Posts Tagged ‘richard duchossois’

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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By Ray Paulick
Good news doesn’t always make us feel good. To me, that’s the story of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, a 501(c)3 charity that has the thankless task of providing financial assistance to help former jockeys cope with the realities of lives too often spent in wheelchairs. It’s an organization doing exceptionally important work, and like many other worthy causes it struggles to get the funding it needs.

That there is even a Fund for permanently disabled riders is almost a miracle, given the turmoil the Jockeys’ Guild went through under the disastrous leadership of Wayne Gertmenian, whose 2001-2005 reign of terror left the organization teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and its Disabled Jockeys Fund depleted. Gertmenian was removed as president in November 2005, just a month after a Congressional hearing on the Guild uncovered massive problems. The Guild eventually was forced into bankruptcy.

Racing executives like Steve Sexton of Churchill Downs Inc. and Don Amos, then with Magna Entertainment, helped lead the charge to start a new Fund, and in May 2006 the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund was created as part of NTRA Charities. One month later, with seed money from Churchill Downs Inc., Magna and other tracks, it was able to begin offering financial assistance to permanently disabled riders in need.

LaSala said many racetracks have really stepped up to help raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Horsemen’s organizations have not been as supportive, though individuals in the ownership ranks, including Richard Santulli, chairman of NetJets, Bill Casner of WinStar Farm, Barbaro owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson, and Michael Bello, a California-based owner, have made significant contributions. In 2008, thanks to Santulli and Casner, the Fund raised $500,000 during the Triple Crown, which amounts to more than half of the Fund’s $800,000 annual operating budget. Santulli and Casner again kicked in major contributions to the Fund at this year’s Kentucky Derby.

“Jockeys have the most hazardous occupation of any professional athlete, and I feel are greatly unappreciated,” said Casner, the former chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and a self-described “ex-gallop boy that got on about 25,000 of those beasts over 16 years as a young racetracker,” one who “had my share of hitting the ground and having several flip over on me …but for the grace of God."

“There are around 1,500 licensed professional jockeys,” Casner added, “with most of them struggling with weight and making a living. They put their lives and bodies at risk every time they get on one of our horses and most will deal with a plethora of injuries over a career. If they are lucky they will walk away and not have to deal with paralysis. Exercise riders and backstretch help should also be included in this group. While they do not experience the injury opportunities that race riders do, they are still subject to the same events. It is only right that we as an industry work with the jockeys to help them help themselves as well as other backside employees. I comment Richard Santulli, as well as the riders, for taking the leadership on this important charitable endeavor over the last two Triple Crowns.”

Riders have been directly involved in some of the creative fundraising that’s been done for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. At Keeneland this spring, “Riders Up!” a karaoke competition involving many current and past jockeys, was the highlight of a very popular dinner that raised $50,000 for the Fund.

Earlier, in Hot Springs, Ark., restaurateur Mike Loy provided free dinners at his popular KJ’s Grill and racing fans paid $100 each to dine and meet some of their favorite jockeys, raising another $17,000 for the Fund. A similar event, “Dining With the Dynasties,” will be held at Arlington Park Aug. 7, the day before the Arlington Million, thanks to Arlington boss Richard Duchossois and track president Roy Arnold, who is now a member of the Fund’s board of directors. Retired Hall of Fame jockeys like Pat Day and Gary Stevens, along with other current and former riders, including some of those who benefit from the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, are expected to participate at the Arlington event.

Speaking of Pat Day, there is good news about him and Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey, two former Jockeys’ Guild presidents who resigned from the organization when the former manager, John Giovanni, was forced out and Gertmenian was brought in. Now that the Guild has regained its credibility and is on the road to financial recovery under the leadership of Terry Meyocks and a newly configured board, Bailey and Day have rejoined the organization in a show of support. Meyocks said a number of other current riders who had quit the Guild during the Gertmenian era have also come back into the fold.

Earlier this year, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund became a standalone 501(c)3 charity, and it is no longer part of NTRA Charities. It continues to struggle for its funding. “We need the support of the entire industry and all of its partners,” LaSala said.

Please contact the Fund if you would like to help. Its web site will have an online donation link in the near future. In the meantime, you can send donations to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126. The telephone number is: (630) 595-7660 and fax is (630) 595-7655.

Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.

Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris Clay, The Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mary Lee-Butte and the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, Mary Jo Pons and the Radio Reading Network, TV Ratings Are Up.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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