Illinois Racing In Trouble?

[miff]

Bloodhorse:

IL Racing Gutted Unless Legislature Acts
By Bob Kieckhefer
 
The Illinois Racing Board approved four alternate schedules Sept. 24 for 2014 racing with legislative action—or inaction—left to determine which one is put into effect.
 
If the lawmakers, so far disinterested and indifferent to racing needs, do nothing, Chicago-area live racing will be slashed to just 64 dates, from 190 this year. Arlington Park would run 49 programs and Hawthorne Race Course only 15. Fairmount Park, in downstate Collinsville, would run only 10 live programs and harness racing would face similarly draconian cutbacks.
 
The IRB action results from legislative inaction on advance deposit wagering. Lawmakers let authorization for ADW expire for five months earlier this year, costing the IRB nearly $750,000 in tax revenue it uses to regulate the sport.
 
Worse, when it finally did approve ADW, the General Assembly did so only through this calendar year, leaving the board not only short of funds to regulate live racing for the remainder of the current fiscal year but also uncertain about its revenue stream for next fiscal year.
 
Worse still, the prospect of a massive cutback in live racing deepened divisions within the industry about how an ADW bill should be written, calling into question whether horsemen, tracks and others can present a united front in Springfield.
 
\"We implore the legislature that this action needs to be taken,\" board chairman William Berry said.
 
Which of the four schedules takes effect depends, Berry said, on whether the legislature provides at least $725,000 in supplemental funds to cover this year\'s ADW tax shortfall and/or extends ADW authorization on or before Jan. 31, 2014.
 
If both of those things happen, the 2014 schedule would look similar to the current one. Hawthorne would run 100 live programs from Feb. 21 through April 27 and Oct. 1 through Dec. 31; Arlington would run 89 live programs from April 28 through Sept. 30; and Fairmount would run 52 live programs throughout the year.
 
\"Schedule II\" will be implemented if the legislature does not provide supplemental funding but does reauthorize ADW by Jan. 31. That plan would have Hawthorne running 81 live programs from Feb. 28 to April 27, Oct. 1 to Nov. 16 and Dec. 12 through Dec. 31; Arlington hosting 89 dates from April 28 through Sept. 30; and Fairmount running 52 dates.
 
\"Schedule III\" goes into effect if the $725,000 in supplemental funds are provided but ADW is not reauthorized by Jan. 31. In that event, Hawthorne\'s schedule shrinks to 50 live programs from March 7 through May 1 and Sept. 29 through Nov. 30; Arlington\'s to 68 dates from May 2 through Sept. 1; and Fairmount\'s to 19 programs.
 
If legislative inaction persists and \"Schedule IV\" takes effect, Hawthorne would be granted only 15 live racing programs, from Feb.  1 through April 30 and Aug. 21 through Sept. 20; Arlington would have 49 live programs from May 1 through Aug. 20; and Fairmount would have just 10 live racing dates.
 
The motion to approve the \"depends on\" schedule was approved, 8-1, with Gregory Sronce of Springfield voting \"nay.\"
\"The fate of the industry is now in the hands of the legislature,\" said Arlington general manager Tony Petrillo. \"We have to determine whether we can remain in business.\"
Arlington was shuttered in 1998 and 1999 in a dispute over regulatory issues and other matters. At that time, the track was owned by Richard L. Duchossois and his family, who subsequently merged Arlington into Churchill Downs, Inc.
 
\"We have to explain to our board of directors, and to our shareholders, why they have to continue to put money into this operation,\" Petrillo said. \"It\'s a very difficult conversation.\"
 
 
The Board of Directors of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen\'s Association, in a statement, said cuts in the schedule would have \"drastic and likely irreversible consequences for horsemen, backstretch workers and their families, and the integrity of our sport.\"
 
But ITHA president Mike Campbell said his organization is reluctant to support an extension of the current ADW law, arguing it short-changes horsemen. After the dates order was approved, he added he is even more leery of supporting a bill, fearing horsemen could be totally cut out of ADW revenue under \"Schedule IV.\"
 
\"The horsemen are being used as leverage between the ADW companies and the tracks,\" he said.
 
The legislature is due back in Springfield Oct. 22 for a brief \"veto session\" and could consider funding issues then. However, Illinois state government is deeply in debt, with billions of dollars in backlogged, unpaid bills and an unfunded public employee pension obligation of some $100 billion. A legislative commission is working on a \"fix\" for the pension mess and, should it agree on a bill, that debate would dominate the short fall session.
 
Even should lawmakers focus on racing\'s problems and agree to divert $725,000 from other purposes to fund racing, Gov. Pat Quinn still would have to approve that decision. Quinn twice has vetoed larger gaming expansion bills, saying the pension crisis must take priority over gaming and other issues.
 
Dissatisfaction over the dates order goes even deeper than the looming cutbacks. Even under \"Schedule I,\" Arlington Park would not receive the \"dark day host\" revenue it requested for the January and February months with no live racing. Arlington had proposed to use that revenue to, among other things, install lights and conduct night racing similar to the successful \"Downs after Dark\" program at Churchill Downs.
 
\"Schedule I,\" in fact, would move three days of Arlington\'s 2013 \"dark day\" allocation to Hawthorne.

[cubfan0316]

real shocker here, they have been begging for a casino on Arlington land, to no avail. cant compete with the casinos charging 8 bucks to get in and expensive food and beverage. casinos give it away.

[miff]

CDI,a plight on racing, owns Arliington. Except for their invaluable Kentucky Derby brand,they have no interest in promoting racing but rather casino type operations.CDI makes much more money from non racing  gambling, esp if you take out Derby revenue.

CDI no friend of racing.

[Rick B.]

This is how my state works:

1. License ADW providers. Allocate state take from
ADW to funding for Illinois Racing Board.

2. Let ADW licenses expire at the end of 2012...
don\'t pass legislation extending ADW until June,
2013; lose $750,000 in tax revenue while ADW is
disallowed here.

3. Threaten drastically reduced racing dates in
2014 because Illinois Racing Board budget is
short $750,000, and won\'t be able to provide a
full year\'s worth of oversight, drug testing, etc.

You can\'t make up stuff like this. Illinois
politicians have their heads so far up their
asses, they need a sight glass installed in
their belly buttons so they can see where they
are going.

[miff]

Rick B,

A troubling theme has emerged in far too many State legislative bodies

\"F--k Racing\"


Mike

[TGJB]

Which was inevitable with the slots money just sitting there.

Yeah, Churchill makes friends everywhere it goes.

[Topcat]

miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rick B,
>
> A troubling theme has emerged in far too many
> State legislative bodies
>
> \"F--k Racing\"
>
>
> Mike


Hold no brief whatsoever against casinos, per se, but have long disliked the idea of major installations being permitted anywhere NEAR (say, 50 miles) major-metro areas . . . make people contemplate an extended trip before tossing their wallets into the maw . . .