By: Mel Hagemeyer
Jan. 29, 2008
Ohio’s overall wagering drop in 2007 at all horse race tracks is definitely bad news. While it doesn’t necessarily mean that any tracks will close this year, it does mean that the quality of the sport has declined even further in our state.
Overall handle declined 12.7 percent, but five of the seven tracks posted even larger wagering losses, including here at Lebanon Raceway. Handle is the sole revenue source that drives our industry, and the simple fact is that when handle drops, everything suffers – including the legacy of harness racing in Ohio.
Handle is the money at the top that feeds the entire horse racing industry. It’s ALL of the revenue a track generates, not the profit. Handle is paid out in bettor winnings, purse prizes, general fund and special assessment taxes and track workforce and operations. So when handle drops substantially, as has been the case the past several years, so does every related business, not just the earnings of the race tracks.
Race horses compete for the prize money generated by wagering, and when there’s less of that money, there’s less reason to compete in Ohio. Prize money, or purses, is the whole point of horse breeding and training, so why keep doing it if the investment doesn’t pay off?
This industry is dying without the ability to compete with surrounding states. Horses are racing for peanuts in Ohio while the surrounding states offer big dollars boosted by casino gaming proceeds. Much of those casino gaming proceeds to other states are contributed by Ohioans, so dollars that used to be wagered in Ohio are going out of state.
Ohio now gets the leftover horses instead of the cream of the crop. This creates a vicious cycle because as tracks, we want to shore up attendance but are left marketing a lessexciting race card than a few years ago. Ohio has only just lost its status as the top standardbred production state in the country, so it is especially frustrating to know thatgreat horses could be running here if the Ohio-based breeding operations had a reason to keep top stallions and mares at home to produce state-registered foals instead ofproducing foals in states with expanded gambling to race for the higher purses.
The news is bad, but it’s not too late to reclaim Ohio’s share of modern horse racing. Racing here needs expanded gambling to survive and could actually thrive if tracks getit in time to remain competitive. We’ll just have to wait and see how the business continues while we keep waiting for an expanded gambling solution at tracks that our citizens can support.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, December 27, 2007
More bad news for Ohio standardbred breeders, but we persist
By: Dr. JOHN MOSSBARGER
Dec. 18, 2007
The latest news for Ohio horse breeders is discouraging, but I’m still going to soldier on in the hopes of change.
Horse racing has had its ups and downs during the 40 years my family has been in the breeding business, and I have to hope the state will take action to support another industry upward cycle, so our business can continue for future decades. On paper the flight of breeding operations from Ohio is obvious. You have only to look at the numbers: 1,261 standardbred mares bred in 2007, compared with 3,383 in 1996. But, breeding operations such as our Midland Acres remain here to support our local and state economies, although even we have lost some of our top breeding stallions to other states.
It is more and more difficult for me to be a cheerleader for our industry, and yet I feel I have no choice but to continue speaking out. Although our breeding farm revenue and foal production is down, we are still making an important contribution as an indigenous Ohio business employing several workers. Along with our breeding and training counterparts in the state equine industry, we are part of a 16,000-job segment in the agricultural sector that we won’t be able to replace if Ohio horse racing continues its decline unchecked.Here’s the thing: it may make me sound like a broken record, but expanding gambling here in Ohio is the solution to keep our racing industry sound.
The standardbred mares bred numbers in competitor states with expanded gambling bear out my claim. Here are the gains posted in Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana:Standardbred mares bred2006 2007PA 2771 2794NY 1698 2197IN 1530 1649See, these three states are all more attractive to the horse racing industry than Ohio because revenue from expanded gambling flows directly to the industry in each state. In Pennsylvania, the latest neighbor state to approve expanded gambling at horse race tracks, the breeding gains have continued for years. And that’s mostly because race purses in states with expanded gambling are literally twice as high, or even higher, than purses in Ohio.
There’s no magic involved here. Expanded gambling is not our industry salvation, but a necessary tool to compete that we don’t have in Ohio. And since we have to have it in order to survive, our Ohio leaders are going to continue hearing me and my colleagues talk about it. Our elected representatives will be in good company, because legislature-driven campaigns are already gaining momentum for 2008 in Kentucky and Maryland.We’ll have to wait and see whether Ohio voters get another chance in 2008 to consider the merits of expanded gambling. When they do a chance to vote again, though, I want to make sure they’re aware of the positive impact it will have on Ohio horse racing. Saying no to expanded gambling is saying no to Ohio horse racing’s future – and that is not an acceptable answer.
Dec. 18, 2007
The latest news for Ohio horse breeders is discouraging, but I’m still going to soldier on in the hopes of change.
Horse racing has had its ups and downs during the 40 years my family has been in the breeding business, and I have to hope the state will take action to support another industry upward cycle, so our business can continue for future decades. On paper the flight of breeding operations from Ohio is obvious. You have only to look at the numbers: 1,261 standardbred mares bred in 2007, compared with 3,383 in 1996. But, breeding operations such as our Midland Acres remain here to support our local and state economies, although even we have lost some of our top breeding stallions to other states.
It is more and more difficult for me to be a cheerleader for our industry, and yet I feel I have no choice but to continue speaking out. Although our breeding farm revenue and foal production is down, we are still making an important contribution as an indigenous Ohio business employing several workers. Along with our breeding and training counterparts in the state equine industry, we are part of a 16,000-job segment in the agricultural sector that we won’t be able to replace if Ohio horse racing continues its decline unchecked.Here’s the thing: it may make me sound like a broken record, but expanding gambling here in Ohio is the solution to keep our racing industry sound.
The standardbred mares bred numbers in competitor states with expanded gambling bear out my claim. Here are the gains posted in Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana:Standardbred mares bred2006 2007PA 2771 2794NY 1698 2197IN 1530 1649See, these three states are all more attractive to the horse racing industry than Ohio because revenue from expanded gambling flows directly to the industry in each state. In Pennsylvania, the latest neighbor state to approve expanded gambling at horse race tracks, the breeding gains have continued for years. And that’s mostly because race purses in states with expanded gambling are literally twice as high, or even higher, than purses in Ohio.
There’s no magic involved here. Expanded gambling is not our industry salvation, but a necessary tool to compete that we don’t have in Ohio. And since we have to have it in order to survive, our Ohio leaders are going to continue hearing me and my colleagues talk about it. Our elected representatives will be in good company, because legislature-driven campaigns are already gaining momentum for 2008 in Kentucky and Maryland.We’ll have to wait and see whether Ohio voters get another chance in 2008 to consider the merits of expanded gambling. When they do a chance to vote again, though, I want to make sure they’re aware of the positive impact it will have on Ohio horse racing. Saying no to expanded gambling is saying no to Ohio horse racing’s future – and that is not an acceptable answer.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Kentucky pulling ahead of Ohio with racetrack casino initiative
By: Jack Hanessian
November 16, 2007
Kentucky Governor-elect Steve Beshear’s landslide victory Nov. 6 was troubling news for me as a longtime racetrack manager here at River Downs in Cincinnati. Watching Beshear win on a platform of letting the people decide whether to approve casino gambling at Kentucky horse racetracks – well, to be honest, it was depressing.
Kentucky is already moving forward, immediately following the election, toward obtaining expanded gambling supporting its racetracks, while Ohio continues to sit and do nothing.Sure, Kentucky has a more famous horse racing history than our Ohio industry, but the fact is, Ohio and Kentucky have both seen purse awards dwindle in comparison to those offered at tracks in surrounding states supported by casino gambling. The difference is that Kentucky is taking a big step forward to compete with its neighbors Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia in protecting the future of Kentucky horse racing.
Kentucky voters have seen the handwriting on the wall and elected a governor whose top priorities include getting a vote on the ballot letting the people decide whether casino gambling is right for their state. There may be challenges ahead, but I’m betting it’s a sure thing a year from now casino operators and track owners will be celebrating across the Ohio River. But they won’t be the only winners, because Kentucky will finally get to keep a share of the money its residents spend on gambling instead of losing it to other states.I’m thinking that even Kentuckians against expanded gambling will come to accept the reality that no state is an island. Just like Ohioans, Kentuckians can cross the state border and play slots in Indiana and Illinois and casino and even table games in major West Virginia communities.
See, Kentucky isn’t even surrounded by expanded gambling states as Ohio will be if Kentucky joins the club. But the state and its residents have the good sense to look around them and see racetrack casino gambling not only in West Virginia, but also in Pennsylvania and New York and coming soon to Indiana. The list goes on: Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland are coming closer every day to adding racetrack casino gambling to support their horses. There is speculation that even Virginia will do it. Detroit casinos already pack in patrons in Michigan and there’s a whole country to the north of us with a big horse racing industry supported by casino dollars.
In the midst of all this, I can’t help but hope that this is the wake-up call Ohio needs before it’s too late to prevent our state from being hemmed in by casinos, contributing to the sped-up demise of our horse racing industry. Because if a day comes when signs go up across the border in Kentucky reading, “Casino open,” you can guarantee there’ll be a sign hanging up at River Downs reading, “Racetrack closed.”
November 16, 2007
Kentucky Governor-elect Steve Beshear’s landslide victory Nov. 6 was troubling news for me as a longtime racetrack manager here at River Downs in Cincinnati. Watching Beshear win on a platform of letting the people decide whether to approve casino gambling at Kentucky horse racetracks – well, to be honest, it was depressing.
Kentucky is already moving forward, immediately following the election, toward obtaining expanded gambling supporting its racetracks, while Ohio continues to sit and do nothing.Sure, Kentucky has a more famous horse racing history than our Ohio industry, but the fact is, Ohio and Kentucky have both seen purse awards dwindle in comparison to those offered at tracks in surrounding states supported by casino gambling. The difference is that Kentucky is taking a big step forward to compete with its neighbors Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia in protecting the future of Kentucky horse racing.
Kentucky voters have seen the handwriting on the wall and elected a governor whose top priorities include getting a vote on the ballot letting the people decide whether casino gambling is right for their state. There may be challenges ahead, but I’m betting it’s a sure thing a year from now casino operators and track owners will be celebrating across the Ohio River. But they won’t be the only winners, because Kentucky will finally get to keep a share of the money its residents spend on gambling instead of losing it to other states.I’m thinking that even Kentuckians against expanded gambling will come to accept the reality that no state is an island. Just like Ohioans, Kentuckians can cross the state border and play slots in Indiana and Illinois and casino and even table games in major West Virginia communities.
See, Kentucky isn’t even surrounded by expanded gambling states as Ohio will be if Kentucky joins the club. But the state and its residents have the good sense to look around them and see racetrack casino gambling not only in West Virginia, but also in Pennsylvania and New York and coming soon to Indiana. The list goes on: Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland are coming closer every day to adding racetrack casino gambling to support their horses. There is speculation that even Virginia will do it. Detroit casinos already pack in patrons in Michigan and there’s a whole country to the north of us with a big horse racing industry supported by casino dollars.
In the midst of all this, I can’t help but hope that this is the wake-up call Ohio needs before it’s too late to prevent our state from being hemmed in by casinos, contributing to the sped-up demise of our horse racing industry. Because if a day comes when signs go up across the border in Kentucky reading, “Casino open,” you can guarantee there’ll be a sign hanging up at River Downs reading, “Racetrack closed.”
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