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
INDY PULL TABS GET A BOOST
Electronic pull-tabs, which Hoosier Park and Indianapolis
Downs are counting on to provide substantial
income, got a first step boost yesterday
when the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee
passed a measure including the pull-tabs,
19 to 6. The chairman of the committee, Democrat
B. Patrick Bauer, had his troops well in hand,
and 16 of them voted for the measure. Bauer presided
over four days of hearings on the bill, which
also addresses dockside gambling and a casino for
French Lick and increases in sales, cigarette and
gambling taxes, and had warned that he needed
Republican help to get it through the committee.
He got it, with 3 Republicans joining to pass the
measure. Bauer had told his committee, “I think
it’s time to move the train out of the station,” and
it now goes to the floor of the full House when that
body returns June 3 after a Memorial Day holiday
recess. If the bill passes the House, where it
also needs Republican support, and ultimately
becomes law, it will provide up to 700 pull-tab machines
for Hoosier Park and Indianapolis Downs
and two Indianapolis OTBs.
AZ HOUSE KILLS GOV’S BILL
An irate governor Jane Hull lashed out at legislators
last night after the Arizona House of Representatives
killed her bill that would have expanded
gambling at 17 reservations in the state. The bill
failed to win even a simple majority, falling 28-25
in the 60-member House, with 7 members absent.
“This bill wasn’t defeated,” Gov. Hull said, “it was
mugged by track lobbyists who want casino gaming
to spread off the reservation.” With the bill
dead, the decision now will rest with the voters of
Arizona next November. Those voters and their
elected representatives often have disagreed in
the past, with the legislature disregarding
their expressed will and proceeding on its
own. The tribes are organizing for a major
push in the fall.
May 23, 2002
DOGS FACE ANOTHER SCANDAL
Greyhound racing has another major problem on
its hands, after the remains of as many as 2,000
racing dogs were found on a farm in Lillian, Alabama,
and the owner said he has been paid to kill
dogs for 40 years. The Humane Society of the
United States has called for a state investigation,
and an HSUS spokesman said, “The greyhound
racing industry has vehemently denied its involvement
in the disposal of unwanted animals for years.
This case offers the best opportunity yet to investigate
potential ties between the industry and the
cruel and illegal killing of greyhound dogs.” Robert
Rhodes, who admits shooting the dogs, says
he killed animals brought to him by greyhound
trainers for 40 years, shooting them for $10 each.
One official called his farm “a Dachau for dogs.”
Pensacola Greyhound’s racing director notified authorities
of rumors of the mass killings. The Humane
Society, acknowledging that fact, said that it
suspects ties between track officials and Rhodes,
saying “It’s inconceivable to think that this had
been going on for years without track officials having
knowledge of the fate of thousands of dogs.”
A Humane Society senior vice president called the
incident “the ugly underbelly of the greyhound
racing industry,” and said the HSUS was asking
Florida governor Jeb Bush to veto legislation favorable
to greyhound racing.
MILTON ROVINE DIES AT 81
Milton Rovine, a major owner and breeder in harness
racing in the late 1970s and 1980s, has died
at 81 after a long illness. Rovine’s Shady Stable
partnerships introduced scores of new owners to
the sport, and campaigned such good Meadowlands
performers as Keystone Sixty, Glen
Almahurst and Tuff Choice. His horses were
trained at his Shady View Farm in Middletown,
Delaware, by his son David, now director of
marketing at Gulfstream Park in Florida.