Taxpayer subsidies in the form of Slot Machine revenues have caused the over-expansion of horse racing.
In Massachusetts, we didn't even have a public discussion!
Maybe we should.
Cancellation of funding program could mean 13,000 dead horses, report says
Scott Stinson, Postmedia News | Aug 31, 2012
Amid all the numbers and charts and graphs contained in the 49-page interim report of the Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel, one figure jumps out: 13,000 dead horses.
It is, the report’s authors suggest, an accurate prediction of the number of racehorses that would have to be euthanized if the Ontario government continues with its plan to cancel a program that directs a portion of revenues from slot machines housed at horse tracks to the racing industry, without arranging a new source of public funds for horse racing.
The report commissioned by the Liberal government makes clear that the Slots at Racetracks program has been hugely successful since its inception in 1998, providing the horse racing industry with a source of cash that sparked rapid growth. But with the tap set to turn off next April, the authors say the industry would collapse, which would not just mean lost jobs and wages — it would mean a lot of dead horses. The collapse doesn’t seem like a torqued prediction, either — any business that suddenly lost more than half of its revenue stream would effectively be taken out behind the barn and shot.
“I think [13,000] is a conservative number, to be honest,” says Sue Leslie of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association, which has been lobbying without success to have the government reverse a decision that was announced, to great surprise, in March. There’s a limited market for race horses, and though some could be sold to other jurisdictions or used for some other purpose, most would not be, she said. Ms. Leslie acknowledges that while the debate over the program’s merits has largely been one about economic activity generated by horse racing, and whether the slots-money arrangement was a partnership or a subsidy, the spectre of animal deaths might spark public reaction that has thus far, outside of rural Ontario, been absent.
“You see the outpouring of sympathy when a dog gets left in a car,” she says, “So, yes, I think the public would be alarmed.”
She is hopeful that such stark talk can be avoided. For while the panel’s report does not call for continuing the Slots at Racetracks program, it does argue that the racing industry is worth preserving via the injection of public funds. The key question is: Does the government agree?
The Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel, comprised of three former Ontario Cabinet ministers, one from each of the three parties in the legislature, was struck in June to investigate how the government could help the industry adjust to the end of the slots program. The members, Elmer Buchanan, John Snobelen and John Wilkinson, are, notably, what you might call horse-racing sympathetic. They refer to the industry as “the natural intersection between chance and sport” and argue it “forms a bridge between rural and urban Ontario and connects our high-tech world with a simpler, pastoral era.” These guys like the ponies.
But despite its affection for the sport, the panel states plainly that the slots program was a mistake.
Created in 1998 when Ontario was looking to expand casino operations beyond border communities and when horse tracks feared another intrusion on their gambling business, the win-win initiative put slots at tracks and directed 20% of the take to the racing industry.
“The original intent of the program was to stabilize the industry —not inflate it to immense proportions,” the panel writes. “But thanks to the flow of slots money … the industry has experienced unexpected, unplanned and ultimately unsustainable growth.”
Slots money fed a growth in racing purses, which brought more interest and investment from foreign markets. Purse money more than doubled by 1992 and Ontario now has the highest standardbred gross purse and “by far” the most standardbred races in North America. Purses are a combination of slots revenue and a take from live wagering, but as of 2010 the slots accounted for more than 63% of purses in the province. Outside the two Toronto-area tracks — Woodbine and Mohawk — the imbalance is more pronounced: 12 of 15 tracks generated more than 70% of purse money from slots.
At seven of them, more than 85% of purse money is from slots. As the panel put it, the growth was driven “not by the demand for horse racing as an entertainment and gaming product, but by slots money.”
Eventually, the government noticed that it was allowing, using 2011 figures, more than $345-million out the door and into the pockets of the racing industry via its slot-machine collection system. The Liberals call this a subsidy that can’t be justified in tough economic times; the industry says it’s a partnership. The panel notes that, whatever term you choose, it is “public money belonging to the people of Ontario” and that the government can do with it as it sees fit.
That’s hard to dispute: if the government decided 15 years ago to allow sports bars to collect wagers as a way to offset the negative impact of smoking bans, the model would be the same, and few would argue that bars would have the right to keep on collecting a chunk of wagered profits in perpetuity.
Food and beer is their core business; in the case of the horse tracks it’s supposed to be horse racing.
In 2012, it’s not a robust business on its own: the report says only 10% of wagering on races involves betting at the track where the race takes place, with the rest attributed to off-track, telephone, online and intra-track betting. Further, two-thirds of wagering in Ontario is on foreign races — bets placed at Ontario tracks on horses running in other countries. That pastoral picture the report’s authors paint — going down to the local track, placing a bet and watching the race unfold in person — is a fading one.
The report argues that the way out of this mess is to shutter the slots program and find a new way for the public to finance the ponies, but at less cost and with more accountability. Perhaps the funds could come in the form of rental agreements between the lottery corporation and tracks that agree to maintain its slot machines. With Ottawa on the verge of legalizing single-game betting, the province could let horse tracks morph into sports books. The Ontario Conservatives argue that slot facilities should remain at the tracks, but be privatized, with revenue-sharing agreements in place.
“We really like the arrangement we had,” says Sue Leslie of OHRIA, “but we will try to find a new method. We’ll see how the next month unfolds.”
The transition panel is working toward a final report by the end of September. She still believes the industry, and the horses, can be saved.
“Hopefully, we get a solution,” Leslie says, “long before we have to start playing that card.”
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/08/31/cancellation-of-funding-program-could-mean-13000-dead-horses-report-says/
Jessica Vitullo
Horse racing industry group rallies to protest proposed Ontario slots closures
RACEWAY Scott Zeron guides Tarpon Hanover across the finish line to win the Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway Monday, Aug. 6, 2012.
Tony Saxon/News services
TORONTO — Horse racing supporters packed the front lawn of Ontario’s legislature Thursday to protest the province’s decision to shut down its racetrack slots programs.
The cash-strapped government has proposed pulling Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. slot machines from racetracks, a solution it says will help the province battle its mounting deficit.
It’s a decision many in the horse racing industry don’t agree with. Demonstrators held signs that read:
“Save our jobs, save our farms, save our families” and “Why is McGuinty killing the Ontario horse racing industry?” with a picture of a horse hanging from a noose.
Lisa MacLeod, a Progressive Conservative member of provincial parliament, says thousands of jobs will be lost if the province cancels the program, effectively withdrawing the industry’s annual $345-million share of slot machine revenues.
“I know full well that there are 60,000 jobs at stake and I know full well there’s 1,000 in my city (of Ottawa) alone as a result of the OLG’s plans,” she said during the rally.
But Finance Minister Dwight Duncan disputed those figures Thursday, saying the number of jobs lost won’t equal the amount MacLeod claims.
The government currently has a subsidy share with the racetracks whereby revenue brought in from the slots is split between the racetrack and the government.
By cancelling the subsidy, the government will be taking back its share of the revenue, ultimately ending the revenue-sharing agreement with the tracks, and using that money to help pay down the province’s $15-billion deficit.
MacLeod introduced a motion in the legislature Thursday calling on the province’s auditor general to review the government’s plan and its impact on the horse racing industry. The motion passed after being supported by members of all three political parties.
MacLeod, who represents the Nepean-Carleton riding in the legislature, says she has collected close to 30,000 signatures on petitions calling on the Liberals to rethink the plan, which critics fear will destroy an important agricultural sector in Ontario.
Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who joined those gathered in front of the legislature Thursday, said he has fond memories of going to the racetrack in his hometown of Fort Erie and of those who work there.
“They’re hardworking folks who are up at the crack of dawn, not making a big buck but they love the sport,” he said. “They love to have a job in the province of Ontario and not be put out of work.”
Karl Schmed, a horse racing supporter, said most people working in the industry don’t have an education outside of horse racing and breeding.
“They make a comfortable living,” he said. “Half of them are probably going to be on welfare.”
Linda Reid, an employee at Toronto’s Woodbine racetrack, also works as a real estate agent, but said most people in the industry don’t have a back-up plan.
“Third and fourth generation horse people haven’t know anything else but this life,” she said. “They won’t be able to do anything else.”
Others fear what will happen to the horses when the programs are shut down.
“I have a farm north of Cobourg,” said a teary-eyed Ronda Markle. “If I don’t have horses generating me money, how can I keep these horses?”
Markle said she has 15 horses and plans to keep them as long as she can afford to pay $1,200 per month for grain.
Those who can’t afford the high cost of keeping horses will likely end up taking them to the slaughter houses, Markle said.
“Why don’t they just leave us alone?” she asked. “Let us have our jobs, keep our horses and make a living for ourselves.”
The cash-strapped government has proposed pulling Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. slot machines from racetracks, a solution it says will help the province battle its mounting deficit.
It’s a decision many in the horse racing industry don’t agree with. Demonstrators held signs that read:
“Save our jobs, save our farms, save our families” and “Why is McGuinty killing the Ontario horse racing industry?” with a picture of a horse hanging from a noose.
Lisa MacLeod, a Progressive Conservative member of provincial parliament, says thousands of jobs will be lost if the province cancels the program, effectively withdrawing the industry’s annual $345-million share of slot machine revenues.
“I know full well that there are 60,000 jobs at stake and I know full well there’s 1,000 in my city (of Ottawa) alone as a result of the OLG’s plans,” she said during the rally.
But Finance Minister Dwight Duncan disputed those figures Thursday, saying the number of jobs lost won’t equal the amount MacLeod claims.
The government currently has a subsidy share with the racetracks whereby revenue brought in from the slots is split between the racetrack and the government.
By cancelling the subsidy, the government will be taking back its share of the revenue, ultimately ending the revenue-sharing agreement with the tracks, and using that money to help pay down the province’s $15-billion deficit.
MacLeod introduced a motion in the legislature Thursday calling on the province’s auditor general to review the government’s plan and its impact on the horse racing industry. The motion passed after being supported by members of all three political parties.
MacLeod, who represents the Nepean-Carleton riding in the legislature, says she has collected close to 30,000 signatures on petitions calling on the Liberals to rethink the plan, which critics fear will destroy an important agricultural sector in Ontario.
Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who joined those gathered in front of the legislature Thursday, said he has fond memories of going to the racetrack in his hometown of Fort Erie and of those who work there.
“They’re hardworking folks who are up at the crack of dawn, not making a big buck but they love the sport,” he said. “They love to have a job in the province of Ontario and not be put out of work.”
Karl Schmed, a horse racing supporter, said most people working in the industry don’t have an education outside of horse racing and breeding.
“They make a comfortable living,” he said. “Half of them are probably going to be on welfare.”
Linda Reid, an employee at Toronto’s Woodbine racetrack, also works as a real estate agent, but said most people in the industry don’t have a back-up plan.
“Third and fourth generation horse people haven’t know anything else but this life,” she said. “They won’t be able to do anything else.”
Others fear what will happen to the horses when the programs are shut down.
“I have a farm north of Cobourg,” said a teary-eyed Ronda Markle. “If I don’t have horses generating me money, how can I keep these horses?”
Markle said she has 15 horses and plans to keep them as long as she can afford to pay $1,200 per month for grain.
Those who can’t afford the high cost of keeping horses will likely end up taking them to the slaughter houses, Markle said.
“Why don’t they just leave us alone?” she asked. “Let us have our jobs, keep our horses and make a living for ourselves.”
May 28, 2009, 11:00 am
To Alleviate Racing’s Woes, Start by Downsizing
By JOE MEAGHER
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times On most racing days, the Belmont Park grandstand sits mostly empty.
One of the saddest television shots in all of sports is a ground-level view showing racehorses entering the starting gate located on the far side of Belmont Park. As is true so often in life, the sad thing is in the background: a behemoth of a grandstand built many years ago to accommodate tens of thousands of race fans. Unfortunately, on most Belmont racing days, the TV camera shows that this huge grandstand is occupied by absolutely no one.
Sure, for one day this year the same shot will show lots of racegoers in their assigned seats. That will be Belmont Stakes day. And whenever the Breeders’ Cup races are hosted again at Belmont Park, there will also be a day or two of big crowds. Other than that, Belmont Park is cousin to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: the old Brickyard fills with fans once a year, too. Other days, it’s empty, just like Belmont.
The empty Belmont grandstand is symbolic of a horse racing industry that is just too big to remain economically viable at its present size. One way or another it’s going to shrink dramatically. There are too many horses bred each year and too many of them are unsound or unfit. There are too many racing days, too many races and too many racetracks. There is too much competition for the gambling buck, the entertainment buck and the investment buck. So it’s worth musing about alternative ways to organize horse racing in America. Two models that come to mind are based on some of the European race meets and the California county fair circuit.
The Royal Ascot meeting lasts for only five days. This year it runs from Tuesday June 16th through Saturday June 20th. Royal Ascot modestly bills itself as “The Greatest Race Meeting in the World” and it just might be. Royal Ascot packs 17 Group (graded stakes) races into the five-day meet, 6 of them Group I (Grade I) contests. There is long tradition to this event, dominated by the regular attendance of Her Britannic Majesty, herself an owner of beautifully bred, maddeningly slow racehorses. The toffs dress in morning coats and top hats, swill Pimm’s Cup and just being seen at Royal Ascot is a victory of sorts.
Royal Ascot is only the most striking example of a short, super-high-quality race meeting in Europe.
Longchamps packs a ton of Group races into the three-day weekend in October that culminates in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. There are other famous short meets, too. Galway Races in Ireland is one. England’s “Glorious” Goodwood and the Cheltenham meet for jumpers are others. Could the seeds of an alternate way to organize American race meetings be found here?
Another model worth consideration is the system of county fair racing in California. Theoretically, thoroughbreds are a California agricultural product and therefore horse races (and an occasional mule race) are as integral to county fairs in the Golden State as other forms of livestock exhibits or blue-ribbon pumpkin displays. California’s three big racetracks (Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Golden Gate Fields) don’t run at all during county fair racing season.
In general these meetings last only a week or two. Many are held at fairgrounds equipped with tiny, “bullring” racetracks. Del Mar is a county fair meet on steroids. This seven-week meet doubles as the San Diego County Fair meeting and is appropriately held on the grounds of the San Diego County Fair. But for a relaxing, fun day at the races it’s tough to beat a day at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa. And the demographics there are just what horse racing is looking for.
What if American racing reshaped itself in the form of a combination of relatively short, super-high quality race meetings and, at a lower level, county fair-style meetings?
For example, Belmont could run a meet something like Keeneland’s, three weeks in spring and three weeks in fall. Do you think it even possible that the two tracks could coordinate so as to not run directly against each other every single day? During the past month, Belmont ran only 10 graded stakes races, one of which was a Grade I. Other than that, most of its races were for slow, boring horses that nobody cares about except their owners. Is it any wonder few fans bothered to turn out?
By contrast, on Belmont Stakes day alone, Belmont will run six graded stakes, of which four are Grade I. If Belmont ran a three week spring meeting, four or five days a week, it could pack that meet with so many graded stakes it would make a horseplayer’s head spin. It should do the same thing in the fall. Maybe the shot of the distant grandstand wouldn’t be so dismal for those 12 to 15 racing days, assuming those races were jam-packed with the best horses in training at the time. People might even, gasp, go to the races.
The same model could be adapted regionally to Pimlico, Churchill Downs, Arlington, Gulfstream, Fair Grounds, Lone Star, Hollywood and Santa Anita. Pack ‘em in boys! Run for three weeks or a month and load the cards with stakes races.
At the other end of the scale, bring back Great Barrington Fair, Green Mountain Park, Timonium, Havre de Grace, and Rillito Park. Long live Northampton, Kentucky Downs and the Fresno County Fair! This is where the lower-quality horses would run, at small, relatively short meetings in relaxed country fair settings.
Idiotic dead-of-winter meets at Aqueduct, Laurel, Turfway and the like should just cease. Racing could restructure itself to the natural rhythm of the seasons, to America’s unique regions and to the obvious two-tiered nature of the sport: stakes-quality horses and claimers. Saratoga, Keeneland and Del Mar are not only the best-attended meets in America, they have the best demographics, too. Let’s have more like them and less of what the Belmont has offered for the last month or so.
Horse racing is not too big to fail, it’s just too big. There’s too much of it. Racing is an industry beset by exasperating structural negatives in its business model and it has to do something significant sometime soon. So why not start reinventing the way racing organizes itself? Otherwise the photo accompanying the obituary for the late, lamented “American Thoroughbred Horse Racing” will be of that empty grandstand at Belmont.
Joe Meagher has hit three legs of the Pick-4 at Newmarket, Longchamps, Leopardstown, Agua Caliente and on the mule races at the Humboldt County Fair at Ferndale. He writes from New Hampshire where he hopes against hope that his beloved California Golden Bears will somehow make it to the Rose Bowl before he’s forced to leave this mortal coil.
http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/to-alleviate-racings-woes-start-by-downsizing/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment