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
TALK, TALK, TALK IN TUCSON
As the second and third coconspirators in the
Breeders’Cup Pick Six scandal pleaded guilty in
New York, racing’s movers and shakers were
trying to figure out how to repair the damage at
the annual Racing Symposium in Tucson, Arizona.
The president of Racing Commissioners
International, Lonny Powell, described the agonies
of the industry as “like undergoing gut surgery
with a dull blade without anesthesia,” but
there was no indication racing commissioners
would unite to help the patient. Representatives
of the NTRA, while acknowledging the damage
might last for years, seemed happy that all in
racing are “pulling in the same direction,” as if
they were. Rhetoric was rampant, but one voice
of reality pierced the noise. Bennett Liebman,
former New York Racing Commissioner who
now coordinates the Albany Law School’s program
on racing and wagering, said stewards are
becoming irrelevant and ignored among leaders
addressing problems like racing security, and he
lamented the fact that current rules, lacking uniformity,
are leading to a world of total confusion.
He warned, “We have land mines in the
stewards’ stands that are ready to explode.” Tote
technology was discussed at length, but without
the people who utilize it -- the three major tote
companies -- participating in the discussions.
Marketing by small tracks and large occupied
this morning’s sessions, with representatives of
smaller independent tracks airing their problems
and solutions in a world of simulcasting, and Nick
Eaves, architect of Woodbine Entertainment’s
far-reaching marketing program, outlining that
all-embracing enterprise. Steve Mitchell, also of
Woodbine, stressed the necessity of the racing
industry to attend to time delays in time stops on
betting, saying that a survey of 44 thoroughbred
and harness races at Woodbine
showed an average time of 41 seconds after
the start for final odds to be posted.
December 12, 2002
More significantly, he said that while he felt certain
no past posting was going on, and presented
abundant figures to back up his contention, including
odds that went up instead of down, he
noted that 40% of people polled at Hollywood
Park thought past posting was occurring. Bill
Nader of NYRA said the industry had to strive
to reduce the time of final odds posting to as close
to real time as possible.
In the wake of all the talk, there were interesting
developments elsewhere.
In New York, Glen DaSilva, in pleading guilty to
his role in the Pick Six scandal, said he made
around $200,000 in his conspiracy role with Chris
Harn. In upstate New York, in the course of selling
junk bonds for the first time, the Oneida Indian
nation revealed its slot machines generate
$106 million for the casino each year. Since gaming
accounts for some 70% of a casino’s income,
it was projected that the Oneida’s Turning Stone
takes in some $152 million a year. At the Turning
Stone’s nearby neighbor, Vernon Downs,
more trouble. The track is suing the state, contending
that it has no right to require John K.
Baldwin, a financial partner of Shawn Scott in
numerous business ventures, to be licensed.
Baldwin is not an officer, director, member or
stockholder of Mid-State Raceway, which operates
Vernon, but the state racing and wagering
board thinks he is inextricably involved with
Scott and wants him to undergo a license and
background check, which he has refused to do.
Scott, it turns out, has not executed an option to
acquire nearly 2 million shares of Vernon stock,
which would have given him 80% of the shares.
He currently holds some 4%, but he also was
asked for a background check, and still has not
obtained a license.
In Illinois, Pick 4 and 6 wagering will return
to Hawthorne tomorrow.