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, October 18, 2010IF YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH....You will see the circle of life make itsrounds. The announcement that SantaAnita has begun tearing up its much heraldedPro-Ride synthetic track and is preparingto return to dirt brought to mindthe similar situation almost half a centuryago, when the Meadows in western Pennsylvaniagave up on its synthetic Tartantrack from 3-M company and ripped itup in a similar failure. It will take heavyequipment three weeks to tear up SantaAnita’s Pro-Ride, and track presidentGeorge Haines says, “We’re still in theprocess of selecting the new material.Our group is gathering more materialright now, and it’s being set out for testing.”A California rock quarry is providingthe dirt, which will be mixed out ofa conglomeration of several types of sandand clay. The million dollar experimentwas mandated by former California racingcommission chairman Richard Shapirothree years ago.AND ANOTHER OLD ARGUMENTIn South Carolina, another case of whatgoes around comes around. The state SupremeCourt will hear arguments tomorrowas to whether Texas Hold’em pokeris a game of skill or chance. The casehas arisen from a lower court’s rulingthat playing the game in private homesdoes not violate South Carolina’s antigamblinglaws. Five people wereconvicted after a home game fouryears ago.WORLD GAMES DREW 507,022The World Equestrian Games, which endedrecently in Lexington, KY, drew morethan half a million people to the Bluegrass,according to the sponsors. Dailyattendance averaged between 25,000 and35,000, and the final Sunday drew 38,683to the various equine events. Total attendanceincluded media, athletes and volunteerswho entered the grounds daily, butnot children under 12 who did not requiretickets for many of the competitions. NBCSports devoted 8.5 hours to the games.Speaking of NBC television, harness horseowner Ken Wood, whose stable races atDover Downs, Chester Downs and HarringtonRaceway and who has gainedworldwide attention for his charity welldrillingin Ghana in west Africa to providedrinking water for natives there, willappear on NBC’s Today show tomorrowmorning. Wood is scheduled to appearat 8:30 a.m. eastern time and again fromnoon to 1 p.m. in an online chat with JanePauley on his African expeditions thathave helped thousands.SEND A KID TO COLLEGEThat’s the new pitch being pushed by theWashington state lottery, which has beendevoting 21 cents of each lottery dollar toa new state fund for student aid for college.A new TV campaign currently istouting the spend-a-buck, help-send-akid-to-collegepromotion.