MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: HIALEAH — A MORTAL LOCK
Best unintentionally funny line of the week came from John Brunetti, the owner of Hialeah Park. Discussing a conversation he had with Halsey Minor about the technology wizard’s interest in buying and reviving the shuttered South Florida racetrack, Brunetti was quoted in a trade publication as saying: “I have told him that in some ways I don’t think he understands this business.”
Does Brunetti think he understands this business? How could he? If he did, how did he let Doug Donn outsmart him on every move and get control of the best winter racing dates for Gulfstream Park? Why did state legislators and regulators turn their back on him? How did Calder crush Hialeah in head-to-head competition? Why did Brunetti raise take out to the point that he chased away any remaining horseplayers Hialeah had? Why has the track sat empty for more than seven years?
It’s a mortal lock that Hialeah will never reopen successfully with Brunetti as the owner and operator. I happen to think John Brunetti is a nice guy who loves racing, but I have zero confidence that he can revive Hialeah Park on his own (and I may be more optimistic than state officials or Florida horsemen).
Does Halsey Minor know everything there is to know about Thoroughbred racing? Of course not. But he comes to the game with passion, enthusiasm, capital and confidence that he can return Hialeah to some semblance of its past glory.
Brunetti isn’t the only industry veteran who thinks Minor may be nothing but a dreamer if he thinks he can revive horse racing as a sport. I’ve heard from a number of racetrack executives and horse owners who said they’ve heard it all before. But what is the alternative for Hialeah Park or operating tracks that are hanging on by a thread? Lobby to get slot machines, turn the facility over to a casino company and hope it will subsidize the money-losing portion of the business indefinitely?
Should Brunetti and others in the industry just blow off this opportunity that Minor presents to give horse racing in the Miami area one last chance to stand on its own as a sport?
I remember when Frank Stronach came into racetrack ownership and said he would try to make the sport more compelling and entertaining. In the beginning, Stronach said he had no interest in getting slot machines at his tracks. But Stronach became a victim of his ego, forcing in too many of his own bad ideas and forcing out too many executives who dared to disagree with him. He almost seemed obsessed with getting control of as many tracks as possible without having any idea what he was going to do with them all.
Gulfstream Park was the first Florida racetrack to get slot machines. Under Stronach’s vision, Gulfstream became the least successful slot machine operation in North America, based on the benchmark of dollars won per machine per day. Calder will be adding slots as early as 2009 after getting approval in a local referendum in January of this year. The rebuilt Gulfstream Park is more slots parlor and simulcast theater than it is a facility to host live racing. In short, it’s a disaster.
Calder, built to host hot-weather summer racing, has always struck me as a cold and impersonal track, but it’s never seemed colder or more impersonal than it is today. In a recent weekday visit there I stumbled across what seemed like no more than several hundred fans scattered throughout the first two floors (most of the third floor is closed).
Count on Churchill Downs management to pigeonhole those fans in as small an area as possible once the slot machines are installed and plugged in. Racing at Calder will become secondary, though its purses will be healthier than they are today because of the slot subsidies. But what will Churchill Downs management’s long-term vision be for racing at Calder?
Minor said he has no interest in bringing slot machines to Hialeah Park. The competition for slots players is intense, with the Seminole Native American tribe holding the market share advantage at their Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Minor wants to focus on the excitement of racing and the fact that it’s the only sport you can legally bet on.
Racing needs people like Halsey Minor, and people in the industry should be doing everything possible to help him succeed.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world.
Sign up for our Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick
Tags: calder, CDI, churchill downs, doug donn, Frank Stronach, gulfstream park, Halsey Minor, hard rock, Hialeah Park, Horse Racing, john brunetti, Magna, Magna Entertainment, Paulick Report, racino, Ray Paulick, seminoles, Slot machines, thoroughbred racing
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:28 am
Rather then deal with someone who doesn’t really want to sell, perhaps Mr Minor could acquire Colonial Downs (and its OTB locations) which is still for sale.
He resides in Virginia where the track lies, it has excellent infrastructure already in place, it is Virginia’s only TB race track so it is exceedingly unique in a horse friendly State, etc. If there are some fresh ideas of how to change running a track for the better of fans, horsemen, and runners themselves then it is a perfect candidate to implement them there.
Unlike Hialeah - even if Brunetti sells - which will still have to fight for race dates that isn’t an issue with Colonial. So there is another battle which isn’t a roadblock. Convincing people in Virginia to appreciate horses and racing isn’t as difficult as it is in other areas of the country. Further since Mr Minor has indicated he’s not interest in the tainting of racing by focusing or adding other wagering. If true then he’s in luck as Virginia will not permit the addition of other types of gambling such as poker and instant racing machines.
In 2007 Colonial generated over $160 million in TB wagering which was up over 4% from the year prior. It is not a dying track by any means rather just a track whereby its owner sees that it could make more with their money invested elsewhere. So a new owner who loves racing and takes more joy out of watching a superior racing product (but perhaps with smaller returns then other investments) would be a perfect, right?
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:49 am
Magna said that it has put Santa Anita up for sale along with their other race tracks. Is it conceivable, possible, that Sheikh Mohammed or Keeneland could buy Santa Anita? Assuming of course that Stronach is serious about selling - and, does Stronach have a choice?
Sheikh Mohammed has the money obviously but there may be questions politically at home for him concerning parimutuel wagering. Perhaps he could form a subsidiary to handle such an acquisition.
Keeneland, I assume, has the funds as well; is there anything in their bylaws that would prevent such a concept?
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:53 am
“…how did he let Doug Donn outsmart him on every move and get control of the best winter racing dates for Gulfstream Park?”
A more appropriate question for Brunetti: how did he let Donn outsmart him to get PERMANENT control of the best winter racing dates for Gulfstream?
Let’s remind ourselves that the Donn family’s war against Hialeah started long before Brunetti arrived on the scene. As far back as 1971, they and their lawyers hoodwinked the Florida Supreme Court into overruling the Florida Racing Commission’s decision to give the 1972 prime winter dates to Hialeah.
Hialeah’s pre-Brunetti financial collapse was precipitated by three things:
1) The aformentioned court ruling.
2) The confiscatory pari-mutuel tax circa 1971 whereby the state of Florida took nearly half of the takeout revenue.
3) The introduction of summer racing at Tropical/Calder which lowered demand for the wintertime product.
This is not to absolve Brunetti of his share of blame, but simply to remind folks that the desire to put Hialeah out of business and keep it out, whoever might own it, has been around 40-50 years and not just under the reign of its current owner.
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Kellsboro Jack makes good sense. Why exhaust resources and patience trying to woo an unwilling wallflower?
Go for someone who wants to dance or else build a new facility. New could hardly cost more than restoring Hialeah. After restoration there is still the fight for dates against CDI and Stronach.
If Halsey Minor wants winter racing, consider a new track around Fort Myers or Naples.
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I worked as a groom for Arnold Winnick and Sherril Ward and as a photographer for Jimmy Raftery at Hialeah in the late ’60’s. There was not a more beautiful, more serene track in the world than Hialeah. Even if you had to be at work at 5 a.m. and weren’t feeling too well from too many beers the night before, you looked forward to your job because you knew it was at Hialeah. I think it is the most beautiful, peaceful sport’s venue I have ever seen. I hope there is still life for the old girl.
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Please dear God, let more people who “don’t understand racing” get involved in racetrack ownership. Considering what those who supposedly understand the product have done to drive people away, perhaps some neophyte will rediscover seasonality, good service, low takeout & well-maintained facilities that the those “in the know” managed to ignore.
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Though Santa Anita and Arlington are nice let’s get one thing straight,there is only one Hialeah. The paddock,the horse path,the row of barns inhabited by the best bred horses in America winter after winter. Gulfstream WAS nice before it was ruined,but it was never Hialeah. If you were there for Private Account’s Widner or saw Silver Sereies and Run Dusty Run hook it up at the 1/8 pole in the early 80’s you understand. If you weren’t it cannot be described to you
September 24th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Have you seen the people that sit at racetrack slots? I’d like to go ahead and congratulate all the racino managers especially Frank “I’ll ruin this business if it’s the last thing I do” Stronach for allowing the dregs of society to overtake once great horse racing venues. Evans at churchill must be going to stronach’s weekend seminars on how to run a company into the ground.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Most people don’t see the beauty and rich history Hialeah Holds. Minor went and toured the park, there is a reason why he fell in love with it. He loved it even before he visited the park. I encourage more people to look into its rich history and tell me what they think. Hialeah is perfect in every way, from the paddock to the Flamingo filled infield to the beautiful palmed entranced. Hialeah is unique and beautiful, and we should all support to save it.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Hope it works out for Mr. Minor
May 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I don’t comment often, but I do like your Paulick Report » Blog Archive » MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: HIALEAH — A MORTAL LOCK blog.