HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICAExecutive NewsletterA daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyondStanley F. Bergstein, EditorThursday, July 15, 2010YOU SHOULD LIVE SO LONGWe invoke the old Jewish grandmother’swish this morning, hoping you and therest of us live long enough to see slots atAqueduct in New York. That possibilityencountered still another roadblock yesterday,when Barry D. Kramer, a justicein the New York state Supreme Court,issued a restraining order halting thestate lottery division from moving forwardon certifying the Asian gambling giantGenting from receiving the lucrativefranchise. This latest development resultedfrom a lawsuit filed by Aqueduct EntertainmentCompany, the name-changesuccessor of the dishonored AqueductEntertainment Group, which had beennamed the successful bidder and thenwas disqualified when political shenaniganswere disclosed. AEC is contendingthat Sheldon Silver, the powerful stateAssembly speaker, had changed the rulesafter the award was made. The judgeset July 23, opening day at Saratoga, thestate’s showcase meeting, for a hearing onthe matter. The Saratogian, in SaratogaSprings, said the latest setback “threatensto delay naming of a gaming operatorindefinitely, which could spell disasterfor New York Racing Association.” Thestate comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, saidearlier this week NYRA would go brokeby June of 2011 without resolution of theracino issue. Genting, meanwhile,moved ahead with elaborate plansfor the racino it expects to build.It unveiled plans for racino with a 35,000square-foot meeting center and a 75-foothigh waterfall.BIG BOOST FOR OHIO SLOTSThe decision of LetOhioVote.org not topursue a statewide referendum in viewof the public support for casinos has bolsteredchances of early approval of slots atthe state’s seven tracks. The lottery commissionis preparing regulations and Gov.Ted Strickland, who has strongly backedthe idea, is asking the courts to rule thatslots at tracks are an extension of thestate lottery, and not unconstitutional. Inanother Ohio development, Lakes Entertainment,a 10% partner in Penn National’sColumbus and Toledo casino plans, isopting for a short-term profit, taking $25million and opting out of its investment.NY SCRAPS DETENTION BARNYielding to economic and horsemen’spressure, the New York Racing Assn. announcedit is abandoning its detentionbarn, hailed at its introduction five yearsago as an effective answer to drug use.Thoroughbred horsemen were ecstatic,but the New York Times took a less charitableview, its story carrying the headline,“NYRA Cuts a Deterrent to Cheating.”NYRA’s chairman, Steven Duncker, didnot agree, saying it did not bow to costsor horsemen’s pressure, but had decidedthat advances in drug testing and technologyhad rendered the detention barnobsolete.