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
THE FLEXIBLE FLYER
When the editor was a kid, the thing to have in
winter was a Flexible Flyer. It was the Cadillac of
sleds, and it and a Daisy BB gun were possessions
to treasure.
There is a new Flexible Flyer these days, named
Frank Fahrenkopf. As the spokesman for the
American casino industry, he waves with the winds
of Las Vegas, and in the last year or two he has
been caught in the vortex of winds blowing in different
directions, particularly on the issue of
Internet gaming. Some Vegas casino bosses think
of it as a threat; others, like Terry Lanni of MGM
Mirage, think it is the future. Two years ago
Fahrenkopf and his American Gaming Association
supported the Goodlatte bill banning Internet gaming.
Today, as a new version goes before the Crime
Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
this afternoon, Fahrenkopf is a bitter foe. The
earlier Goodlatte bill added a new section to the
Wire Statute, section 1084 of the Criminal Code.
Today’s bill amends it. Fahrenkopf says the AGA
opposes the new legislation because of “significant
changes largely detrimental to my members.”
What he really is upset about, it appears, is the
provision in the bill that exempts horse racing because
it already is covered under federal law in
the Interstate Horseracing Act. Fahrenkopf has
hinted at support for the alternative gambling ban
being proposed by Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, which
would outlaw the use of credit cards, checks and
electronic money transfers. He says “other bills
pending action may well serve as a better vehicle
for enacting needed updates to federal law in the
area of wire or wireless gambling transactions.”
At the moment, Goodlatte’s bill has 156 co-sponsors
in the House; Leach’s bill has 6. It remains
to be seen how much Las Vegas will influence
the outcome, but the Flexible Flyer
slides on money as well as snow.
March 12, 2002
GALLAGHER LEAVING NTRA
As rumored for months, Jim Gallagher, executive
director of the NTRA Racing Integrity and Drug
Testing Task Force, will leave that post at the end
of this month to become vice president of parimutuel
operations at the New York Racing Association.
Gallagher says, “I’m very proud to have
helped get the ball rolling in an area of such vital
importance to the horseracing industry, but New
York racing is in my blood, and the opportunity to
once again be a part of it is too attractive to pass
up.” Gallagher formerly was head of racing operations
of the New York State Racing and Wagering
Board.
Gallagher’s successor in the NTRA post will be
Dr. Scot Waterman, who shares a common bond
with HTA’s General Counsel Paul Estok and Information
Architect, Sable Downs. Both Waterman
and Downs topped their classes as Distinguished
Senior when they graduated from the University
of Arizona Race Track Industry program, and
Estok won the College of Agriculture’s award as
outstanding senior before the Distinguished Senior
award was introduced.
TIME RUNNING OUT IN INDIANA
Members of the Indiana House and Senate Conference
Committee meet again today in Indianapolis,
trying to hammer out a compromise bill that
will be acceptable to governor Frank O’Bannon.
Aware that the governor has suggested he might
veto a bill that allows slot-like pull-tabs at Indiana
tracks and two OTBs, Rep. Mark Lytle, a member
of the committee, said, “It’s not something
where we’re trying to say, ‘OK, governor, here it
is. Take it or leave it.’If we get rid of pull tabs
you lose enough votes in the House that it will not
pass.” Lytle says a cap of 500 to 750 pull-tab
machines at each site might be a compromise,
but time is running out. The General Assembly
is scheduled to adjourn by Thursday
night.