Chicago harness with slots

[zico20]

It seems inevitable that Illinois is going to allow slots at the race tracks in the near future. The first at Maywood tonight had 71,000 bet on the race. With this amount of money being wagered on such a small purse, 2500, how big can Chicago harness get in the future. Decades back Chicago harness was top notch. Can it rival the top tracks with slots? Where does everyone see the purse structure one day when they get slots. Could it get close to Yonkers or Harrahs Philadelphia?

[RaceTrackDaddy]

It seems inevitable that Illinois is going to allow slots at the race tracks in the near future. The first at Maywood tonight had 71,000 bet on the race. With this amount of money being wagered on such a small purse, 2500, how big can Chicago harness get in the future. Decades back Chicago harness was top notch. Can it rival the top tracks with slots? Where does everyone see the purse structure one day when they get slots. Could it get close to Yonkers or Harrahs Philadelphia?
Really have not been to Chicago Barn To Wire in a while but do recall their putting up notices to contact Governor Quinn to get slots. Don't know if Quinn is in office now or someone else is at the helm.

If they ever do get the slots/table games, it will be a boost and just like other states that have it, will improve the game. Problem is that boost is seen by the legislatures as found money and soon will be digging their hands in it.

The one jurisdiction that I live, is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Act 71 was perfect as it brought revenue, jobs and increased the purses to about $27,500 max for the Invitational each week for both sexes. Think about the last year of Governor Rendell's 8 yr term, they brought in Table Games (proceeds benefit both the state and the casino, NOT the horsemen).

In that Senate Bill (number eludes my memory) that amended Act 71 had a one year provision that reduced the funding to the horsemen and was scheduled to expire the next. Enter the Republican Governor Tom Corbett who with his party's control of the legislature got that condition to be permanent.

What happened was that the top purses have remained constant at $22k instead of growing passed the original $27,500.

Meadows races year round while tracks like Pocono and Philadelphia have shorter seasons thereby higher purses than what the Meadows can offer.

Maywood and Balmoral seem to race year round also so the effect will not be as great as the Eastern PA tracks.

Yonkers is a beast of it's own. The slots there are huge and the Rooney Family (of the Pittsburgh Steeler fame) can't find enough bags to carry that gaming money out. No other place in the USA will do as well as Yonkers.

The latest thing to hit my homeland is a bill in the senate last month to bring in online gaming. Slots online. Again this bill states that the casino and the state will share in its revenue, not the horsemen. Add to this, the Off Track Betting sites that the tracks own and are operating now will be able to place up to 200 slot machines in them. And the same revenue share design cutting out the horsemen.

The most chilling conversation at these committee hearings is talk of the state's desire of reducing the horsemen share once again.

Bottom line, it is great boost for the sport in the short run but a bigger boost for the politicians that love that cut of the gambling pie.

[badcompany]

The casino side will pretend the horseracing side doesn't exist.

The horseracing side will put all the new found money into purses without doing anything to improve the product or promote the sport.

[wilderness]

Chicago will never rebound to what it one was!
In it's heyday weekly FFA purses were 35k with an occasional 50k.
Their minimum purse (ay least at the major Chitown tracks; Balmoral was NOT) was around 4600.
In the early 90's those cheap condition claimers were introduced at Fairmount to fill the races, then later carried over to the bigger tracks (knocking Fairmount and it's solution for short fields out of the picture).
Illinois has some Riverboats with slots and the supposed revenue from those has turned into a real Illinois controversy that has been going on for twenty years. Also resulted in the recent bankruptcy filings by Maywood & Balmoral.
Add to that the Recapture that was written into the law for the tracks some twenty years ago, and the once-infamous-Illinois-horses-and-horsemen are left high and dry with the only viable solution being to shut the doors and move to Indiana or The East.
They been bantering for slots at the Illinois tracks for as long as the Riverboats and recapture have existed and any likelihood of same would be a miracle.

[LottaKash]

Chicago will never rebound to what it one was!
In it's heyday weekly FFA purses were 35k with an occasional 50k.
Their minimum purse (ay least at the major Chitown tracks; Balmoral was NOT) was around 4600.


Plus, they had a legacy of Scandal that has been handed down to the next generation(s) and it seems that it has stuck.....They had their heyday, and there seems to be no interest in harness-racing from the locals anymore...

I quit that place a buncha years ago... (after the succession of scandals)....Tho, I miss the better days, they are gone I think forever more..