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 beyondSeptember 14, 2005Stanley F. Bergstein, EditorAH YES, FLORIDA & MARYLANDMore stormy weather in those two racing states.In Florida, the chairman of the House BusinessRegulation Committee, Frank Attkisson, said hesees no reason “to rush” the issue of slots forBroward county tracks, although it now is 10months since voters approved the idea. Attkissonsays he doesn’t want to rush the issue, telling theAssociated Press, “I feel no compulsion to pushthis into a special session.” We have a solutionto the problem. Put a track in Kissimmee, nearOrlando and where Attkisson is from, and offer itslots, and Attkisson would get the matter resolvedtomorrow. Meanwhile, although a judge has toldthem they can start offering slots anytime theywant, with or without Frank Attkisson and the legislature,no one in track management in Browardcounty has ordered any, preferring to wait for thelegislature’s decision on revenue splits, hours andtype of equipment.In Maryland, the racing commission listened torepresentatives of track management and horsemen,and then punted, postponing until Oct. 6 adecision on whether or not it will approve MagnaEntertainment’s proposal to cut racing dates inthe state dramatically. Joe DeFrances, presidentand CEO of the Magna-owned Maryland JockeyClub, told the commissioners that if they grantedthe cut in dates Pimlico and Laurel could raisepurses to $303,571 a day instead of the $197,877,enabling them to compete with West Virginia,Delaware and, in the next year or two, Pennsylvania.Magna lost $95.6 million last year on itsMaryland operations. Alan Foreman, generalcounsel for the Maryland thoroughbred horsemen,said Magna was “emboldened by what theysee as a compliant racing commission that willrubber-stamp whatever they want to do.”He was not quoted as to whether heagreed with that view.A MILLION FROM RICKMANSThe Rickman family, which owns Delaware Parkand Ocean Downs in Maryland, has contributed$1 million through a newly created DelawareGood Neighbor Fund, to relief for victims of HurricaneKatrina. Bill Fasy, COO of Delaware Parkand HTA member Ocean Downs, said theRickman family approached Gov. Ruth AnnMinner and helped jump start the Good NeighborFund with their donation. Fasy noted thatBill Rickman Jr. had been a helicopter pilot inthe Army, and had flown over the devastation ofan earlier disaster caused by Hurricane Camillein 1969 and has seen firsthand what havoc a hurricanecan wreak. Fasy said the Rickmans hopedthat if their million dollar donation, at the midsizedlevel of their enterprises, might encourageother businesses, larger and smaller, to followsuit. Horsemen at Delaware Park obviously wereencouraged, donating $250,000 of their pursemoney to the NTRA Charities, which HTA trackswill join Oct. 8 in a Racing to the Rescue Dayorganized by NTRA.MORE ON THE VERNON DEALMore details have surfaced on the Vernon Downspurchase deal being proposed by Jeff Gural aftera compromise with Shawn Scott. If approved bythe bankruptcy judge hearing the matter and creditors,Mr. Gural’s new group would take Scott entirelyout of track ownership by acquisition of hisshares and repayment of an outstanding $2.8 millionloan. Gural and TrackPower each would a25% share in Vernon, and the other 50% wouldbe owned by Nevada Gold, which despite its nameis a Texas company that owns gaming facilitiesaround the country. The bankruptcy judge,Stephen Gerling, will weigh the Gural proposalFriday along with one from Eric Spector, the Californiaentrepreneur who briefly was Vernon’schief executive after the track declared bankruptcy.