Midwest Paddock Report

I had teased a few posts back about a new venture we were working on and now we're ready to unveil it.

The Midwest Paddock Report is a combined effort of my photographer better half, Heather Frisbie, and I to bring a spotlight on racing here in the Heartland.  I can't guarantee a lot of things in life, but one thing I can guarantee is that we will have growing pains.  As painstaking as it was for two non-techies to build this site, I can absolutely guarantee that once we get rolling we're going to find all kinds of things we wished we would have done differently.

Ideally we would launch with comprehensive coverage of the entire Midwest from Ohio to the Dakotas and down to Oklahoma.  Ideally.  However since we are a two-person operation working on a limited (read: "no") budget, we are starting with a still ambitious, but much more doable, agenda of covering Minnesota and Iowa. 

While our focus in owning and breeding has been in Thoroughbreds, we are going to try and include our Standardbred cousins as well.  I don't know if that's going work but we'll see.  My roots in harness racing go back to college and trips to now defunct Lewiston Raceway in Maine which was my first continuous exposure to live horse racing (after an amazing Preakness experience in 1985) with college classmate and lifelong friend Paul Mooney.  I really enjoyed harness racing, have owned small pieces of pacers in the past and have included Scarborough, Dover and Pocono Downs, the Meadowlands and Pompano Park in my travels over the decades.  Admittedly the popularity isn't the same as Thoroughbreds and if the interest isn't there we will pare back to "the Flats", but we're going to give it a go.  Where we have dual meets going we will also cover the major stories in regional Quarter Horse racing with the same caveat.

We have a section that we call "Around the Region" where we will preview and recap stakes races around the Midwest and performances that should be highlighted.  We're hoping to rely on readers to pass along story ideas and horses to watch to help us bring those stories to the people.

Speaking of people, we will be spotlighting folks in racing from time to time in our "In the Paddock" section.  We'll take movers, shakers and all around interesting people and ask them 5 questions.  A quick look at what they do and how they affect the game.

We'll also touch base on the bigger picture in our "National Scene" section.  Admittedly I'm not altogether sure how we're going to do that and it's really not going to be our focus, but it's important to give some regional perspective to the Triple Crown Trail and the Breeders' Cup.

Currently we're relatively advertising free with the exception of a couple of spots for Google AdSense, but that will change - mostly as I get adept at creating advertising and working with the widgets to be able to place the ads where I want to so they look good and deliver value without detracting from the site.  While we may be a labor of love right now, we don't intend on it being that way forever so feel free to inquire since this will get some priority in our development queue.

We're going to be looking to inject personality into our coverage.  We'd like to be a place where you come for your Midwest racing news as if you'd be sitting down with coffee with your neighbor and discussing the last night's race.  We'd like to entertain as well as inform and generate discussion.

Before I wrap, I'd like to thank family and friends that have reviewed and critiqued the birth process.  You've all be indispensable.  Truly indispensable was Frank Vespe, founder of the wonderful Mid-Atlantic on-line magazine, The Racing Biz, who provided us with advice and continues to be an inspiration.

We invite you take a look and let us know what you think.  While you're there, follow the Midwest Paddock Report on Twitter and you'll soon be able to "like" our Facebook page as well. We look forward to hearing from you!

Harness and Thoroughbred Dispute Heats Up Minnesota Winter

Buried under our traditional Minnesota winter blanket of snow and cold, a heated battle is taking place between the state’s two racetracks. At stake may be the very survival of Running Aces Harness Park.  As I live Tweeted during the Minnesota Racing Commission meeting last Thursday, several folks asked to be updated a little deeper as to what the fuss was all about.  This is my shot at that. I’ve tried to be thorough and brief at the same time – which isn’t easy to do.  I’m sure I missed some things but I hope you get the general idea of what the fuss is all about during Minnesota racing’s “hot stove” season.

 

The North Metro Harness Initiative’s initial bid to open Running Aces was rebuffed 5-3 by the Minnesota Racing Commission in October of 2004 (order issued in November) citing “inadequate road access and transportation, inadequate horse stalls and human accommodations, resident opposition and the creation of competition adversely affecting Canterbury Park.” (http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mn-court-of-appeals/1396020.html - italics added)

After voting to reconsider the denial, the Commission met in January of 2005 and,

“The commission discussed four areas of concern:  (1) housing and stabling;  (2) transportation;  (3) competition;  and (4) community opposition.   The commission determined that a newly proposed stabling plan was adequate.   Further, new information provided by the Metropolitan Council and Anoka County officials indicated that the transportation system was adequate and that the facility would not burden the current traffic situation.   Regarding competition, new information from North Metro and the HBPA indicated that an agreement by which North Metro would provide revenue from the new racetrack to supplement purse awards at Canterbury Park was imminent. Finally, testimony and written submissions indicated that opposition was from a small but vocal minority and that there was broad community support for the facility. By a vote of five to three, the commission granted the application.”

(again - http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mn-court-of-appeals/1396020.html - and italics added)

In a nutshell, that agreement was that the card club at Running Aces would provide 3% of card club revenue to the HBPA to supplement purses at Canterbury Park due to the anticipated decline in card club revenues at Canterbury due to the opening of another club in the Metro.  As part of that agreement, payments were to end when racino legislation was enacted in Minnesota.

Fast forward to 2012.  Canterbury Park, after an over decade long struggle to pass racino legislation gives up the fight.  In an economic and political environment as favorable to racino as there has ever been, and with a governor who had said that he would sign a bill if the legislature would pass it, the votes still were not there.  An accord was reached after historic private talks between the SMSC and Canterbury resulted in purse increases and purse security for the next 10-years.  Part of the give and take on both sides was that the track was to give up its quixotic quest for racino and join the SMSC in opposing expanded gaming.

It has to be noted that ALL of the purse enhancement dollars in the agreement go to purses at the track – not to the track itself.  There are other Native American Bands in the state that could have possibly wanted to pursue a similar deal with Running Aces but a deal that would NOT provide money for the out of state track ownership as well as horsemen would not be acceptable to the track.

Late last year, NMHI took to the courts to sue both the Minnesota HBPA as well as Canterbury Park.  In their opinion, the HBPA broke their agreement with the harness track by discontinuing the fight for the racino – the argument being that if the agreement could end when racino is granted but the HBPA isn’t fighting for a racino, then the HBPA is not acting in good faith (that racino will never happen in MN is something that they refuse to accept, though I have yet to see any compelling evidence that would lead me to believe otherwise).  Canterbury was named because they allegedly interfered with the contract between the HBPA and NMHI by entering into the agreement with the SMSC.  Tortious interference, I believe, is the legal term, that NMHI is using.

Canterbury and the HBPA have gone to court to have the case thrown out.  A ruling on that motion is pending, but not expected shortly.

In the interim the HBPA is playing a little hardball of their own.  As part of their push to end their contractual obligation to the HBPA, the NMHI have stopped making their 3% payments.  Because of this breach, Cort Holten, lawyer for the HBPA, appeared before the Minnesota Racing Commission on Thursday, February 7 to present his case to have the operating license of the NMHI to be revoked.

Boiling all the talk down, Holten’s argument as to why the Commission has the authority to revoke the NHMI license in what appears to be a contractual breech between two private parties (NMHI argument) was that this agreement was a ‘material representation’ made by the NMHI which changed the course of the voting for approval of the license.  In fact, he argued, this agreement was more than that, it was determinative in whether or not the license was granted and if the NMHI breaches the agreement, then they have breached the terms of their licensure.

After a lot of discussions and questioning (detailed in my Twitter feed so I won’t get into that here), the MRC requested that officials from the NMHI come back in 30-days with a written response to the allegations set forth by Holten and the HBPA.

That is where we stand – and I didn’t even touch upon Running Aces not renewing the simulcast agreement (if you’re a thoroughbred player in the north metro, you’ve only got about 10-days left to bet them at RA) between the two tracks – on this battle.  There are still several rounds to come.  Thankfully we’re less than 100 days until live racing, which is way more fun to talk about.

A Deal Approved, a Future to Write and Some Sour Grapes

The Minnesota Racing Commission approved, by a 5-3 vote, the marketing arrangement between the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Canterbury Park yesterday in a specially called session. 

The afternoon started with Canterbury President and CEO Randy Sampson outlining the deal and providing some history for the panel.  Most importantly, Sampson related that for 15 years Canterbury has struggled for racino in the state legislature.  This past year there was a budget shortfall that was filled by borrowing from our children, a Vikings stadium that needed to be funded, a governor that was in favor of expanded gaming, a new party controlling the legislature and overwhelming public support for a racino and, at the end of the day, the legislation could not even be brought up for a vote.  Sampson was told flat out by several influential lawmakers, “It does not have the votes.”

House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Governor Mark Dayton told Sampson that the best way to get anything favorable done was to go to their neighbors and fiercest opponents in the racino struggle, the SMSC operators of Mystic Lake and Little Six Casinos in neighboring Prior Lake, and try and work something out.  Initial negotiations produced the Horse Racing Purse Enhancement Act.  Further discussions centered on the Native Americans running the racinos at the tracks, which Running Aces rejected.  Ultimately what came out of these discussions was the marketing arrangement that provided $75 million directly to the purse account at Canterbury.

What needs to be understood which I don’t think is by many casual fans, is that there have always been two very different views on how any expanded gaming money was to be utilized by the racetracks.

Canterbury Park was reopened after a three year hiatus by a public company, Canterbury Park Holding Company (CPHC).  The main shareholders of that company, the Schenian and Sampson families, are owners and breeders of racehorses.  Running Aces Harness Park was opened in 2008 by Southwest Casinos, a now bankrupt casino operator.  From the very beginning it was apparent that they were betting on the come that racino legislation would be enabled.  Just the way that the construction was done and the card club floor was laid out it was apparent that this property was built to be more than just a racetrack.

As the past four years have shown, there was a decided difference between the intentions of the ownership groups at the two racetracks for any alternative gaming revenues.  Canterbury Park was intent on working with the horsemen’s groups to provide as much of that money for purses as was possible.  Running Aces intention, after the bankruptcy of Southwest Casinos and the takeover by a private equity firm, was to retain as much of the money for management as possible while providing comparatively little for horsemen.  This fundamental difference simmered under the surface of any racino discussions and always remained a bone of contention.  Ultimately this was proven out by the rejection by Running Aces of having the Tribes operate the racinos with money being funneled into purse accounts.

Once the decision was made that having Tribal operators run the racinos was a non-starter for Running Aces, the politicians advised Canterbury to talk to the SMSC and see what could be worked out.  Whether or not they gave the same advice to the harness track is unknown.

Following Sampson, Running Aces spokesman John Derus stepped to the microphone to outline his objections to the deal.  He said that the money was outrageously high since it cost only $77 million to build Canterbury in 1984; that now Canterbury was an adversary in their pursuit of a racino; that it just wasn’t fair.

Fairness was a theme that ran through the testimony of politicians that supported Running Aces and the employees that testified at the hearing.  Oh, and the single harness horseman that spoke against the agreement – I couldn’t tell you if there were any others there.

“They got theirs so where is ours?” could have been the testimony.  It wasn’t fair that the Commission side with Canterbury.  It wasn’t fair that they were getting all this money and we aren’t.  It’s just not fair.

The fact is that Running Aces would never approve an agreement like the one Canterbury did because there is nothing in it for track management. ALL of the $75 million of the SMSC/Canterbury agreement goes to purses.  An additional $8 million goes to joint marketing efforts.  ZERO goes to track management.  CPHC will have to make money the old fashioned way: they will earn it by making a go of the racing product now that they will have a quality product to sell.

Jeff Hilger, President of the Equine Development Coalition of Minnesota, testified that he would work on a similar deal for Running Aces with everything he had in him.  The reality is: they don’t want that deal.  They want the money.  They want racino and they want the majority of the money that doesn’t go to the state in their pocket, not their horsemen.

State Senator Pat Garofolo tweeted during the meeting: “Racino is dead.  Anyone says otherwise is trying 2 sell you something. I chief authored it last session and even I won’t vote 4 it now.”

In the face of these realities, Canterbury Park cut a marketing deal that literally saves thoroughbred racing in Minnesota.  Running Aces racing secretary said that patience is still needed for racino, that it took 25-years where he came from in Ohio.  Thoroughbred racing in Minnesota had a maximum shelf life of two years without this agreement. Dick Day, lobbyist for Racino Now, said that they were “this” close to passing, maybe it’d take another five years, but it would happen.  I guess to a paid lobbyist what’s another five years?  To those that make their living out at Canterbury that would have been four years too late.

HBPA President Tom Metzen put it best when he said, “This agreement isn’t any different than the University of Minnesota accepting money from the Tribes to build a plaza outside of the football stadium.  If Coke-Cola wanted to give us $77 million to sponsor racing for the next 10-years we wouldn’t even be talking about this, but applauding it.”

Running Aces is free to pursue racino legislation unencumbered by the restrictions on their potential profit by Canterbury Park.  They are certainly free to cut a deal with another Native American Band similar to Canterbury’s with the SMSC.  They can do what they want to do now and best of luck to them, I guess.  I wish the best for their horsemen, who seemed to be in short supply yesterday which speaks more than any testimony that could have been given.

As I tweeted yesterday (@tlgrevelis), now it’s time for the heavy lifting to begin at Canterbury.  The story has really only just begun.  The playing field is level. The marketing dollars are there.  Now it’s up to the track and horsemen to write the success story.

Tribe & Track Join Forces to Propel Minnesota Racing

Minnesota Thoroughbred racing just got a bit more interesting.  On Monday,  Canterbury Park signed an agreement with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) that provides security for the Community by way of Canterbury forgoing any lobbying for a racino (and agreeing to assist the SMSC in fighting other off-reservation gaming) in exchange for purse enhancement funds totaling $75 million dollars over 10-years plus another $8.5 million in marketing dollars to support join marketing efforts.

There are several wins here.

-        Horsemen.  The money provided goes direct to purses.  2012 will see an increase of about 35% in total purse money while 2013 may see another 25 – 30% increase or more.  The funds are staggered so the first year's payment (2012) is the lowest with the payments topping out at $8 million for each of the last 4 years.  State bred maidens will run for $25,600 now while the Lady Canterbury will go back to $100,000 for the first time in years.  Could a graded stake be too many years away?

-        Racing.  Purses won’t go insane here.  You won’t see $5,000 claimers running for $25,000, but you may see open allowances worth $35,000.  You’ll see the entire stakes calendar be black type races. The track has been able to do well drawing trainers and owners because of the fabulous relationship between backside and front.  Add competitive purses to the mix and it is going to be tough to find stall space.

-        Breeding.  It’s going to matter to have a MN bred again.  The small foal crop and increased purses makes for a perfect storm for the few folks that will have good quality MN breds hitting the track the next couple of years.  The money will be there for the taking.  Higher quality broodmares should start entering the state and when mated properly and the right amount of luck, should start producing higher quality horses that will be able to win anywhere.  Exactly where we want our breeding industry to end up.  I want to see a MN bred in the gate at the Breeders’ Cup by the end of this marketing arrangement!

-        SMSC.  The Community no longer has to spend millions for lobbyists to fend off the racino folks. With Canterbury out of the picture that train should really lose steam.  With a protected flank, the Community can now focus on other matters.

-        Shakopee/Prior Lake.  Your gambling destination resort in the Twin Cities.  Spend a day at the races and a night at the casino.  The track could conceivably now send its best bettors (and there are quite a few of them) to Mystic for a night to sample what the resort has to offer.  Additionally, the casinos can send folks over to the track for a reserved table and day of racing.  The possibilities are limitless and the local communities will benefit.

It’s not all peaches and cream for everyone, though.  There are some that find themselves on the outside looking in.

 

-        State of Minnesota.  The state actually will benefit a bit by this.  Keeping  the racing industry vibrant and growing, rather than declining, will attract more jobs, but their big money would be have been made by a racino so the state loses out on the possibility of $100 million plus a year.  Frankly, the agreement is a much better solution for racing and personally I love the cooperation between the Community and the track, but the state coffers might not think so.  Thank your rep if you’re upset about this one.  After 10+ years, it was time to take no for an answer.

-        Running Aces.  The harness track is left out of this picture.  It makes sense in a way – why would the SMSC care what happens in Columbus?  The fact is that even when Canterbury wanted racino, the views of how it would be implemented varied greatly between the two race tracks.  Canterbury wanted the majority of the money to be committed to purses while Running Aces wanted the majority of money to go the track operators.  You can’t blame them, they were built by a casino company and owned by private equity, but they were built on a bet on racino being legalized and lost.  Canterbury has been a vibrant piece of the business community in Minnesota for over 25 years – in fact was the first legal betting destination in the state.  I would suggest that Running Aces talk to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the owners of Grand Casino Hinckley, and try to reach a similar accord.  I would be surprised if agreement can be reached, however, if the operators of the track insist on a chunk of the money for themselves.

Ultimately though, this is a win/win.  Racino was never going to pass.  There may have been glimmers of hope to further other agendas from time to time, but ultimately it was not going to happen.  This type of cooperative arrangement is perfect.  Racing gets a legitimate shot to succeed which is all it can really ask for. 

Of course this agreement is only the beginning.  More trainers need to be recruited and, perhaps more importantly, simulcasting outlets need to be lined up.  I’m not talking about in state (though why say no to that?), but places like TVG and various OTB outlets around North America.  What will be happening at Canterbury is going to be significant and the product will be very sellable – it needs to get sold.  The more locations that the signal is shown the more the racing product is bet.  The product is going to be betable, let’s get it out there.

Breeding can now be done with a level of confidence that did not exist for the 2012 breeding season. You can bet that Minnesotans will be out to the various sales this summer and fall to start rebuilding broodmare bands.  Those of us with older racing mares will have to take a hard look at pedigree and racing record and determine if the shed might be in their future.

We’re on the verge of very exciting times for racing in the North Star State.  It won’t be overnight but the future is bright thanks to Canterbury Park management and the leadership of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.  Now it’s time to step up and seize the moment.

State Reps Gather at Canterbury Park for Fundraiser

The key question among the group gathered at Canterbury Park yesterday for a fundraising event for the House Republican Caucus regarding was whether or not a special session of the legislature would occur before the next regular session (January 24, 2012).  The only way the government can meet before the next regular session is if the governor calls them into session to debate a specific issue.  In this case the issue would be funding for a new stadium for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. 

Why would that matter to the horsemen and legislators gathered at Canterbury?  One of the funding mechanisms suggested has been the placement of slot machines at Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park.  Though the idea of a “racino” is not a new one, it does seem as if this past year more serious consideration has been given to the idea as the state slides deeper and deeper into debt.

In an interesting bit of news, the budget projections, set to be released later today, appear to show that the state’s deficit has NOT increased but rather this biennium will actually show a surplus of over $800 million.  Since this news was completely unexpected, it will be interesting to see just how both stadium and racino backers will be able to use this information.   Of course this does not mean the state is out of the woods merely that the next year and a half will end in a surplus – all variables remaining the same. 

Rep Tom Hackbarth (R) is the author of draft legislation for the establishment of a racino and has hedged his bets.  While money would be set aside for the debt service on bonds floated for the Vikings stadium, it would also provide the mechanism for paying back our children the billions borrowed from future school monies to balance the last biennium budget.  There would also be money for purses, the state and a new stadium for the St. Paul Saints.  Regardless of the fate of the Vikings, the school shift WILL have to be paid back and the establishment of a $1.7 million fund for equine development (trails, non-profits, horse shows, 4H etc.) will help equine organizations all over the state, not just the racing industry.  These additional codices could be what help to carry the bill – especially with the surplus projected.

Given the issues facing the legislature as they head into regular session, it’s a good bet that if a special session doesn’t occur, racino legislation – as well as the Vikings stadium – would go on the back burner.

Or disappear altogether.

Stay, Go, Ship, Race - It's Time for a Decision

A friend on the backside watched them leave.  Shortly after the announcement was made that racing was cancelled for the 7^th straight race day yesterday she saw the horse trailers pull out.  By no means is this an exodus – yet – but it’s a scary start.  The fact that racing was cancelled for tomorrow this morning – marking the second straight weekend of lost racing, income and employment, depending upon your perspective – just compounds the problem.

I fail to see the difficulty of the decision facing Judge Kathleen Gearin.  She has two choices: believe that the Minnesota Racing Commission is funded like the Minnesota Zoo, which she allowed to stay open, or it’s not, like she decided once already.  Lawyers for the HBPA and the racetracks, Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park, filed a petition with Gearin the afternoon of July 6 to reconsider her original decision that MRC’s mechanism is different and therefore requires legislative appropriation and gubernatorial signature.  The supporting brief from the tracks went into greater detail on the similarities between the MRCs capability to run on existing funds as well as the statutory appropriation already in place.  She either agrees with that or she doesn’t.  The fact that there is no decision in nearly 4 days is, quite frankly, ridiculous.  But at least we know that former constitutional officers should continue to receive their pensions.  Thousands of people’s livelihoods are in the balance but at least we know that a handful of former governors will continue to get their retirement money.

My plea, and the plea of many horsemen I spoke with the last couple of days, is to decide already - one way or another. This hanging by a thread waiting every day to see if the smoke from the tower is white or black is cruel.  Horses are being pointed to races.  They have routines leading them up to race day: certain types of workouts on certain days before a race to make sure that they are primed are ready on race day.  Not knowing whether or not they are going to race is not good for their preparation which, in turn, is bad for the horses.

This indecision is also messing with people’s livelihoods.  Trainers make money when they are winning races for their owners.  Yes, trainers receive a day rate, but they make their profit off of commissions earned when a horse hits the board.  Just how long are owners going to put up with paying a training bill for a fit, sound horse ready to race…but can’t?  Not long. 

If your horse can run once every four weeks and you last ran on June 3 you were probably pointing to a race leading up to the shutdown.  It’s now a week and a half later and you have no sign that you’re going to race but you’ve probably prepped your horse by now.  Your plan was to race in Minnesota for the summer, but now you have to plan to race elsewhere.  Before you can race you need to get licensed in that new jurisdiction.  It could be cheap.  Or you could have to pay $50 for an owner’s license, $25 for fingerprints and then another $35 processing fee for the prints and you can’t enter until you’ve been granted your license.  Over $100 out and you still haven’t shipped your horse the 200 – 500 miles to where it’s going to run next.  That’ll cost you anywhere from $250 - $700 round trip.  Now you’re in nearly a grand and you haven’t raced yet!  By the time you actually get your license processed, ship and enter to race, you’re down the road another week, maybe two.  Does a round trip at that point make sense or do you just move on?

Now it’s July 23^rd and you haven’t raced in nearly two months, your horse is out of sorts from already prepping once to race, maybe even twice, but not been able to, plus the added stress of shipping to another location.  What are the odds that you’re going to get a peak performance?  Not great and you’ve lost your summer.

Please tell me why you would stay here and try to wait it out?  You wouldn’t and financially you couldn’t.  At some point very soon owners are going to tell their trainers you get this horse into a race somewhere or he’ll move him to a barn in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana – pick your state, it doesn’t matter – to a trainer who CAN run him.  If you have 10 – 12 horses with a trainer, that’s going to carry some clout.  Even if you don’t, enough disgruntled owners and you have to move – you don’t have a choice.

And what about the jockey colony?  You don’t ride you don’t get paid.  You’re an independent contractor paid to ride a racehorse.  No racing, no paycheck.  You build a reputation as a jockey over time and that reputation parlays into rides. Trainers like to use familiar jockeys and besides, it’s good for the horse to have some continuity in the saddle.  If the jocks are stuck here in limbo how do they earn a living?  They can’t just try and catch rides at another track.  They may catch a few, but like I said, trainers like continuity and how can they count on you to keep riding their stock if at a moment’s notice you’re going to hightail it back to Minnesota.  These men and women have decisions that need to be made as well – like yesterday.

Canterbury Park is a great place to race.  No, we don’t have the highest purses, but the facilities on the backside are first rate and the crowds are large and enthusiastic.  It’s racing like it ought to be.  Not like it used to be in racing heyday, but close enough for the new millennium.  Without added money from alternative gaming like they have in Iowa and Indiana – and perhaps Chicago soon – that’s all we have to compete with.  Well, that and a management team that cares about horsemen and the business of racing.  They are owners and breeders too and win and lose along with the rest of us.  How do we get the Canterbury Park first timers like trainers Mike Chambers and Roy Bland back again after this debacle?  I don’t know if we can.

The first step is to get a decision – one way or another.  Either the case made by the tracks is compelling or it is not.  The issue is the same with a bit more supporting evidence.  Again, it is compelling or it is not.  Either way, let these hundreds of people operating small businesses on the backside of two racetracks plan their lives, not to mention the over 1500 employees between Canterbury and Running Aces that have already been laid off pending a resolution.  This indecision is nearly more unfair than any decision could possibly be.

Frustration Starts Giving Way to Reality

It may be getting too late already to save the Minnesota racing season – both for Thoroughbreds and their Standardbred cousins.  After meetings yesterday between the DFL Governor Mark Dayton and Republican leaders of the state legislature, Dayton emerged stating that the gulf between them was same as it ever was.  Considering that the tracks have already lost one court battle to keep the MRC open, any positive resolution to getting Canterbury Park and Running Aces open again comes down to winning an appeal or a political resolution to the budget impasse.  From what was available in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this morning, it looks unlikely on the political front with both sides retreating back to positions that they held a week ago.

A lifetime ago I worked in the U.S. House of Representatives.  This was during the Reagan administration while the House was run by the Democrats.  Recipe for inaction and divisiveness, right? But at the end of the day, Congressman Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neil, Democratic Speaker of the House, and President Reagan could sit down and have a cocktail and talk things through.  Compromise wasn’t a dirty word back then, it was how business got done – and done for 200+ years.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was civil. Now compromise is a dead art and disagreements are followed by shouts of “you’re “un-American” or that you hate this country, or worse.  Governing has not retained its place as a right or a serious responsibility but a pulpit to push narrow agendas.  There isn’t any sense of compromise or civil discourse and it sure as hell isn’t governing.  And don’t tell me that your side has tried – neither side’s version of “compromise” is much of one.  In the interim who gets hurt?  Minnesotans.

Right now horsemen are hanging tough, but you can only do that for so long.  As a trainer, your day rate will cover your expenses and maybe just a bit more – you make your real money on the percentage you get for winning races.  And what about jockeys?  There is no day rate to sustain them – you ride or you don’t get paid, period.  There is no way for them to stay in limbo too long without putting themselves at severe financial risk.

The question of the day is: How long will it be before horsemen leave and don’t come back?  My best guess would be any day now.  One weekend has already been lost but there is still the hope that a court appeal may salvage part of the coming weekend.  If there is no resolution, especially if the court appeal is lost, to save this coming weekend, horsemen won’t have a choice but to move on.  You can’t blame them, they have to make a living right along with everyone else.  Trainers will receive pressure from their owners to get their horses out of the barn and on to the track.  Jockeys will be feeling the heat from their own domestic situation to ride.  The track can try hard and put all kinds of incentives in place but unfortunately its fate would no longer be in its hands. 

I’m not thrilled with the possibility of racing somewhere else for the summer, but pretty soon what other choice will there be?