January - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE
The incredible inaction of New Jersey’s governor
and legislature in allowing the state’s once proud
horse racing industry to slide down the slippery
slope -- and help push it there -- took a new turn
yesterday. The Assembly’s Tourism and Wagering
Committee enthusiastically endorsed sports
betting for Atlantic City casinos, despite it being
against federal law. The state’s policy of “anything
the casinos want” continues, as the chairman
of the Assembly’s Budget Committee, Lou
Greenwald, said the federal law banning sports
betting can be challenged as a violation of states’
rights. This one could be headed for the U. S.
Supreme Court, but what happens to racing in
New Jersey before that long process is completed
could be a grim story for a once dominant industry.
The president of the Casino Association of
New Jersey, which at times appears to run the
state, thanked the committee backing sports betting
by saying, “It has been a tough year for our
industry. We appreciate the fact that you’re taking
this effort, the heavy lift that it is, to help the
industry out.” Leon Zimmerman, testifying before
the committee for the Standardbred Breeders
and Owners Association, told members of the
huge impact of casinos on racing in the state, and
said it endangered the livelihood of thousands of
people who are in the horse racing and breeding
business. He noted that a recent study at the state
university at Rutgers found racing contributes
$1.7 billion a year to New Jersey’s economy.
In a strong letter to Gov. Jon Corzine, the director
of Rutgers Equine Science Center, Karyn
Malinowski, joined by the president of the SBOA,
Tom Luchento, and the president of the state’s
thoroughbred horsemen’s association, Dennis
Drazin, told Corzine, “We are not crying wolf,”
and said a real and imminent disaster was
about to happen in the state, including
possible loss of the Hambletonian.
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
January 25, 2008
“If the lowered purse structure remains as reported,”
the letter said, “the Meadowlands will
have to cancel the premier events scheduled at
the track. Races like the Hambletonian and
Breeders’ Crown will need to find a venue outside
of New Jersey. Horsemen could no longer
allow the large expenditure from purse accounts
needed to support these world class events that
bring national attention to our great state. This
is a sobering thought for all involved. We are on
the edge of collapse of the entire horse industry
in New Jersey.”
NO VERNON ACTION, EITHER
This week’s session of the New York Assembly
has ended without action on the tax relief bill,
and the best racing got there was Assemblyman
Bill Magee’s promise that “We’re working on
it,” and the hope that it might be discussed next
week. Yonkers reportedly is unhappy with the
legislation as proposed, and its horsemen continue
their damaging opposition under a leadership
apparently intent on torpedoing the measure.
PASSPORT, BANS IN ONTARIO
Ontario’s racing commission approval of new
measures designed to protect the province’s
horses and horse industry are far reaching.
They include a “horse health passport” that
will require public disclosure of all vaccination
records to new owners; greater limits on commission
approved veterinarian-only administration
of medications except in emergencies; limits
on shock wave therapy; mandated use of safety
reins and safety vests; new guidelines regarding
trainer transfers; new measures on out-of-competition
testing; and perhaps most significant of
all, banning from racing for 90 days of horses
that show positive tests. Commission chairman
Rod Seiling said the new rules are designed to
protect the health of the horse, ensure the safety
of the participant, and reinforce the integrity
of the sport.