Posts Tagged ‘Frank Stronach’

By Ray Paulick
If anyone can explain the confusing situation in Maryland regarding slot machine revenue to horsemen and the future ownership of the Maryland Jockey Club racetracks—Pimlico and Laurel Park, owned by Frank Stronach’s bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corporation—I figure it’s Richard J. Hoffberger. A longtime owner/breeder and operator of the equine specialist Hoffberger Insurance Group, Hoffberger has been president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association since the group’s formation in 1987.

The Paulick Report caught up with Hoffberger on the road this week somewhere between Baltimore and Philadelphia Park to get an update on the challenging circumstances the Maryland racing and breeding industry is facing, with increasing competition from slots-rich states all around: Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

What is the general feeling of Maryland horsemen right now?
Certainly there is a feeling of why didn’t we do this a long time ago? Fifteen years ago I stood at a podium talking to the press and introducing the concept of slots at Maryland racetracks. We said we would send $100 million to $150 million in tax revenue to the state each year and help save the Maryland horse industry. Using the conservative figure of $100 million a year, that was $1.6 billion ago. The state needs the money and the horse industry is in dire straits.

It’s typical political wrangling and it’s happening in too many states on too many issues. I don’t think anybody in today’s world would argue health care doesn’t need reform, but how do you do it? Nobody has really argued that slots at the racetracks is a bad idea, but how to you do it? It’s not just us: Kentucky, New York and some other states are going through the same thing. There is definitely a feeling of frustration.

Does the Maryland THA have a preference among the six groups eligible to bid on the Maryland Jockey Club tracks in the bankruptcy auction that’s been delayed several times and is now scheduled for March 25?
We hope a scenario exists where there can be slots at Laurel. We’ve always wanted slots at the racetrack. Our philosophy and desires are unchanged. We want somebody who wants to run races. We are in the racing business and we want somebody who wants to run races. We never contemplated slots would not be at the racetrack (the Arundel County Council approved a plan putting slots at the Arundel Mills Mall and not at nearby Laurel Park). If slots are at the track, they would be required to run 220 days of live racing a year, or less with agreement of the horsemen. But if there are no slots at the track, that provision doesn’t apply.

What is happening with slot machines throughout the state, and in particular Anne Arundel County, where there’s a petition drive to overturn the council decision?
The way it works in Maryland, slots revenue to the horse industry is not location specific. Two locations, in Cecil County and Ocean Downs, will probably be the first of the five specific locations approved for slots to open. The split going to purses is the same irrespective of location. The problem is if the racetrack operator can’t make any money, we could have the scenario of cash available for purses but not have any place to run. That’s the big fear.

Theoretically, higher purses attract better horses and create better wagering opportunities, driving up handle. Could that apply in Maryland if the tracks don’t get slots?
Throughout the U.S. in the last 20 years we haven’t found a scenario where tracks can compete favorably with slot machines. The biggest example is what happened in Illinois when (Richard) Duchossois spent all that money to rebuild Arlington Park and is struggling because of the riverboat competition and actually closed down for a while.

So what’s up with the petition drive to overturn the county commission’s zoning approval for slots at the Arundel Mills Mall?
The law in Anne Arundel County not specific to slots says if the zoning board, the county commission, passes a zoning law, then the citizens have the right to overturn the zoning approval with a petition signed by 19,500 people within 40 days of the zoning regulation being signed into law. It then it goes to a public referendum. Approval of slot machines is predicated on zoning approval. When Arundel Mills got zoning approval, there was a move afoot to overturn the ruling. Enough signatures appear to have been gathered; approximately 40,000 have been submitted though not yet approved. Any referendum would be in November.

If the zoning decision is reversed in Anne Arundel County, the whole bid process starts again, and somebody else has to apply for zoning. It’s back to square one.

What impact does the Anne Arundel situation have on the value of the Maryland Jockey Club tracks and the potential auction?
Obviously if the potential for slots existed, assuming that Arundel Mills gets knocked out, then the possibility exists for them to go back to Laurel. You don’t have to be an economist to see the value of the property goes up. It’s a gamble. But every business is a gamble.

When horsemen do get benefits from slots revenue, how much of a difference could it make to purses?
Assuming the Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County locations are up, we could be looking, by the time the machines are mature, at $70 million to purses each year. That’s the maximum. We could be looking at $100 million a year in total purses in Maryland.

What do you think is going to happen to Pimlico and the Preakness?
I think they’ll stay. Pimlico and the Preakness is a money maker. If you won Pimlico in a poker game this afternoon, you’d be the happiest guy in the horse business.

Have the delays and uncertainty damaged Maryland’s breeding industry beyond repair, or can it bounce back?
Look at what happened in Pennsylvania. That came on pretty quick. Can we bounce back? Yeah. Have horse will travel. We tell politicians it’s very easy to put horses on a van. We talk about the Baltimore Colts packing up everything in a moving van and leaving in the middle of the night. The difference is, in the horse industry, you can ship five mares a day, and in 100 days you’ve lost 500 mares. Your breeding industry is dead.

The key in Maryland, everybody in the horse industry wants to see what happens with the auction of the tracks. Is it going to get delayed again? Magna, in bankruptcy, has been running races, which is good. We’ll see who buys the tracks. There’s six groups putting in proposals, which is kind of like nominating for a stakes. Even if you won the lottery this afternoon you couldn’t become a bidder. Penn Gaming is a potential bidder. Who knows what they want to do. Cordish (which won the Arundel Mills Mall zoning approval for slots) is a bidder, and MID (Stronach’s MI Developments, which struck a deal in bankruptcy court to keep Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, and Golden Gate Fields) is in there. It’s anybody’s guess, and I don’t even think the people bidding know how it’s going to end up. All those players say they are in it to get the job done.

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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In a complete surprise to most, Magna Entertainment boss Frank Stronach has announced he plans to keep the Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita Park despite recent problems with draining the track that have caused numerous cancellations.

Stranger than the decision perhaps is the reason behind the decision. Throughout the bankruptcy process of Magna Entertainment, Stronach has insisted on maintaining ownership of Santa Anita through a different Magna company, MI Developments, despite unloading several other tracks recently. Yet he is saying he will not invest in a new surface until the industry changes its business model.

If he believes racing is broken and won’t do the things necessary to fix the situation at his own track (regardless of your feelings on synthetics, it’s clear there needs to be some sort of surface change at Santa Anita), why is he holding the Arcadia track and California racing industry hostage?

Read it at the Daily Bulletin

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick
The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association published a slick brochure a few years ago titled “On Course,” heralding all the good things going on with horse racing and breeding in the Sunshine State. But the organization might want to rethink that title if it publishes an updated version in 2010.

With only a few exceptions where revenue from other forms of gambling has helped ease a business down cycle, most racing and breeding states are hurting. But Florida seems to have been stung the worst by a combination of the global economic crisis, a collapsing real estate market, and the decline in the economics and popularity of Thoroughbred racing.

A more accurate name for that updated FTBOA brochure might be “Off Track.”

Consider that:

- The number of mares being bred and Thoroughbred stallions standing in Florida have fallen faster than any other state, dropping by 23.3% and 24.0%, respectively, from 2008 to 2009. Further declines are expected in both categories in 2010.

- Florida’s foal crop, historically the second-largest in the United States behind Kentucky, has dropped from a high of 4,511 in 2003 to a projected 2,600 in 2010—a decline of 42%. It is conceivable states like Louisiana or Pennsylvania, with more lucrative breeders’ incentive programs, could surpass Florida in foal production in the next few years.

- A number of large stallion operations, including the Sanan family’s Padua and Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs, have pulled out of Florida.

- Numerous Thoroughbred farms are listed as “for sale” in the Ocala area of Marion County, the self-proclaimed “Horse Capital of the World.”

- The declines in Florida breeding have come after 2004 legislation was passed and a statewide referendum supported a constitutional amendment permitting racetracks in Dade and Broward counties to install slot machines if they got local-option approval. Both Gulfstream Park and Calder in South Florida now have casinos with slot machines.

SEEKING LEGISLATIVE HELP
Help could be on the way. The 2010 legislative session begins today (March 2) in the state capital in Tallahassee, and gambling legislation is high on the list of priorities of legislators and lame-duck Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who is in the midst of a heated primary battle for a U.S. Senate seat.

The two South Florida racetracks, Florida breeders, and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association are pushing for a reduction in the slot machine tax rate from 50% to 35%, a move that, according to the FHBPA’s Kent Stirling, would nearly double the amount of money going into purses from slot machine revenue.

“Everything is fueled by purses, and things look good to get this tax reduced,” Stirling told the Paulick Report. “That should right things. I don’t envision that happening until July 1, but it will certainly help. We’re one of a number of states in a crisis right now with purses that don’t stand up. If we don’t have the purses, you won’t breed the horses.”

Stirling said 6.75% of gross revenue from slots currently go to overnight purses, with breeders getting an additional 0.75%. If the tax rate is reduced from 50% to 35%, he said, purses will get an extra 5.25%, and the amount going to breeders would increase to 1.2%.

“The deal we would get for purses will be very good for horsemen,” Stirling said. “We have long-term contracts signed with the racetracks.”

One concern Stirling and others have is whether South Florida can support the number of slots casinos in the region: the Seminole Tribe operates a massive Hard Rock casino not far from Gulfstream Park; there is the Pompano Isle of Capri harness track in Pompano Beach; Mardi Gras (the former Hollywood Dog Track near Gulfstream Park; and other Indian casinos in the region, in addition to Gulfstream and Calder.

Legislation being proposed also may include a provision giving the FTBOA flexibility in how it distributes its breeders’ awards program, allow Hialeah Park to operate a slots casino, and create a permit to operate a not-for-profit race meeting in Ocala/Marion County.

But a deal with racetracks is only part of the gaming legislation in the works. Still unresolved is a compact with the Seminoles after a proposal by Crist that was tied to a tax break for pari-mutuel slots was rejected by the legislature. That proposal would have given the Seminoles a full-blown casino monopoly outside of South Florida. The tribe has offered casino games without a compact, something the federal government’s National Indian Gaming Commission said is illegal. Earlier this year a House committee rejected Crist’s compact unanimously and voted to uncouple pari-mutuel legislation from any deal with the Seminoles.

Crist’s proposal, though ultimately thrown out, was unsettling to Peter Berube, who runs Stella Thayer’s Tampa Bay Downs, which has seen its business hurt by a second Hard Rock Casino run by the Seminoles not far from the track in Tampa.

“Obviously we are looking for some type of product that’s going to even out the uneven field we face with the Seminoles and the slots in South Florida,” Berube said. “I’m at a very serious competitive disadvantage at this time.”

Berube said there is a separate push to allow every one of the state’s 22 pari-mutuel facilities outside of South Florida to get a total of 1,500 slot machines. A study showed the state would receive $400 million in taxes (based on a 35% rate) versus the $150 million the state would get from a compact with the Seminoles. “And we feel our numbers were very conservative,” he said of the study done by the Innovation Group.

Berube said he is not betting on a positive result. “I gave up trying to handicap Florida politics a long time ago,” he said. “I am somewhat encouraged by what’s going on up there (in Tallahassee) and some of the rhetoric.” A previous attempt by Tampa Bay to get approval for Instant Racing machines, which saved Oaklawn Park, failed to get legislative support.

“Our industry is in tatters here in Florida; it’s abysmal what’s taking place, especially when you are in proximity to Indian gaming,” said Berube. “I’ve seen a decline of 22% from 2008 to 2009 in the Tampa area. Statewide it’s fallen 14%. Nationally, the numbers are down 11% on pari-mutuel wagering. There’s a direct correlation to the Seminoles. We are suffering more. We’ve been here for 80 years, and it would be a shame for this business to go under.”

Tampa Bay is one of the nation’s most progressive tracks, lowering takeout and offering a very good wagering product. Still, he said, the track depends largely on off-season simulcasting, and he’s seen that fall by 42% because of the increased competition from the Seminoles.

CRITICS FORM GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT
Richard Hancock, executive vice president of the FTBOA, said he is confident the legislature will approve a tax reduction on South Florida’s racetrack slots and give the FTBOA flexibility in its distribution of breeders awards. “One thing I’m not happy with is Tampa Bay Downs,” he said. “They need the same help that the Dade and Broward County tracks got. The pari-mutuels there will get killed if the Seminoles expand any more.”

Hancock has been the FTBOA’s top executive for going on 20 years. He’s got his supporters, especially those on the organization’s board, but he also has an increasingly vocal group of detractors. “We’ve gone from $3 million to $15 million in incentives,” Hancock said, in defending his work with the FTBOA. “We’ve been successful and grown the pie quite a bit.”

Detractors say Hancock has not been effective in Tallahassee in getting the message out about the Thoroughbred industry’s needs and has facilitated board members in running the organization like a private club that has been unresponsive to rank-and-file breeders.

Among Hancock’s loudest critics is Ocala horse insurance agent Gordon Reiss, who helped put together a grassroots organization, the Florida Horseman’s Task Force, that began speaking out at FTBOA open house meetings, attended FTBOA board meetings, and traveled to Tallahassee, met with legislators, and organized breeders to call on their representatives to educate them about the Thoroughbred industry. Reiss said the group helped get House Speaker Larry Cretul, an Ocala Republican, to speak at a recent meeting of the Florida Thoroughbred Farm Managers.

“Legislators had no clue about the impact on the horse industry of Indian casinos,” Reiss said. “They saw horse farms as playgrounds for millionaires. Our meetings with them have made a difference.”

Reiss and others, including Bob Monahan, Bebe Luxon and Dr. Ignacio Leon, told the Paulick Report the FTBOA lacks transparency in much of what it does, communicates poorly with members (despite owning a daily publication, Wire to Wire, and the monthly Florida Horse magazine), and has questionable procedures for board elections. Hancock was accused by the group of keeping the board in the dark on issues like the Instant Racing legislation and making important decisions without consulting the board.

Hancock said Reiss is upset in part because he failed to win election to the board.

He does acknowledge, however, that the grassroots movement has been beneficial. “They actually were of some help in letting people in Tallahassee know how desperate things are down here,” Hancock said. “All the stories they told the legislators about horses and people moving to places like Pennsylvania or New York. I have to say it was helpful in getting the attention of the Pari-Mutuel Committee in the House.”

“The loss of 3,000 mares has taken $75 million to $100 million out of the local economy,” Reiss said. “Land values have dropped considerably, and the bank credit squeeze has hurt. Purses are terrible, and there is a lack of leadership. It got to the point where we couldn’t depend on the FTBOA and felt a grassroots movement was necessary.”

Copyright © 2010, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Southern California-based trainer Bob Hess crystallized the often toxic debate over synthetic tracks as well as anyone I’ve talked with on the subject: “My horses are happy on it, and they’re lasting a lot longer,” said Hess, a 44-year-old, second generation horseman and a graduate of Stanford University. “My clients are getting more bang for their buck. But without gamblers, we are nothing: there are no purses and no owners. The reality is the gamblers hate this shit. They have no confidence in it. From what they tell me, it’s inconsistent and changes from track to track. Most gamblers tend to play speed, and if you play speed out here, you’re screwed.”

STATISTICS SUGGEST SYNTHETICS ARE SAFER
The criticism of the synthetic tracks by horsemen flies in the face of statistics showing they are safer than the dirt surfaces that preceded them, at least as far as fatalities are concerned. What hasn’t been proven or disproven in statistical research is the common belief by many trainers that horses are sustaining more hind end or soft-tissue injuries on synthetics than they were on dirt.

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Richard Eng chimed in on the recent Magna deal reached with creditors to maintain control of Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita, Golden Gate Fields and XpressBet.

Despite such flops like the Horse Wizard slot machine, ultimately he makes a strong pitch for us to root for MEC to succeed ‘because way too much has been invested’.

Click here for the rest of the Las Vegas Review-Journal article

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

By Ray Paulick
Will Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs win a sixth consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding breeder, or will Saudi Arabian Prince Khalid Abdullah break Stronach’s streak and win a fifth Eclipse Award as outstanding breeder in the name of his Juddmonte Farm?

Adena Springs, Juddmonte and Dolphus Morrison are the three finalists in the breeder category.

Stronach’s massive operation finished atop the list of North American breeders by money won for the seventh year in a row, though the total earnings of horses bred in the name of Adena Springs took a substantial drop in 2009 from the previous year. Adena had 568 winners in 2009 from 3,903 starts and total earnings of $12,853,329. The average earnings per start was $3,293. In 2008, Adena Springs-bred horses earned $19,217,703.

Stronach’s operation produced only two American Graded Stakes winners of 2009—both of them Grade 3 winners.

Juddmonte Farm finished second in money won, with $7,055,631 in earnings from 310 starts and 46 wins. Juddmonte-breds earned an average $22,760 per start, and the operation produced four American Graded Stakes winners—three of them Grade 1, Ventura, Midships and Midday. No other breeder produced three individual Grade 1 winners of 2009.

For my money, Juddmonte far outperformed Adena Springs in 2009, but Eclipse Award voters haven’t looked beyond the earnings list in recent years, and it would not surprise me to see Adena Springs win again. Juddmonte received its first Eclipse Award as outstanding breeder in 1995, then won three in a row, from 2001-03. Adena Springs has won each year since 2004, and Stronach won a previous award in his own name in 2000.

The third finalist, Dolphus Morrison, bred just one American Graded Stakes winner, Rachel Alexandra, a finalist for Horse of the Year with Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Zenyatta. It seems a bit odd that Morrison received the third highest-number of votes, given the fact that breeders of one big horse are seldom recognized with an Eclipse Award.

In fact, in the history of the awards, only one breeder, Golden Chance Farm, was voted an Eclipse Award primarily because of one horse. Golden Chance bred John Henry and won the outstanding breeder award in 1981 in the first of John Henry’s two Horse of the Year campaigns.

There were three breeding operations that bred five individual American Graded Stakes winners of 2009, and none of them received enough support to be a finalist for an Eclipse Award. Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley bred five American Graded Stakes winners of 10 AGS races; Mr. and Mrs. Robert McNair’s Stonerside bred five AGS winners of seven races; and Kenny Troutt and Bill Casner’s WinStar Farm bred five AGS winners of five races.

In my opinion, quality should come into play when Eclipse Award voters assess each year’s outstanding breeders. Having the largest operation and breeding the winners of the most money does not equate to quality. Adena Springs has had some very good years and has produced a number of champions, and several of those previous Eclipse Awards were well deserved. If Adena Springs wins this year, however, the voters got it wrong.

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Attorneys for Magna Entertainment have struck a deal in U.S.  bankruptcy court with unsecured creditors that will allow Frank Stronach to maintain control of Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields and the account wagering company Xpressbet.com and the Amtote totalizator company, Reuters and Bloomberg have reported.

After you’ve read the stories,feel free to return to the Paulick Report and comment on this latest development regarding Stronach and his affiliated companies. — Ray Paulick

By Ray Paulick
Should character and rules violations come into play when votes are cast for honors such as horse racing’s Eclipse Awards or Hall of Fame? My belief is that they should.

That question came to mind yesterday when Daily Racing Form first reported on the lawsuit filed by a bank against Ahmed Zayat, whose Zayat Stables was the leading owner in North America in 2008 by earnings and currently ranks third in that category. The bank alleges Zayat owes more than $34 million on equine-related loans.

Zayat wasn’t even one of the three finalists in 2008 Eclipse Award voting in the outstanding owner category. The award went to Frank Stronach’s Stronach Stables, which edged IEAH Stables by one vote, with Godolphin Racing third.

In light of the lawsuit (which, I need to remind readers, is simply the bank’s allegation and does not tell the other side of the story), it will be interesting to see if Eclipse voters again shun Zayat, whose stable earnings are within $300,000 of the leader, the Juddmonte Farms of Saudi Arabian Prince Khalid Abdullah. Zayat Stables has also had a very good year in American Graded Stakes competition, with six individual American Graded Stakes winners. Only the two entities controlled by Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed have more: Godolphin and Darley have nine AGS winners apiece.

One of Zayat’s biggest stars, Zensational, is a leading contender for champion male sprinter. That begs another question: should a horse be punished by real or perceived misdeeds of his connections? That’s a trickier one to answer.

In Zensational’s case, I don’t thinkan owner’s potential financial problems or character should be a factor in the vote. However, if there are horses trained by individuals who have experienced numerous medication violations (and that isn’t the case with Zensational), I think it’s fair game to bring that into the thought process.

That brings us to Rachel Alexandra, who is a cinch to win the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly and, in my mind, remains the frontrunner for Horse of the Year over the unbeaten Zenyatta. (Full disclosure: I don’t have a vote for Eclipse Awards, but if I did I would vote for Zenyatta over Rachel Alexandra in a very difficult decision.)

Rachel Alexandra is trained by Steve Asmussen, who is fighting a six-month suspension in Texas for a medication violation detected by post-race testing in a horse he trains and that ran at Lone Star Park in 2008 (click here for details). If it was Asmussen’s first violation, I think voters could easily overlook it. But as the Paulick Report disclosed in June 2008, Asmussen has a long list of rules violations over the last 20 years, including a number of medication positives.

Would Asmussen’s lengthy rap sheet be a factor in how I would vote? Yes, it would. Perhaps it would be enough of a factor to tilt the scales in the Rachel Alexandra vs. Zenyatta Horse of the Year vote.

I also believe it’s fair game to look at a trainer’s record of violation when casting a ballot for outstanding trainer. Asmussen won his first Eclipse Award in this category for 2008, and he’s almost certain to repeat this year. But if I had a vote, it would be very difficult for me to cast a ballot in favor of Asmussen over someone like John Shirreffs, the trainer of Zenyatta. In a search of the California Horse Racing Board database, Shirreffs comes up with zero rulings for medication violations.

Character and a track record of following medication rules should matter when we take time to honor the best in Thoroughbred racing.
 

By Ray Paulick
Ten years ago many of the grand poobahs of American racing gathered in Tucson, Ariz., for the University of Arizona Racetrack Industry Program’s 25th annual Symposium on Racing. There was great anticipation of the event, in large part to get an update on the fledgling National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s efforts to organize a “league office” and provide national leadership for an industry that had none in areas like marketing and television. The NTRA had commenced operations a year earlier, in 1998.

There’s something about this game that brings out the knockers (no, Tiger, not that kind), and the NTRA was under intense criticism at the outset in many different quarters from people who thought a) their chief executives didn’t know enough about horse racing; b) they were paid too much money; c) the “Go Baby Go” catchphrase developed by New York advertising agency Merkley Newman Harty was mindless; d) their first-year marketing campaign featuring Lori Petty (aka “Tank Girl”) was horrible; and e) horse racing’s television ratings and the economics of the industry weren’t getting any better and the NTRA had already been in a business a whole year!

Oh, for the good old days!

Pari-mutuel handle in North America during the NTRA’s first year in 1998 hit an all-time record, of $13.8 billion, and it increased for the next five years, peaking at $15.9 billion in 2003. At the end of 2009, total handle in North America will be less than what was generated in 1998.

In 1999, when chief executive Tim Smith delivered a state of the NTRA address at the Symposium on Racing he spoke about increased television exposure, including a new series, NTRA Champions on Fox, and additional programming on the ESPN family of companies that would bring the total number of hours of televised racing on network and cable (excluding TVG) to 137, an increase in 40% over two years.

Nearly $30 million was spent on national and local advertising using NTRA-branded material in 1999. Inserts promoting major racing events were placed in Sports Illustrated and USA Today. There were NTRA “fan guides,” racetrack customer service training coordinated by NTRA, new events like the NTRA All-Star Jockeys Challenge, in-depth market research and increased lobbying in Washington, D.C.

Thoroughbred racing, for a brief period, was playing offense, an unfamiliar strategy for this industry. Sure, a few years earlier, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (a trade association of tracks, not to be confused with the NTRA) hired an outsider, sports marketing executive Brian McGrath, to come in and play the role of “commissioner,” but his tenure was over almost as soon as it began.

Why is it this industry so often says it needs outside expertise, then bludgeons whoever is brought in under that guise because “he doesn’t understand racing”?

Today, while its top executives are back at the Arizona Symposium on Racing, all the NTRA can do is play defense, a glorified game of whack-a-mole. There’s no talk about growing the sport and its business anymore but of how to stop the bleeding. Racehorse injuries and fatalities here. Tote credibility problems there. Threats from Washington, D.C.  There is no such thing as NTRA marketing or television anymore. The organization’s skeleton staff in Kentucky and New York is stretched to the bone, and its budget has been continuously reduced, now standing at about $10 million, a fraction of what it was 10 years ago.

What happened?

The organization’s fate was sealed when Frank Stronach, not long after he started buying racetracks, declared he didn’t need the NTRA for his Magna Entertainment to succeed (how’s that working out?). Stronach petulantly threatened to drop out of the NTRA and joined with other short-sighted track-owning malcontents that forced NTRA executives to spend most of their energy keeping the coalition from crumbling. That’s not a formula for success.

Any chance of building the NTRA into some semblance of a “league office” finally ended when the Breeders’ Cup, which signed a joint operating agreement with the NTRA in 2001, ended its relationship five years later.

I’m not even sure why we have an NTRA any more. Its area of interest almost completely overlaps with the aforementioned TRA, with the lone exception of lobbying federal politicians to maintain tax breaks for horse owners (something, incidentally, the racetrack organization TRA should care about, since it needs horse owners to race at their tracks).

At that 1999 Arizona racing symposium, Smith introduced the NTRA’s second-year ad campaign, one that featured the actor Rip Torn talking to chunks of turf and statues of jockeys like a crazy person. Torn hasn’t had the best of times since then (witness his two arrests for suspicion of drunk driving), and neither has the original Go Baby Go girl, Lori Petty (she had some driving problems, too).

But both Torn and Petty have survived the ups and downs of life, something I can relate to as well. I’m not sure we’ll be saying the same thing of the NTRA, which could be Gone Baby Gone before we know it.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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