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
JON KYL RESURFACES
You remember Jon Kyl, Arizona’s junior senator.
He made big news four years ago with the
Internet gambling ban that passed the Senate but
died without a House vote. He surfaces from time
to time when television cameras are around, and
he is back now with a vengeance, vowing to attach
Internet gambling prohibition to legislation
currently in the Senate, and to get a vote before
the current session ends. After the House passed
the Leach bill on credit prohibitions by voice vote
under suspension of the rules Tuesday, Kyl
stepped back into the picture. “We were waiting
for the House to act in order for the Senate to
go,” a Kyl spokesman said, adding that Kyl had
not decided whether to use the Leach bill or a
Senate prohibition introduced by Tim Johnson
of South Dakota as his platform. The spokesman
said Kyl is leaning toward the Leach bill. A
Johnson spokesman said Johnson prefers his bill
that would amend the Wire Act, but is willing to
work with Kyl. Nevada, meanwhile, is heard
from in the form of Senator Harry Reid, who
faces differing views from his Las Vegas constituents
but has decided that “Internet gambling is
uncontrollable and very bad for the country.”
Reid is the Senate majority whip, and as such
has a strong voice in which legislation comes to a
vote in that chamber. He has said that although
he supports a prohibition of Internet gaming, he
doubts the Senate will vote on a ban this year.
Kyl, however, seems determined to push a vote
through in the next week or two. If he succeeds
and George Bush signs the legislation, Internet
gaming in the United States could be illegal by
the end of the year. Racing has taken the view
that it is insulated by the federal Horseracing Act
of 1978 and protective language in the Leach legislation.
Those who think Internet wagering
is an important part of racing’s future
have new cause for concern with Kyl ‘s return
to the Internet scene.
October 4, 2002
SLOTS EDGE CLOSER IN PA
With three track applications now on the table,
legislators beginning to talk openly about slots,
and both candidates for governor advocating
slots at tracks, the odds for that development in
Pennsylvania drop each day. The Philadelphia
Inquirer has concluded that “the combination of
a budget crunch from the state’s slowing
economy and the search for new funding sources
for school financing may well prove to be irresistible
to the state legislature.” The paper quoted
the state’s House minority leader, Democrat H.
William DeWeese, as saying, “We are now once
again facing substantial revenue challenges in the
state. They were daunting in June, and my guess
is that in the next budget they will be staggering.
Only the most myopic of people will not see the
need for at least a modest expansion of gambling
in Pennsylvania. I believe there is substantial
agreement and momentum for slots at tracks.”
ONE FOR DICK FRANCIS
The English sure know how to instill mystery into
racing. The latest fillip involves Jeremy Phipps,
the director of security of Britain’s Jockey Club,
who reportedly will be featured on Sunday
night’s edition of Panorama, which is investigating
racing in the British Isles. Phipps’ tenure
may be brief, because while having a private dinner
with his predecessor, Roger Buffham, he reportedly
made disparaging remarks about the
Jockey Club and some of its officials. Buffham
was fired as director of security for the Jockey
Club last year after an investigation involving
gross misconduct, but, as it turns out, he now is
a paid informer for Panorama and was wired for
sound, recording Phipps’ conversation. The
Jockey Club is mightily offended that Panorama
would stoop to such low tactics, but its executive
director says Phipps has his “unqualified
support.” At least until the Panorama
show Sunday night.