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
CHESTER NOW A GARDEN SPOT
Those who have visited Chester, Pennsylvania,
may not consider it the garden spot of the east,
but the grimy shipyard town suddenly has blossomed
into a destination point for racing interests.
Joe Lashinger Jr., former president of The
Downs at Pocono, has an application for a harness
track pending before the Pennsylvania Harness
Racing Commission, and now Philadelphia
Park has filed an application for a thoroughbred
track there, to be called Seaport Park. Hal
Handel, Philadelphia Park’s CEO, told the Philadelphia
Inquirer that plans call for the track to
be build along the Delaware River, on the site of
a former power plant, and that the Philadelphia
track architectural firm of Ewing-Cole associates
was doing the design work. Handel said plans
call for a five-eighths mile track with a six furlong
chute, and there also would be hotel and
convention facilities. Chester is part of the Philadelphia
metropolis, and is connected to the city
by two superhighways, I-95 and I-476.
GRANITE OR SANDSTONE?
Dennis Drazin, currently lead counsel for the
New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association
and reported to be the next chairman of the
New Jersey Racing Commission, perhaps as early
as this week, says thoroughbred dates at
Monmouth Park are “etched in stone” through
a three-year deal signed earlier this year with the
New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Others involved in the New Jersey picture are
not so sure. Hal Handel of Pennwood Racing,
which operates Freehold Raceway, calls the date
situation “fluid,” and tracks have until the 15th
of this month to file their applications. Handel says
“we want to work with all the other parties,
but we’re also looking at protecting our
own interests. One of the major issues is
the number of racing days at Monmouth
Park.
October 1, 2002
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
agreed earlier this year to race 92 days at
Monmouth, but Bruce Garland, the Authority’s
senior executive VP for racing, noted that the
Monmouth meeting was hard hit by the economy
and weather, and he doesn’t want to see that
magnified by a longer meeting. The crux of the
issue is whether thoroughbred horsemen want
to race more days for less daily purse money, or
fewer days for higher purses. Garland says there
is not enough purse money in the state to run
141 quality thoroughbred days at Monmouth and
the Meadowlands, but says the Authority will
stand up to the agreement it signed with the thoroughbred
horsemen. Drazin, profiled in the
Asbury Park Press this week as “The Most Powerful
Man in Jersey Racing,” would like to run
all thoroughbred dates at Monmouth Park, keeping
summer purses high and then running a
Meadowlands-at-Monmouth meeting with reduced
purses. As it now stands the runners are
scheduled to begin racing at Monmouth April
26. Senator Richard Codey, another racing
power in New Jersey, says “We have to find every
possible way to boost purses, whether it’s slots
or VLTs.” There is another controversial racing
issue in the state, and both the racing commission
and some members of the Thoroughbred
Horsemen’s Associations are concerned about it.
The racing commission says the association is
spending more than allowed for political contributions.
The horsemen, led by Drazin, who is
politically well-placed in the state, feel they don’t
need commission approval. The association is
funded by 2.9% of purse money, and also gets
interest from a horsemen’s bookkeeper account.
The commission and Drazin disagree on permission
being needed to use those funds, and some
horsemen are concerned about serious depletions
of the account, with salaries of both the executive
director and horsemen’s bookkeeper
having been doubled and the fund
having lost $600,000.