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 February 26, 2002
THE FIRST HAMMER FALLS In New Jersey, where thoroughbred leaders are
During last week’s Harness Racing Congress in calling on all their political clout to reverse the
Las Vegas, Dan O’Leary, HTA’s longtime legal state’s racing date allocation for 2002, state senator
Martha Bark has introduced a bill to allow
counsel in Wagering Insurance Northamerica
(WIN) warned HTA directors of the impending the governor to replace the entire racing commission.
She played a key role in passage of off-
crisis in explosive premiums on renewal of present
policies. He suggested that the best approach to track and account betting legislation, now stalled.
the problem would be to utilize WIN, HTA’s existing
off-shore captive, rather than try to reinvent
the wheel, and that a number of self-insurance
options were available to all tracks -- harness,
thoroughbred and greyhound-- under WIN.
As if to echo O’Leary’s warnings, the hammer
fell this week on trainers in California. Daily Racing
Form reports today that after recent negotiations
with one of two providers of workers’
compensation coverage, Legion Insurance, collapsed,
the trainers were notified over the weekend
by State Fund, the only remaining provider,
of huge rate increases, in some cases as high as
100%. The Form reports that in addition to the
huge escalation in premiums, State Fund is requiring
deposits from trainers that range from
$5,800 to $18,000.
WIN’s program is open to everyone, and does
not preclude tracks maintaining present broker
relationships. While joining would not avert premium
increases, any underwriting profits would
be retained by the members of the captive, as they
have been for years. Interested parties should
contact Dan O’Leary in Chicago at 312-251-1000
for further information.
AH YES, POLITICS AND RACING
In Kentucky, the chair of the Kentucky Majority
Caucus, Democrat Jim Callahan, said a bill
to give slots to tracks in the state would be introduced
today, but that the House would not
vote on the bill or even consider it in hearings
until there were indications that the
Republican-controlled Senate would look on
it favorably.
WHERE TO IN ILLINOIS?
The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board has been
interviewing major candidates for governor in
Lincoln land, and today’s installment on the views
of Republican candidates on gambling are illuminating.
All three candidates-- Patrick
O’Malley, Corinne Wood and Jim Ryan -- are in
favor of auctioning casino licenses to the highest
bidder when they come up for renewal. O’Malley
thinks Illinois made a mistake getting into the
casino business in the first place, and said that if
it were up to him he would do away with the legalization
of gambling. He said that if elected he
would go to the people and find out by referendum
if they wanted to continue with legalization
of gambling. When asked if that extended to
horse racing and the lottery, O’Malley said absolutely
on the lottery, but that as for horse racing
it promoted agriculture and he was supportive
of agriculture.
GOOD NEWS AND BAD
Two former members of HTA, Batavia Downs in
New York and Suburban Downs in Illinois, have
returned to membership, bringing the total of
tracks and racing organizations to 36.
On a deeply unhappy note, longtime HTA director
Sid Anton, who at various times represented
Maywood Park, Wolverine Raceway and
Windsor Raceway on the HTA board, died in
Florida at the age of 77. Our condolences,
personal and corporate, to his widow Lois
and to their six children.