The Fight Begins

[startngate]

Was only a matter of time before a track threw down the gauntlet to the THG/Horsemen.

Granted, it's only River Downs and Beulah Park, but they do have a history with Bob Reeves ... :eek:

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/46650.htm?id=46650

Will be fun to watch ... :lol:

[rrpic6]

Wow! Talk about trimming the fat....and the Beulah Twins were not even mentioned.


RR

[highnote]

I suppose as long as there is still wagering and racing, it makes sense.

Wouldn't be interesting if a new Thoroughbred organization was created to compete with the established T-bred group.

Kind of like the American Football League before it merged with the NFL.

Or the ABA before it merged with the NBA.

There's no reason why other breeds couldn't race longer distances. How about quarterhorses running 9 furlongs? Why not?

I wouldn't mind betting 4 mile races like they used to do 100 years ago. Sometimes the horses ran multiple 4 mile heats in one day!

Maybe these are silly ideas. Just trying to think outside the box.

[NoCal Boy]

Was only a matter of time before a track threw down the gauntlet to the THG/Horsemen.

Granted, it's only River Downs and Beulah Park, but they do have a history with Bob Reeves ... :eek:

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/46650.htm?id=46650

Will be fun to watch ... :lol:

There is no mistaking what is going on here. The horsemen are learning the track owners have the ultimate final say. NO ADW then no racing. 1/3 of zero is zero.

Great job Ohio HBPA. No one will miss the Ohio tracks except the horsemen who get their liveihood from it.

[Jeff P]

Maybe these are silly ideas. Just trying to think outside the box.
No... horsemen and track management working together to make the game attractive to new players... THAT would be thinking outside the box.

-jp

.

[highnote]

No... horsemen and track management working together to make the game attractive to new players... THAT would be thinking outside the box.

-jp

.


Hard to argue with that.

[Cangamble]

I wonder if the quarter horse owners will allow the tracks to sign deals with the ADWs without interfering.

[JustRalph]

smooth move................ :ThmbUp:

[Photo Finish]

I am not sure how this is "throwing down the gauntlet", but rather taking a prudent approach to a rapidly changing industry operating under a new paradigm. They recognized the value of that new model several years prior and devleoped a way to participate. When the new model proved more valuable to an outside organization than they deemed it to be to their own, they chose to sell it and cash in.

Once they sold AmericaTab, they transitioned from owning the goose that laid the golden eggs, to simply purchasing them when the needed to for a price that the erroneously thought still afforded them both ulimited acess and control.

They were quick to point out that owning the ADW allowed them to fund an otherwise losing business. They were conspicuously silent as to whay they wouldn't continue to fund the same business in the hopes of turning it around; using the $35 million in proceeds from the ADW sale. If controlling this business model was so important; and yet they remained committed to the business, then why did they sell out the funding mechanism in the first place?

Since everyone seems to be looking out for their own interests here, how will they react if the Ohio Racing Commission approves their quarter horse race meet, but then advocates for an alternative minium tax which applies to inter-track and ADW simulcasting. On this basis, the track owners and horsemen can run as little, or as much racing as they wish, but the State of Ohio would remain whole for allowing the business model to subtsantially shift from live racing to almost an exclusive simulcast model.

Face the facts; if it weren't for the requirement that they host some live racing (Quarter Horses) in order to be able to offer simulcasting, they would not be doing that either. They would simply live off the interest of the $35 million, and operate a a network of OTB's.

[rrpic6]

Photo Finish:

Ohio continues to vote down any form of casino gambling. Beulah's owner, Charlie Ruma was heavily involved with the last effort that failed. It involved funding college scholarships to any Ohio resident/student that qualified. If it had passed, its unlikely this current move by Beulah would be happening.

RR

[startngate]

Photo ... while you make some good points, fact of the matter is that Beulah Park (and the other TB tracks in the State) have been fighting with the Ohio HBPA on ADW issues for years.

The Ohio HBPA's leader of that fight ... Bob Reeves. His new job ... heading up the THG, which is also fighting with the Ohio tracks.

Yes, the economics of the game have changed, and the owner of Beulah has been saying for years that AmericaTab was keeping both Beulah and River in business.

There are two other things that were keeping those two tracks in business. Simulcasting, and host fees. Host fees were taking a big hit because the signal could not go to the ADW's. Purses were way down because of it too.

Ohio has a funny simulcast law that requires a track to run the same (or more) number of days a minimum threshold (maybe days run in 1995?). Both Beulah and River have multiple licenses to make up their meets, so if the OSRC agrees to let them continue simulcasting by virtue of only one of their licenses, then the track could pick whichever one they wanted to if they want to shorten the season. Both chose their QH licenses.

Now it's possible that those licenses had the fewest number of days of live racing, I don't know. Given the history with the HBPA, I'm guessing this is more likely a message being sent.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. The OSRC can try to raise taxes to make the State whole, but Ohio's pari-mutuel tax is already the highest in the nation, so I'm guessing that won't fly.

The other thing that will be interesting is to see if the various thoroughbred horsemen's groups withhold their signals to Beulah Park and River Downs if this gets approved. There could end up being track closings instead of this proposal instead.

[JustRalph]

Photo Finish:

Ohio continues to vote down any form of casino gambling. Beulah's owner, Charlie Ruma was heavily involved with the last effort that failed. It involved funding college scholarships to any Ohio resident/student that qualified. If it had passed, its unlikely this current move by Beulah would be happening.

RR


The latest casino issue is polling at 60% for, 35% against............ but it doesn't involve racetracks..........not sure what happen to the other 5 percent.