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, January 12, 2010STRONACH SETTLES, SAVESThe name may change, but the face is familiar.In a deal announced Monday, MI Developments,the parent company of Magna Entertainment,aims to take over Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park,Golden Gate Fields, AmTote, and XpressBetin exchange for the approximate $435 millionowed to MI by Magna Entertainment. If a federalbankruptcy judge approves the convoluteddeal, unsecured creditors, who are owed some$250 million, will receive $76.5 million in cashand reimbursements, and will split proceedsfrom the sale of Lone Star Park, Pimlico, Laurel,and Thistledown in various ways with MI.Under the arrangement, Magna Entertainmentcould emerge from bankruptcy in the next fewmonths.THE HIGH COST OF COVERAGEChurchill Downs is seeking more NBC coverageof pre-Kentucky Derby events in order to promotethoroughbred racing. So the two have enteredinto an agreement, in which NBC will showsix important races leading up to the big one inthree one-hour broadcasts entitled “Road to theKentucky Derby.” The deal is not a freebie, however.Churchill will pay up to $2 million for thecoverage. It is a one-year contract, but Churchillsays it hopes to make it multiyear. Happiest ofall, we presume, is the talent crew, with six additionalbig checks for their work on the telecasts ofthe Louisiana Derby from Fair Grounds, Lane’sEnd from Turfway Park, Santa Anita Derbyfrom Santa Anita, Wood Memorial from Aqueduct,Blue Grass from Keeneland, and ArkansasDerby from Oaklawn Park. Churchill and NBCare calling the coverage part of their “big eventstrategy,” and will include stories on Derby fashions,celebrities and other off-course features, anumber of them designed to attract women fans,according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.A track spokeswoman said the series“is something we’d like to build on.”WHAT AC WANTS, AC GETSIn the state of New Jersey, it is good to be a casino,if you enjoy getting what you want. The latestcurtsy to the casino crowd came yesterday, whenthe Senate and Assembly approved proposals toallow staff and state government officials to takelobbying and other jobs with gambling interestsimmediately on leaving their government positions.Currently and for 30 years the law hasrequired a two-year hiatus between those events.Where could something like this come from?For one thing, it enables staffers and others whohave worked with outgoing governor Jon Corzineto trade on their contacts and friends inhigh places and avoid those long unemploymentlines. Not everyone in Trenton, the state capital,was thrilled. Republican assemblywoman AmyHandlin, expressing her displeasure to the bill’ssponsor, Democrat Joan Quigley, said, “No matterhow you slice it or dice it, this is a bill aboutrolling back conflict-of-interest restrictions.”One Democratic legislator who voted against themove, which passed the Assembly 42-31, andfour hours later the Senate, 23-11, said, “It justfelt odd, the timing and everything.” The Pressof Atlantic City, reporting on the vote, said, “Theimplications of the bill are wide-ranging. Notonly could government employees take jobs withfirms that have standing contracts with casinoclients, but firms that employ former state officersor employees could now actively seek contractswith gaming companies and those seekinglicenses.” Not surprisingly, the former mayorof Atlantic City, Democratic state Senator JimWhelan, applauded the move. The Press quotedhim as saying the casino industry had earned theright not to be regulated so stringently by postemploymentrestrictions, because “They haveproved themselves.” Republican state SenatorGerry Cardinale, dissenting, said, “This isn’t justa slippery slope. This is walking on a glacier,with a lot of money floating around.”