U.S. SENATE PASSES KYL BILL

 The United States Senate passed the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999 (S. 692) by unanimous consent on November 19. The bill is a federal prohibition on gambling on the Internet, but includes language permitting interstate wagering on horse racing on a closed-loop system under specific restrictions.

"This is a positive and important step in the legislative process. The bill allows horse racing to continue to expand interstate account wagering on a national basis, which the industry believes is essential if racing is to grow and compete with other forms of wagering," said Jay Hickey, president of the American Horse Council

The bill is a federal prohibition on gambling on the Internet but excepts wagering on horse racing if such bet or wager is: (1) regulated by the state in which the wager is received; (2) placed on a closed-loop subscriber-based service; (3) initiated from a state with pari-mutuel racing; (4) received in a state in which such betting is lawful; (5) made in accordance with Interstate Horseracing Act; and (6) made in accordance with the requirements, if any, established by the state in which the bet or wager originates.

"With respect to this last requirement, the Congressional record makes it clear that an individual state cannot establish rules that restrict interstate wagering in a way that burdens interstate commerce or otherwise violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution," said Hickey.

The bill also clarifies that transmitting information about racing on the Internet and merging pools interstate and internationally is permitted.

Similar legislation is pending in the House of Representatives but since the House has adjourned for the year, it will not be considered until next year.-Source: American Horse Council Press Release

Total wagering on the 10-race program from the November 6 Breeders' Cup Championship at Gulfstream Park established an all-time North American single-day record of $100,336,230, a 10% increase over the previous high of $91,338,477 set last year.

Wagering on the eight Breeders' Cup races rose 16% to an all-time high of $96,585,255, bettering the 1998 mark of $83,006,827. Also, the three-day Breeders' Cup Meet, November 5-7, generated a total handle of $126,272,482 on the 30 races run at Gulfstream, with nearly $102 million in simulcast wagering.

This year's Breeders' Cup day simulcast wagering total of $85,419,282 set a North American single-day record, a 10% increase over last year's previous high. New York simulcast bettors wagered $12,541,833, slightly ahead of California, which bet $12,061,607.

Canada had the largest international pari-mutuel handle on this year's Cup, $4.2 million. France wagered $1.5 million, Italy $290,000, Panama, $78,000, Jamaica, $76,000, and Australia, $24,000. Wagering in the United Kingdom was through bookmakers and totals are unavailable.

"The public recognizes Championship Day as the premier handicapping event for all types of fans," said Breeders' Cup president D.G. Van Clief Jr. "The best horses, the highest purses and the biggest pools."

There was only one winning ticket on the Breeders' Cup Pick 6, which featured several long shot winners. A group of 20 employees of Hammond Productions, a Lexington, Kentucky-based video company, put up $196 and got back $3,058,138.-Sources: Lexington Herald-Leader and Breeders’ Cup Ltd.

COLONIAL DOWNS PLANS TO SELL

Colonial Downs Holdings Inc., which owns the only pari-mutuel live horse racing track in Virginia, plans to accept bids on the track and four off-track wagering facilities in the state during the first quarter of 2000.

The company formally announced sale plans November 18, following a series of proposals made by Colonial Downs president Ian Stewart at the Virginia Racing Commission’s monthly meeting. The proposals, designed to aid the financially struggling track, include ending live standardbred racing and modifying the requirement that Colonial operate 150 days of live racing by the year 2002.

The VRC voted unanimously "not to accept" applications from Colonial Downs for a steeplechase track or from the Virginia Turf Club for a turf track. Both tracks were proposed for Northern Virginia.

Colonial also is asking for more than $500,000 in purse subsidies and concessions from thoroughbred horsemen and about $300,000 of the commission’s budget surplus for the thoroughbred purse fund.

Colonial officials said the track lost $22,500 per day during this year’s 30-day harness meeting. The company would like to cease live standardbred racing until two more off-track betting facilities are opened in the state. Revenues currently allocated to harness racing at Colonial would be used for purse bonuses for Virginia-bred standardbreds competing at other Mid-Atlantic harness tracks.

Colonial officials estimate a net loss of about $1.2 million for 1999 if the cost-savings proposals are fulfilled, but said projections call for a $2.7 million loss in 2000 if none of the company’s proposals are approved. Colonial says it lost more than $5 million last year.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

The Massachusetts State Racing Commission, meeting November 18, voted to grant a conditional license for 150 days of racing at Plainridge Racecourse to Gary Piontkowski, the present operator. The action was a victory for Piontkowski over his former close associate, Lou Giuliano, who also applied for the dates.

The Boston Herald reported that the license was issued with the condition that Piontkowski’s Plainville Racing Company, which currently leases the track from Giuliano’s GTWO LLC Massachusetts, shows the financial resources to buy the track. Although the commission voted 3-0 not to grant a racing license to Giuliano, the vote was 2-1 to grant Piontkowski the license, with commission chairman Robert Hutchinson voting no.

The commission only recently learned that Giuliano does not own Plainridge, but holds a master lease with an option to buy by January 28 for $9.2 million from GTWO LLC Rhode Island, a subsidiary of Realty Financial Partners of Boston. Piontkowski also is seeking to exercise the option to buy, and Giuliano is seeking to evict him on grounds of lease violation.-Source: Harness Tracks of America Executive Newsletter

The Arizona Department of Racing has sent a letter to racetracks and off-track wagering facilities in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania ordering them to cease accepting telephone-account wagering subscribers from Arizona.

Copies of the letter were sent to officials at four New York State off-track betting corporations-New York City, Catskill, Capital, and Western Region-along with Connecticut OTB, Penn National Race Course, Philadelphia Park, Ladbroke at the Meadows, and the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission.

The letter, dated October 27, from department director Jim Higginbottom, states: "No telephone account wagering of any kind is permitted under Arizona law. Accordingly, your organization shall cease to accept telephone wagering accounts from persons located within this state and shall close all accounts … I have notified your state racing authority of this matter and will request their assistance in assuring your organization’s compliance. In the event that your organization fails to comply on or before the above date (November 3), the Department of Racing of the State of Arizona will take more formal action.

"In response to the letter, New York City OTB counsel Ira Block informed Higginbottom that Arizona residents have had phone accounts with the company since 1991. He added that there are 13 active account holders based in Arizona out of 35,000 phone accounts and that those account holders have wagered $2,666 this year. Western Region OTB officials said no Arizona residents have accounts through their service.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

Developer Paul Estridge Sr., who long has wanted to operate a racetrack in Indiana, has asked the Indiana Horse Racing Commission to license a standardbred track he wants to build in Lawrence, a suburb of Indianapolis.

Any plan to open a second track in Indiana will meet with opposition from Churchill Downs, majority owner of Hoosier Park, Indiana’s only pari-mutuel racetrack. Hoosier Park officials believe the market can’t support two racetracks located within 30 miles of each other.

Under Estridge’s plan, Indianapolis Downs would have a five-eighths mile racing surface for harness racing only. Though standardbred interests race more than 100 days a year for daily average purses of more than $125,000 at Hoosier Park, they have indicated they want more dates; in fact, they’d prefer to have their own track. Hoosier also holds a successful thoroughbred meet in the fall.

Estridge, according to the Indianapolis Star, hopes to sell $35 million in revenue bonds to pay for the track. A racetrack license in Indiana comes with four off-track betting parlors. Hoosier Park operates three, with a fourth still on the drawing board.-Source: The Blood-Horse

Three California investors have announced plans to build a $32 to $35 million harness track in Norco, a small rural town in Riverside County, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

The newspaper reports that Frank Cossey, president of TLC America, a California development company, has bought two ranches just west of Interstate 15 and north of the Santa Ana river for $4 million, and would be a 70% owner of the proposed new track, to be called Silverlakes Racing and Entertainment. Cossey says he financed the land purchase and will finance the track construction as well, adding, "I will not borrow to do it. I will use my own money."

Cossey’s partners, each in for 15%, are James S. Porter of Norco, a former banker who tried unsuccessfully to get another track called Mira Loma Race Course underway in the early 1990s, and Michael L. Pulley, a building contractor from Irvine, who would have major responsibility for construction of the track.-Source: Harness Tracks of America Executive Newsletter

The border oval of Fort Erie overcame all odds in the past year and not only survived, but wound up its 102nd season with a future. The September 11 opening of the slots operation ended years of dread for horsemen, whose local venue came within a hair’s breadth of closing several times in the past few years.

The track will resume live racing April 29 and will conduct 107 race dates, closing November 5. Because the Ontario Lottery Commission, which owns the slots operation, reports earnings quarterly, the final 1999 revenue figures won’t be released until mid-January. Weekly checks to the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association for its 10% share of the profits have prompted track management to project a purse increase in the range of 25% when the meet kicks off next spring.

Wagering on Fort Erie’s 107-day meet totaled $59.2 million-an average of $553,243-down just over 3% from $572,623 per day during the abbreviated 75-day meet in 1998. Simulcast revenues were up 34%, however, with wagering through November 8 totaling $18.9 million as opposed to $14 million in the same period last year.-Source: Daily Racing Form

The possibility of video lottery terminals at the state’s racetracks took a hit recently when Kentucky Attorney General Ben Chandler said the legislature and voters must change the constitution to allow that additional form of gambling.

Chandler’s opinion does not have the force of law, but is politically powerful and a setback to racetracks, which have said they need the terminals to increase revenue and to compete with nearby riverboat casinos in Indiana and Illinois. State lottery officials also have argued they have the authority to operate the terminals.

Chandler’s opinion also makes it unlikely gambling will be expanded in Kentucky, something Gov. Paul Patton has backed. Patton told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the issue "appears to have subsided substantially."-Source: Thoroughbred Times

The Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau has concluded its inquiry, requested by Gulfstream Park, into the entry and presence of two private investigators in the Hallandale Beach, Florida, racetrack's stable area November 6, Breeders' Cup Day.

A statement released November 19 said the TRPB inquiry established that Breeders' Cup guest passes that allowed backstretch access were confiscated from both investigators. The passes had been issued to trainer Michael Dickinson, whose Supreme Sound raced in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Dickinson told investigators he has "done nothing wrong.

"Trainer H. James Bond, who saddled Behrens in the Classic, said the van that carried Behrens from the Palm Beach Downs training center to Gulfstream on November 7 was tracked by another vehicle and almost run off the road.

The TRPB said that, based on evidence, the objective of the private investigators was to observe whether other horses in the race received improper pre-race medication. No improper treatment of horses entered November 6 was detected by racetrack investigators in the barn area. No further comment will be made at this time, investigators said.

Pamela Blatz-Murff, director of racing and nominations for the Breeders’ Cup, said that "house rules" may be put in place for future events to ensure all starters are on track property the evening before Championship Day. The arrival of Behrens and Val’s Prince on the afternoon of their races caused complications concerning Breeders’ Cup veterinary inspections for soundness and the administration of raceday medication.

In many racing jurisdictions, including Florida and Kentucky, the site of the 2000 Breeders’ Cup, horses are permitted to arrive on the day of a race. Blatz-Murff hopes Breeders’ Cup rules will supersede state regulations.-Source: The Blood-Horse

MI Entertainment Corp., the racetrack acquisition arm of the Frank Stronach-led Magna International Inc., plans to launch a vast simulcasting network, buy more racetracks, and possibly develop or work with satellite racing providers, the company revealed in a prospectus released on November 8.

MI Entertainment, scheduled to be spun off from Magna in December or January, already owns two major racetracks--Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park-- and is completing the purchase of three other tracks--Thistledown, Remington Park, and Golden Gate Fields.

The 170-page prospectus makes it clear that simulcast wagering will be a major revenue-generating avenue for the Stronach tracks, but MI Entertainment’s plans go further. The company also intends to "increase the market for our existing simulcast products by establishing telephone account, interactive television, and Internet-based wagering operations as distribution channels for our simulcast product."

That would bring MI Entertainment into direct competition with three networks currently offering racing over satellite and cable-Television Games Network, the Racing Network, and TrackPower.

Stronach, in an interview on November 12, said MI Entertainment is willing to work with a current satellite racing provider. While he confirmed he is interested in a possible deal with the Racing Network, he said he has had no direct discussions with the network about a merger or purchase.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

The use of equine nasal strips, which rocketed to the forefront of racing news in the United States when three Breeders’ Cup winners wore the strips on November 6, is now making headlines in Europe.

Nasal strips was one of the topics discussed at a November 17 meeting attended by the Jockey Club’s chief veterinarian Peter Webbon in Newmarket, the Racing Post reports. Nasal strips are currently banned on British racecourses.

Executives from CNS Inc., a Minnesota-based company that manufactures the breathing aid, also attended the meeting.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

The presence of a small group of anti-gambling picketers carrying placards outside a Rosemont restaurant failed to put a damper on the November 15 victory dinner of the Political Action Committee of the Thoroughbred Industry of Illinois.

Thoroughbred owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys, and track owners, who formed the committee the previous fall, were celebrating their success in influencing the enactment of pro-racing legislation during the spring session of the Illinois Legislature.

The new statute permits the transfer of an out-of-business western Illinois riverboat casino license to the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, and earmarks a portion of the revenue for thoroughbred and standardbred purses and for racetrack tax rebates.

Thanks to the legislation, which is expected to send purses soaring after the Rosemont boat begins taking bets late next year or early in 2001, Arlington International Racecourse will reopen next year following a two-year shutdown.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

A dispute over information that allegedly was withheld on the sale of a horse is the crux of a lawsuit filed by Emmanuel de Seroux’s Narvick International Inc. against Francis Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield Sales Inc. and two of its clients.

The lawsuit, filed in Fayette County, Kentucky, Circuit Court, alleges Florida sales agent Summerfield and clients committed fraud and breach of warranty/contract when Narvick purchased a Golden Gear colt from the agent for $30,000 at this year’s Keeneland September yearling sale.

Narvick contends in the suit that the colt out of Way for Truce, by Dahar, suffered before the sale from a medial basilar sesamoid fracture in the left front fetlock, which Narvick said is "inoperable and makes it unlikely the colt will be able to race with success."

The lawsuit contends Summerfield had treated the colt with therapeutic levels of phenylbutazone "in order to mask the manifestations of his fracture for the purpose of preventing swelling, discomfort, and lameness, all for the purpose of deceiving Narvick and other potential purchasers into believing the colt did not suffer from any material injury." Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of phenylbutazone, according to two veterinarians, who submitted statements to Keeneland and Narvick.

No radiographs of the colt’s legs were placed in the Keeneland repository, the suit alleges. The suit also says that Narvick agent Tom Clark allegedly was told by Summerfield that there were no X-rays in the repository because of a bad experience at a prior sale, not because "they were trying to hide anything." Narvick also contends that Clark was told "there is nothing wrong with the colt."

Within 48 hours of the purchase of the colt, Narvick notified Keeneland and Summerfield in writing that it was rejecting the colt, which now is under Keeneland’s control. Narvick asked for punitive damages in the suit.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

Maryland-based trainer James M. Casey, who was cited and charged with scalping tickets to the 1999 Kentucky Derby, is back in the news after a Kentucky judge reinstated those charges a month after they were dropped.

Jefferson District Judge William P. Ryan Jr. has ruled that the arresting officer in the case had "reasonable grounds to think Casey would not appear in court and therefore could arrest him." A month ago, Ryan ruled that police did not have authority to arrest Casey, only to cite him.

Casey originally was arrested after he allegedly sold a $42 ticket to the Derby for $100. The issue later became muddled because Casey allegedly did not have proper identification and police said he gave them two Social Security numbers to confirm his identity.

Casey’s lawyers told the Louisville Courier-Journal they would consult with their client on a possible appeal. Another hearing is scheduled for December 15.-Source: Thoroughbred Times

The Orlando, Florida city council has voted to rebuild the 100-acre facility on which historic Ben White Raceway is located, but left the door open just a crack for the continuation of the famed training center on a much smaller-and privately financed-basis.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Ben White has two possible futures. One would have the two existing tracks plowed under and turned into one smaller one, with more than half of the stalls razed and five barns left to house horses. The second would be to confine the training center to 39 acres, leaving the rest of the 100 acre-site for green space and sports fields.

And if no private investor is found to underwrite the training center, it would be totally demolished and replaced with a "great lawn," with soccer fields, a baseball diamond, bike paths and possibly an equestrian museum. The city said it could take bids from private companies interested in running a training facility early next year, and that demolition and construction-one way or the other-would take place late in 2000 or early 2001.-Source: Harness Tracks of America Executive Newsletter

Thoroughbred owner Trudy McCaffery wants to introduce kids to racing. McCaffery helped raise $20,000 to bring four youngsters to the recent Breeders’ Cup as part of a group called "Kids to the Cup."Several others paid their own way, all united by their love for horses. The kids toured the Gulfstream Park backstretch, and some trainers took time to show them what goes on behind the scenes.

"It’s fun. You get to see a lot of nice horses," said Preston Adams, 12, of Lexington, Kentucky, who wants to be a jockey.

McCaffery got the idea from fan clubs for her horse Free House, the 1997 Santa Anita Derby winner. She said horse racing needs to take a page from NASCAR’s ability to attract young fans. "They’re going to be our future owners, trainers, journalists," she said. "It’s very important we keep this interest."-Source: Lexington Herald-Leader

Veteran Lubbock, Texas-based farrier Burney Chapman, best known as the farrier who reintroduced the heart bar shoe for therapeutic use on horses suffering from laminitis, died on November 11. He was 57. A graduate of Texas Tech University, Chapman was certified by the American Farrier’s Association, an organization he supported for many years. He was elected in the first round of balloting for the Kentucky Derby Museum’s "Horseshoer’s Hall of Fame" in 1993 and was featured in the Museum’s "They Shoe Horses, Don’t They?" exhibit that year. Mr. Chapman also helped develop new techniques by glueing horseshoes to hooves.

Michigan Racing Commissioner Annette Bacola has reinstated the Michigan-bred Horse of the Year awards to raise awareness of horse racing in the state. The awards had been suspended the past two years because Michigan had an interim racing commissioner. "More people have to be made aware of racing’s comprehensive entertainment value and its significant generation of $1.2 billion in economic activity and the creation of over 42,000 jobs in Michigan," Bacola said. She presented the Commissioner’s Award of excellence to Jerry and Lisa Campbell for their efforts in creating Great Lakes Downs racetrack near Muskegon following the closing of Ladbroke Detroit Race Course…

The Ontario Racing Commission has approved 55 live race dates for Kawartha Downs after the track addressed ORC safety and sight line concerns resulting from construction of a new stock car track. Kawartha will build a 7/8th-mile track for harness racing…

The American Quarter Horse Association in Amarillo, Texas, has announced a record membership of 315,328. The previous record of 314,201 members was reached in December, 1996. The AQHA also announced that pari-mutuel handle, purses and added money for quarter horse races all are up more than 10% over last year…

The SEC has announced that Dover Downs Entertainment has had its $50 million revolving credit facility boosted to $125 million…

Hollywood Park Inc., which owns Turf Paradise racetrack in Phoenix, Arizona, along with Hollywood Park Casino on the grounds of Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, California, has signed a letter-of-intent to sell two casino complexes in Mississippi. A written statement from the company said it is negotiating a final sale agreement but did not disclose the buyer or selling price for the casinos…

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has announced that contributions to the organization during this year’s Keeneland September yearling sale more than doubled the amount raised during the 1998 sale. Buyers, who were asked to donate .1% of the price they paid for horses during the yearling sale, donated $130,000 of a possible $231,000, or 56.3% of the possible total. In 1998, buyers contributed an amount equal to 21% of the possible total, according to the NTRA, which did not release the amount of last year’s contribution from buyers…

The Massachusetts Legislature is expected to consider legislation that would extend current simulcast laws for at least another two years, which would probably keep Great Barrington Fair racetrack shuttered for at least another year. The Massachusetts State Racing Commission has granted Great Barrington Fair 12 racing dates for 2000. The track was closed this year while owner Henry Vara Jr. works to pay off about $300,000 in debts. Vara is not able to conduct simulcasting at the track after a local referendum failed this year. He had hoped changes in state simulcast laws would allow him to ask for legislative help...

Complimentary services to California stallions Compelling Sound, Siberian Summer, and Scherando have been offered as prizes for the California Young Breeders Scholarship, a new program designed by Michael Power of Bend Or Thoroughbreds and Paradise Investments…

Recent tests on the tote systems of the three major United States totalisator companies showed that the systems are Y2K complaint and no problems are expected in the new millennium, according to an audit report prepared by John Walzak, chairman of the RCI’s Tote Standards Committee. The TRA’s 2020 Committee organized the test, which was coordinated by Greg Bush of Churchill Downs. It involved the Amtote hub at Calder Race Course, the Autotote hubs at Belmont Park and the Ontario Jockey Club, and the United Tote hub at Churchill Downs, with each track acting at the guest and host site for a series of simulcast test cards…

Increases in handle on both live and simulcast racing led to a slight increase in Canterbury Park’s earnings for the third quarter of 1999 and nine months ended on September 30. Canterbury reported net income for the quarter of $17,464, compared to net income of $9,897 for the third quarter of 1998. Net income for the first nine months of 1999 was also up, from $210,985 to $282,679…

At Louisiana Downs, on-track attendance improved by a daily average 6.67% to 4,118 and average daily wagering of $2,583,371 represented a 13.1% increase over the 1998 meet. "We couldn’t be more pleased with the way our business has been trending," said general manager Ray A. Tromba. "I think there is a renewed energized feeling about Louisiana Downs within the local and horseracing community in knowing there are better things to come in the future…

The purses for next year will be stronger for the horsemen and in 2001, they will be something the entire industry can take note of."…

Godolphin Racing’s Daylami, impressive winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, has been named Europe’s Cartier Horse of the Year, beating out French star Montjeu…

Eclipse Award winner Banshee Breeze, whose closing effort in the Breeder’s Cup Distaff fell three-quarters of a length short of winner Beautiful Pleasure, has been retired from racing and will be sent to the Hancock family’s Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. Owners James Tafel and Jayeff B Stables have not yet decided on a mate for the four-year-old daughter of Unbridled…

Joseph DeFrancis, chairman of the Maryland Jockey Club that runs Pimlico and Laurel racetracks, has said that he plans to renew his organization’s membership in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association unless some "dramatic events" in the near future convince him to do otherwise. DeFrancis said withdrawal from the NTRA by the five tracks operated by Frank Stronach would cause him to "reevaluate" the situation. Many industry observers have seen DeFrancis as a fence-sitter on whether or not to renew NTRA membership because he is part of a larger group of Mid-Atlantic tracks that have been critical of the NTRA’s affiliation with the TV Games Network and its operation of a wagering hub in Oregon…

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has opened its new home for retired racehorses at Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington, Kentucky. The 100-acre facility will house 65-to-70 retired runners that will be cared for by inmates at the facility…

Equus Gaming Co., which operates El Comandante racetrack in Puerto Rico, has reported net losses for the third quarter of 1999 and nine months ended on September 30. The company reported that the net loss for the third quarter of 1999 was $428,000, a reduction of 76% from last year’s loss of $1,780,000 for the same period. Net loss for nine months ended on September 30 was $338,000 on revenues of $52,935,000, compared to a net loss of $2,971,000 on revenues of $48,130,000 for the same period in 1998…

Jockey Colin Teague received a split lip when a racetrack patron punched him in the face at Yarmouth races in England on October 27, Sporting Life reports. Teague was walking toward the paddock to ride Traikey in the Tote Trifecta Stakes when the attack occurred. "I think he was the local nutter," said Teague, who said he did not know why the man hit him. The attacker was arrested immediately and taken away in handcuffs by the local police…

The civil lawsuit filed against Dr. Greg Fox by Equine Analysis Systems Inc. has been settled. Fox previously was employed by EASI, whose principal is Dr. David Lambert. The company utilizes heart scanning information to evaluate performance levels in horses. In December, 1998, Fox was fired without warning. Soon after, he began providing a similar service, notably to prospective buyers at the Keeneland April sale of two-year-olds in training. Fox notified Lambert he planned on performing heart scans, and three months later, Lambert filed suit stating Fox had violated a non-compete clause. The Kentucky Court of Appeals found earlier this month that clause was void because of Lambert’s termination of Fox without notice. Soon after, the parties reached settlement…

Coral, one of England’s three major bookmaking firms, has reached an agreement to purchase Eurobet Group, which operates an Internet-based wagering service in Gibraltar…

During a recent New Jersey Racing Commission meeting, it was determined that horsemen in the state will, after all, have winter stabling once the Meadowlands backstretch closes December 10. Richard Orbann, president of Garden State Park, feared the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association would withhold its approval for the track to offer simulcasting in 2000 in retaliation for not providing winter stabling. The racetrack in turn threatened to withdraw its request for 38 racing dates next year. A compromise was reached when management at Garden State, Atlantic City Race Course, Meadowlands, and the THA agreed to pay to open Garden State’s backstretch this winter…

Although it recorded a loss during the third quarter of fiscal 2000, Colonial Downs reported overall improvements in its bottom line for the three-month and nine-month periods ending September 31. Colonial reported a net loss of $647,000 ($0.09 per share loss) on revenues of $7,781,000 during the third quarter. For the same period one year ago, the company had a loss of $1,541,000 ($0.21 per share loss) on revenues of $7,747,000. During the first nine months of this year, Colonial’s loss of $1,163,000 ($0.16 per share loss) represented an improvement over the $4,420,000 loss ($0.61 per share loss) for the first three months of 1998. Colonial president Ian Stewart said the third quarter figures were negatively impacted by the loss of two racing days due to Hurricane Floyd and costs associated with an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a license for a new track in the northern part of the state…

The University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program will broadcast live sessions from this year’s Symposium on Racing on the Internet. The annual four-day event, to be held from December 8-11 at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona, will feature panels and workshops on key issues facing the racing industry. Live video footage from the Symposium can be accessed by logging onto www.ag.arizona.edu/rtip. The footage will be available for one month following the Symposium…

After originally seeking to drop out of the program for the year 2000, Thistledown racetrack in North Randall, Ohio, has reached an agreement with Beulah Park and River Downs to continue Ohio’s seven-and-seven racing program through next year. The 2000 agreement tweaks the original concept of Thistledown and River Downs sharing racing dates from May through September. Under the new plan, Thistledown will run its entire race card first, with a 12:55 p.m. post time, followed by River’s program of races. The three tracks are expected to request nearly 450 total racing dates for 2000…

Harrington Raceway, now one of the nation’s major harness tracks on the basis of purse distribution, has asked the Delaware Lottery Commission for permission to add 404 more slots to its present 747. The track also plans to double the size of its casino by mid-May to 37,000 square feet, and build a 9-bay bus terminal, at a cost of $7 million…

Suffolk Downs was awarded 153 racing dates for the year 2000 by the Massachusetts State Racing Commission in a schedule similar to the one that track has had for the past four years. The track’s winter-spring meeting will run from January 1 through June 10 with 97 racing dates. Live racing will be conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The track will have a 56-day autumn meeting from September 23 through December 9, with the addition of Tuesday racing increasing the race week from four to five days…

Additional stalls, a track kitchen, additional dormitory space, and a "major sign on Interstate 96" announcing the presence of Great Lakes Downs, the state’s only all-thoroughbred facility, are part of the track’s $395,000 commitment for next year, Jerry Campbell, Great Lakes Downs Inc. chairman of the board has promised. Great Lakes Downs, according to its figures, finished its live meet with on-track handle of $5,353,373, a daily average of $38,513. Its export handle was $32,878,662, a daily average of $236,537. Attendance was 196,653, an average of 1,415 per day. The simulcast handle during the live meet, including dark days, was $11,094,008, a daily average of $55,194…

Roosevelt Raceway’s grandstand on Long Island, still standing although the track closed 11 years ago, is about to be torn down. Credit Lyonnais, which now owns the property, has applied for a permit to demolish the grandstand and clear the way for development…

The Maryland Jockey Club has entered into a 15-year agreement to lease Poor Jimmy’s, an off-track wagering facility in Cecil County it plans to upgrade with more than $250,000 worth of improvements. The plan to lease the facility was approved by the Maryland Racing Commission on October 26. Poor Jimmy’s will be the only one of four off-track betting and restaurant facilities that will be operated by the MJC. Other facilities are operated by their owners--one near Frederick, one on the Potomac River, and one in Charles County--under contracts with the MJC and Rosecroft Raceway…

Northfield Park Associates, the managing entity of Northfield Park, has received a Certificate of Recognition at a meeting of the Cleveland Board of Education for its textbook purchases for students at the Gracemount Elementary School in Cleveland. Since the inception of the partnership two years ago, Northfield has hosted a field trip for fifth graders, donated hundreds of coloring books and food for fund raisers, and pledged a dollar-for-dollar match toward the school’s Playground Fund…

GTECH, one of three companies that owns Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky, has completed a two-year contract extension to provide products and services to the Argentine National Lottery...

Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords’s Lonesome Glory, the four-time Eclipse Award winning steeplechaser, has been withdrawn from the November 21 Colonial Cup at Springdale Race Course in Camden, South Carolina, and will likely be retired after aggravating an old injury. Lonesome Glory, the all-time money-winning steeplechaser with $1,325,868, would have been attempting to win the Colonial Cup for a fourth time en route to an unprecedented fifth Eclipse. He is unbeaten in two starts this year, having won the Carolina Cup in March in Camden and the $188,000 Royal Chase for the Sport of Kings at Keeneland in April…

Effective in early 2000, The Jockey Club Information System’s database will include full racing and pedigree information form Australia. The arrangement, will provide an accurate account of shuttle stallion activity…

Denis McGlynn, president of Dover Downs, has been busy with major television appearances recently. He appeared on both CNBC and the Fox Financial Network in recent weeks talking about Dover Entertainment’s casino, auto racing and harness racing…

Taking Carlos Figueroa's solid 48-year track record into account, the Massachusetts State Racing Commission cut in half the trainer's suspension for a positive cocaine test taken from one of his racehorses last month. By a 2-1 vote, the commission reduced the 90-day suspension handed down by the Suffolk Downs stewards to 45 days. Figueroa, 71, claimed he had no knowledge of how cocaine got into the system of a horse under his care…

The Texas Racing Commission will allow horses to wear nasal strips beginning on November 26. Paddock judges in Texas will keep a log of which horses race in the newly invented strips, but they will not have to be declared at time of entry. Texas joins Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Oklahoma in allowing the use of nasal strips, worn by three Breeders' Cup championship winners this year at Gulfstream Park...

Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., seeking to become the all-time leading rider by number of wins, had one victory in five mounts at Hollywood Park on Sunday, moving him to within 13 wins of tying Bill Shoemaker's all-time record. Pincay won the ninth race with Aly McBear, who returned $10.80 to win. From four other mounts, Pincay had one second and was unplaced with the other three horses. Pincay was shut out aboard two mounts on Saturday and now has 8,820 lifetime victories. He is 14 wins away from tying Bill Shoemaker's all-time record of 8,833...

Kentucky-based jockey Tracy Hebert has voluntarily agreed to a license suspension for the remainder of the year and will enroll in an in-patient drug and alcohol treatment program approved by the stewards, at the jockey's expense. Upon successful completion of the program, Hebert can apply for a jockey's license, a request that must be considered by the Kentucky Racing Commission. Hebert's decision came prior to a hearing November 21 on a 15-day suspension handed out by Hoosier Park stewards after Hebert tested positive for the substance Valium earlier this month...

Louisiana Attorney General Richard Ieyoub has cleared Delta Downs racetrack owner Shawn Scott of concerns raised by the State Police about his renewal application for video poker licenses at a truck stop and restaurant. The State Police had recommended that the licenses be denied over Scott's failure to provide certain documents and to report some loans he made to his partner, John Baldwin. Ieyoub added that an officer in Scott's corporation refused to submit to a background check. Scott immediately had the person removed as an officer, Ieyoub said…

The Interactive Gaming News monitors worldwide developments in internet and interactive gaming. It reported recently that Minnesota attorney general Mike Hatch had told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he intends to be a leader in the fight against online gambling. IGN said it had obtained the amicus brief he filed in June in support of AT&T in its court battle with the Coeur d’Alene Indians of Idaho, and the newsletter led the item with this headline: Open the Hatch and Show Us Your Briefs…

Vinery Kentucky, which was purchased in September by Roselands Studs of Australia, is moving its base of operations from its farm near Midway, Kentucky, to North Ridge Farm near Lexington. The 320-acre North Ridge facility will be renamed Vinery Kentucky...

The hammer on the last horse fell at 3:21 p.m. November 19 and brought to a close Keeneland's record breaking 13-day November Breeding Stock Sale. Gross sales totaled $317,666,000, topping the previous thoroughbred industry record of $264,657,700 set during last year's November sale. A total of 3,461 horses were sold, which eclipsed the previous record of 3,379 set in 1998. The average price of $91,784 increased 17% over last year's average of $78,234, but fell slightly short of the sale record of $96,605 obtained during the 1983 November sale. The median price for this year's auction was $32,000...

On November 18, Churchill Downs declared an annual dividend of $0.50 per share on common stock payable January 21, 2000 to stockholders of record as of December 31, 1999.

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