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, EditorTuesday, March 16, 2010JOE HARTMANN DEAD AT 59Joe Hartmann, a veteran member of harnessracing’s publicists’ corps, was found dead in hisapartment in Deerfield Beach, Florida, late Sunday,of an apparent heart attack. Hartmann,who switched to the sport’s publicity ranks afteran early newspaper writing career at theMiddletown, NY, Times-Herald and Port Jervis,NY, Union-Gazette, winning state sportswriterof the year honors at the latter paper. In harnessracing, he worked at Foxboro Raceway andPlainridge Racecourse in Massachusetts, PoconoDowns in Pennsylvania, and Pompano Park inFlorida. He was assistant general manager andpublicity director at Foxboro and general managerof Plainridge, and executive director of theFlorida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association.He freelanced for industry publicationsand organizations, including the HambletonianSociety, Breeders Crowns, and Horsemanand Fair World, and was recognized as the AllenJ. Finkelson Golden Pen award winner forthe U.S. Harness Writers Association, serving asboth president and chairman of that organizationand president of the North American HarnessPublicists Association. He was nominatedto the Communicators Corner of the Hallof Fame this year. HTA sends its regretsto Joe’s extended family.KY GOV WILL SIGN NEW BILLGovernor Steve Beshear of Kentucky says he willsign an Instant Racing bill for the state, using oldtapes of races long past, if the Senate passes itthis week. The measure then would need Houseconcurrence, with money realized going to supplementpurses at Kentucky’s harness and thoroughbredtracks.ANOTHER COMEDY ACT IN NY?Or perhaps another tragedy? It is nine yearsnow, and counting, since the fumblers in Albanyhave messed around with a racino for Aqueduct,and still no winner. Delaware North couldn’tcome up with the money. Aqueduct EntertainmentGroup couldn’t come up with public orpress acceptance and Assembly leader SheldonSilver’s support. Now the almost-certain outgoinggovernor, David Paterson, says he willreturn to the drawing board and speed up theprocess of naming a new winner who can meetnew requirements. Paterson says he should beable to fashion rules that don’t defy commonsense within a month. His staff, perhaps jokingly,say they are working on a bill that will passover politics, and then they announce the governorstill will have the final word. There may becourt challenges, and hopefully no folly like allowinga candidate to raise their bid by as muchas $100 million, after the fact, to match whatshould have been a winning bid by a rival. Thisis New York, of course, where the governor alsoannounced it was not likely the budget processcould not meet its April 1 deadline...again. Thehead of the Senate Committee on Racing, Gamingand Wagering, meanwhile -- Eric Adams --says he is making progress on saving racing byallowing OTBs to skip payments owed to tracks.He added there was no solid agreement on thatactually happening. Barry Ostrager, presidentof the thoroughbred breeders says he’s “stillquite skeptical.” Oh, come on now, Barry.Don’t be a spoilsport.