Maryland horsemen vote to block out-of-state simulcast signals

[takeout]

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=39876&subsec=1

This sounds like it could get interesting.

[Dave Schwartz]

IMHO, it just goes to show that as self-centered and blind as the tracks can be, horsemen can be just as much so.

Frankly, they seem to deserve each other.

Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[Show Me the Wire]

The blocking of simo signals is basically, the only negotiation tool horsemen usually have. Track management uses stall allocations and purse structures to beat horsemen into submission, while the horesemen usually only have the ability to use import signals as leverage.

The decision to close the stall space has a crippling effect upon horsemen and that is why the track management is doing it. Track management knows very well they will be putting some horsemen out-of-business through implementing the closing of the stall space. Track management's lack of business acumen and strong-arm tactics to coerce trainers to abide to track mangaement's bidding often leads to drastic counter measures by the horsemen.

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[Dave Schwartz]

SMTW,

I cannot possibly disagree with your statement.

It would seem that the relationship between horsemen and tracks is much like the relationship between employees and manangement before unions. Would you agree?


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[VetScratch]

Show Me The Wire,

You are absolutely right!

I would bet that two of the major concerns of horsemen are labor relations and retention of help. By closing the Pimlico barn area for three months, the Maryland Jockey Club is displacing all of the stable workers that would have otherwise lived at Pimlico over the winter. Backside accomodations are always overcrowded (amazingly so!), and now everyone will be asked to squeeze into the rooms at Laurel.

Many of the grooms and hotwalkers will simply quit rather than stay through the winter, living like sardines in a can. Others who now share rooms off-track near Pimlico will do likewise because a car is a luxury you can't afford when you are sending half of your pay to a family south of the border. Those that quit may blame the trainers (who they view as power figures) and never come back to the Maryland circuit.

Only the most successful barns will be able to give stable help a cost-of-living subsidy to enable them to live off-track near Laurel during the winter.

Anymore, good help is just as hard to find as useful horses.

[cj]

This was written a few days before the horsemen's threat:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23893-2003Nov10.html

[Dave Schwartz]

CJ,

Thanks for that link.


SMTW & VS,

CJ's link to the Beyer article clearly shows the stranglehold the tracks have on the trainers. No wonder they grasp at whatever methods they have to attack back.

What I find amazing is that the track does not seem to be able to see that less HEALTHY horses and short fields are connected. You can't have horses to race without stalls to put them in. Animals in development need stalls as well.

Thanks for helping me to understand.


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[Tom]

Judging by the pathetic cards Pim and Laurel typically offer up, Maryland might better be served if they both were to close and go 100% simulcasting, Pimlico, as a racetrack, is a slum. I would never go back to that pig stye. It was like betting at Ma and Pa Kettle's farm.
Maryland tracks and horseman have totally dissed the bettors. Neither deserve the support of anyone.

[JustRalph]

I was on a airline flight a month or so back. The guy who came in and sat down next to me had on a DRF hat and noticed I was reading Seabiscuit. He starts talking Horse Racing and his wife and him get around to telling me they have a T-bred farm in Wyoming that has done pretty well breeding. They are moving east to build a larger farm and make breeding their retirement plan. He looks to be about 55. He tells me he has been to Maryland and West Virginia this trip. He spent 6 days in Maryland with some breeders and they all urged him to go to West Virginia. They think racing in Maryland won't last another five years. I just got an email from him the other day. he bought a place about 3 hours southeast of me just inside the West Virginia border. I think Maryland has some real problems over there. I won't bet a Maryland track because of the taxes.

[Show Me the Wire]

Dave:

Your welcome.

Regards,
Show Me the Wire

Perception is reality

[JustRalph]

I missed that Beyer article..........

$700,000 is a ton of money.........it sounds like good business to close for the winter. Unfortunately good business is sometimes hard on the little guy. I still say Maryland Racing is done.......been on life support a long time.

[takeout]

Originally posted by JustRalph
I think Maryland has some real problems over there. I won't bet a Maryland track because of the taxes.
Joe DeFrancis has turned me off of the MD tracks for as long as he is in any way associated with them. And, it looks like Magna just picked up where Joe left off. Now they're BOTH just stalling for slots.

Ever notice that whenever Joe needs money for something that it always comes out of someone else's pocket? It's usually the bettors but this time it looks like the horsemen are going to pay the freight. $700,000 IS a lot of money but it isn't as much as Joe has been paying himself in salary from day one - just salary. Yet, when ordered to bring those dumps up to code, he has the takeout on exactas raised and takes it out of his customers' posteriors. He reminds me of one of those guys that's always borrowing money even though he always has a pocket full.

MD racing has been a festering mess for years, a condition that I lay squarely on Joe & Co., and it looks like something may be about to bust loose over there. Gawd I hope so. They'll never see another betting dollar of mine under their current management. It's been over ten years now since I've bet a MD race and I don't miss it. Now, if I could just lose some weight! :D

[takeout]

Originally posted by JustRalph
I still say Maryland Racing is done.......been on life support a long time. You may well be right. Wouldn't THAT be something?

I guess then we would only have the "Double Crown". Either that or they would start running the Preakness at Charles Town. What would that be, 4 or 5 turns? Would probably wreak havoc on the Beyer numbers. :D

[shanta]

OR MAYBE THEY WOULD RUN THE PREAKNESS AT MOUNTAINEER!
WITH THAT BIG FAR TURN AND "MARK AND NANCE"DOING THE CAPPIN AND JIM DOLAN CALLING THEM"IN FRONT"!!!!!!!!

OH BABY TALK ABOUT "HEAVEN ON EARTH"!! :D :eek:

RICHIE

[JustRalph]

I guess the lawyers were wrong when they said the horsemen had no control over things.............

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=19264

[hurrikane]

No question about it. Ever since the old man died and junior took over all he has ever done is bleed it. He was never a horseman an never earned a dollar his whole life. People like that kill me...leaches.

As for a Preakness at MNR...what a thought.

Unfortuntely it is a MD law that the Preakness cannot be moved out of MD. So, MD racing dies so goes the Preakness.
Of course with DeFrancis out of the picture maybe they will build some tracks in VA!!!!

[takeout]

That's VERY interesting. Evidently the horsemen could have made good on their threat, which would probably have cost the track owners more in a few days than they would've saved by closing Pimlico for the entire winter.

I wonder if horsemen have the same power in other states? If so, noting that the owners of the MD tracks "folded like a taco" on this one may give them ideas. Could/will the actions of the MD horsemen set a precedent?

The other issues mentioned should make for some interesting future drama. I'll be surprised if anything of any real value ever gets done over there without the roughest kind of hardball being played.

[VetScratch]

Takeout,

Yes, in virtually every state, a designated horsemens' association can conduct a referendum and vote to prohibit the importation of simulcasts from other states. Usually, the legislature or a regulator (like the NY R&W Board) designates which horsemens' association has this power to veto simulcast imports. This same horsemens' group usually represents horsemen in negotiations that determine jockey fee schedules.

Other than boycotting local racing, these are about the only power points where horsemen have any leverage in dealing with racetrack operators, jockeys, and political lobbies.

For practical purposes, the elected board members of each horsemens' association steer the ship. In many instances, controversy arises because the elected board members may not faithfully represent the interests of the rank and file horsemen (who lack the time and resources to campaign for election). If the board is predominately populated by the state's wealthiest breeders and/or cronies of the racetrack owners/operators, the typical horsemen working at the racetracks often feel betrayed.

Legend/stories about backroom deals cut for special interest considerations exist in most racing jurisdictions.

Most horsemen currently see racinos as a potential threat to their bargaining power. We all foresee the day when our right to veto simulcast imports will be an empty threat. The track operators will have all the power when 80% of their revenues come from slots/VLTs.

[VetScratch]

BTW, if and when horsemen actually veto simulcast imports, the threat of immediate purse reductions looms... as in Maryland, the bulk of purse monies often comes from the horsemens' share of takeout from wagers on out-of-state simulcast races. Thus, the veto power over simulcast imports is like a threatening to detonate a doomsday weapon.

[DJofSD]

Well, maybe this industry and MD needs a real shake up. For different reasons we've seen strikes in baseball. Why not in racing?

Cancel the 2004 running of the 2nd jewel of the Triple Crown.

That has as much of a chance of actually happening as the Breeders Cup being run at Del Mar.

Just stirring the pot <BG>.

DJofSD

[takeout]

VetScratch,
I guess it's already an empty threat at most racino tracks but I am surprised at how fast it made something happen in MD. It's too bad bettors can't scrounge up a little clout like that.

DjofSD,
Sounds good to me. As a bettor I've been on strike in MD for over a decade.

Hurrikane,
I was thinking more along the lines of "parasite". :)