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, EditorMonday, July 19, 2010WHAT’S WITH STAR-LEDGER?New Jersey’s largest newspaper, the NewarkStar-Ledger, once again has chosenthe day after one of the Meadowlands’premier attractions to run a depressingstory on racing at the Big M and in thestate, written by a reporter who demonstratedin the lead that he knows nothingabout harness racing. The paper did ita few years ago by trumping Hambletoniancoverage with a scandal story ondrugs, and this time ran its story highlightingthe dismal state of New Jerseyracing the day after one of the Meadowlands’biggest and brightest nights, whena vibrant and youthful crowd packed theramp at the million dollar MeadowlandsPace. The timing of the piece was strange-- or perhaps not so strange -- in that themuch-discussed governor’s commissionis almost ready to release its report andrecommendations on the future of theMeadowlands.The governor, Chris Christie, is not waitingfor the long-delayed report. A spokesmansaid yesterday that Christie will announcea plan “to revitalize Atlantic City”as soon as next week. City officials, casinorepresentatives and state lawmakerswere surprised by the announcement, accordingto the Press of Atlantic City, quotingone local state Assemblyman, JohnAmodeo, as saying, “We’ve been caughtout, kept in the dark a bit. We’renot sure what he plans today.”Besides printing its downer the day afterthe Meadowlands Pace and its bigcrowd, the Star-Ledger stressed on-trackattendance drops and ignored entirely aprimary reason for them: simulcasting.It also relegated to the final paragraphsof the long story one of the brightest developmentsin New Jersey racing, MonmouthPark’s compressed season withmillion dollar a day purses. Attendanceat Monmouth is up almost 13% at 10,572,on-track handle is up almost 43% at$752,718, and total handle is up 118%,averaging $7,672,255 a day. ReporterTed Sherman either was unaware of thesedevelopments or writing a directed verdict,his story belying its headline about“a moribund industry.”GARY GIVES IT TO THEMIn Massachusetts, Gary Piontkowski, theaggressive president and CEO of HTAmember Plainridge Racecourse, scoredwith a major story in the Boston Heraldgiving racing’s side of the battle for slotsin the Bay State. Piontkowski told the paper,“The governor is absolutely wrong”in his claim there are no jobs with racinos,citing data from 12 states showingan average of 2,419 jobs at 45 racinos,generating an average of $202 million intax revenue for each state. The governor,Deval Patrick, has refused to discuss theissue with Piontkowski, sending an e-mailsaying, “The governor’s schedule is fullybooked for the next few months.”