PRESCRIPTION for HOW DO WE SAVE THE SPORT OF THOROUGHBRED RACING SO WE CAN ONCE AGAIN CALL IT A “GREAT GAME”? by BILL FINLEY SPONSORED BY s Rachel Alexandra made her way most tracks, Monmouth included, primary reason why so many gam- Ainto the Monmouth Park pad- is about 20 percent, gamblers lost blers have abandoned horse racing dock for the 42nd running of the more than $2.4 million playing for gambling pursuits where the Haskell Invitational, the reaction the Haskell card. Had the same odds are more in their favor. from the thousands of fans press- $12,297,624 been put through At least people who bet on Rachel ing against one another to catch a slot machines at nearby Philadel- Alexandra won some money, but glimpse of her was nothing short of phia Park, gamblers would have lost their return on a $2 win bet on her hero worship. Some held up signs, $1,082,190, less than half of what was just $3. Why? Because a day ear- some cheered. They all smiled. Monmouth players lost. The take- lier, the Kentucky Derby winner ran Despite some of the most miser- out on Pennsylvania slot machines in a race that has no prestige and no able weather the denizens of the Jersey is 8.8 percent. history but a purse fattened by slot Shore could ever remember, 37,090 machine profits, the West Virginia showed up to watch a horse race. They Derby. That weakened the field and AND came because the Haskell is an event. “As Haskell deflated Rachel Alexandra’s price. To They came because Rachel Alexandra have the Belmont winner (Summer is a superstar with crossover appeal. Day proved, Bird) and the Preakness winner (Ra- They came because Monmouth Park chel Alexandra) run in one race and is a facility that has class, grace and horse racing can the Kentucky Derby winner (Mine beauty. They came because betting That Bird) in another on the same on a horse race is risky, invigorating, be an appealing, weekend is insanity. But racing was challenging, fun, and you might actu- helpless to stop it. It has no com- ally make a few bucks. Some came be- alluring product missioner and, outside of the Triple cause the beer is reasonably priced and Crown series, no structure to speak of. they wanted to get wasted and have a that can be, at Which is probably why the entire good time. Not that there’s anything weekend was a bust when it came to wrong with that. times, magical.” television. Without the three Triple Is this a great game or what? Crown winners showing up in the Well, not exactly. With the exception of the lot- same starting gate, the major tele- As Haskell Day proved, horse tery, which offers the possibility of vision outlets passed. The Haskell racing can be an appealing, allur- life-changing riches, no gambling appeared only on TVG, while only ing product that can be, at times, enterprise in this nation gouges its a small player, the Fox Sports Re- magical. But something clearly players like racing does. Nothing, in gional Network, showed the West isn’t right. A great game wouldn’t fact, comes anywhere close. That’s a Virginia Derby. be reeling the way this sport is; a great game wouldn’t be struggling PHOTO: SARAH K. ANDREW, EQUI-PHOTO for relevance or getting battered by casinos, lotteries and a host of other gaming options in the battle for the gambling dollar. So, what is wrong? Look beyond Rachel Alexandra and the 37,090 people, and it was all there to see on Haskell Day. Even when the sport gets it right, it gets it wrong. A total of $12,297,624 was wagered on Haskell Day across North America. It was a healthy number and betting activity like that is among the reasons the track could afford to award $1.25 million in purse money to the Haskell participants. But there was a cost. Considering THE CROWDS TURNED OUT IN DROVES TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF RACHEL ALEXANDRA that the melded takeout rates for IN THE HASKELL. A SIGN OF A HEALTHY SPORT? MAYBE... OR MAYBE NOT. TDN Magazine, Summer 2009 | 2 SPONSORED BY A ND PHOTO: SARAH K. ANDREW, EQUI-PHOTO ALL ALONE AT THE HASKELL FINISH. “To HAVE THE BELMONT WINNER (SUMMER BIRD) AND THE PREAKNESS WINNER (RACHEL ALEXANDRA) RUN IN ONE RACE AND THE KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER (MINE THAT BIRD) IN ANOTHER ON THE SAME WEEKEND IS INSANITy.” Television, though, was the least three days later, the attendance was The situation is so bleak that the of management’s worries. Once 3,848 and $2,480,883 was wagered state’s largest and most influential Haskell Day was over, they had to through all sources. Those numbers paper, the Newark Star-Ledger, ran a brace themselves for a jarring return don’t work, and Monmouth Park is stinging editorial in mid-July, which to reality. When racing returned losing money. pointed out the state-owned Mead- owlands and Monmouth racetracks are now losing $21 million com- bined a year, and advocated an end PARI-MUTUEL HANDLE to racing in the state. “…Taxpayers (DOLLARS IN BILLIONS) are keeping the tracks alive. Why not let horse racing die a natural 18 death in New Jersey?” the editorial U.S. writers asked. The editorial continued: Canada & Puerto Rico “The United States, in its worst 16 economic crisis since the Great De- pression, can let Chrysler and GM fail (and obsolete auto manufactur- ing jobs disappear), but the Garden 14 State nags must run to keep hay farms in business. Do the math: At a $21 million loss, it’s costing New Jersey taxpayers $5,497 per year to 12 keep each person employed at the tracks—in a dying industry.” The answer, New Jersey racing of- 10 ficials insist, is slot machines. After 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 all, they argue, haven’t they made SOURCE: THE JOCKEY CLUB FACT BOOK everyone in Pennsylvania racing happy and prosperous? It’s conve- 3 | TDN Magazine, Summer 2009 SPONSORED BY nient, it’s easy, and it doesn’t take races run each year) hasn’t changed that we can once again call it a “great any creative thinking. that dramatically. The result is an game” and do so without hesitation It’s just not quite that simple. Not economic recipe for disaster: the de- or reservation. That’s asking a lot, everyone, it seems, in Pennsylva- mand does not come close to meet- but they were up to the task. nia is happy. Politicians there have ing the supply. The panel consisted of some of the figured out that the millions going So how do you fix that? You have best and sharpest industry leaders to horse racing from slot machines to either increase the demand or and thinkers (see box, below). might just be better spent on help- reduce the supply. The harder ques- They may not have been gathered ing the state out of its own finan- tion is, with such a complex indus- in the same room, but what follows cial morass. There are rumblings try, how do you do that? is a round table discussion. How are that the state will find a way to take For the answers, the Thorough- we going to fix racing? $100 million from the slots money bred Daily News turned to 11 of the In the following pages, we will that had been going to purses and brightest and most influential peo- cover the most talked-about, most- AND take it for itself. If that happens, ple in the industry. We asked them debated topics. First up, ways to Pennsylvania is likely to be the first to work their way through this mess make betting on horses a more of many states to reduce racing’s slice and tell us how to fix this sport, so popular pursuit: of the pie. The result is that the economics of horse racing are out of whack BILL in New Jersey, just as they are just ON OUR NADER about everywhere. It’s an expensive Executive Director of game to put on. Horses must be Racing, Hong Kong fed. Large buildings must be main- PANEL Jockey Club tained. Racehorse owners have to be fairly compensated. It takes a GREG NICK lot of revenue to make this work, AVIOLI NICHOLSON revenue that has traditionally come President and CEO, President and CEO, from the track’s share of the pari- Breeders’ Cup Keeneland mutuel handle. Its sensibilities vis-a-vis a growing portion of the American public may EUGENE JEFF be out of whack as well. CHrisTIANSEN PLATT A horse died on Haskell day. His Chairman, President, name was Tale of Victory. A 3-year- Christiansen Horseplayers Associa- old by Tale of the Cat, his life ended Capital Advisers tion of North America as he made his way into the far turn and broke a leg. A race earlier, four STEVE DENNIS horses went down in a spill, though, CRIST ROBINSON apparently, none of the horses were Chairman and President and CEO, seriously hurt. Jockey Fabrizio Ji- Publisher, New Jersey Sports and menez did break his leg in the spill. Daily Racing Form Exposition Authority A story about the spills and acci- dents in the on-line version of the BOB ALEX area’s local paper, the Asbury Park EVANS WALDROP Press, included this reaction: President and CEO, President and CEO, “Yes, folks, this is a great sport, Churchill Downs National Thoroughbred the only sport where they use a Racing Association whip to get the contestants off and running, even if it is going to kill CHARLES BARRY ‘em.”—Hookman HAYWARD WEISBORD But if the demand for horse rac- President and CEO, Co-Publisher, ing’s product is dropping precipi- New York Racing Thoroughbred tously, for myriad reasons, the sup- Association Daily News ply of the product (the number of TDN Magazine, Summer 2009 | 4 BET ALL THE FAVORITES, AND LONGSHOTS TOO.