2005 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAExecutive NewsletterA daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyondStanley F. Bergstein, EditorDOG DAYS FOR GREYHOUNDSLast week was not a good week for the greyhoundindustry. In Connecticut, once popularPlainfield Greyhound Park announced it wouldclose its doors after its Aug. 12 simulcastingsession. The track had given up live racing threemonths ago, but was continuing with simulcasting,but is abandoning even that refuge now afterbeing unable to pay for incoming signals.Karen Keelan, executive vice president of the30-year-old track, said live racing could returnnext year on a limited basis, but no applicationshave been filed with the state. Keelan said,“With the casinos having racebooks 15 minutesaway, they took the majority of our customers.We were unable to sustain the financial losses.”The town of Plainfield, meanwhile, said it willcontinue to bill the track some $90,000 in annualproperty taxes, but has not received the$50,000 payment due July 1. Plainfield Greyhoundopened in 1976 and at its zenith contributedmore than $2 million a year to the town’seconomy, and $4.9 million to the state in 1976.Last year Plainfield got $155,000 and Connecticut$109,394. The track’s viability began to fadewhen Foxwoods opened in 1992 and worsenedwhen the Mohegan Sun began operations in1996. A local area developer plans to build adomed auto racetrack and convention centernearby and incorporate the dog track in it, andhis plans were approved by the city’s planningand zoning commission, but now are being challengedin court.In Iowa, meanwhile, the former president of theNational Greyhound Association revealed thathe had been a hidden 50% owner of a kennel atthe Bluffs Run greyhound track in Council Bluffs.According to the Des Moines Sunday Register,well-known breeder and owner Herb(Dutch) Koerner also admitted workingwith his partner to have ineligible dogsfalsely certified as Iowa-breds. No chargesAugust 1, 2005have been brought against Koerner as yet.No charges have been brought in Tucson, either,against a kennel owner who received front pagetreatment in local papers after dozens of dogs werediscovered in flea and tick infested quarters. TheArizona Department of Racing apparently did notconsider the situation serious enough to warrantpenalties, but the Arizona Daily Star found it newsworthyenough to give the sport a black eye inArizona’s second largest city.WISCONSIN GOV PULLS PLUGJim Doyle, the governor of Wisconsin, has vetoeda Republican proposal to extend video gaming andsimulcasting beyond Indian reservation borders.Doyle said in his veto message that “the expandeduse of video gaming devices for pari-mutuel wageringcould raise serious constitutional concernsby expanding gambling.” Wisconsin’s constitutionallows horse and dog tracks and Indian casinos,but restricts the tribal casinos to reservations ortribal trust land.IN INDIANA, AMBIGUITYThe Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Journal Gazette, confusedby mixed signals on video gaming in thestate, is asking Gov. Mitch Daniels to clarify hisadministration’s position. The paper noted thatin one corner the Indiana State Excise Police arewriting citations, confiscating money and disablingsome of the 20,000 to 25,000 estimatedCherry Master machines in bars, taverns, fraternalorganizations and truck stops across thestate, while the Hoosier Lottery is seeking a legalopinion on whether it has the authority to offervideo gaming machines. Daniels declined aninterview, but did say, “I prefer frankly to see usget to a point where if these machines are goingto be available recreation in Indiana that they aredone above board in a regulated fashion and removethe hypocrisy of the status quo.” Yourtwo racetracks would be a perfect setting,governor.