2005 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

More documents

Recommendations

Info

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAExecutive NewsletterA daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyondStanley F. Bergstein, EditorTANNER TO RUN CHESTERMike Tanner, director of marketing at GulfstreamPark, where he has worked for 12 years, has beennamed by Harrah’s to run its harness racing operationat Chester Downs. Tanner served for eightyears as assistant director of communications atGulfstream under veteran publicist JoeTanenbaum. He also took over simulcasting operationsat the track four years ago, and servedone year as special assistant to track presidentScott Savin before replacing David Rovine as directorof marketing last year. Tanner, 39, says heloved his time at Gulfstream but called Chester“an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.” He is anative of southern New Jersey and said the newjob allows him “to go back home.” He will start atChester next month.BIDDING QUESTIONED IN PASlots are still a long way off in Pennsylvania, butthe process of getting them started already hascreated controversy. A Pittsburgh publication, theTribune-Review, reports that the first major gambling-relatedcontract, worth an estimated $6.3million a year to GTECH, which was awarded thecontract, was let by the state’s Department ofRevenue without normal procurement process, andthat Revenue refuses to identify nine other biddersor reveal how it selected GTECH. The paperquoted Barry Kauffman, executive director ofPennsylvania Common Cause, the public policynonprofit agency, as saying, “It’s clearly not anappropriate way to conduct the public’s business.The public can’t evaluate if the government is doinga good job in the selection process if it onlyknows the winner.”The story detailed GTECH’s negative publicity andproblems in recent years, saying the contract“could put a company embroiled in a federalbribery investigation in charge of thecomputer tracking activity at slots casinos.”September 20, 2005NO UNANIMITY IN SAN MATEOTwo hundred people turned out for a public hearingbefore the San Mateo, California, City Councilon the fate of Bay Meadows racetrack last night,but they left with as much indecisiveness as beforethe meeting started. Bay Meadows Landcompany, which owns the 71-year-old track and nowalso owns Hollywood Park, wants to tear BayMeadows down and replace it with 1,250 homes,1.25 million square feet of offices, 15 acres ofparkland and 150,000 square feet of stores andrestaurants on the track’s 83 acres. Supportersof the plan think it will help stop development ofSan Mateo’s hills and provide better access totransportation and Highway 101, which serves SanMateo. Opponents say the housing plan wouldcause congestion, gridlock and school overcrowding,and that if the track must go, the land shouldbe put to better use than housing. The San MateoChronicle’s SFGate.com reported this morningthat the proposal to tear down the track and buildthe homes “received about as much opposition asit did support.” If the City Council approves themove, a group called Save Bay Meadows says itwill launch a referendum drive, with 30 days togather the signatures needed to get a referendumon the ballot next fall.NY BOARD MULLS REBATESAlthough the court-appointed monitor of the NewYork Racing Association strongly recommendedrebates as an aide to racing, the New York Racingand Wagering Board has no immediate plans toapprove the idea, according to Daily RacingForm. Dan Toomey, a board spokesman, told theForm’s Matt Hegarty that “NYRA is only one ofthe many entities that the racing and wageringboard regulates,” and the board was still collectinginput on the programs from racing interests inthe state. With all the political and business considerationsinvolved in even the smallest decisionconcerning New York racing, don’t expectquick action on rebates.
HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAExecutive NewsletterA daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyondStanley F. Bergstein, EditorSENATE ACTS ON SLAUGHTERThe U.S. Senate yesterday passed, by a decisive68-29 vote, an amendment to the Department ofAgriculture Appropriations Bill that could, in effect,end the slaughter of horses in this countryfor foreign consumption. Under provisions of thebill -- a similar version passed the House on June8 by a 269-158 vote -- funds would be cut off forinspection of horse meat and would end for oneyear, starting Oct. 1, the exportation of horse meatoverseas. The bill has been pushed hard in theHouse by Reps. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, JohnSweeney of New York and John Spratt of South Carolina,and Whitfield, husband of Kentucky racing commissionerConnie Whitfield, called yesterday’s vote“a great, great victory.” It increases the chances ofpassage of H.R. 503, the American Horse SlaughterPrevention Act, which currently is before the HouseEnergy and Commerce Committee and would permanentlyend commercial horse slaughter in theUnited States. The Senate amendment was introducedby former veterinarian Sen. John Ensign ofNevada.BETHLEHEM OKS SLOTSBefore a standing room only, turnaway crowd, theCity Council of Bethlehem, PA, voted 4-3 yesterdayagainst a plan that would have prohibited gamblingat the huge abandoned Bethlehem Steel companyplant. The vote came one day after a six andone-half hour public hearing, and opens the way forBethWorks Now and the Sands corporation of LasVegas to seek a gaming license for their project todevelop 126 acres of the Bethlehem Steel site intoa huge entertainment and recreational area thatwould save 23 of 33 buildings on the site and bring3,000 slots to it. The mayor of Bethlehem, who supportedthe idea of a casino at the steel site, told theCouncil last night, “Gambling is the law ofthe land in Pennsylvania, and no action tonightis going to change that.”September 21, 2005TASMANIAN BETFAIR ON HOLDBetfair’s bitter battle to gain a foothold in thesouthern hemisphere by gaining approval to openbetting exchanges in Tasmania were delayedagain yesterday, when the issue was put on holduntil Oct. 18. The premier of Tasmania, PaulLennon, was expected to endorse Betfair’s bidyesterday, and says he thinks he has enough supportin both houses of Parliament to get it done.But Tasmania’s racing industry wanted moretime, and the delay for discussions was extended.If Betfair is approved, Tasmanian racing wouldbe deleted from the Super TAB, TAB Limited andUniTAB betting pools in other Australian statesand territories, and could affect the schedulingof the Inter Dominion, harness racing’s biggestevent Down Under. That racing carnival currentlyis scheduled for Tasmania in March. Harnessracing authorities are expected to urge Tasmaniato be stripped of the event if Betfair is licensed.Robert Nason, chief executive of RacingVictoria and a strong opponent of Betfair,thinks Lennon will have a difficult time gettingapproval through both houses of Parliament.“There is a way to go,” he said, “and it will bemonths away.” Australian racing opposes the ideabecause of the primary concern over Betfair, thefact that it allows bettors to back a horse to loseas well as win.MORE TROUBLE AT NYRA?The New York Post reports that “a group of topNew York Racing Association officials has beenindicted on charges they ‘altered the outcome ofraces’ by lying about the weight of jockeys....”Thepaper said Mario Sciafani, NYRA’s chief of scales,and his deputy, Hall of Fame jock Braulio Baezamwere expected to surrender today when a 190-pageindictment is formally unsealed in Albany. Thestory says the indictment claims officials failed toreport the accurate weights of jocks and thenlied about the matter afterward.
Page 1 and 2:
HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAExecutive
Page 3 and 4:
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 10 and 11:
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA‘FRIENDS
Page 122 and 123:
HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAINDIAN CLA
Page 124 and 125:
HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAStanley F.
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129: HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAExecutive
Page 132 and 133: HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICABALA SENTE
Page 228 and 229:
Page 230 and 231:
Page 232 and 233:
Page 234 and 235:
Page 236 and 237:
Page 238 and 239:
Page 240 and 241:
Page 242 and 243:
Page 244 and 245:
Page 246 and 247:
show all

2005 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?