Friday, March 12, 2010
New York Horsemen, Racing Director Caught in Cost-Cutting Crossfire
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, March 12, 2010--While trainer Bob Baffert was being questioned on Tuesday’s teleconference relative to the condition of Lookin At Lucky, who makes his season’s debut tomorrow in Oaklawn Park’s Rebel Stakes, the interview was interrupted.
“Sorry, but I have to jump in here, it’s Bob Kulina,” vice president and general manager at Monmouth Park. After a brief friendly exchange, Kulina invited Baffert to send a string of horses to Monmouth for its upcoming purse-inflated meet.
“I want Pletcher’s barn,” quipped Baffert.
“You can have whatever you want,” assured Kulina.
This is known as kidding on the square. Kulina would love to have a string of Baffert horses on his backside. And, as everyone knows, it wouldn’t take much coaxing to get the Hall of Famer out of California and on an Eastern-based dirt racetrack.
Across the river, meanwhile, Director of Racing Paul J. Campo has the exact same concerns, only in reverse. He will have trainers lined up three deep looking for stalls when Belmont Park opens its summer meet. The problem, however, is where to put them.
While most horsemen in New York know it to be a fait accompli for some time, no official announcement has been made that stabling horses at Aqueduct Race Track is a thing of the past. At least immediately, anyway.
At the conclusion of the current Aqueduct spring meet, the backside of the South Ozone Park facility will be cleared out, never again to be opened for training. When and if it will be again is the stuff of conjecture at this point.
Further, and contrary to previously printed reports, the highly controversial detention barn will remain in place. Beginning with the Aqueduct fall meet, horses stabled in New York will ship to Queens from Belmont Park.
The local horses, as well as out-of-town shippers, will be housed in the detention barn as they have been for the past several years.
There are many prominent outfits currently stabled at Aqueduct, those of Gary Contessa, Rick Dutrow, and Rick Violette, to name just a few. There are countless others working with much less stock stabled there as well.
Once Aqueduct’s barn-area closing is made official, Campo will need to find room for approximately 375 more horses at Belmont Park, meaning there will be more horses than stalls. In better times this would be a good problem to have. Not so now.
Weather permitting, Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track, which normally opens in mid-April, could open as early as April 1 this year, weather and logistics permitting. That will alleviate some of the problem, though it’s hard to envision how that will help the smaller outfits.
In order to achieve a workable situation distribute Belmont’s stalls equitably, Campo will need to cap the number of stalls allowed each trainer. Thirty-two, or 35, sound like workable numbers for the larger operations.
The little guy also will be cut, in proportion, making it fair for everyone. Sadly, the situation is what it is.
Anyone who follows racing at Aqueduct this winter knows that field size has taken a significant hit, no matter how inventive Campo has been taking pen to condition book, not including the extra races that comprise a typical card.
This has not been a problem in recent years but that’s racing’s new reality, in New York and everywhere where there’s an extended meet in place. Losing both detention barns would provide valuable stall space and save money, a commodity in very short supply.
The shuttering of Aqueduct‘s backside and the cuts in maintenance and security staffing is expected to save the NYRA several millions this year.
Nine out of 10 trainers want the detention barns gone, too, as does Campo and NYRA president Charlie Hayward. But NYRA Board Chairman Steven Duncker wants it to remain in place. Duncker won out.
Presently there is no shortage of horseflesh in New York, per se, yet Campo has had difficulty finding quality winter-horses to fill races. What happens when Monmouth and Delaware reopens can‘t make things any easier.
Whether Campo imposes a ban on the shipping of claiming and allowance stock is anyone‘s guess at this point. If he allows horses to ship back in after shipping out to race, isn’t he cutting New York racing’s throat, as well as his own? So, what’s the alternative?
For New York racing to proceed as smoothly as possible, the NYRA must formally announce their plans for the closing of the Aqueduct backstretch. Horsemen need to know whether they have a future here, and the secretary needs to know what he has on the grounds before he can write a condition book, or even the extras.
The lack of VLTs and upside-down balance sheets are not the only problems that need an immediate fix.
Written by John Pricci
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Not Everyone’s Rooting for Monmouth Park
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, March 11, 2010--While most reasonable people without provincial interest are rooting that Monmouth Park has created a template by which racing will not only survive but even thrive in the future, the smart money is betting against.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, highly placed industry sources are telling HRI there is no way Monmouth Park can reasonably expect to double its handle, something it would need to do to remain viable, given a purse structure that will distribute an average $1-million daily.
The facet that seems clear given the new approach, accenting both quantity
and quality, is that Monmouth should have little problem improving its live gate, drawing fans and bettors from the densely populated metropolitan area while New York’s horses are in Saratoga.
This makes sense in that the few tracks that are thriving in this country specialize. Saratoga and Del Mar are destination tracks, summer places to be for racing fans and bettors from America’s two largest markets.
While less of a destination track per se, Keeneland works because it owns the highest octane race meet in North America, racing for only three weeks each spring and fall.
And Oaklawn Park, meanwhile, with the exception of its impressive Racing Festival of the South concept, thrives not only because it’s become a racino but because it draws patrons from five states: Location, location, location.
More than any other sporting group, horseplayers are creatures of habit. Summer betting eyes are focused on Saratoga and Del Mar, and always have been in the modern era. Arlington Park’s summer signal is very popular because of its extensive turf program. Monmouth has its moments, but its weekday fare is, on balance, pedestrian.
In that context, purse money will help big-time. New York outfits such as Todd Pletcher’s, Kiaran McLaughlin’s, Bruce Levine’s, Linda Rice’s, and Rick and Tony Dutrow’s will have strong divisions at the Shore, as they do most years. Given the added money, however, they will probably ramp up their participation in 2010.
But the big New York outfits might not find the pickings as easy this time. The large purses are sure to attract an influx of competitive horses from Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Money, as racetrackers often say, makes the mare go.
The impact that this infusion of equine and human talent will have on New Jersey horsemen could be devastating. They will have to choose from a limited amount of opportunities more carefully, perhaps even point towards the 22 days after Labor Day than the 58 days that precede it.
While Monmouth Park vice president and general manager Bob Kulina and newly elected New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association president John Forbes presented a united front at an NTRA-sponsored conference call Tuesday, there was infighting before the plan was brought to fruition.
Forbes was one of three trainers, Tim Hills** and Jim Ryerson being the other two HBPA board members, who was not on board with the plan because all felt it wasn’t in the best interests of New Jersey horsemen.
The one person who was on board, however, was newly elected Governor Chris Christie. Christie inherited not only the waning fortunes of the thoroughbred and breeding game but a tanking casino industry in Atlantic City as well.
Tourism considerations notwithstanding, casinos no longer wanted to subsidize racing in return for not establishing slots operations at the state’s tracks. Ultimately, the Christie administration backed the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority’s play to hold all thoroughbred racing at Monmouth Park and reserve The Meadowlands for harness racing only.
The administration pressured the horseman to either fall in line or face a shutdown of thoroughbred racing. The measure came to a vote and the resolution was passed by a 7-2 margin.
If Monmouth Park is unable to sustain itself, expect the state to get out of the thoroughbred business. No tears will be shed in Atlantic City if that’s the case.
The only question remaining is did the Governor of New Jersey do racing a favor, or did he give New Jersey’s thoroughbred industry just enough rope to hang itself? Stay tuned.
**Clarification made on Mar. 11, 2010, 5:03 pm: According to a source from a New Jersey-based horsemen's group, trainer Tim Hills was not an original dissenter. That person was later identified as Fred Maffeo.
Written by John Pricci
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Friday, March 05, 2010
Racing Ties That Bind, Part II
Frank Stronach sees California’s synthetic surface mandate as an example of how state government has not only stifled the California industry but has brought it to the edge of an abyss. “I’m not going to put money in if I see the whole structure doesn’t work.”
Who could blame him for that? He’s used shareholder money, yes, but he’s got plenty of skin in the racing game.
In addition to his clarion call for reduced governmental involvement, Stronach proposes the idea of a “racing charter,” explained as a cooperative between the track and the horsemen; partners in a process of getting the industry to work again.
Stronach did not define specific proposals about how the new partnership would work, but he believes that “free enterprise” would allow a business to succeed or fail on its merits, how it’s received in the marketplace.
It’s difficult to know just what Stronach has in mind here. He simply cannot believe the state would allow tracks in the same market to compete with one another without some form of structured dates. Tracks should open when they think they can make money, he said.
sStronach should ask someone in the state of Florida how that worked out when the denizens of the Tallahassee state house left racing in the Sunshine State to its own devices. In short, it was a disaster. Actually, Stronach should know better.
Clearly, as the owner of one of the game’s most storied venues, he wants concessions. Unless, of course, he truly thinks that free enterprise is a model that would work.
It’s not unreasonable to assume that if not for the poor economy and the lack of investment capital into a still unstable real estate market, Hollywood Park might not be standing today. By now it would have been well on its way to becoming some other commercial enterprise.
Stronach’s “free enterprise” approach is excessive, but he seems intent on forcing the state’s hand. The California Horse Racing Board mandate cost his MEC franchise $24 million for the installation of a synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields and two at Santa Anita.
Further, it’s also not unreasonable to think that horsemen should have more skin in the game, too, taking an active role in trying to solve some of the problems--if, ultimately, they expect to remain in business.
No one person or entity is responsible for all this malaise, but neither can one organization save it. “Putting on the show” used to be a good reason for horsemen to expect significant compensation.
But the general public no longer cares whether there’s a show to put on or not. The time for horsemen to become much more proactive has come. The time for complaining is over; no one’s listening.
Stronach’s taken a lot of heat for making poor decisions, much of it deserved. But at least he wasn’t afraid to think outside the box, a tack that’s in very short supply in the modern game, if indeed it ever existed.
* * *
As I sipped a cappuccino outside the trendy Cheese Course along the promenade in the area of Gulfstream known as The Village, a couple of snow birds walked past on this bright, chilly Sunday afternoon: “Oh, look, the horses,” he said.
The couple walked approximately 150 feet toward the backside of the walking ring just as the horses for the second race took a final turn of the ring. Still seated, I could see the horses, too, as they left the paddock for the main track.
I followed their progress on one of three massive HD digital screens that surround the paddock. The horses are never out of sight, if you wanted to see them badly enough.
When the “Call To the Post” sounder accompanied the horses trackside, a visitor did his best “And They’re Off,” apparently trying to impress his group. To his left, 50 feet away, a hostess employed by Gulfstream Park was surveying a youngish group of five.
“How do you like this place, have you been to a racetrack before?” One of the men said they hadn’t, but all seemed impressed by the entire scene. Maybe they were just trying to be cordial but the response rang true.
Seven races later, the Reeves’ filly would be circling the ring in search of career victory number one. I would meet them in the paddock but only after checking out the Playwright Irish Pub, the Cadillac Ranch, and did some window shopping at Bobby Chan.
I couldn’t help thinking, again, that the only thing wrong with the new Gulfstream is that there was an old Gulfstream to compare it to. So, if you didn’t know better, or your demographic skewed much younger than the average racing fan, or you were walking into a racetrack for the first time, the place takes your breath away.
My guesstimate is that Gulfstream Village is about 85 percent complete. Sadly it doesn’t appear that the high-end hotel and movie complex ever will get built, at least not in this economic environment.
But Stronach’s vision works. The chatter says that the group which owns the highly successful Aventura Mall next door is worried about how the Gulfstream Village will impact their business, even if it does appeal to different social stratum.
The Reeves maiden broke with the pack, raced in somewhat close quarters along the inside, tipped wide after straightening away, and made a good rally to finish fourth in the bulky field. With the right group, she won’t remain a maiden long.
Suddenly the Reeves were on their way back home to Atlanta and the rest of us were headed to Cadillac Ranch for a little dinner.
On the other side of the country, the Stronach interview had to be over by now and I couldn’t help think about how two new owners, and a very successful one, tried to make a difference by helping to care for the people who take care of the horses.
Given the current climate and attendant negative publicity, I wondered why these people of means would bother to get involved in the game at all. Then I found the answer, right there in the track program. The Reeves named their filly Cause I Can.
Written by John Pricci
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