“Rosecroft owner sues horse-racing firms” plus 3 more |
- Rosecroft owner sues horse-racing firms
- And they're off! Horse races set for Great Falls return
- Cleveland horse racing fans know the voice of Ayers Ratliff
- Racing Action Returns Saturday, Sunday
| Rosecroft owner sues horse-racing firms Posted: 19 Jul 2010 04:07 AM PDT The company that owns bankrupt horse-racing track Rosecroft Raceway is suing Maryland's thoroughbred industry on charges of conspiracy and monopolization -- plus eight other counts of antitrust violations -- for an alleged "boycott" against Rosecroft. Rosecroft's parent company, Cloverleaf Enterprises, says the Maryland Jockey Club, Maryland Thoroughbred Horseman's Association and several other defendants drove Rosecroft out of business by encouraging thoroughbred tracks to turn off the signals that allowed Rosecroft, a standardbred track, to air off-site horse races. Cloverleaf says the thoroughbred industry wanted to make the state's only thoroughbred tracks -- Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park -- the sole moneymakers from simulcast racing. The defendants are denying the claims and have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. A bankruptcy judge is set to hear the motion in Maryland District Court Tuesday. Simulcasting thoroughbred horse races once accounted for roughly 95 percent of Rosecroft's revenue, according to the lawsuit. Cloverleaf President Kelley Rogers stopped paying an annual $5.9 million signal fee to the thoroughbred industry in fall 2008 because of falling revenues. He requested a negotiation of the 15-year contract that began in March 2006. Both sides said no compromise surfaced in the months that followed, and on April 30, 2009 -- days before the Kentucky Derby -- the Maryland Jockey Club cut Rosecroft's signal without warning. Cloverleaf says the Jockey Club carefully calculated the timing of the signal cutoff to cripple Rosecroft right before one of the most profitable races of the year. Alan Foreman, a lawyer representing the horse industry, said the timing was coincidental. "They created the very situation they are in so there couldn't be a conspiracy on our side," he said. Rosecroft was still receiving signals from other out-of-state tracks, but in the days following the dispute, those signals began shutting off as well. Rosecroft's revenues plummeted and the track closed in July, laying off roughly 200 employees. Cloverleaf said the Maryland Jockey Club encouraged other tracks to shut off Rosecroft's signals, pointing to an e-mail the club sent to track owners announcing the signal cutoff. The e-mail ended, "Our horsemen support this initiative." Former Maryland Racing Commission Chairman John Franzone said thoroughbred horsemen tend to band together during a contract dispute between the two racing industries. Cloverleaf classifies the mass signal cutoff as a boycott. "This case presents a classic antitrust claim: A group boycott orchestration to destroy competition in off-track betting and to monopolize a product market," the lawsuit reads. The Maryland secretary of state is working on a deal to reopen Rosecroft. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| And they're off! Horse races set for Great Falls return Posted: 19 Jul 2010 03:10 PM PDT Posted: Jul 19, 2010 3:40 PM
Horse racing will break out of the starting gates in Great Falls this weekend with more horses, more races and more excitement. Friday marks the first of two horse-racing weekends at Montana Expo Park. Quarter horses, thoroughbreds, Paints and Appaloosas will be racing for more than 80-thousand dollars in purses. This year will feature one major change. Horses will be racing for six days instead of five. "The extra day is the key because we have to have more horses and right now our barn is filling up with horses," said Montana Downs Racing Secretary John Petti. "In just two days, I've had more than 200 papers for horses to run here." The fun begins this on Friday and continues through Sunday. Racing continues Friday, July 30 through Sunday August 1. Admission is free this weekend. The following weekend entry is also free with State Fair Admission. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Cleveland horse racing fans know the voice of Ayers Ratliff Posted: 19 Jul 2010 06:10 PM PDT Published: Monday, July 19, 2010, 11:45 PM Updated: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 12:02 AMCLEVELAND, Ohio — Ayers Ratliff is the busiest horse-racing announcer in North America.He calls the thoroughbreds circling the Thistledown track in the afternoons. In the evening, he calls the trotters and pacers going round and round at Northfield Park. Ratliff is the announcer at both tracks, the only person in history to fill both posts at the same time. The announcing positions are more than just jobs for Ratliff, and far from his only ones. You have to wonder how many hats the guy can wear. "I found what I wanted to do with my life," said Ayers. "And I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. There aren't too many announcing jobs around. In fact, there are only seven horse tracks in Ohio that need announcers. I've got the announcer's jobs at two of them, and I think they're the best two tracks." Ratliff, 33, also is the announcer at six county fairs around Ohio; and will pick up a seventh, the Ross County Fair near Chillicothe, in September. In 2009, he called more than 3,800 races. This year, Ratliff expects to close in on the 4,000 mark. No one in horse racing can match him. That must not keep him busy enough. He's serving a third term as a councilman in Marion, Ohio; works part-time at the law offices of his uncle, J.C. Ratliff; and was recently appointed the assistant racing secretary at Northfield Park. Ratliff's hobbies are "family and politics," he said. Wife Heidi is expecting a baby girl in September, and she is due on the same day as The Jugette is raced at the Delaware Fairgrounds. They're naming her Annie Jo, a little girl to go with Ratliff's stepsons Dusty, 12, and Del, 11. Ratliff grew up around standardbreds. His father, Ayers Ratliff Sr., races a couple of horses at Northfield Park. His first big-time job was at Scioto Downs in Columbus in 2005. He left to become the announcer at Northfield Park in 2007, and was approached by Thistledown in summer 2008. He had never announced a thoroughbred race and had his doubts. "It was more difficult for me," Ratliff said. "It's not easy to mention every horse in the race more than once in your call when there are 12 thoroughbreds in a short 5-furlong race. With trotters and pacers, it's a standard mile race, and I try to include every horse in the call at least four times during a race." He doesn't memorize the names of horses in a race and link them to the driver's colors or jockey's silks. "I look to the program to identify the horses when I call a race," he said. "It works best for me." Looking out over Thistledown's mile oval, he needs binoculars to identify the runners. At Northfield Park, on a smaller half-mile track, sharp eyesight does the job. Horse names seldom trouble him -- but not always. He dislikes horse names that are jammed together into a single moniker. "I was calling a county fair race and called a horse, 'Lookslikemildred,' " he said, with a laugh. "I broke it down to 'Looks Like Mild Red.' On the way home, I asked my wife, Heidi, which horse she liked best. Heidi said she really liked 'Looks Like Mildred.' " Ratliff still calls county fair races because, he says, they're low-key, fun days at the fair for both him and his family. "I can take Heidi and the boys along, work the races for about three hours, and the whole family can have fun when I'm done," he said. "It's a very different atmosphere than you'll find at the big race tracks. The crowd is there for many different reasons. I can cut loose and kick back a little." His father, Ayers Ratliff Sr., had little doubt his son was destined to be a track announcer. "When Ayers was 5 or 6 years old, we'd be driving down the road, and Ayers would make up the names of horses and write them down on a tablet," said Ratliff Sr., whose horse, Currently Flying, has a couple of wins this year at Northfield. "He'd make up a race, and he'd be the announcer. It's what he has wanted to do since he was a little boy." While a student at Ohio State University, Ratliff told his father that race announcing was in his blood. "He told me it would make his life complete if he could announce horse races," said his father. "Ayers has so much respect for the horses, and what they can do. He's studied the history of thoroughbreds and standardbreds. He doesn't call races as an occupation, but because he has a love for the sport that is simply unbelievable. "As a youngster, he jogged horses, cleaned stalls and helped with our horse-breeding operation. He's always been so positive about horse racing. He has respect for what the horsemen do and what the tracks do to make racing successful." Ratliff keeps his voice in tune. He doesn't smoke or drink and, though he loves horse racing, seldom bets. And never at Northfield Park, where he's now part of the racing secretary's office under Executive Vice President of Racing and Simulcasting and Director of Racing Dave Bianconi. The long drives from Cleveland's race tracks to Ratliff's Marion home can be tiresome. With 122 days of racing at Thistledown and 213 nights of racing at Northfield, there are lots of 216-mile round trips. Ratliff still takes heed of former Northfield park announcer Greg Young's sage advice. "Greg told me: 'Remember, kid. When you're announcing, you're the elevator music, and the horses are the show.' " To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158 Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. 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| Racing Action Returns Saturday, Sunday Posted: 19 Jul 2010 08:08 AM PDT Down-to-the-wire pari-mutuel horse racing action returns to the Gillespie County Fair Grounds on Saturday and Sunday with the Fredericksburg Texas Fest Race Meet. Sponsored by the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association, the two-day meet is the second of four scheduled for the 2010 summer season at the local five-eighths mile track. Simulcasting is also offered at The Race Barn.
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