Monday, May 24, 2010

“Horse racing: Plugging Belmont” plus 3 more

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“Horse racing: Plugging Belmont” plus 3 more

Horse racing: Plugging Belmont

Posted: 24 May 2010 08:18 PM PDT

By JEFF SCOTT
The Saratogian

When Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver failed to win the Preakness, thus eliminating the chance of a Triple Crown being won this year, a collective groan went up from the racing community.

Without the possibility of a Triple Crown, interest in the Belmont Stakes has been greatly reduced. Less money will be wagered on the race, and racing will be denied the big moment in the sports spotlight it can sorely use right now.

A second blow came when it was announced that neither Super Saver nor Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky would contest the Belmont, thus leaving the event short on name runners.

It's too bad the same horse didn't win both the Derby and the Preakness. And yet it's a pretty sad commentary on the state of racing when a $1-million race with the prestige and historical significance of the Belmont is considered meaningless unless a Triple Crown is at stake.

Of course, this attitude has been around for some time. Considering there hasn't been a Triple Crown winner in 32 years, however, the single-minded focus on when the next one will arrive has not been time well spent. The result has been a lot of frustration and disappointment, especially among those under the illusion that a Triple Crown winner would somehow revive the sport.

The fact is there have been many terrific editions of the Belmont when no Triple Crown was on the line, including several in recent years. The last five such occasions included Point Given's 2001 tour-de-force, when he won in one of the fastest times and by one of the largest margins in history; Rags to Riches' memorable duel with Curlin in 2007, when she became the first filly to win the Belmont in 102 years; and impressive wins by eventual 3-year-old champions Afleet Alex in 2005 and Summer Bird in 2009.

Admittedly, this year's Belmont field does not look promising. Not only will it not include Super Saver and Lookin At Lucky, it will also be without — for one reason or another — the winners of the Santa Anita Derby, Wood Memorial, Arkansas Derby, Louisiana Derby, Tampa Bay Derby and Lane's End Stakes.

Sometimes it is forgotten, though, that there's a lot more to Belmont Day than the Belmont Stakes itself. The four Grade I's last year were the second-highest number for any single day of racing in the country outside the Breeders' Cup. Only the Jockey Club Gold Cup card at Belmont in October offered more (five).

Champions who have run on the Belmont Stakes undercard the past three years included English Channel, Wait a While, Forever Together, Indian Blessing, Benny the Bull, Thor's Echo and Gio Ponti.

This year's Belmont Day card will feature the same six graded races that have been part of the program since 2006: the Grade I Belmont, Acorn and Just a Game stakes and Manhattan Handicap; and the Grade II True North Handicap and Woody Stephens Stakes.

Among the horses reportedly being pointed to undercard stakes this year are Gio Ponti, Take the Points, Grand Couturier, Proviso, Bribon, Munnings, Discreetly Mine, D'Funnybone, Amen Hallelujah and Eightyfiveinafifty.

With its ongoing financial problems and competition from a resurgent Monmouth Park, New York racing would seem to have bigger and more immediate concerns than the diminished importance of the Belmont Stakes.

For just one day, though, it would be nice to put all these concerns aside, to take in an afternoon of top-quality live racing at a Belmont Park that, in spite of everything, remains one of this country's great sports venues.

See you there a week from Saturday.

Jeff Scott writes about horse racing Tuesday in The Saratogian. He may be reached at utahpine1@aol.com.

 

 

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Bill best bet to save horse racing? Local breeder says legislation needed to save Illinois industry

Posted: 24 May 2010 10:20 AM PDT

By SAM SMITH
 ssmith@svnmail.com 
800-798-4085, ext. 525

WEST BROOKLYN – Bob chomps his bit and stomps the sand. A cloud of chalky dust drifts toward the practice track. This racehorse wants to run – same as he does most days here at Rivendell Standards horse farm.

But unless the state passes legislation this week that would allow slot machines at horse tracks, breeder and Rivendell owner Bernie Paul says the racing days for Bob and most other horses in Illinois could be cut short at the end of this season.

"At one time, horse racing was a really good business, ... but it doesn't make sense from an economic standpoint to keep running horses anymore," Paul said. "I'll have to sell everything."

Slot machines are needed to bring back patrons who have abandoned racetracks to gamble at casinos, Paul said.

The state's racehorse industry "is on life support" and needs slot machines at tracks "to save thousands of jobs," according to the Illinois Harness Horseman's Association.

The group is lobbying hard for the state Senate to approve the bill this week during its special budget session.

Senate leadership, however, hasn't brought the bill for a vote.

Paul and many in the horse industry assert that riverboat casinos have a stranglehold on the state Senate, and have persuaded Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, to let the bill die amid budget negotiations.

"We're just asking for an up or down vote. ... Let the will of the people be heard," Paul said.

Paul and a spokesman for the Horseman's Association both said they think the Senate would pass the bill.

"To ignore the common good of Illinois in favor of a few special interests where the money is going to out-of-state casino operators, ... it's unconscionable," Paul said.

Cullerton did not respond to several e-mails and telephone messages left at a variety of locations over the weekend to comment on this story.

Tom Green, who manages Blackhawk Music, a coin-operated entertainment company in Sterling, said riverboat casinos will lobby relentlessly against the measure.

Riverboats "look at us as a training ground for their customers, but horse tracks, they look at them as competition," Green said.

Horse tracks in Illinois – and the horse industry that depends on their earnings – have seen wagers nosedive in recent years, with handles slashed by half in just the past 6 months.

One of Paul's horses, for instance, placed fifth in a Friday race. His cut: $145, or 5 percent of a $2,900 purse. The winner of that race took home $1,450.

"If you race and lose and come back empty-handed, that's one thing – It's part of the deal. But when you run a good race and place and you get a check that you can't even pay for the gas to get there, that's what's really frustrating," Paul said.

The so-called "racinos" could generate between $100 million and $300 million for capital projects in Illinois, and would make up the difference for revenue that never came in when Chicago opted out of allowing video gaming in bars, according to the Horseman's Association.

The bill also would put 3 percent of slot earnings back in horse breeders' pockets.

Paul said he'll be out of business in a year or two unless the legislation passes.

The concept is nothing new, according to horse lobbying group savethecapitalbill.com, which says Illinois and New Jersey are the only two states with both riverboat casinos and horse tracks that have yet to allow slots at tracks.

Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota all have some form of racino, and the interstate competition has squeezed Illinois tracks and breeders too hard, Paul said.

"This bill will be able to allow us to raise purses to compete with other states that have slots at the racetracks," Paul said.

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