2005 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAStanley F. Bergstein, EditorCANADA COMMINGLES TONITECanadian racing fans get their first chance tonightto bet directly into an American track’s hostpools. With Illinois and Ohio approving commingledpools, Woodbine Entertainment givesits patrons the opportunity tonight to bet intopools at Maywood Park in Maywood, Illinois,and Balmoral Park in Crete, Illinois, and tomorrownight at Northfield Park near Cleveland. ArlingtonPark in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is expectedto become the first thoroughbred trackto take Canadian bets directly into its pools laterthis month. New York and Delaware also are consideringthe issue, and California, Florida, andNew Jersey are studying it. Steve Mitchell ofWoodbine, who has been handling details forWEG, thinks Canadians will benefit greatly fromthe new system, giving them larger pools andbetter payouts. “Once all states permit this,”Mitchell believes, “payouts on winning betsshould increase by more than $10 million a year.”Commingling became possible last fall when theU.S. Congress eliminated the 30% withholdingtax on foreign bets made on a U.S. racetrack.Following that Woodbine worked out an agreementwith the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency,which was concerned about teller delays at U.S.tracks, but finally conceded as long as warningsabout that process were posted at wagering sites.John Johnston, president of Balmoral and vicepresident of Maywood, says he expects poolsat those tracks will grow by 10% from Canadiansbetting directly into them.OUR BOY JOE SCORES BIGSandra Day O’Connor may have grabbed the frontpage of the New York Times last Saturday withher retirement announcement, but Joe Asher ofCantor G and W didn’t do too badly. He grabbedcolumn 1 on the same front page, and hishandsome visage and story took up 34inches of the Times page 9.Executive NewsletterA daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyondJuly 5, 2005Joe, who started at Brandywine under HapHansen, now is an attorney and managing directorof Cantor Gaming and Wagering, whichhas developed under its parent CantorFitzgerald, the New York-based financial servicescompany, hand-held devices that will enablecasino guests in Las Vegas to play poker,slots, blackjack or other table games while atthe swimming pool, in a meeting or restaurant,or in any other public spaces in the hotel. Cantorintroduced the devices successfully in England,and Asher said, “Since we spent a tremendousamount of money developing the technology, wewere looking for other applications, and so we approachedNevada.” The new machines are notlinked to the Internet, thus circumventing Nevada’slegal ruling that casinos cannot do online gaming,and Gov. Kenny Guinn signed them into law lastmonth. The Nevada Gaming Control Board currentlyis writing regulations for their use, and theyshould be operational by the time HTA, TRA andUSTA meet for the Racing Congress at the Bellagiostarting February 6, 2006.RO LO SCORES BIG, TOORo Lo, a 3-year-old Quebec-bred trotting colt,made page 1 of Canada’s largest French newspaper,the Journal de Montreal, over the weekend,when he was sold for a reported $750,000 to Norwegianinterests. Trond Smedshammer will trainthe colt for U.S. campaigning. The Journal deMontreal has a circulation of more than 2 million,and its headline read, in French, Jackpot for 3Quebecers.TOUGH KY RULES ADVANCEStill facing legislative challenges, the KentuckyRacing Authority last week unanimously votedto endorse penalties approved by the KentuckyEquine Drug Research Council in May. The newrules include suspension of horses andgreater accountability for owners and veterinarians.