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Nancy Smith

Legislators, Don't Vote to Kill Horse Racing -- Demand Facts

January 26, 2016 - 11:30pm

Legislators, don't sign off on the Seminole Compact until you uncouple "decoupling."

I beg you: Demand that whoever sold the governor and his team on the financial benefit to Florida of including decoupling in the first place be required to prove it.

It certainly wasn't the Seminoles.

Nothing in black-and-white shows the Tribe gets a thing from allowing racetracks to eliminate live racing in favor of slots and simulcasting. 

And the state? We gain a whole lot less from decoupling than you've been led to believe. A whole lot less. And what we lose is beyond comprehension.

I Beg to DifferThe only parties who stand to profit handsomely are the mostly out-of-state casino owners who could ultimately sell the tracks to developers and operate their slot-parlor-only properties with a handful of minimum-wage employees. They would then be free to rake off increased profits from their parlor operations and send them to Wall Street or junk bond holders.

For that, you would sabotage an economic engine like horse racing, in a state that treasures its green space, works to preserve its rural family heritage and has invested ... how many millions is it? ... to create new business?

I know I said a lot of this last week, but that was before I knew as much as I do now. And trust me, decoupling looks even gloomier for Florida the more carefully I look.

No more racinos. Just casinos with simulcasting. 

"I've heard them say at Pompano Park they're losing $6 million to $8 million by racing horses," said George Birkhold, a fifth generation Florida horseman and treasurer of the Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association. 

"I'm telling you, that can't be true."

Sarasota-based Birkhold, who maintains a stable of about 20 horses, told me, "Through our negotiations, stable fees alone are structured to be equal to the cost of maintaining the facility. We're paying them $1 million stall rent, and $4 million a year goes to the state. Even the purse comes out of our pocket."

He said Pompano Park owners have spent the last seven or eight years preparing for slots-only, trying to run everybody off. They let the facility, particularly the grandstand, slide into disrepair. "It's not even to the level of what we have at some county fairs."

Said Birkhold, "Maybe it's just been a long comedy of errors. But none of these losses they claim show in any of their company reports.

"We need to ask them to prove we're costing them or anyone else money. Show us. Show the Legislature. Show the people of Florida."

Horse racing falls under the state Division of Pari-Mutuel Racing -- a tax-collection-only agency. It collects money upfront, at the "handle" and is not otherwise vested in the intricacies of harness racing, he explained.

"All you have to do is look at the Marion County horse racing economic impact study from 2015," he said. "In Marion alone, we're talking $2.6 billion and 19,000 jobs. What happens to all those people and jobs when races dwindle,  when little by little -- but faster than anyone can imagine -- horse breeders and owners stop coming to Florida because they can't race their horses? In fact, it's already happening. Horsemen are afraid of the future here. They know what's going on here. We're seeing a 12 percent to 15 percent breeding drop this year."

Decoupling proponents talk about the real estate value of selling tracks to developers. But, said Birkhold, "we've got 300 horse farms all over this state. That's a lot of real estate right there -- and it's green and it's good and it's working for Florida."

Birkhold explained how the horse racing economic boost happens. "This morning I met with a man who came in from California with his own horses. He brought in 14 people. So that's money he brought in from another state which he's spending here.  It's a trickle-down thing. They rent a car, a hotel room, they buy gas, eat in local restaurants. They also buy services from our farms."

Ron Smith, president of the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association, echoed the same confidence in horse racing's powerful economic impact. 

"We have a meet coming up at Hialeah," Smith told me. "We've got about 1,000 horses to run. Think of the economic impact -- studies tell us, for every horse out of the gate, it affects seven Floridians' jobs. That's not counting the truck dealerships or the trailers or gas stations, motels and so forth. "

How is it that Florida racing found itself in this predicament when other states -- notably Oklahoma, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland -- are breaking their backs to beef up the value and attraction of their horse racing industries -- in essence, steal business from Florida?

"Tracks were told in order to get a gaming permit, they had to race horses for two consecutive years," Smith said. "But what they did is bend the rules. They decoupled right off the bat. Instead of obeying the law as it was intended, they scheduled a couple of races the first December, then a couple of races the next December. They said that qualified them for a permit, it was two years in a row. Look at Gretna."

Now, he said, Gretna wants to run a couple of horses up and down a straight track and call it "barrel racing" or "flag drop" and they're home free.

"I've seen greed in my time, and I've seen people trying to get around a rule. But this is plain wrong," Smith insisted. "When you're in horse racing, you're in horse racing. How is it we're not being protected by our government? How is it our value isn't recognized by the governor and the Legislature?"

Smith said Florida actually could build a bigger, even more lucrative horse racing industry if it tried.  "This could be the quarter horse capital of the world. We've got the weather, we've got the expertise and the history. Horse owners like to come here. But right now they're scared. And so am I.

"We race for 40 days at Hialeah, one of the most beautiful and historic race tracks in this country. But for the other 325 days of the year we're fighting with somebody to make sure that keeps happening."

Right now, without decoupling -- while live racing is going on -- a percentage of a pari-mutuel casino's profit goes to the state. If a casino doesn't have to race live horses, the casino gets to keep all the money, and out of state it goes.

Please, legislators, educate yourselves on horse racing and the graceful Florida lifestyle it supports. Look at the facts and study the figures before you write it off. This may be the most important action you take in the 2016 session.

Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith 

Comments

Why of course, everyone who has made big money should be protected ! Of course that is in sharp contrast to a similar cry for "equality". Poor Nancy has to start really deciding which way she want's to go philosophically,

This is what you get when Politicians smoke peacepipes filled with medical marijuana; Hell, politicians can hardly walk and chew gum at the same time without "special interest" coaxing... "Follow the money" Folks !...It certainly isn't designed, or planned, to relieve Florida's TAXPAYERS ! ! !

Gee . . . . really . . . . "Demand Facts" . . . . . if that's your position re gambling, where was that "demand facts" first attitude when it comes to more important issues, like the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change; planned parenthood (cleared in all instances re selling baby parts, and now the movie myth-pushing perps themselves are indicted by a TEXAS Grand Jury for that supposed crime); illegal, partisan voter suppression (how many GOP unconstitutional, lost court cases does it take to become a "fact") . . . . I guess the answer is blowing in the wind . . . . . just like the shrill GOP demonizing nonsense coming from the likes of Trump, Cruz and Rubio . . . . . PATHETIC . . .

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nancy smith
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