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, EditorNO LIGHTS AT MONMOUTHAt least this year. That’s the word from the NewJersey Sports and Exposition Authority, whichruns both Monmouth and the Meadowlands, andwhich for a time was considering racing them incompetition. James DeBosh, a NJSEA spokesman,said it was his understanding that “we’renot planning on doing anything about lights atMonmouth this year, but it may be a subject thatcomes up in the future. We’re not saying therewill never be lights there.” Gov. Richard Codey,before becoming governor, had said he favoredthe idea, and a Codey spokesman says thegovernor’s office “will be reviewing all our options,looking forward to the input the residentswill provide in June.” That input, to date, hasbeen concern, on the part of the mayor ofOceanport, where the track is located, and boroughofficials who have been seeking an officialconfirmation about the status of lights. One residentquoted by Bob Jordan of the Asbury ParkPress said, “We moved into town, and we understoodthere was a racetrack here. But there is abig difference to calling a race at 3 o’clock in theafternoon and calling one at 10 p.m. This is aresidential area. It changes the whole dynamic.”DEFINITION OF A POWERHOUSEWith yesterday’s completion of the MGM Mirageand Mandalay Resort Group merger, aworld casino giant emerges, with $7 billion inrevenues and 70,000 employees. MGM Miragenow will own 24 hotel-casinos, includingBellagio, The Mirage, MGM Grand, TreasureIsland, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, Luxor andMandalay Bay in Las Vegas alone, giving itcontrol of a majority of hotel rooms on the Vegasstrip and roughly 40% of the slot machineslocated there. Terry Lanni, who runs this empireas chairman and CEO, said thereare no immediate plans to sell any of theVegas properties and no plans for wholesalelayoffs.April 26, 2005NO SPEED IN PENNSYLVANIAAnd that’s not just on the Turnpike or the highways.It permeates the courts and the racing andgaming commissions as well. The state SupremeCourt heard hearings more than six weeks agoon a constitutional challenge to the slots-at-trackslegislation, but no word as yet, so the state GamingControl Board cannot hire an executive director.The chairman, Tad Decker, says he hasnarrowed the search down to two out-of-state candidates,but neither is willing to leave their presentpositions while the court issue is pending. Thecommission faces thousands of applications forcasino jobs in the next few months, but has hiredonly 11 staffers so far, with a goal of having 40 onboard by June. The Pennsylvania Harness RacingCommission, meanwhile, has not decidedwhich of two candidates will get to build a newharness track in western Pennsylvania. BothCentaur Gaming and the Schick family are poisedand ready to start construction, but the decisionstill is in limbo.WINDSOR HIT WITH $100 G FINETroubled Windsor Raceway has been hit with a$100,000 fine for violation of the OccupationalHealth and Safety Act involving serious burns to ayoung employee. The incident occurred in December,2002, when a kitchen employee slipped on hotoil while changing a deep fryer. The track pleadedguilty to failing to take proper precautions in thelifting, carrying, or moving of oil, and the penaltywas levied by an Ontario Court of Justice JP whoalso imposed a 25% surcharge provision to assistvictims.3 MORE DANDY PRESS GUIDESBig, colorful, handsome, illustrated press guidesclearly are “in.” HTA has received three morebeauties, from the Meadowlands, Prairie Meadowsand Hoosier Park. The Prairie photographs,by track photographer Jack Coady Jr., arehuge, the best we’ve seen.