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View Full Version : Ohio ADW dispute settled


NoCal Boy
12-16-2008, 07:02 PM
As predicted, the Ohio ADW dispute has been settled. This is very significant as it is the home to Bob Reeves, head of the THG and Ohio HBPA.

This is finally looking good for the industry.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/100579.html

cj
12-16-2008, 07:15 PM
Unless somebody has a strong need to bet Beulah, I'm not sure how that article could be interpreted as good news. I'm not saying it is bad news, just pretty much irrelevant. It might help if they ever told us the percentage settled upon.

Nmytwenties
12-16-2008, 07:21 PM
Great news to hear, I needed a pick me up today. Good to see a track and circuit I excel at won't be going anywhere.

I predicted that things would get settled. I think the formula for dealing with the horseman on the ADW issue has been found, call it the Mr. Geary (Eliis Park Owner) "put a gun to their head" formula....lol .... Seems like the horseman see reality better when the formula is applied.

NoCal Boy
12-16-2008, 07:35 PM
Not anywhere near 1/3 of the gross...none of the deals have been for anything near 1/3 of the gross.

Unless somebody has a strong need to bet Beulah, I'm not sure how that article could be interpreted as good news. I'm not saying it is bad news, just pretty much irrelevant. It might help if they ever told us the percentage settled upon.

rrbauer
12-16-2008, 08:53 PM
Not anywhere near 1/3 of the gross...none of the deals have been for anything near 1/3 of the gross.

You know this BECAUSE..[enter answer here]...

NoCal Boy
12-16-2008, 10:02 PM
maybe I am Drew Couto, or maybe not...

You know this BECAUSE..[enter answer here]...

startngate
12-17-2008, 10:01 AM
Did you notice the one thing missing from the story .... Thistledown was not mentioned in the deal.

Tom Barrister
12-17-2008, 01:18 PM
They can stay closed as far as I'm concerned.

There's the government creating laws that make opening OTB's financially next to impossible, laws governing simulcast revenue sharing, the THG bitching about percentages from ADW's, the Ohio HBPA fighting about allocated racing dates between the three tracks, legislators haggling over what should and shouldn't be included in the Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund (which basically provides the purse money), etc. So Beulah had a daily purse average of about 35,000 last year, which was the lowest of any thoroughbred racetrack in North America which runs an extended meet---including such as Fairmount Park, Marquis Downs, and Les Boise. All of this is happening in a state with one of the strongest agricultural bases in the country.

Now all of this haggling might be fine and dandy if it were New York, with its multi-million daily handle and an attractive product. But this is Ohio racing, which hasn't been known to be stellar for several decades, if it ever was.

So what happens when purses go down to about $5,000 per race? The horsemen can't make a living from the purses, so they turn to betting. And that means screwing over the bettors with miraculous form reversals, drugs, not trying with contenders, form darkening, and whatever else cashes a healthy ticket and helps pay the bills. Now that might have worked twenty or more years ago, before simulcasting, but it doesn't float toady. The bettors aren't stupid. They see the bullshit happening. With many alternatives available, they turn to other tracks.

Now the horsemen pull the bone-headed move of withholding their signal from the ADW's, which alienates most of the few bettors who were following Ohio racing. Now that they're back, who's going to care? Not me, and not a lot of others. They might get some action on Mondays and Tuesdays, when there isn't a lot of competition, but they'll be lost in the shuffle on the other days. If it plays out that way, all of Ohio which has any say in throroughbred racing will be to blame, as their culmulative actions have been uniformly stupid.

That's my opinion; your mileage may differ.

CincyHorseplayer
12-17-2008, 07:50 PM
Tom,

Great post.Everything you said has transpired in my horseplaying existence since Thistledown closed after Breeders Cup weekend.Being here in Cincinnati I started out betting at River Downs(4.5 months of live racing) then following the horses around the state after their meet was closed-to Beulah,to Thistledown,or to Turfway Park(5 months of live racing)

While all 3 tracks(not TP) have 7k and 5K average purses to begin with.All the fuss has Beulah's average purses at 3.5K or thereabouts in the last few weeks.And in the past 2 winters meets have gone from relatively formful and beatable,to erratic,to "What the hell is going on...".I have been contemplating giving up racing there during the winter after having big win streaks at some point during the fall/winter from 2000 to 2005.The ADW disputes made up my mind for me because I got sick of going to the track to bet simulcasts.And the fact that nothing was resolved as of a few weeks ago regarding 2009 racing dates I have looked to bet elsewhere in all of 2009.And that I cannot wager on TP from home on weekdays(because I'm in Ohio) I simply don't want to follow the horses there strictly on weekends.Just red tape BS,the ill ease of which turns off the disposition.

I'm betting Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs this winter and I'll probably never go back to Beulah during the winter again.But I'll still be at the River Downs meets because it's a great place to be during the spring-summer.

Nmytwenties
12-17-2008, 08:06 PM
I wonder if these Quarter Horse dates will just fall by the wayside now?? It was obvious that they were just being used as a ploy. I know Beulah runs a few cards of just QH's every year on thoroughbred dark days. I don't believe RD has ever carded a race day with QH races only in the past.

CincyHorseplayer
12-17-2008, 08:57 PM
I wonder if these Quarter Horse dates will just fall by the wayside now?? It was obvious that they were just being used as a ploy. I know Beulah runs a few cards of just QH's every year on thoroughbred dark days. I don't believe RD has ever carded a race day with QH races only in the past.

From the article about this it said River Downs would 102 racing dates and Beulah would get 122 dates or thereabouts so it will pretty much be business as usual in 2009.

NoCal Boy
12-17-2008, 10:24 PM
Read the T-Times article. Charlie Ruma...less than 5.5% from the ADWs in 2009, including source market fees. The tracks kicked in a tad to bring it up for 2009.

THG is dead for all intents and purposes.
You know this BECAUSE..[enter answer here]...

boomman
12-17-2008, 10:33 PM
PTC had a contract with Beulah last year, and now that this is settled they should be sending out a contract immediately, but in an earlier conversation with Ian today no such contract yet.........:confused:

WHAT'S THE HOLD-UP? (Sorry freudian slip) LOL

startngate
12-18-2008, 09:07 AM
PTC had a contract with Beulah last year, and now that this is settled they should be sending out a contract immediately, but in an earlier conversation with Ian today no such contract yet.........:confused:

WHAT'S THE HOLD-UP? (Sorry freudian slip) LOLAnd here the powers that be in Ohio were saying that no one cared about the signal ... :D

The deal just got announced yesterday. That doesn't mean the contracts are signed yet. In fact, my guess is that the deal doesn't even become effective until Beulah and River get their race dates approved on Friday. If I were the HBPA, I'd certainly have made it contingent upon that.

I'm sure the good folks in Ohio want everyone willing to pay the established rate on-board as soon as possible, so I'm sure the contracts will be out in time to make that happen. Given that there are only a couple of day's left in the 2008 meet, and this new deal appears to be for 2009, it won't surprise me if Beulah isn't back on the ADW scene until January.

I still won't be playing ...

jballscalls
12-18-2008, 10:50 AM
Did you notice the one thing missing from the story .... Thistledown was not mentioned in the deal.

They already had their dates for next year.

startngate
12-18-2008, 11:53 AM
They already had their dates for next year.True, but there is no indication in any of the stories that Tdn is part of the ADW agreement, so it will be interesting to see if they end up being available to the ADWs too.

CincyHorseplayer
12-18-2008, 05:05 PM
True, but there is no indication in any of the stories that Tdn is part of the ADW agreement, so it will be interesting to see if they end up being available to the ADWs too.


That TDN is a Magna track,aren't they only available on Xbpressbet???

I'd like to know the answer to this myself.

startngate
12-18-2008, 09:33 PM
That TDN is a Magna track,aren't they only available on Xbpressbet???

I'd like to know the answer to this myself.Unless something has changed, they won't be available anywhere. They have not been available anywhere since the whole THG/OH HBPA fight started last year. According to the published reports the new deal only covers Beulah and River Downs. Thistledown wasn't mentioned.

So Thistledown still might not be available (due to no deal with the HBPA), or it could only be available to XpressBet and TwinSpires (due to TrackNet), or it might be available everywhere (Thistledown was also covered under this deal but it wasn't reported). At this point anything is possible.

CincyHorseplayer
12-18-2008, 10:47 PM
Unless something has changed, they won't be available anywhere. They have not been available anywhere since the whole THG/OH HBPA fight started last year. According to the published reports the new deal only covers Beulah and River Downs. Thistledown wasn't mentioned.

So Thistledown still might not be available (due to no deal with the HBPA), or it could only be available to XpressBet and TwinSpires (due to TrackNet), or it might be available everywhere (Thistledown was also covered under this deal but it wasn't reported). At this point anything is possible.


Checking my email tonight,Twinspires had a news note that Beulah and Ohio Racing in general is available now.It didn't go into great detail but they have til March and April to work something out on Thistledown and River Downs.