Thursday, April 1, 2010

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<b>Horse</b> <b>racing</b> returns on April 10-11

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 10:27 PM PDT

Horse racing is returning to the Cochise County Fairgrounds.

Fairgrounds Manager Karen Strongin announced last week enough state funding has been allocated this year allowing her to put on one weekend of horse racing.

Strongin said the dates she was given were April 10-11.

"We plan to have a nice variety of Thoroughbred and Quarter horse races," she said. "The track has been maintained and we're excited to be able to bring the races back to Douglas this year."

The El Moro de Cumpas trials will be held in Douglas that weekend with the finals to be in Sonoita for the second straight year. The Sonoita Derby Trials will also take place in Douglas as will the John Ray Memorial.

Strongin is hoping to have at least 10 races each of the two days.

With the economic situation the way it is there will be no increase in the price of the admission or the cost of the programs.

A St. Patrick's Day dance is scheduled for this Saturday (March 20) from 8 p.m. to midnight. Money raised will be used for the upcoming horse races. There will be door prizes and green beer. Tickets are $5.

"This board is determined to continue onward with all the traditions we have here," Strongin said. "We're like everybody else … in a funding crunch."

Kingman has cancelled its horse races this year and Safford is running just one weekend like Douglas.

Safford will run this March 20-21, then Strongin said there will be no races the next two weekends.

Douglas will have its races; there will be no racing April 17-18 with Sonoita running April 24-25 and May 1-2 which is Kentucky Derby weekend.

Strongin says what happened last year was beyond her on anyone's on the boards control and they would have loved to have had the horse races but with the timing of the state budget cuts that was just not possible.

"Our legislators are working really hard for us," she said. "They don't want to see this go away either. … They just had to wait and see what kind of funding was going to be available for the fourth quarter period.

"We want to race, we will race but we had to wait to hear from the state as to if any funds were going to be available to help us put on these races. We weren't sure if there was going to be any funding at all."

Some of the money from the state is also purse money, Strongin said.

The fairgrounds manager said she met individually which each of our state representatives and explained to them how important this event is for this area and they were able to come through for her this year.

"This event is very important for this area," she said. "People around here really like the races and look forward to us having them each year. … But it takes a lot of money to put this on."

Some horses are already starting to work out on the track. Strongin expects most of them to arrive around April 1.

Strongin says she is also looking for race sponsors and volunteers.

"If anybody in the community wants to volunteer to help do something out here and they don't have a criminal background, we would love to hear from them," she said.

 

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<b>Horse</b> <b>racing</b> bill falls short

Posted: 30 Mar 2010 03:55 PM PDT

LINCOLN – The Nebraska horse racing industry lost its gamble on a bill to allow betting on old horse races Tuesday.

Backers of Legislative Bill 1102 failed to get enough votes to cut off a filibuster against the proposal. State lawmakers voted 30-13 on a motion to end debate. The motion needed 33 votes to succeed.

The measure would have allowed people to bet on past races, using machines that resemble video lottery terminals down to the flashing lights and sounds.

Bettors could have chosen from among 200,000 to 300,000 races stored in the machines. Bettors would be given information about each horse's past performance but not the names of the horses or the dates, places and times of the races.

The machines would only have been allowed at racetracks.

Supporters, like Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha, argued that Nebraska's horse racing industry will die without an infusion of money.

He expressed frustration with senators who say they support the industry, yet balk at proposals to help out the industry.

"We have these things on life support and we won't do anything to save them," Lautenbaugh said.

Opponents argued that the proposal amounts to allowing slot machines in the state. An opinion released Tuesday by the Attorney General's office bolstered their arguments.

The opinion concluded that LB 1102 likely goes beyond what is allowed under the State Constitution.


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Historic <b>horse</b>-<b>racing</b> machine measure dies by filibuster

Posted: 30 Mar 2010 09:37 AM PDT

A plan to use historic horse-racing machines as a life-support system for Nebraska's failing racing industry is dead for the year.

A successful filibuster killed the bill (LB1102) that would have allowed the machines at Nebraska's five licensed tracks.

Supporters fell three votes short of the 33 required to stop the filibuster.

"It's a sad, sad day for racing," said Mike Kelley, who lobbies for the horse-racing industry, after the six-hour debate ended.

"Unless something changes, this could be the beginning of the end of live horse racing in Nebraska," he said.

The bill's failure also jeopardizes the plans to build a one-mile track in Lincoln, replacing the track at State Fair Park that will be closed in 2012.

"Without a revenue stream, that's going to be difficult," Kelley said.

What's next for the racing supporters?

"Let's see if they cash losing tickets anywhere," he said.

Opponents pointed to the increased social costs associated with expanded gambling and compulsive gambling: increased crime, bankruptcy, divorce.

The historic horse-racing machines are more like slot machines than live horse racing, which is viewed as a less addictive form of gambling, they said.

"If it looks like a duck, has feathers like a duck, walks like a duck, swims like a duck, it's a duck," said Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff, describing instant racing terminals, which show clips of historic races and allow people to wager on them.

You can wager on two races a minute using the machines, while a live horse race generally takes more than 20 minutes, said Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial.

"This is not a race you are watching. It is a machine. There's just a glimpse of a former race so you can make bets faster," he said.

But supporters said the machines are not slot machines -- though they mimic slot machines with lights and sounds.

"Just because someone says it's a slot machine, doesn't make it a slot machine," said Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford.

Some senators also feared this new gambling would eat into keno revenue that helps support pools, parks and libraries in communities.

More than $37 million in keno profits have been used in Lincoln and Lancaster County since 1993, said Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery, a filibuster leader.

"We are not creating a new economic activity. The machines at the tracks will simply divert gambling money that now goes to other forms of gambling," Avery said.

But supporters said the new gambling would help sustain the live horse-racing industry and its approximately 2,000 jobs, including breeders, trainers and track workers.

"Is it time to turn out the lights?" asked Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, who made the bill his priority. "Because that is what we are doing if we fail to act now."

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.

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