Horse Racing: Bracing for slots

I am in the strange position of being a breeder and an owner in a state that is probably going to introduce slot machines at our racetracks this year.

The main question that I find myself thinking about is "What do I want them to do and what do I want them not to do?"

Slot machines have been introduced at a number of racetracks, especially in the Mid-Atlantic region, in which I live, with varied results. Delaware Park and Mountaineer have come back from the dead to become viable tracks.

Thoroughbred racing is dying a slow death, with its only hope being an alternative income. This is especially attractive to state politicians, who see a big source of revenue from slots.

Our biggest challenge, as horsemen, is to see that we get a viable percentage of that revenue. There is only one "go-round" and we have to do it right.

In my state, Pennsylvania, the thoroughbred industry directly employs 28,000 people. If you add in peripheral people, the number quickly goes to 100,000.

We currently have an "out-flow" of several hundreds of thousands of dollars a week to Delaware and West Virginia slot tracks. We all feel that we should keep that revenue, and now we finally have a Governor who feels the same.

Betting thoroughbreds has been legal in my state for a long time. In fact, we were the first state to legalize account wagering.

In order to make it survive, unfortunately, we need slots at the track. The question is, how do we distribute the revenue.

To put it bluntly, the state is going to take their cut and the track is going to take their cut, and the horsemen have to try and make the best deal they can.

Our initial offer to Pennsylvania is for a three-way split, with a portion going to the Horsemen's Association, a portion to purses and a portion to the breeders. After all, it is these people who provide the content and product.

My biggest hope is that since we have seen states implement slots in a variety of ways, sometimes good and sometimes bad, we will learn from the process.

The big casino's are our enemy and have successfully defeated legislation in New Jersey, which will probably kill thoroughbred racing at the Meadowlands, a state-run facility.

There are a lot of jobs at stake, and horse people are not going to be re-employed by the casino industry.

So it's all up to us and how we do it.

We have persevered through years of meager purses for this and we deserve our share.