April - 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 

WESTERN SHOOTER PUT DOWN 

Western Shooter, the outstanding 2-year-old pacer 

of 2001, winner of $904,000 and last year’s Breeders 

Crown and Governor’s Cup and top-rated in 

this year’s Experimental Handicap of 3-year-olds, 

was euthanized Saturday evening at the Biederman 

Veterinary Clinic in Maidstone, Ontario. Owned 

by trainer Bob McIntosh, the CSX Stables of Ohio, 

Michael Koehler of Michigan and Walnut Hall Ltd. 

of Lexington, the colt was named champion juvenile 

pacer of 2001 by both Harness Tracks of 

America’s racing secretaries and the United States 

Harness Writers Association. He developed a lump 

on his neck two weeks ago and was treated at Ohio 

State University’s Veterinary Clinic. A week ago 

today he was sent home to Ontario, where his condition 

— diagnosed as toxemia — worsened. He 

was sent to the Biederman Clinic and appeared to 

improve by mid-afternoon Saturday, but he then 

suffered a relapse, and as he sank into severe distress 

in the early evening the decision was made 

to end the brilliant young pacer’s suffering, and he 

was euthanized at 7:30 p.m. His death removes 

from the scene a colt that owner-trainer McIntosh, 

who has conditioned some of the most successful 

horses in the sport, said “He goes fast easy, and 

does it easier than any I’ve ever trained.” 

RACING VS. BOATS IN IOWA 

Iowa’s discriminatory taxation of racing’s slots at 

tracks as opposed to the state’s gambling 

riverboats has reached the Iowa Supreme Court, 

which now will decide the constitutionality of the 

widely disparate rates. The Racing Association of 

Central Iowa, which operates Prairie Meadows 

Racetrack and Casino, is challenging the present 

structure under which the track’s casino revenues 

are taxed on a graduating scale that has risen 

2% a year from 20% in 1994 to 32% at 

present, and will continue to rise for two 

more years to 36% in 2004. 

April 1, 2002 

Iowa’s riverboats, meanwhile, continue to be taxed 

at a maximum rate of 20%. The rationale offered 

for the differing rates by Iowa assistant attorney 

general Jeffrey Farrell seem ludicrous. He argues 

that the state was trying to keep riverboats from 

leaving Iowa, which some did, and that it was not 

interested in attracting more racetracks. He also 

noted that riverboats, under the law, were required 

to have historic river themes, and the tracks are 

not. One Supreme Court judge last Friday, responding 

to Farrell’s argument about keeping riverboats 

in Iowa, asked, “If people were leaving western 

Iowa, could we tax them at a different rate than in 

central Iowa” If having to maintain river themes 

is a valid reason for hugely disparate tax rates, 

then Prairie Meadows would seem to have an easy 

solution. Paint historic Iowa rivers on all of the 

walls. A Polk county district judge agreed with the 

state’s arguments in December, 2000, but the Supreme 

Court now will consider the matter. A decision 

is not expected to be handed down for several 

months, but if Prairie Meadows prevails Polk 

county could owe the racino a rebate of $60 million, 

Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in Council Bluffs 

could receive $49 million and Dubuque Greyhound 

Track and Casino could get $12 million in refunds. 

NEW POST FOR HARTMANN 

Joe Hartmann, veteran publicist and former general 

manager of HTA member Plainridge Racecourse, 

has been named executive director of the 

Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association. 

Past president and chairman of the board 

of the United States Harness Writers Association, 

Hartmann also has served as president of the 

North American Harness Publicists Association, 

director of communications at Pompano Park, director 

of public relations at the Red Mile, and director 

of simulcasting at the Little Brown Jug. He 

takes over his new duties a week from today.





WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY 

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board 

is meeting at Vernon Downs today to decide on a 

2002 license for the financially embattled track. 

Track president Justice Cheney thought that the 

fact that the board had moved its meeting from 

yesterday in Albany to Vernon today was an encouraging 

sign, saying “they will get a chance to 

see how important our license is to the local 

people and the local area.” Vernon hopes to open 

its 50th season of racing May 3, but the racing 

board wants to review its financial status and 

hear details of the $8.5 million, 2-year-loan, at 

15% interest, from Las Vegas entrepreneur 

Shawn Scott, and the threatened lawsuit by the 

Eric Cherry group that exercised an option to 

buy the track for $9 million but can be voted 

down by Scott, who has gained control of almost 

40% of Vernon’s stock. 

POMPANO DEAL CHALLENGED 

Pompano Park’s agreement to exchange simulcast 

signals with Gulfstream Park, which got 

underway on Sunday, March 24 and was challenged 

by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel 

Wagering two days later, now is under reconsideration 

following a teleconference between 

Pompano, Gulfstream and Calder officials and 

attorneys, horsemen’s reps, the Division, and the 

Bureau of Business Regulation, which oversees 

the Division. The Division contends that the exchange 

is contrary to Florida law and told the 

tracks they had exposed themselves to “potential 

disciplinary action by the state.” Lawyers 

for the tracks disagree with that interpretation, 

have a different view of the statute, and presented 

their opinions accordingly. Track officials said 

they considered the conference to have been a 

good meeting and look forward to further 

dialogue with the Division, and are continuing 

the daily simulcast exchanges pending 

further word. 


FEINBERG FLIES UNITED 

Regardless of how the cross-breed simulcasting 

discussions turn out, Pompano Park general 

manager Dick Feinberg flies on in national commercials 

for United Airlines. A United spot shows 

one of its huge airliners with “Richard Feinberg” 

painted large on the side of the fuselage. The 

commercial goes on to say that “We fly 120 (or 

whatever the number) 747s and one Richard 

Feinberg.” That should be good for a few years 

-- maybe a lifetime --of free first-class tickets to 

anywhere, Dick. Look into it. 

BAD NEWS COMES IN THREES 

The old adage hit harness racing hard in the last 

week. First came the collapse and death of Louie 

Louie Too, third ranked 3-year-old pacer in this 

year’s Experimental Handicaps, while preparing 

for a training mile for Joe Holloway last 

Wednesday at Showplace Farm in New Jersey. 

Then the top rated colt, Western Shooter, was 

euthanized in Ontario. And yesterday trainer 

Chris Marino announced that the 3-year-old 

trotting filly of 2001, Syrinx Hanover, undefeated 

in 12 starts last year, was being retired after going 

lame while training at the Red Mile in Lexington, 

Ky. She will be bred to the red hot trotting 

sire Garland Lobell. 

GOT A PROBLEM RAISE TAKE 

California, like the rest of the country, is facing 

a major problem as insurance premiums soar. 

No official approach has been taken yet, but discussions 

at a California Horse Racing Board 

meeting last week floated the idea of softening 

the blow by -- you guessed it -- raising takeout, 

and have the constantly diminishing public that 

bets on racing underwrite the cost. The 

Thoroughred Owners of California think they will 

support the idea. One who won’t is the 

CHRB’s vice chairman Roger Licht, who 

says he opposes a hike in takeout.





VERNON TRIES AGAIN TODAY 

The New York Racing and Wagering Board, meeting 

yesterday at Vernon Downs, declined to license 

the track and tabled the matter, raising questions 

about financing including the status of Shawn Scott, 

the Las Vegas investor who has loaned Vernon 

$8.5 million to stay afloat. The track used $3.5 

million to avoid foreclosure on its Vernon Country 

Suites Hotel, where yester-days’ racing board 

meeting was held. Board chairman Mike Hoblock 

said the board had spent six months investigating 

Eric Cherry’s agreement to buy Vernon, but had 

only a week or so to check on Scott’s bid and his 

background. The board’s deputy director of audits 

and investi-gations reported yesterday that 

during that brief time he found “regulatory compliance 

issues” involving Scott in other states. In 

response, Scott said he would relinquish any control 

over the Mid-State Raceway board, which 

operates Vernon Downs, and over Vernon president 

Justice Cheney, while the board was checking 

his own credentials. Cheney said the 15% 

annual interest Scott is charging for his loan was 

not out of line with other loans Vernon has taken 

out in recent years, and the Associated Press reported 

the track carried seven mortgages. Racing 

board executive director asked Cheney about 

Vernon’s future financial viability if it received an 

interim license, and Cheney replied, “I don’t have 

an answer for you.” Former HTA and Maryland 

Jockey Club executive Jim Mango, now a Mid- 

State Board member representing Eric Cherry, said 

Cherry was willing to risk his investment with other 

shareholders, but that Scott had little personal risk 

if the track fails. Also representing Cherry yesterday 

was Morty Finder, a longtime figure in the 

sport, who said Mid-State’s action raised “an 

aroma of double-dealing” that might require court 

action. Racing board chairman Hoblock 

said the board would consider the application 

again today. 


NEXT WORD FROM BUFFY 

Taking a light touch, this is how the Lexington 

Herald-Leader’s Janet Patton sized up the struggle 

for VLTs for tracks in Kentucky today, under a 

headline reading, “Slots bill is dead, or maybe it 

isn’t. Patton is noncommittal.” 

Ms. Patton’s story read, “The slots bill is 

dead....unless it gets sucked into the budget freefor-all. 

Otherwise, the slots bill is dead.....unless 

the budget bickering blossoms into a special legislative 

session. But otherwise, the slots bill really 

is dead....unless the governor calls a special 

session just for slots. For now, until we hear from 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the slots bill is slumbering 

in a dead-end committee with a Senate stake 

in its mechanical-fruit heart.......An April Fool’s Day 

joke pretended to spring the controversial bill for 

a vote, but later on Monday night, House Bill 768 

was quietly buried in the Appropriations and Revenue 

committee.” 

Proponents, including the House bill’s sponsor, 

Rep. Jim Callahan, the Majority Caucus chairman, 

promised they would be back. Callahan said if there 

were no agreement on the state budget and a special 

session is called, he will ask Gov. Paul Patton 

to consider putting slots on the table. Patton was 

non-committal about doing so if he calls a special 

session on the budget, saying, “Slots have not 

been our agenda, and we never proposed a budget 

based on slots.” And if that were not negative 

enough, House Speaker pro tem Larry Clark, a 

strong supporter of the bill, said, “I think it’s probably 

at the funeral home right now.” 

In Arizona, Gov. Jane Hull said the state’s horse 

and dog tracks were lying and distorting facts on 

her plan to continue Indian casino operations. She 

told legislators tracks were “playing fast 

and loose with the truth” in radio and newspaper 

ads they ran opposing her plan.





RACING WAITS ON EMERALD 

And it may be a long wait. The Emerald Casino, 

whose gaunt steel skeleton holds high promise for 

Illinois racing at some distant date, is in more deep 

controversy. Kevin Flynn, who says he and his 

relatives have put nearly $40 million into the illfated 

casino, now says he will fight to prevent anyone 

else from gaining rights to the project until his 

family is assured of “a fair return” on its investment. 

Flynn did not tell the Chicago Tribune what 

a “fair return” would be, but the newspaper reports 

that had the Illinois Gaming Board approved 

a sale of the Emerald license to MGM Mirage, 

which it did not, the Flynn family would have received 

some $240 million. Fair enough. 

Flynn says that “if we can’t find a middle ground, 

we will have to work to vindicate ourselves and 

our reputations in a court of law.” The Gaming 

Board last year found Flynn and his father Donald, 

a former Waste Management executive, unsuitable 

for a casino license, saying they had lied to 

regulators and sold shares to mob-related figures. 

A spokesman for a minority investor group that 

includes the widow of Chicago Bears hero Walter 

Payton told the Tribune the Flynns “are trying to 

milk every dime out of a deal they frankly don’t 

have any right to. To be standing at the rail demanding 

profit is just audacious.” 

In another Emerald development, in which Donald 

Stephens, the mayor of suburban Rosemont where 

the casino is located, is trying to have a cap placed 

on the size of the subsidy that would go to tracks 

from the casino’s revenues. The Illinois House 

Republican leader told Stephens he would not support 

a reduction. A bill doing just that passed a 

House committee yesterday, however, on a party 

line vote, and Democrats also control the 

full House, where it may be voted on today 

or tomorrow. 


Stephens, who never objected to the track share 

until recently, now calls the law as currently written 

“a rip-off for the horse-racing industry.” 

Other Illinois Gaming Board developments also 

are making news in Chicago. Three days after 

retiring from the board, its deputy administrator 

signed on as executive director of the Illinois Casino 

Gaming Association. A board spokesman said 

the board found no conflict of interest, but public 

watchdog organizations are enraged. 

AND WHILE ROME BURNS 

The Nebraska attorney general plans to ask the 

state Supreme Court to decide whether betting on 

horses by telephone violates the state’s constitution. 

Citing a law passed 68 years ago that specifies 

that betting is limited “to wagering that takes 

place inside the confines of a racetrack”, he questions 

whether account wagering, approved for several 

tracks by the state’s racing board, is legal. 

The tracks contend that courts in other states have 

held that since telephone bets are recorded at a 

track, that technically satisfies any “on-site” requirement. 

The tracks’ attorney says telephone 

betting is no different than someone making a cell 

phone call to a friend at a track and asking him to 

place a bet on their behalf. “This conduct is clearly 

legal and not in violation of any statutory of constitutional 

provisions,” he said. 

INDIANS REVISIT MONTICELLO 

A dissident faction of the St. Regis Mohawk tribe 

in New York state, not currently recognized by the 

U.S. government, now claims it has new rights under 

a recent federal court decision, and says it plans 

to revive efforts to build a casino at Monticello 

Raceway. The government recognizes three chiefs, 

who ditched a Mohawk Monticello agreement for 

one with Park Place Entertainment, as the legal 

representatives of the tribe.





D-DAY FOR ILLINOIS TRACKS 

The Illinois House was scheduled to vote today on 

a measure that would sharply reduce racetracks’ 

shares of revenue from the Emerald Casino, currently 

in skeletal limbo in the Chicago suburb of 

Rosemont. Under original legislation tracks were 

to get a 15% share of the proposed casino’s revenues 

to modify the impact of the increased competition. 

Wednesday a House Government Administration 

committee voted 5-3 for slicing that 

to 15% of the state’s tax revenue share. Today is 

the final day for a vote in the full House, and a 

close vote is expected if one is called. 

CASINO GIVES UP TAX FIGHT 

An Indiana riverboat casino, Caesars Indiana, has 

decided after a two-year fight and adverse opinion, 

not to ask for a rehearing in its request for a 

50% reduction of its 1999 property tax assessment. 

Caesars’ argument was that it had encountered 

unexpected business reverses, and had 

pleaded “economic obsolescence”, defined as a 

loss of value from factors beyond its control. They 

cited low water levels on the Ohio river that created 

a two-week shutdown in July 1999, delays in 

building their 500-room hotel, and an accident 

between their 5,000 passenger riverboat and a 

barge. Business men and farmers told the tax review 

board they would file for similar tax breaks if 

the board granted Caesars’ request, and the board 

told Caesars, “Sorry, but no.” Caesars says it 

still thinks it is entitled to the reassessment, but 

that it has decided it isn’t worth the money, time 

and effort to appeal any further. A favorable decision 

for Caesars would have cost Harrison county, 

where the riverboat is located, $275,000. In another 

loud “No!”, the town council of Scarborough, 

Maine, banned VLTs in the business zone in which 

Scarborough Downs is located. The track 

and horsemen had argued their economic 

viability depended on the track getting the 

slots. 


CONGRESS SPEECHES ON WEB 

Transcripts of individual and panel presentations 

from the Harness Racing Congress in Las Vegas 

now are available on the public section of Harness 

Tracks of America’s Web site, 

www.harnesstracks.com, and more are being 

added daily as transcriptions are completed. Currently 

available (click on red on Web site): 

The Medication Issue: Is There Light at the End 

of the Tunnel, with Lonny T. Powell, president 

and CEO, Racing Commissioners International, 

and Alan Foreman, chairman/CEO Thoroughbred 

Horsemen’s Association and author of a new plan 

for uniform medication. 

Living with the People Who Regulate Your Lives. 

Bennett Liebman, Albany Law School, former 

member New York Racing and Wagering Board. 

Making Money Legally Without Losing Your Sanity: 

Some Thoughts on Managing in the Racing 

Industry. Dr. Lyle Sussman, professor of management, 

School of Business, University of Louisville. 

The Realities of International Simulcasting. Tom 

Aronson, senior vice president, international, Television 

Games Network. 

Big and Small: What’s Ahead for Harness Racing 

in the Age of Giants John R. Long, president, 

Churchill Downs Management, and executive VP 

and COO, Churchill Downs, and David Willmot, 

president/CEO, Woodbine Entertainment Group 

and immediate past president, HTA. 

Print, Radio and TV Coverage in the Age of Simulcasting, 

with journalists Bill Heller; Alan 

Kirschenbaum; Debbie Little, New York Post; Rob 

Longley, Toronto Sun; and Phil Pikelny, 

Landmark Broadcasting. 

.





SCIOTO ROAR IS MOTORCYCLES 

For the first time in its 43-year history, something 

other than trotters and pacers will race around 

Scioto Downs’ five-eighth mile track later this 

month, and you won’t have any trouble hearing 

them. The roar and rumble of 750cc motorcycles 

will be heard loud and clear, as the American Motorcycle 

Association presents the third leg of the 

AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track 

Championship at Scioto Sunday, April 21. Scioto 

general manager Ed Ryan says the track is thrilled 

to be hosting the Buckeye National, and thinks 

the event will attract not only existing flat track 

fans, but his harness racing fans as well. “The 

entire family will have fun spending a day at the 

motorcycle races, and afterwards they can go to 

the pits and meet the racers.” We wonder if Scioto 

publicist Anne Doolin will hustle this one as “Going 

to the pits”. And we think Scioto is fortunate 

in having one of the best track builders and conditioners 

in the business as its general manager: Mr. 

Ryan himself. He may have a great time Monday, 

the 22d, putting his track back together, particularly 

since the cyclists’ operations manager 

says, “It’s a fast track with 14-degree banking in 

the corners. The riders should be able to get a 

heck of a run down the straights coming off banked 

turns. It should make for great racing.” 

PLAINRIDGE, BIG M, FOR YOUTH 

Two HTA tracks are stepping up to the plate with 

solid support for one of the sport’s most valuable 

assets, the Harness Horse Youth Foundation. 

Plainridge Racecourse in Massachusetts is donating 

100% of proceeds on ticket sales for its Kentucky 

Derby Raffle to the HHYF, and the Meadowlands 

in New Jersey will be the site of an exceptional 

wine tasting event in conjunction 

with its Berry Creek final that should prove 

to be a solid winner for the HHYF. 


Thanks to the efforts of Paul Fontaine at Plainridge 

and Jonathon Newman at the Meadowlands, the 

Youth Foundation should kick off the spring-summer 

season with two winners. At Plainridge, the 

promotion gives the lucky winner of the track’s 

Kentucky Derby Raffle on Saturday, April 27, a 

$5,000 bet on the Derby. Tickets are $1 each, and 

the bet must be placed through the windows at 

Plainridge at least an hour before post for the 

Derby May 4. Fontaine, who is vice president of 

the Youth Foundation, says, “This is a no-lose 

fundraiser with a huge potential for the winner of 

the raffle. The Foundation appreciates the cooperation 

of the track and management to include us 

and, given the nature of our industry we feel there 

should be a market for the ticket sales.” 

At the Meadowlands, fundraiser organizer and 

Youth Foundation trustee Newman says of the wine 

tasting, “This event is extremely exciting. Not 

only will the finest wines be served with a paired 

dinner at the Meadowlands, but the proceeds will 

benefit the Foundation whose work is vital to harness 

racing. Wine enthusiasts should certainly 

plan to attend this rare opportunity to enjoy some 

of the very best wines in the world.” Wines will 

include those from the domaine of Chateau Lafite 

Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton 

Rothschild, Chateau Haut Brion and Chateau 

Margaux. A tax deductible contribution of $1,000 

per person will help educate young people about 

all facets of harness racing. 

ANOTHER WOODBINE WINNER 

Woodbine Entertainment’s 2002 Media Guide is 

out, and it’s another open length winner. In a slick 

and shiny black cover and 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 format, 

uses the effective back-to-back upside- down presentations 

for harness and thoroughbred racing, 

and includes a CD on stakes results in an inside 

back cover pocket.





VERNON GETS TEMP LICENSE 

The New York Racing and Wagering Board yesterday 

issued a temporary 90-day racing and simulcasting 

license to Mid-State Raceway, the parent 

of Vernon Downs, which will enable the track 

to open its season as scheduled on May 3. Although 

the racing board staff expressed concern 

about licensing pending further investigation, 

board chairman Mike Hoblock said, “I think this 

is the best we can do under the circumstances,” 

adding that the track was “about a day” from being 

closed down. The issues of concern included 

the role of investor Shawn Scott and and regulatory 

compliance issues involving him. Scott’s $8.5 

million loan enabled the track to meet outstanding 

obligations and kept it from losing its stretch turn 

hotel. 

Under the terms of the conditional license, Scott 

and his associates are prohibited from being involved, 

directly or indirectly, in the management 

or affairs of Vernon, or of directly or indirectly influencing 

its directors, officers or employees in 

any way. Failure to comply with the conditions set 

forth by the board, or derogatory information concerning 

the licsensibility of Shawn Scott, the lender 

entities or those individuals or entities associated 

with the lender’s interests would result in termination 

of the temporary licenses prior to July 6, 2002, 

their ending date. Vernon president and CEO said 

he had no complaints with the conditions, and said 

that “if Scott wants to participate with Vernon 

Downs, I’m sure he’ll cooperate in every way possible.” 

SIMULCASTING TRIAL ENDS 

Bowing to racing regulators’ view that cross-breed 

simulcasting between Pompano and 

Gulfstream Parks violated Florida law, the 

two tracks ended their experiment yesterday. 

Dick Feinberg, Pompano’s GM, said 

racing fans were the biggest losers. 


Both tracks plan to pursue the matter, seeking an 

immediate review and “judicial resolution” of the 

issue. Under the agreement, the two tracks were 

exchanging their simulcast signals, and Feinberg 

said the cross-breed simulcasting “has been enjoyed 

by hundreds of racing fans who have appreciated 

the convenience of watching and wagering 

on thoroughbred racing at Pompano.” Pompano’s 

daily simulcasts of other out-of-state thoroughbred 

action after 6 p.m. is not affected by the ban. 

SCHWARTZ CALLS FOR MERGER 

Blood-Horse Interactive reports today that the 

magazine has obtained a copy of a late February 

letter sent by New York Racing Assn. chairman 

Barry Schwartz to New York City mayor Michael 

Bloomberg, saying a merger between New York 

City OTB and NYRA “would have no downside” 

and would make New York racing able to compete 

more effectively against Magna Entertainment and 

Churchill Downs, which NYRA considers competition. 

According to Blood-Horse, Schwartz offered 

to share excess profit above base numbers equally 

with OTB, and said the idea would provide “substantial 

budget relief to the city in the near term, 

and enormous potential for long-term economic development 

over the coming decades.” Schwartz 

told the mayor that Magna, which thought it had 

bought New York City OTB under the Giuliani 

administration, and Churchill had a strategy of 

“driving a wedge between NYRA and NYCOTB”. 

He said New York was “in grave danger of losing 

out leverage in the industry,” and that merger could 

make New York “a dominant force in determining 

the price for which races are bought and sold in 

the simulcast market.” He said unions, which opposed 

the sale of NYCOTB last year, would accept 

a merger, and talked of “crafting a merger 

that will be satisfactory to all concerned.”




Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor April 10, 2002 

“A DELICATE BALANCE” SLOTS FOR SCHOOLS IN MD 

A noisy, nasty fight has developed in Arizona between 

the state’s horse and dog tracks, such as V. Mike Miller Jr., said yesterday that he believes 

The president of the Maryland Senate, Thomas 

they are, and the state’s fiery, red-haired governor, 

Jane Hull. The governor has called the track billion-dollar increase in eduction funds that was 

the state will have to legalize slots to pay for a 

operators liars, and if they lose the fight they have approved by the General Assembly without provisions 

for funding the program. Miller told the 

started, they had better stay clear of the governor’s 

office for the remainder of her term. The issue, Washington Times that he thinks tying income 

not surprisingly, is Indian gaming, and a quest for from the VLTs to educational funding will ensure 

slots at the tracks, which have gained the support their approval and enable Maryland to stay competitive 

with neighboring states. The intractable 

of the president of the state Senate, Randall 

Gnant. Gov. Hull does not want slots at tracks, opposition to slots at tracks by Gov. Parris N. 

and Gnant has introduced a bill that could give Glendening will cease to be an issue when the 

them to the tracks through a statewide referendum. 

The governor has worked out what she calls limits if Republican candidate Robert L. Ehrlich 

governor leaves office next January under term 

“a delicately balanced compromise” with 17 of the Jr. wins in November. Ehrlich, currently a U.S. 

state’s Indian tribes, and she wants the Senate to Congressman, favors legalizing slots at tracks as 

ratify it. She is infuriated at ads run by the tracks, the only way to help Maryland’s tracks and horse 

and she showed up in a rare personal appearance industry. Either way, Miller says getting slots approved 

“will be a close vote and a tough sell.” 

at a Senate Government Committee hearing to tell 

the legislators, “I think there are other ways we 

EMERALD SWEETENS THE POT 

can be spending money other than on fancy slick 

A huge state budget shortfall also is at the heart 

ads that tell lies as the tracks have been doing for 

of another gambling matter. According to the Chicago 

Sun-Times, which obtained a copy of an of- 

the past several months.” She said that if gambling 

is not confined to the Indian reservations “it 

fering letter, the owners of the half-built but stalemated 

Emerald Casino in Chicago’s suburb of 

will put gambling in our neighborhoods, because I 

think once this goes you will have slot machines in 

Rosemont have doubled the stakes in the hope of 

every Circle K or 7-11 in the state, along with the 

being able to sell the license and take a huge profit. 

tracks.” A poll conducted by the Social Research 

They have sent a letter to the Illinois Gaming 

Laboratory at Northern Arizona University showed 

Board, offering $300 million to end the stalemate 

that 51% of a 400-voter sampling favored increasing 

the number of slots at Indian reservation casi- 

created by the Board when it refused last year to 

license them because of alleged unsavory ties with 

nos, with 34% opposed. The survey also showed 

mob figures. The “them” is primarily seven members 

of the Donald Flynn family, who have invested 

that 56% of those asked were opposed to allowing 

slots beyond reservation borders, with only 

$39.5 million to date in the Emerald project, but 

37% supporting the idea. The Gnant bill would 

stand to receive some $115 million if they are allowed 

to sell the property to MGM Mirage or other 

allow tracks to operate up to 1,000 VLTs. Hundreds 

of people packed a Senate hearing room 

interested parties. Another 50 investors would 

Monday to hear the debate, and busloads 

share $150 million if the sale is approved. The 

of people showed up for both sides in the 

gaming board turned down an earlier MGM 

dispute. 

offer of more than $600 million for the casino.





AN UGLY CALIFORNIA LAWSUIT 

A California trainer has filed a lawsuit alleging 

serious charges against Capitol Racing, which operates 

year-round in Sacramento. The trainer, 

Rudy Sialana, suspended by Capitol Racing for a 

year, charges irregularities in testing for 

milkshakes, and claims that Capitol and the California 

Harness Horsemen’s Association have financial 

vested interests in some trainers’ horses. 

The suit has been filed in Sacramento County Superior 

Court, with Los Angeles lawyer Jay M. 

Coggan representing Sialana and his son Russ, 

who also trains at Cal Expo. The Sialanas claim 

that testing methods and penalties are influenced 

by the financial interest held in certain horses. Alan 

Horowitz, general manager of Capitol Racing and 

executive secretary of the horsemen’s association, 

denies that Capitol had any financial interest in 

horses racing at the track. He told the Sacramento 

Bee’s writer Debbie Arrington, “We will advance 

shipping costs to trainers who want to bring horses 

out, and we have made some loans to trainers who 

wanted to improve their stock. But we have no 

financial ties to the horses they chose or race. 

There’s no relationship between that and the racing 

program itself.” One problem is the limbo in 

which milkshaking is held in California. It is not 

specifically mentioned under banned substances, 

as it is in some other major jurisdictions, but it also 

is not on the list of allowed substances. Mike 

Marten, the racing board’s spokesman, told 

Arrington, “Our policy is that if it’s not specifically 

permitted, then it’s not allowed to be there. 

Nowhere (in state regulations) does it say anything 

about baking soda -- or several other substances. 

But the burden is on the horseman not to have it in 

the horse.” California does not test for high carbon 

dioxide, a byproduct of milkshaking, but Capitol 

Racing does, with a blood-gas analyzer. 

Coggan, Sialanas’ lawyer, contends the 

persons doing the testing are “immediately 


taintedbecause they are connected financially to 

the parties they are regulating.” He says the 

Sialanas, father and son, want blood-gas testing 

eliminated entirely, or else administered by the 

state as part of its regulatory scheme. “If the state 

believes there’s a need to regulate soda, then they 

should take it on.” 

KILL IT NAH, STUDY IT 

It’s a technique as old as legislatures themselves, 

of course, and the Rhode Island House pulled it 

out of mothballs again this week in the Case of 

the Narragansetts. That tribe, backed by their 

Las Vegas friends, Boyd Gaming, wants to build a 

Vegas style casino in West Warwick. The town 

wants the legislature to put the matter on the ballot. 

Ah, but another Nevada presence, Harrah’s 

Entertainment, also is involved in Rhode Island, 

and according to the Providence Journal-Bulletin, 

their executives and lawyers and lobbyists 

“helped to pitch and sell” the idea of a study. The 

House Finance Chairman, Gordon D. Fox, welcomed 

the study, saying, “You rush to judgment, 

you often get burnt.” West Warwick’s representative, 

Timothy Williamson, countered, saying, 

“Let’s not do the same song and dance, year after 

year after year about casino gaming. We are either 

going to give it to them, like we did in 1994 

(when a casino referendum failed), or not.” Fox 

replied, “When the stakes are high, there’s mischief 

that goes on.” Williamson laughed loudly at 

that, and so do we. Mischief when the stakes are 

high Surely you jest, Mr. Fox. But Fox prevailed, 

easily. On a vote of 77 to 12, the House ducked 

the issue and voted for a Special House Commission 

to Study Gaming, sort of like the federal one 

that wasted zillions of dollars and went nowhere a 

few years ago. This one, however, has served its 

purpose already. There will be no referendum next 

November. No legislative committee could possibly 

study anything in seven months.





CLEVER, THESE KANSANS 

Slots for tracks is an issue in Kansas, as it is in 

most places with racing. The Woodlands is located 

in Kansas City, and it would like to have slots. So 

far, the legislature has not agreed. The governor, 

however, has agreed to support slots at tracks, and 

he has leaped into the battle in full armor after the 

Senate minority leader came up with a new approach 

to the issue. The senator, Anthony Hensley, 

a Topeka Democrat, has put forward an idea that 

avoids the difficult legislative problem of how to 

split the spoils. He proposed to the Senate Federal 

and State Affairs committee, and the committee 

agreed to introduce the measure, a plan 

whereby residents of any county with a track could 

petition for a vote on whether to create a commission 

to draft a plan to legalize slots in that county. 

Or county commissioners could order an election 

on their own. If voters agreed to create a commission, 

its seven members would be appointed by 

the governor. 

While Senators seem to like the idea, the House 

has been unyielding on the issue. Its Tourism committee 

was to meet earlier this week and send a 

new slots for tracks bill to the House floor for debate, 

but opponents refused to attend the session 

and without a quorum the panel was forced to adjourn. 

The Tourism committee had endorsed a 

slots bill, but the House rejected it. The chairwoman 

of the committee called the latest ploy “a 

boycott.” 

The governor, Bill Graves, likes the Hensley proposal. 

According to the Kansas City Star, he wants 

action on it, and he wants it quickly. The paper 

reported that a leading Republican backer of the 

slots for tracks bill told it that the governor had 

spoken to him and to the Republican 

Speaker of the House and told both of 

them that he wanted some action on the proposal 

in 48 hours. 


FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES 

Michael Strauss is a former sports writer for the 

New York Times, who retired to Florida and -- unable 

or unwilling to sit around idle -- became the 

sports editor of the Palm Beach Daily News. 

Strauss covered harness racing for the Times during 

the heyday of the sport in New York, and when 

The Society of the Four Arts unveiled an exhibit 

of 33 Currier & Ives lithographs Strauss knew what 

to do. He joined forces with Lou Barasch, former 

public relations director at Roosevelt Raceway and 

a consultant for Yonkers Raceway, who is another 

Florida retiree, and swung into action. Barasch’s 

wife, Grace -- better known in the sport as Bunny 

-- volunteered to give a gallery talk, and the curator 

of the Four Arts program, Nancy Mato, enthusiastically 

agreed. Thirty-three Currier & Ives 

trotting prints were provided by the Harness Racing 

Museum in Goshen, NY, and Mrs. Barasch 

gave a presentation called The Story of Harness 

Racing. Despite heavy rain, an overflow turned 

out, and the gallery was forced to add extra seating. 

To add to the success, the Daily News devoted 

the entire front page of its Arts section to a 

full color spread on the exhibition, headlined “The 

Charm of the Sporting Life,” with four large Currier 

& Ives prints displayed along with half a page 

of text. A wonderful job by all concerned, and a 

wonderful score. 

BIG BOOK SALE IN GOSHEN 

The Harness Racing Museum in Goshen, NY, is 

launching a used book sale that will enable the 

museum to rebind and repair the treasures of harness 

literature now in its library stacks. To finance 

that project, the museum is accepting used books 

on harness racing, which will be sold or -- if the 

museum doesn’t already have a copy -- will be 

added to its library. It’s a chance to get rid of old 

harness books, and help preserve our history 

at the same time. Call the Museum 845- 

294-6330 for details.





AZ. SLOTS IMPACT QUESTIONED 

Arizona’s racetracks would have to operate 13,000 

to 25,000 slot machines to raise the millions of 

dollars they say they can supply to the state’s budget, 

according to an analysis done for the state’s 

Dept. of Gaming. Senate President Randall Gnant 

has proposed legislation that would allow the tracks 

to operate up to 6,000 slots. Gnant estimated that 

the state would reap $200 million a year if the 

tracks operate slot machines and pay 30 percent 

of their proceeds to the state. But the racetrack 

slots permitted under Gnant’s bill, which is scheduled 

for a hearing today in the legislature, would 

raise only $123 million, according to an analysis 

done by the Howard Consulting Group of Reno. 

To raise $200 million, the racetracks would need 

13,000 slot machines, said Bill Eadington, an economics 

professor at the University of Nevada Reno 

and a principal of the Howard Consulting Group. 

He said it takes more machines to raise a disproportionately 

smaller amount of money because the 

market becomes saturated as more machines are 

added. Eadington’s argument also took into account 

the likelihood that Arizona’s Indian tribes 

would reject the gaming compact contained in 

Gnant’s bill. Gnant is counting on the tribes to pay 

up 12 percent of the revenue from their slot machines 

to the state, for a total of $100 million a 

year. David LaSarte, executive director of the Arizona 

Indian Gaming Association, told the Associated 

Press that Gnant’s proposal is unacceptable 

to the tribes because it would ask voters to impose 

limits on tribal gaming without negotiations. 

If the tribes aren’t part of the plan, Eadington estimates 

the racetracks would need 25,000 slot machines 

to raise $300 million. Eadington was asked 

for an analysis of Gnant’s bill after he was hired 

by the Dept. of Gaming to analyze the compact 

Gov. Jane Hull reached with Arizona’s Indian 

gaming tribes. 


HOOSIER OPENS WITH A CROWD 

The second largest opening night crowd for harness 

racing turned out to help kick off the ninth 

season of harness racing at HTA member Hoosier 

Park last Saturday. With a total of 6,398 in attendance, 

the opening night crowd for the 2002 season 

ranks eighth on the all-time attendance list at 

the track for either standardbred or thoroughbred 

racing. The total also surpassed both signature 

events during the 2001 season, beating out the 

attendance for the Dan Patch Invitational during 

the harness meeting and the Indiana Derby during 

the thoroughbred meet. “I couldn’t be more 

pleased with the evening,” said Rick Moore, Hoosier 

Park’s president and general manager. “All 

of our employees made sure that everyone had a 

great evening. It’s nice to see our employees buy 

into what we are trying to do this year. We have 

challenged them to ‘raise the bar’ and everyone 

reacted. Everyone did his or her job. It is always 

a group effort. It’s never one person here at Hoosier 

Park.” 

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE!!! 

Applications for Harness Tracks of America scholarships 

for the 2002-2003 academic year are now 

available. This year, the scholarship fund will offer 

six $7,500 scholarships to deserving students. 

Scholarships are awarded for one year and are 

based on academic merit, financial need and active 

harness racing involvement. For information 

on the HTA scholarship program or to download 

and print an application, visit 

www.harnesstracks.com and follow the link marked 

“Scholarships.” Information can also be obtained 

by calling the HTA offices at 520-529-2525. The 

deadline for applications is June 15, 2002. The 

HTA scholarship program, begun in 1973, has made 

121 grants to 91 worthy students since its inception, 

with scholarships totaling $280,000.





UNITED TOTE’S FULLER TO RETIRE 

Don Fuller, president and chief executive officer 

of United Tote, announced his retirement effective 

August 1, 2002, after 37 years in the parimutuel 

industry. Fuller began his totalisator career 

at Charles Town Race Course as data processing 

manager in 1965. After several years, he 

joined AmTote, where he rose to the position of 

executive vice president of sales and service. 

Fuller left AmTote in 1994 and shortly thereafter 

joined United Tote as senior vice president. In 

1997 he was promoted to chief operating officer; 

Fuller added the title of president in 1999 and in 

2000 became the company’s president and CEO. 

“I want to thank my many friends and colleagues 

who have made my totalisator career very pleasant 

and enjoyable,” Fuller said in a statement released 

by United Tote. “I know that I will miss my 

friends and fellow employees as I wind down my 

career, but it is time to move on and enjoy my home 

with my wife Susie and my grandson Ridge. To 

my fellow employees and my many good friends in 

the industry, I wish the best. If I can ever be of 

help, please call.” Succeeding Fuller will be Joe 

Tracy, who has been named managing director of 

United Tote as of August 1, 2002. Tracy has over 

20 years experience managing system installations, 

service and marketing programs in the gaming 

industry. Most recently, Tracy managed the 

Maryland Lottery account for Automated Wagering 

International, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary 

of International Game Technology. 

NEW PRES. AT GEMSTAR-TV GUIDE 

Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc., parent company 

of Television Games Network (TVG) on 

Monday named Fox Cable Networks group president 

and chief executive Jess Shell as its copresident 

and chief operating officer. The 

move comes as Gemstar tries to counter 

a wave of bad news that has cut its stock price 

in half. Shell’s appointment comes less than 


a month after Peter Boylan resigned as Gemstar 

co-president and the company’s stock started its 

slide from the low $20s to less than $10. In the 

first quarter of 2000 the stock reached a peak price 

of over $90 per share. 

CHURCHILL NAMES AUDITOR 

Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has named 

Brian S. Johnson director of internal audit for the 

Louisville, Kentucky-based racing company. 

Johnson will report directly to CDI President and 

CEO Tom Meeker and to the audit committee of 

the company’s board of directors. According to a 

CDI press release, in his newly created position, 

Johnson will analyze the effectiveness of various 

company-wide financial, operational and compliance 

practices, provide risk assessment, and identify 

issues and potential improvements related to 

these practices. Johnson is a CPA and previously 

served as an audit manager for Pricewaterhouse 

Coopers LLP, where he headed the audit team that 

regularly reviews financial reports for CDI and its 

racing facilities. “Churchill Downs Incorporated 

has experienced exponential growth over the past 

decade, and as we work to integrate six racing 

properties and nine off-track betting facilities under 

a common brand, it’s vital to continually examine 

our across-the-board business practices and 

look for ways to improve them,” said Meeker. 

“The creation of an internal audit position demonstrates 

our commitment to fiscally prudent management 

and delivering value to our shareholders.” 

MAGNA NETS $143 MILLION 

Magna Entertainment Corp. (MIEC), parent company 

of HTA member The Meadows, estimates 

the proceeds from its recently completed public 

offering of 20 million Class A voting shares 

of stock at $143 million.





REQUEST OF IMPORTANCE 

H.R. 3215, the Combating Illegal Gambling Reform 

and Modernization Act -- better known as 

the Goodlatte bill -- is now on the House Judiciary 

Committee calendar for markup, and could be 

called this week or more likely next. The bill 

amends the Wire Act, section 1084 of the criminal 

code, to clarify prohibitions that apply to all forms 

of wagering on the Internet and other interactive 

technologies, and contains an exemption for parimutuel 

racing and wagering activities allowed under 

the Interstate Horseracing Act. That exemption 

has been carefully crafted to permit racing to 

continue activities it has offered for many years, 

including the Internet to be used to disseminate 

information about racing and wagering and to continue 

interstate simulcasting and account wagering 

between states that permit such activities. The 

bill does not expand this wagering or override any 

state requirements or prohibitions on this already 

existing activity. 


Members of the House Judiciary Committee and 

their districts from states in which HTA tracks are 

located: 

FLORIDA -- Ric Keller (R), 8th, Robert I. Wexler 

(D), 19th. 

ILLINOIS -- Henry Hyde (R), 6th 

INDIANA -- John N. Hostettler (R), 8th, Mike 

Pence (R), 2d 

MASSACHUSETTS -- William Delahunt (D) 10th, 

Barney Frank (D) 4th, Marty Meehan (D) 5th 

MICHIGAN -- John Conyers Jr. (D) 14th 

NEW YORK --Jerrold Nadler (D) 8th, Anthony 

David Weiner (D), 9th 

OHIO -- Steve Chabot (R) 1st 

It is vitally important that our tracks do whatever 

they can to ensure that those horse racing exemptions, 

covered in Section 1084(f) of the Goodlatte 

bill, are preserved in the House Judiciary Committee. 

HTA believes this bill will ensure the continued 

integrity of racing and allow the racing industry 

and the $34 billion agri-business it supports 

to remain viable and competitive. Because of the 

time element, we are asking you to fax your representatives 

on the House Judicary Committee to 

support the pari-mutuel wagering provisions in the 

Goodlatte bill, and in that hope we are enclosing 

members of the Committee from states with HTA 

tracks. We also are faxing you a suggested letter 

and rationale provided by the American Horse 

Council, and you are free to use this material in 

your appeal for support from your representatives 

on the House committee. That 

material will be on your fax machines tomorrow. 

PENNSYLVANIA - George W. Gekas (R) 17th, 

Melissa A. Hart (R) 4th 

SCORE TWO FOR AZ GOVERNOR 

Arizona’s horse and dog tracks did not fare well in 

the early rounds of their battle with Gov. Jane Hull 

on their quest for slots. The Senate Government 

Committee killed, by a 3-2 vote, an attempt to raise 

$200 million a year for the state budget by giving 

6,000 slots to the tracks, and lost again, on a 4-1 

vote in favor of a slightly revised version of the 

governor’s agreement with 17 Indian tribes to expand 

gambling at tribal casinos while prohibiting 

slots at the track. The governor’s policy adviser 

for Indian gaming, Mike Bielecki, allowed that the 

battle is far from over. “If this was the last hearing, 

instead of the first, I’d feel a lot better,” 

Bielecki said.





DOWN AND DIRTY IN ARIZONA 

The bitter battle reported here yesterday and previously 

between Jane Hull, the governor of Arizona, 

and the president of the state Senate, Randall 

Gnant, over awarding slots to the state’s thoroughbred 

and greyhound tracks took another surprising, 

and perhaps alarming, turn yesterday afternoon. 

The governor has opposed giving the tracks 

slots, saying she preferred to keep them where 

they currently are, on land of 17 Indian tribes in 

the state. Gnant sponsored a bill that would have 

continued Indian gaming but also would have put 

casino style games at the state’s racetracks. That 

bill was killed Tuesday by the Senate Government 

Committee. 

Rather than accept that defeat, Gnant -- who professes 

to oppose political maneuvers to hamstring 

legislation -- used a rarely used procedural move 

to kill the governor’s bill late yesterday by having 

the Senate Rules Committee announce that the 

bill did meet constitutional standards. The ominous 

part of the move was that the Senate’s rules 

attorney and the state attorney general both told 

the committee that it did. Gnant cast the decisive 

vote for the measure, creating a 4-4 tie which in 

Arizona is tantamount to a defeat. Democrats were 

enraged, and one of them, Herb Guenther -- the 

sponsor of the governor’s bill -- quickly rounded 

up 18 signatures on a discharge petition to force a 

vote by the full Senate. He also said, “It demonstrates 

a part-time morality. We violated one of 

our own internal policies. When that happens, I 

lose faith.” The Arizona Republic reported that 

Gnant was deluged with angry calls and e-mails, 

and in a remarkably insensitive and racially tinged 

remark he told the newspaper, “I’ve been called 

everything but a white man.” He also said, “This 

is a message to the governor that the Senate 

runs the Senate, not the governor.” Or 

perhaps Randall Gnant. 


MORE TROUBLE FOR PRAIRIE 

The troubles for Prairie Meadows Racetrack and 

Casino, which seemed over with the drafting of a 

five-year, $100 million agreement with Polk county 

three weeks ago, fell apart Tuesday when the Polk 

county Board of Supervisors voted not to ratify 

the deal. The county has been concerned about 

getting enough from the lease to pay for a new, 

$200 million Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, 

and the county supervisors decided the $20 million 

a year might not be adequate to cover payments 

on the Events Center and other projects in 

downtown Des Moines if track and casino profits 

lag. The agreement calls for $1 million a month in 

rent, plus a quarterly share of net profits that would 

total $8 million a year. Track officials could opt to 

pay less than that if business expenses exceeded 

gaming revenues. The supervisors say they will 

meet with RACI in two weeks, but the association 

says arbitration may be the next step. 

ACCORD IN NEW JERSEY 

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority 

and New Jersey horsemen’s groups have reached 

accord on resolution of date differences for 2002, 

and will announce the settlement Friday afteroon 

at 1:30 at a press conference at Monmouth Park 

in which Governor James E. McGreevey, NJSEA 

president/CEO George Zoffinger, New Jersey thoroughbred 

attorney Dennis Drazin and harness 

counsel Joel Sterns will speak. 

YOUBET AUDITOR PESSIMISTIC 

Youbet.com’s auditor, BDO Seidman, says it has 

substantial doubt about the company’s ability to 

continue as a growing concern. In Youbet.com’s 

annual report filed this week with the SEC, BDO 

cited recurring Youbet operating losses and a need 

to raise additonal funds as causes for its concerns. 

Youbet says it is confident it can improve cash 

flow.




Magna Entertainment’s CEO Jim McAlpine told 

shareholders at an annual meeting at Santa Anita 

yesterday that Magna will be looking to acquire 3 

to 5 more tracks in the next 12 to 24 months, and 

will increase its off-track betting operations from 

its present 26 to as many as 75 in the next year 

and expand telephone and Internet wagering. Boss 

Frank Stronach said his company “is in the process 

of building the largest lottery corporation in 

the world,” and that it will be actively developing 

land around its racing operations 

into entertainment and retail venues. 

In New Mexico, two major figures are bat- 


ACCORD OPENS DOORS IN NJ tling for the right to build a fifth race track in that 

A major obstacle blocking telephone account wagering 

and off-track betting in New Jersey appears owner of Hollywood Park in California and The 

sparsely populated state. R.D. Hubbard, former 

to be cleared, with Gov. James E. McGreevey Woodlands in Kansas City, and present owner of 

scheduled to make the announcement this afternoon 

at Monmouth Park that thoroughbred and Shawn Scott, former brief owner of Delta Downs, 

Ruidoso Downs, is one of them. The other is 

harness horsemen have agreed to a plan that will which he bought in 1999 for $10 million and sold in 

provide thoroughbreds with 141 days of racing this 2001 for a reported $110 million, and current suitor 

year, which is what they sought. The agreement for Vernon Downs in New York. A Scott consultant, 

Toney Anaya, yesterday suggested that the 

carries a price for the runners, however, in the form 

of lower daily purses, and the issue of thoroughbred-harness 

split of revenues from simulcasting ability” of Hubbard as an applicant for a New 

New Mexico commission should look into the “suit- 

and OTB operations remains unresolved. George Mexico license because the Indiana Gaming Commission 

is investigating activities of Pinnacle En- 

R. Zoffinger, president and CEO of the New Jersey 

and Exposition Authority, says that issue will tertainment, a gaming company in which Hubbard 

be worked out in the next 90 days, and he also is a major stockholder. Ironically, Scott currently 

announced the extra 21 days of thoroughbred racing 

will be conducted at the Meadowlands. Wagering Board as to his suitability as the poten- 

is being investigated by the New York Racing and 

Zoffinger thinks that the agreement could enable tial purchaser of Vernon Downs. 

telephone account wagering to become a reality 

by the end of this year, four years after it was approved 

in a statewide referendum. Off-track betting, 

signed into law last August, is not likely in 

2002, but could be operational next year. 

A FEEDING FRENZY IN RACING 

Everyone, it seems, wants a racetrack. Or many 

racetracks. 

In North Dakota, the state racing commission increased 

its investment in a proposed track in 

Fargo from $1 million to $2.5 million, the money 

to be used to lengthen the track by 110 yards and 

to cover higher than anticipated construction costs. 

Despite the increased supplement for Fargo, which 

outbid the Mandan Park Board for the license last 

summer, the new track still will have portable toilets, 

gravel parking lots and bleachers instead of 

a grandstand, according to the Bismarck Tribune. 

Two and a half million barely gets you a seat these 

days. 

In British Columbia, Woodbine Entertainment is 

inching closer to completing its deal to take over 

the Pacific Racing Association, operators of 

Hastings Park Racecourse. The Daily Racing 

Form’s Randy Goulding’s lead on today’s story 

about the acquisition says, “It’s a done deal. Well, 

almost a done deal.” Hastings’ GM Phil Heard 

says, “I’m still optimistic, but I’ve been that 

way all along.”





PHONE BETS BY FALL IN NJ 

That’s the hope of Bruce Garland, senior VP /racing 

of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, 

following last week’s resolution of date and 

purse disputes in the Garden State. Telephone 

account wagering will be run by the Authority, and 

Garland says the goal is to be up and running for 

the Breeders’ Cup Oct. 26, or earlier if possible. 

Off-track betting, whose future also was cleared 

by the settlement, will take a bit longer, with the 

first of a possible 15 parlors not likely to open before 

late in 2003. Garland said that projections 

for the future when all the parlors are in place -- 

perhaps as long as five to seven years down the 

road -- estimate total revenue for the sports authority 

as high as $10 million a year, offsetting ontrack 

attendance declines expected in the wake of 

the introduction of phone and OTB betting. 

Extremely encouraging in the formal announcements 

of the settlement last week at Monmouth 

Park were words from New Jersey governor James 

E. McGreevey and Sports Authority president 

George Zoffinger. McGreevey said, “We need to 

understand that racing not only has quality of life 

values, but is indeed an economic engine for the 

state of New Jersey. I, as governor, am strongly 

and irrevocably committed to making racing work 

and work well in the state of New Jersey.” 

McGreevey also called Monmouth Park “one of 

this state’s precious resources.” His remarks 

would seem to dispel earlier concerns about privatizing 

of Monmouth and the Meadowlands, the 

nation’s largest harness track. Zoffinger, who made 

the settlement of the thoroughbred-harness impasse 

a priority of his new administration and 

played a major role in it, was equally positive in 

his remarks at the press conference, noting that 

the agreement protects harness racing, 

which he called the “core business” of the 

Authority. 


Under the 3-year agreement, thoroughbreds will 

race 141 programs each year, split between 

Monmouth and the Meadowlands, but the 2003 

Meadowlands’running meet will end Nov. 8, enabling 

the track to host Breeders Crown events. 

ANOTHER WIN FOR USTA 

After more than eight years of litigation and one 

appeals court victory after another, the United 

States Trotting Association has prevailed again in 

its defense of banning bent shaft sulkies. In what 

could be the final round of court action, a Franklin 

county, Ohio, common pleas judge has granted the 

USTA’s motion for summary judgment in Nassau 

Turf Equipment vs. USTA, saying “it is clear that 

Nassau is unable to maintain a claim for tortious 

interference against defendant as defendant’s conduct 

was privileged.” 

IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 

The provincial government of Quebec has agreed 

to another six-month, $11.8 million aid package to 

supplement purses at QUEBEC’S FOUR 

TRACKS between April 1 and September 

30.....Chicago harness racing’s DAVE MAGEE 

became the fifth North American driver to win 

9,000 races, joining Herve Filion, Walter Case Jr., 

Catello Manzi and Mike Lachance in that charmed 

circle......JOHN WALZAK, a faculty member at 

the University of Arizona’s Race track Industry 

Program for the last seven years and associate 

coordinator of the program, is leaving and returning 

to Ontario, where he will become Chief Operating 

Officer of the Ontario Harness Horseman’s 

Association. He is scheduled to take over his new 

post in June and HTA, which has worked closely 

and rewardingly with John over the years, wishes 

him and his wife Susan all the best.....Fueled by 

racing and gaming revenue increases of $4.5 million, 

NORTHLAND PARK’S total revenues 

for 2001 were up $6.8 million and earnings 

increased $1.8 million.





RACING BIZARRE NAH, WEIRD 

When a routine report on little Mount Pleasant 

Meadows in Michigan showed a monstrous per 

capita last year, racing commission officials were 

curious. What they found after investigation 

makes a wildly weird tale. After the former GM 

was unable to make a payment to the horsemen’s 

fund, auditors found a slight discrepancy in the 

track’s funds: $545,000 was missing. It turns out 

that the GM had allowed a friend who owned a bar 

in Mount Pleasant to bet on credit, and then joined 

him in the fun. If you want to find the former GM 

these days, check the state pen, where he is vacationing 

after being found guilty of two felonies 

and a misdemeanor involving violation of 

Michigan’s rules of pari-mutuel betting. But if you 

need a loan, stop in the local bar and see the owner, 

John Hunter. Mount Pleasant Meadows decided 

it wanted to get its half million back, so it filed a 

civil action against Hunter. He acknowledged that 

he owed the track $240,000 for bets he made but 

didn’t pay for four years ago, and has repaid about 

half of that since that time. The former GM, Jon 

Leuth, reached an out-of-court settlement. Then 

a court ruled the track couldn’t collect from Hunter, 

because he had made an illegal bet, and the judge 

dismissed the charges against him. So Hunter sued 

the track, saying it had violated the RICO act by 

trying to recoup money from his bets. He got a 

jury trial, and the jury found Mount Pleasant 

Downs was guilty of trying to collect on an illegal 

wager. It awarded Hunter $100,000. Mount Pleasant 

Downs is appealing. Its attorney, John Lynch, 

says it absolutely has to, since under the Racketeering 

Influence and Corrupt Organization Act 

the track could be ordered to pay triple damages. 

“You can’t let a $300,000 judgment go for a person 

who testified he took the money,” Lynch says. 

Hunter also may not have to pay the 

$125,000 he still owes. Weird world, 

racing. Think I’ll buy a bar. 


HONEY, I SHRUNK THE PAYBACK 

Strange things happen in legislatures, and Maryland 

is no exception. A few months ago it was announced 

that $4.5 million that had been set aside 

for Maryland Jockey Club improvements that 

were never made would be returned to the tracks 

for supplementing purses, since the money really 

was theirs as a result of increased takeout. 

Somehow, somewhere, someone misread the law, 

or misinterpreted it, or missed a few decimal 

points. The tracks, it turns out, will get $3 million, 

not $4.5 million, split 70% to thoroughbreds and 

30% to harness racing. Sorry about that. 

INDY DOWNS ON SCHEDULE 

Actually ahead of it, general manager Gil Short 

tells TIMES:in harness. Short says a mild winter 

and good dirt have helped immensely, and the first 

section of the roof is on the stands and the structure 

should be enclosed in the next month or so. 

Enclosure is crucial, since the track’s scheduled 

opening is December 6. Short told the magazine 

Indianapolis Downs plans to be good neighbors 

with Indiana’s existing track, Hoosier Park. He 

says horsemen will reap the benefit of an expanded 

racing season, and he thinks both tracks will benefit 

as well. “I respect Hoosier Park’s initial reluctance 

to our going forward,” Short told TIMES. 

“If I had been in their position, I’d have felt the 

same way. But now, we’ll have to work together 

for the betterment of the industry in Indiana. And 

I think we will succeed.” 

CRUNCH TIME IN OHIO 

The Ohio legislature has two months left in which 

to decide what to do about the state’s huge financial 

shortfall. The president of the state senate 

says slots at tracks have re-entered the budget 

discussion, but still face a veto from Gov. Bob 

Taft. A 50-cent a pack tax increase on cigarettes 

also is in the works.





PURSES UP, UP AT WOODBINE 

Woodbine Entertainment and the Ontario Harness 

Horse Association have announced a 3% increase 

in purses, effective the first week of May. If any 

questions remain as to what slots can do for purses, 

consider this: the latest purse increase means that 

purses have risen 100% in the last five years at 

Woodbine Entertainment’s Woodbine and Mohawk 

operations. The new boost takes the average 

purse per race at the two tracks to $22,500, and 

before the year is over WEG will have paid overnight 

purses totaling $62.5 million. Jamie Martin, 

vice president of Standardbred racing, says the 

latest increase “reflects continued strong support 

for our racing product, and an increase in operating 

hours on the slot floors of Woodbine and 

Mohawk racetracks.” 

H.R.3215 ON HOLD, IGN SAYS 

House bill 3215, better known as the Goodlatte 

bill, will be considered sometime during the next 

week or two, according to Interactive Gaming 

News. That was reported here on April 17, but 

the newsletter says the measure updating the 1961 

Wire Act to include Internet gaming will be part of 

a “rolling mark-up, which means there won’t be 

an exact schedule by which the committee will look 

at each bill slated to be marked up.” 

HOLD ON TO THAT TOTE BOARD 

Hard core horse players are not ready for high 

technology, it seems. Pimlico in Maryland, which 

has torn down a third of its tote board and replaced 

it with a 26 x 32-foot video screen called a 

Lumitron, has been ordered by the Maryland Racing 

Commission to halt demolition of the traditional 

board after “a steady stream of complaints” from 

patrons. COO Lou Raffetto told the Washington 

Post that Pimlico will consider rebuilding the 

tote board, and move the Lumitron to Laurel 

to supplement that track’s existing tote 

board. 

PLEASE TELL ME IT WASN’T ME 

Kris Johns is vice president of marketing at Hoosier 

Park, HTA’s member track in Indiana. Since 

April 13 her telephone has been buzzing with calls 

from ladies in Muncie, Indiana, hoping she can talk 

them out of suicide. Well, perhaps not quite that 

serious, but after it was announced that a lady from 

Muncie had been mailed a mutuel ticket worth 

$1.75 million and did not redeem it, the ladies of 

Muncie who had received tickets in the National 

Thoroughbred Racing Association promotion because 

they were on Hoosier’s mailing list of 60,000 

names, just had to know if it was them. Kris told 

them all she didn’t know who the winner was, and 

NTRA wasn’t saying, so it’s now on to August, 

when the booty goes up to $2 million. This has 

been going on since August of 2000, with no one 

redeeming a winning ticket, and each subsequent 

failure raising the pot by $250,000. It’s a great 

promotion. You can be sure all those ladies from 

Muncie will be at Hoosier August 3, the next drawing. 

The April 13 drawing fell on opening night of 

Hoosier’s harness meeting and produced the 

track’s second largest handle for harness, which 

will still be racing Aug. 3. Thanks, NTRA. Good 

work! 

HOLLYPARK SETTLES WITH TOC 

Hollywood Park, which opens today, won a photo 

finish with the Thoroughbred Owners of California 

yesterday, reaching accord on horsemen’s 

shares of revenue from telephone account and 

Internet wagering. Horsemen will receive 5.3% 

of bets placed by California residents on 

Hollywood’s races, 4.5% from bets by Californians 

on out-of-state races, and 1.8% on bets placed out 

of California on California races. 

CONGRESS ON HTA WEB 

All presentations from the Harness Racing 

Congress now are on HTA’s Web site, 

www.harnesstracks.com.





CHICAGO TRACKS MUST WAIT BIG M REVISES FALL DATES 

Chicago’s horseracing -- harness and thoroughbred 

-- is champing at the bit for huge dollar inpute 

in New Jersey, the Meadowlands has made 

With the settlement of the thoroughbred dates discreases 

from their share of the proposed Emerald slight revisions in its fall harness racing schedule. 

Casino in Rosemont, but it appears as if they’ll The runners now will race from Labor Day, Sept. 

have to cool out and wait a little longer. The Illinois 

Gaming Board has again rejected a buyout harness will resume on Nov. 29 and race 17 pro- 

2 until Nov. 23. Following a Thanksgiving break, 

offer for the proposed Emerald Casino in the Chicago 

suburb of Rosemont. Earlier this year MGM The Fall Final Four, season-ending championship 

grams through Dec. 28, with Christmas Day dark. 

Mirage offered to pay $615 million for the license, races for 2-year-olds of both gaits inherited from 

but the board said no dice. More recently, the Garden State Park, will be raced Dec. 7, with elimination 

races for trotting colts and fillies on Nov. 

owners of Emerald said they would pay $350 million 

to the state if they could sell the license, and 29 and for pacing colts and fillies on Nov. 30. The 

the board now has vetoed that idea. All of this has races last year carried purses ranging from 

infuriated Donald Stephens, the mayor of $340,000 to $500,000. 

Rosemont, who told the Chicago Tribune, “This 

is getting to the point of asininity.” Stephens wants HEAVY HITTERS (IN MAINE) 

to debate the board, but it is not in the mood for 

Or somewhere. The vagaries and potential impact 

of transcontinental (or international) simul- 

debates. It seemingly does not want the casino in 

Rosemont, and although it has not said why, the 

casting were felt yesterday from Maine to California, 

when last minute bets totaling $118,000 

Tribune noted that last year, when it denied Emerald 

its license, critics argued Rosemont should 

from a United Tote hub in Lewiston, Maine, 

be rejected as a location “because of business relationships 

Stephens has had with alleged associ- 

streamed into Hollywood Park at post time and 

drove down a maiden filly’s price from 9-2 on the 

ates of organized crime.” The paper said he is a 

post time flash to 2-5 at the finish of the race. Instead 

of the $11 that winning bettors on 

former business partner of Nick S. Boscarino, who 

was indicted in January in a scam involving 

Hollywood’s opening day expected to get on the 

Rosemont village insurance, and said Stephens 

filly with the appropriate name of Global Finance, 

also wrote to a federal judge pleading for a lenient 

they wound up receiving $2.80. It turns out that 

sentence for his longtime friend Anthony Daddino, 

23 bets of $5,000 and one of $3,000 were bet from 

convicted in a mob shakedown scheme. When 

Lewiston just before post on the filly, who had run 

Daddino was released, Stephens gave him a job in 

only once before, finishing seventh in a 10-horse 

Rosemont as a building inspector, according to the 

field at Santa Anita March 27. There was only 

Tribune. Board members have denied that 

$11,461 bet on her to win at Hollywood. The 

Rosemont was the reason for the license denial, 

Lewiston bets produced a profit of $47,200 for 

and chairman Gregory Jones said “Geographically, 

it’s a terrific location for our casino, given 

someone, somewhere. 

its accessibility to O’Hare airport.” Another board 

A similar case last winter at Gulfstream created 

member, Joseph Lamendella, who cast the 

wide consternation, and Hollywood carries a note 

board’s only vote in favor of the casino, 

in its program explaining out-of-state last 

said “It’s not a bastion of organized 

minute betting flashes. 

crime....it’s a model of municipal magnificence.”





NON-SURPRISE OF THE DAY IMPORTANT BILL INTRODUCED 

Those who like to plunge on absolute 1-to-10 sure A major stumbling block to international merged 

things had another winner this week, when Magna 

Entertainment announced that it plans to re- 

introduced on April 17 is passed. Introduced by 

pools and simulcasting could be removed if a bill 

negotiate with the Thoroughbred Owners of California 

after that organization gave Hollywood Park 4474) would stipulate that residents of foreign 

Congressman Jim McCrery (R-LA), the bill (H.R. 

and TVG a better deal on share of account wagering 

revenues than it had given Santa Anita in Janu- 

merged with U.S. tracks and not be subject to the 

countries could bet on U.S. races through pools 

ary. Thoroughbred Times reported that Magna current U.S. 30% alien withholding tax after Sept. 

VP and general counsel Ed Hannah said the company 

“would be back at the negotiating table” when although some countries have treaties with the 

30, 2002. The American Horse Council notes that 

its current contract expires. The discrepancies that U.S. that suggest that gambling winnings are not 

raised Magna’s hackles were horsemen’s share subject to this 30% withholding requirement, U.S. 

of 5.3% on bets by Californians on California races track shave been concerned that they might be 

through TVG accounts as opposed to 5.88% for liable for this 30% withholding if they did not take 

Magna’s XpressBet; 4.5% on Californian’s bets it out of payments to foreigners because the treaties 

are unclear or could be changed. This con- 

on out-of-state races as opposed to 5.19% for 

Magna’s service; and 1.8% on bets through TVG cern over liability has effectively prevented the 

by out-of-state residents as opposed to between racing industry from merged wagering pools internationally, 

except for a few countries. Several ex- 

2.9% and 5.64%, for a blended rate of between 

4.5% and 5% through Magna. Both the Magna ceptions to the 30% alien withholding requirement 

XpressBet and Hollywood TVG agreements were already are on the books, and the McCreary bill 

hammered out in the heat of last minute deadlines would add exemption from foreign betting to them. 

before the two services began operations at Santa H.R. 4474 has been referred to the House Ways 

Anita and Hollywood Park, respectively. The California 

racing board’s pari-mutuel committee will 

and Means Committee. 

discuss the contracts and market access fees at a 

meeting June 5. 

CAL SETS HOUSING RULES 

In another California development, the state’s racing 

board has established minimum standards for 

employee housing and stable area sanitation facilities. 

The standards, which are temporary until 

the board develops and approves permanent rules, 

require “habitable” rooms, with adequate light and 

ventilation, and separate toilet, bath and shower 

rooms for men and women. They also cover 

health and safety measures including pest 

control, garbage collection, and smoke 

detectors. 

APRIL REPORT NOW ONLINE 

HTA’s April report to directors, containing the text 

of 13 presentations from the Harness Racing Congress 

in PDF format in one easy-to-print document, 

is posted online today. It can be accessed at 

www.harnesstracks.com/docdatabse/htamembers/ 

456.pdf. Individual presentations from the Congress 

remain available on the HTA Web site at 

www.harnesstracks.com. 

The new HTA World Racing Directory goes to the 

printer next week. If your track has made any 

recent changes that may not have been transmitted 

to us, please do so now if you would like 

them included in the new book.





SCHWEIBEL LEAVES BUFFALO 

Jerry Schweibel, general manager of Buffalo Raceway 

and the track’s HTA and USTA director for 

the last 10 years, is leaving the post, effective tomorrow. 

Jerry, an innovator and promoter, says it 

is time to move on, and his boss, Buffalo CEO 

Dennis Lang, called his departure a “mutual agreement”. 

Schweibel’s wife suffered a health scare 

last week, and Schweibel says it caused him to 

reevaluate stress and work and life in general, although 

he added that he feels he still has much to 

offer to the industry. Lang said the society’s board 

will search for a new general manager after the 

track’s current meeting ends July 27, when Batavia 

Downs will resume racing under the aegis of HTA 

associate member Western Regional OTB. 

INDIANA SLOTS BACK IN NEWS 

Yogi Berra’s old cry of “It ain’t over ’til it’s over” 

was ringing through Indianapolis yesterday, as the 

South Bend Tribune reported that expectations 

are high that when lawmakers reconvene next 

month to discuss the state’s budget crisis and tax 

structure slots, in the form of pull tabs, may jump 

back into consideration. They were passed over 

in the recent session of the legislature, but one 

legislator, Rep. Scott Pelath of Michigan City, said 

expanded gambling “is not an issue that goes away. 

In fact, it hovers over every discussion of the budget.” 

That does not mean the pull tabs will find 

adequate support, however, for Larry Borst, a key 

figure in the legislature long considered a friend 

of racing, opposes the idea, as does Gov. Frank 

O’Bannon. In fact, the Tribune says support for 

pull tabs could narrow if a broadly written bill that 

would include them were introduced, because of 

Borst’s and O’Bannon’s opposition. Borst instead 

is proposing higher taxes on casino admissions as 

the solution to the budget shortfall. They 

could help racing, depending on how such 

legislation was written. 


Indiana’s riverboat casinos, which want flexibility 

on dockside gambling, naturally oppose the Borst 

proposal, which calls for a rise from $3 to $4 on 

the riverboat casinos, and an increase on taxes on 

casino revenues from 20% to 22.5%, which he says 

will raise more than $800 million over three years. 

A lawyer and lobbyist for seven Indiana casinos, 

Phillip Bainbridge, summarized the special session 

by saying, “I’ve long given up saying this can’t 

happen unless that happens. You have to assume 

that anything can happen.” Indiana’s two tracks, 

Hoosier Park and Indianapolis Downs, currently 

under construction, will have to pin their hopes on 

Bainbridge’s assessment. 

A ‘RIDICULOUS’ OFFER BY FAX 

Shawn Scott, who bought Delta Downs for $10 

million and sold it two years later to Boyd Gaming 

for $110 million (or was it $120 million or $130 

million Reports vary) and is trying to buy Vernon 

Downs, now has launched another track offer, this 

one by fax. Scott is trying to buy Ruidoso Downs 

in New Mexico and its Billy the Kid casino from 

veteran track operator R. D. Hubbard, without a 

phone call or personal contact, according to track 

president Bruce Rimbo. Rimbo, once publicist 

for harness racing at Los Alamitos, says Scott simply 

faxed the track saying he would buy it and the 

casino for $6 million. Rimbo called the offer “so 

ridiculous that it’s not worth responding to. It just 

appeared on our fax machine.” Scott also is bidding 

against Hubbard for the right to build still 

another track in far southeastern New Mexico. 

Scott filed an application with the New Mexico 

Racing Commission saying he would build a $30 

million racetrack and casino in the little town of 

Hobbs on the Texas border. The location might at 

first appear remote, but is less than 75 miles from 

three busy Texas cities, Lubbock, Odessa and 

Midland.





TOM WALSH JUG HONOREE 

Tom Walsh Jr., one of harness racing’s best known 

and most popular owners and one of the most generous 

contributors to the sport’s causes, has been 

named the 2002 inductee to the Little Brown Jug 

Wall of Fame. Walsh, an owner for more than 40 

years, has co-owned two Little Brown Jug winners 

in Magical Mike, the 1994 victor in harness 

racing’s best known classic for 3-year-old pacers, 

and Armbro Operative, which won the race in 1996. 

Magical Mike won $1.6 million in his racing career 

and now is a successful sire, his progeny including 

the $3.7 million winner and 2000 Horse of 

the Year Gallo Blue Chip. Armbro Operative was 

a winner of $1,012,712, and Walsh also has been 

involved in the ownership of three other $500,000 

winners — Conway Hall, Bold Dreamer and Victory 

My Way — and other top horses, most in 

partnership with his longtime friend David 

McDuffee. The pair were primarily responsible for 

funding the construction of the Little Brown Jug 

Barn at the Delaware County Fairgrounds where 

the classic is raced each September. Walsh will 

receive his traditional gold Jug ring at the Mayor’s 

Breakfast in Delaware , Ohio, on Sept. 18, the day 

before the 57th racing of the Jug. 

PICK 4 BEST BET AT BIG M 

With a 15% takeout, an average payoff of more 

than $9,000 and a $50,000 pool guarantee, the $2 

Pick 4 has become Saturday Night Live at the 

Meadowlands. Last Saturday’s $84,847 pool was 

the highest since the $50,000 guarantee was put 

in place, and for 15 Saturday nights to date the 

average pool has been $76,134. 

NEW UNIT AT CHURCHILL 

Recognizing the growth of simulcasting and its 

potential worldwide, Churchill Downs has 

formed a separate simulcasting business 

unit, Churchill Downs Simulcast Network, 

and named Churchill CFO and executive VP 

Bob Decker as president of the new venture. 


NY WOES MAY AFFECT SLOTS 

The Buffalo News reports today that the state’s 

finances have taken a sharp turn for the worse 

with the revelation of a new budget hole totaling 

up to $1.3 billion, and that Senate majority leader 

Joe Bruno and Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver 

were looking for ways to speed up introduction of 

VLTs at New York tracks. Gov. George Pataki, 

however is not counting on any money from track 

slots in 2002, and administration officials do not 

think machines will be operational before next 

spring. Bruno, however — whose word in New 

York is law — told Tom Precious of the News, 

“We’ll take a look to see if we can ramp them up 

faster.” Pataki sought to downplay gambling revenues 

as a solution to the present crisis, saying, 

“I don’t think that’s going to be a significant revenue 

factor in dealing with the budget.” 

HBPA’S MALINE “ON LEAVE” 

A conflict of interest investigation by the national 

Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association 

has led to the executive director of the 

organization’s Kentucky division, Marty Maline, 

being placed on administrative leave with pay. The 

national HBPA is looking into a company started 

by the former president of both the Kentucky di 

ision and national organization, Rick Hiles, in 

which Maline was an officer. The company, Century 

Consultants, was set up to advise racing companies 

on simulcast and legal issues, but had only 

one client, Choctaw Racing Services, a tribal company 

in Oklahoma, that pays a fee to the national 

HBPA based on handle at its off-track betting sites. 

John Griffith, Kentucky HBPA’s treasurer, resigned 

the week of April 22, when the external investigation 

began, and Don Sturgill, also an officer 

with Century Consultants, resigned two weeks ago, 

saying his resignation was triggered by work demands 

at his Lexington law firm. Hiles said 

the investigation was “blowing smoke,” and 

said he was telling HBPA “they better be 

careful.”

April - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

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