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Originally Posted by Cholly
don’t love CDI either; supported the boycott; and when it was announced they were shopping the Fair Grounds (and probably Arlington also), my first thought was “don’t let the doorknob hit you in the ass on your way out”. But on further thought, I’ve come around to a different take-away on any satisfaction I may get from that last one.
The red herring that gets bandied around is “CDI would rather be a gaming company than a racing company”--that’s bullshit. What they’d rather be is a gaming company AND a racing company...as long as they can make any money at them. The synergies of being horizontally integrated across both industries are obvious.
These may not be people you’d want to share a beer with, but they’re not idiots--au contraire’. Selling Hollywood at a real-estate top was a shrewd move for a property destined to become a land-deal. With Calder, they were always going to be breathing Gulfstream’s fumes, and sharp corporations get out when they see they have no chance at being a market leader.
But the Fair Grounds is a different circumstance altogether. It comes with the gaming rights they crave; and it’s in a market where they are the leader. But in spite of these advantages, the cold-blooded corporate analysis reveals this asset (owning a race track) to be a dog that needs to be shed from the balance sheet...and despite any personal animosity I may hold for CDI, this a sobering realization.
If you saw the movie Llewyn Davis, there’s a great scene where he travels from Greenwich Village to Chicago trying to land a gig/recording contract with a music bigshot there. Davis reaches down and lays his guts out with a song that sent shivers down Cholly’s spine. The impresario takes it in, and then stares at Davis. The wheels are spinning upstairs, but he never flinches any facial muscle in the slightest. After several minutes of this dead-pan expression, he finally speaks. “I don’t see any money in this”, gets up, and walks out.
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Besides being my favorite track, Emerald downs can be respected why? Because the owner built and opened the track with his own dollars. Why did he do it? Because HE loves horse racing. When longacres closed to become..... nothing, he took action and built Emerald downs.
He refuses to ask for sluts, I'm sorry, slots as he doesn't want his track to be dependent on them. He went to the Muckleshoot tribe and made an arrangement. Give us a few bucks for each purse and we will not apply for a slot license. In return the Muckleshoot tribe gets advertising as well from Emerald Downs.
That is an operation I respect and want to support. Not these corporate slime dogs.
