Atlantic City’s Darkest Days May Be in the Past

racino slots machineOptimism from top casino executive

WASHINGTON — The chief executive officer of Borgata owner MGM Resorts International said he expects Atlantic City to stop hemorrhaging casinos and begin traveling on the road to recovery. “Atlantic City’s darker days are behind it,” MGM CEO Jim Murren said at a National Press Club luncheon Friday. “We’re going to see gradual improvement.” Atlantic City… [Read more…]

An Abundance of Opportunity. An Abundance of Opening Days

Baseball and bat_promo_smallerBy ART PARKER

There is always much ado about opening day in baseball. It is always on or about April 1st. That is the logical time to start an outdoors sport that consumes almost half of the days in the year. The opening day of baseball season also signals the opening of Keeneland.

Racing at Keeneland in the spring is unbeatable. There are many important graded stakes events to highlight the high quality of everyday racing. It is a beautiful place that makes one appreciate the opportunity to be at the track. But if opening day of baseball signals the time for  Keeneland’s spring meeting, then the opening of Keeneland signals the soon-to-begin meetings at many tracks in the country that lead us into the prime racing months of summer. In other words, it begins the time when being at the track beats being anywhere else in the world. It begins the time of the Triple Crown series, when racing excitement reaches its peak.

Like baseball season, many tracks open for extended periods of time. Some are open only a couple of months before giving way to other top meets in the same state or in the same circuit.

I always tell my wife that the spring meeting at Keeneland, “gets me in the mood.” Of course she only shakes her head and laughs because she knows I’m talking about racing. But it is true, Keeneland sets the stage for the balance of spring and the heat of summer. While we are just now settling in for the spring meeting at Keeneland, let’s go ahead and mark the opening day of many tracks that will be running within a month or so.

Evangeline Downs – April 8

Lone Star – April 9

Woodbine – April 11

Emerald Downs – April 18

Prairie Meadows –April 18

Indiana Grand – April 21

Churchill Downs -April 25

Hastings Park – April 25

ThistleDown – April 27

Belmont Park – April 29

Arlington Park – May 1

Louisiana Downs – May 1

Belterra Downs – May 1

Delaware Park – May 16

Presque Isle Downs – May 17

There you have it. Opening days everywhere. Have fun, and remember, if you go to a track take a rookie with you. While you’re at the track help any rookie that needs help. The guy you help today is just one more we need to make sure that opening days are not a thing of the past.

— Art is the author of “Keeneland Winning Trainers” newly revamped for the 2015 spring meet.  Check it out before we take it down for good.

Colonial Downs Dispute Heads to Racing Panel

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The Virginia Racing Commission was scheduled to meet with the fate of the state’s only pari-mutual wagering horse track at stake. The commission was set to meet Wednesday in Richmond. It is expected to take up the months-long dispute between Colonial Downs and its horsemen’s association. No racing occurred at the New… [Read more…]

Mass. Track Suffolk Downs working hard for Casino License

Little Suffolk Downs in Boston, MA is making strides towards turning the racetrack into a much larger complex that includes a full-scale casino.

“We would hope that the strength of having 76 years as a responsible participant in the gambling business would be a factor in our favor,’’ said Chip Tuttle, COO of Suffolk Downs.

Tuttle conceded that even with modest improvements, racing is still fighting for survival, not only in New England, but nationally.

Read the latest update here.

Tampa Bay Downs offers deal for Live Meet on Groupon

Tampa Bay Downs is on the ball by partnering with Groupon to offer a deal for the upcoming live meet which begins Saturday, December 3. Buyers can choose from clubhouse packages for 1, 2, 4 or 6 people. Looks like it has been quite successful with nearly 1,000 purchases since Friday. The deal expires tomorrow – click here

If it asks you for a city, just choose Tampa Bay, regardless of where you live.

Important Owner Connections to Know at Keeneland

 by handicapper Art Parker

copyright Rich Nilsen

Keeneland paddock (copyright All Star Press)

   It would be a mistake to overlook some of the connections as far as owners are concerned when it comes to Keeneland racing. Trainers do not take their entire stables with them wherever they go, unless they are very small operations. Since purses are superb at Keeneland and since the meetings are short and prestigious, many owners are going to want to be there. Trainers play many roles as previously discussed and one of those roles is politician. A trainer does not want an unhappy owner because an owner controls the inventory of soldiers a trainer has for battle. Without horses a trainer cannot make a dime. Many times an owner connection means nothing, but it is important to keep alert as a horseplayer owners can provide important clues to what is going on. Let’s take a look at some of the discoveries of the 2010 Keeneland Fall Meeting. There is no doubt you will see several, if not a majority of these in 2011.

The biggest trainer name in America is Todd Pletcher. When you look into his barn one of the first things you notice are a couple of winning owners from last year that rings bells. Dogwood Stable and Overbrook Farm are Pletcher clients and they are a couple of the very elite names in American thoroughbred racing. Pletcher won for both of those last fall.   

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott continues to be around big money race meetings and he picked up a couple of winners last fall for Juddmonte Farms, an operation that has won many awards and made tons of money racing in America and Europe. Juddmonte is owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family.

Wayne Catalano invaded Keeneland from Chicago and experienced much success. Catalano had multiple winners with owners Gary West and Talons Racing.

There was a trio of trainers that recorded two wins for the same owner. Tevis McCauley won a pair of races for Ron McCauley. Al Stall hit the winner’s circle twice and Columbine Stable was the winner of both. Jamie Ness won two races at Keeneland’s Fall Meeting for his client Midwest Thoroughbreds.

Ken McPeek won a couple of races for Joseph Engelhart and a couple for Magdalena Racing. McPeek even had one winner with a horse the two owned together.

The very talented Wesley Ward was co-owner of a runner that scored twice at the Keeneland Fall Meeting. His co-owner was Gatewood Bell.

The 2011 Kentucky Derby winning trainer, Graham Motion, was successful at the Keeneland Fall Meeting last year. Motion won three races for Augustin Stable, and he did so using three different riders.

Mike Maker won four races for Kenneth & Sarah Ramsey. One of the victories was a first time claim and the other was a second time claim.

Tom Proctor did a great job for his client Glen Hill Farm. One three consecutive days the trainer won a race for his owner and Garrett Gomez was aboard all three winners.

Charles Lopresti won two races for owner Morton Fink with the same horse. Lopresti also scored three times for client Four D Stable.

Musical owners: Not all owners stick with one trainer. There were several owners who enjoyed visiting the Winner’s Circle with different trainers last fall:

Green Lantern Stable had winning runners with George Arnold and Charles Lopresti; The duo of Kenneth & Sarah Ramsey had success with Mike Maker and Wesley Ward; The Augustin Stable had a successful fall meet with trainers Graham Motion and Jonathan Sheppard; and Courtlandt Farms enjoyed victories with Neil Howard and Bill Mott.

Order this book todayArt Parker is the author of the newly released publication “Keeneland Winning Trainer Patterns – 2011 fall meet edition.”  Learn the winning tendencies of the successful horsemen at Keeneland – click here for more details.

Casinos in Mass. to offer a Lifeline to Suffolk Downs

Slot MachinesLegislative leaders in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts released a new bill this month to license three destination resort casinos, including one in Southeastern Massachusetts for a Native American tribe, and a single, competitively bid slot machine parlor license.

Mr. Patrick, who first called for three casinos in 2007, last year rejected a bill because it included two racetrack slot parlors. The governor recently offered a compromise, saying he would go along with a bill with three destination resort casinos and one publicly bid slot parlor license.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said any of the existing tracks could bid for the slot facility that would include up to 1,250 slot machines.

The speaker said the bill, which would divert 9 percent of the revenues from the slot machine facility to a fund to increase horse racing purses, will provide a lifeline to the race tracks at Suffolk Downs and Plainville.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Pinnacle Race Course closed with little notice outside Michigan

From this newpaper article: “There was absolutely no reason for county officials to believe a new track could sustain itself, let alone become an economic engine. Wayne County would have been better off trying to recruit Amalgamated Spats or the Baltimore Opera Hat Company to western Wayne County for all that it mattered. The reason for this assertion is simple: Horse racing is a dying business.

June 15, 2007, Stockton Record reported: Whatever they expect, it flies in the face of national trends. American horse racing attendance is steadily declining.

Business Week reports on-track gambling fell from $2.9 billion in 1996 to $1.7 billion in 2006 – a 40 percent plunge.”

Read this full story here

Now granted, Detroit is not a thriving area due to extremely high unemployment, but it remains a major city in this country. A brand new track with a beautiful facility should have had a chance of making it.

What is worse is that this new track was so poorly supported within the industry itself, that when it closed, hardly anyone even noticed.