge Keeneland September
sale fell for the second day yesterday. After declining
33% from last year’s opening day on Monday,
yesterday’s second session produced another
34% drop. Yesterday’s average price was down
28.5%, the median was down 5.4%, but
30% of the horses offered did not sell. The
sales director said, “We had 10 glorious
years....This is just an era of readjustment.”
September 11, 2002
GEORGE WOULDN’T DO THAT
The outgoing governor of Illinois, George Ryan,
got a little testy with reporters this week when it
was suggested he had replaced a former federal
prosecutor on the Illinois Gaming Board with
Mayor Daley’s chief fundraiser in the black community
in order to keep the disputed Emerald Casino
riverboat casino license in suburban
Rosemont. Gregory Jones, the ousted commissioner,
was regarded as the chief opponent of the
Emerald/Rosemont arrangement. His replacement,
developer Elzie Higginbottom, has been
close to city hall in Chicago for nine years. When
a reporter asked Ryan if he had named her as a
“final favor” to Rosemont mayor Donald Stephens,
Ryan replied brusquely, “Oh, get out of here...I
have never interfered with the board and what their
liberations were on that. I’ve stayed away.
Nobody’s ramming anything through anyplace. If
it goes to Rosemont, it goes there. But it won’t be
because I’ve packed the board. I don’t care where
it goes. It can come to your home as far as I’m
concerned.”
GOOD MONTH FOR YOUBET.COM
The month of August was the best ever for
Youbet.com, the California online racing company.
Youbet handled a record $16.7 million, and its
ExpressCash deposits, with no fees to the customer,
exceeded credit card deposits for the first
time. CEO David Marshall said membership increased
with handle.
BRIDGEBUILDING HO
Stanley Ho, who has become one of the world’s
richest men as boss of gambling on Macau, now
says he will build a bridge between Hong Kong
and mainland China to protect his business. He
says he will pay the cost himself -- $15 billion
Hong Kong dollars. Of course that’s only
$1.9 billion U.S., but a bridge is a bridge,
especially when you need one.