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
ROSEMONT BACK IN PICTURE
If municipal awards for persistence are handed out,
the donors should consider Donald E. Stephens,
the combative mayor of Chicago’s northwest suburb
of Rosemont. Crushed when the Emerald casino
project went up in legal smoke, he announced
Rosemont would not engage in a court auction for
the 10th and final gambling license in Illinois. Now
that he has thought about it for a while, he is back
in the fray, announcing, “We’re not going to walk
away.” Stephens told the Chicago Sun-Times that
Rosemont will compete full speed ahead for the
casino, and indeed he has some compelling arguments
that may make big gambling companies give
his town serious thought. For one thing, Rosemont
already built a $45 million parking garage for the
casino, and has another $35 million or so invested
in the foundation and steel skeleton of the doomed
Emerald itself. “Why would the new owners want
to walk away from $70 million to $80 million and
put the thing in Calumet City or Summit (two other
Chicago suburbs?” he asked, and on the face of it
the question appears valid. One answer might be
provided if Richard Daley II, mayor of Chicago,
stops musing about the idea of allowing the casino
in Chicago itself and decides to go for it. As for
Stephens, he told the Sun-Times that although he
thinks the proposed settlement arrangement under
which Emerald’s management will name a sales
agent to oversee the bidding and submit a bankruptcy
reorganization plan is illegal, he says he
will go along with the court’s orders as long as
Rosemont is reimbursed for the parking garage
and other potential revenues it could have received
if the Emerald deal had gone through. The next
chapter in the drama comes Oct. 31, when the
bankruptcy matter comes up in court. The final
word rests with the state Gaming Board, which
must approve the winning bidder and location.
October 16, 2002
ADW NUMBERS IN CALIFORNIA
Advance Deposit Wagering, as California calls its
telephone betting, now has eight months of experience
behind it, and enough of a pattern has been
established to get an idea of what’s what and who’s
who. Total ADW wagering in the first eight months
was $121.4 million, or 6.8% of the $1.78 billion
total betting ontrack, offtrack and by ADW. TVG
leads the parade among the three suppliers, averaging
$2,079,279 a week in bets. Youbet has
climbed to second place, averaging $1,238,106,
and Magna’s Xpressbet is handling $256,773 a
week.
BAD NEWS FOR AZ TRACKS
With a critical election on slots at tracks coming
up next month, Arizona’s racetracks suffered a
damaging blow this morning when the Arizona
Republic in Phoenix, the state’s biggest newspaper
with a circulation of almost 500,000 daily,
printed a major story on the use of live rabbits as
lures in training racing greyhounds. The paper
said state regulators had banned greyhound owner
and breeder Gregory Wood after finding at least
180 rabbits in his kennels in Maricopa. The story,
following an earlier incident in which criminal
charges were filed against a Prescott-area man for
dumping dead racehorses in the Prescott National
Forest, is certain to set back the campaign of tracks
for Proposition 201, which would give Arizona
tracks slots along with the state’s numerous Indian
tribes. The chairman of the Arizona Greyhound
Protection Alliance, Stephanie Nichols-
Young, was quick to take advantage of the story.
She told the Republic, “We formed our political
committee because we felt a cruel industry
shouldn’t be rewarded with slot machines.” A
spokeswoman for the Arizona Racetrack Alliance,
trailing in polls, tried for damage control by announcing
that Wood was “barred and banned
forever” from racing at Phoenix Greyhound
Park.