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, EditorWednesday, August 11, 2010GENTING GETS SENATE OKJohn Sampson, majority conferenceleader of the New York Senate, put thatbody’s seal of approval on Genting NewYork yesterday to build and run the Aqueductracino. With the governor alreadysigned on to accept the Malaysiangiant gaming company for the 30-yearcontract, the issue falls to one man, AssemblySpeaker Sheldon Silver. If he approvesas expected, and final governmentalapproval details are resolved, Gentingsays it will begin construction and havea temporary racino with 1,600 slots openin six months, paying New York State anupfront fee of $380 million for the privilegeof ultimately running 4,500 machinesat Aqueduct. That would end a nine-yearmarathon since the concept was approvedby the legislature. The final presentationby Genting representatives won overSen. Eric Adams, chairman of the stateracing and gaming committee. He hadgrumbled earlier about only one applicantleft standing, but said after hearingGenting’s presentation that he was “moreexcited than ever,” and called the decision“a win-win for New York.”FIVE CREDITORS GET XANADUFive major lenders have taken controlof the stalled massive mall project calledXanadu near the Meadowlands. The fivegained the project by refusing to extend aloan to Colony Capital LLC, a California-basedcompany with Canadianand other partners.Colony confirmed the turnover yesterday,unhappily, saying the lenders “ignoredour proposed business plan and were unsupportiveof a restructuring. Becausethe lending syndicate would not grant anextension of our loan, they are taking controlof Meadowlands Xanadu as of todayand it will be up to them to determine thefuture of this facility.”MASS SLOTS STILL ALIVEThe determined Speaker of the MassachusettsHouse, Robert DeLeo, who hasbrought the state’s consideration of expandedgambling to a halt by insistingon slots at the state’s four tracks, now isconsidering calling lawmakers back intosession for reconsideration. The movefollows a $665 million federal grant foreducation and Medicaid, which will requirelegislative approval for distributionplanning.ELSEWHERE....ONTARIO’S finance minister, DwightDuncan, announced an 18-month studythat will lead to a launch of Internet bettingin 2012....MTR GAMING says it isconsidering spending as much as $100million building a racino at its SciotoDowns operation if proposed rules aresatisfactory....KENTUCKY RACING OF-FICIALS are discussing rules for out-ofcompetitiondrug testing in state racing,including horses housed off-track andout of state.