Columnist Steve Carp: This picture is worth a few million

Steve Carp

Thursday, July 24, 1997 | 9:25 a.m.

IT WAS 10 minutes to post time and the scratchy strains of "Where The Turf Meets The Surf" echoed over the loudspeakers at the track.

Which meant, of course, that summer officially had arrived.

Understand that horse players go by a different calendar than the rest of the populace. The non-racing world celebrates the summer solstice in late June. Those who follow the thoroughbreds celebrate it July 23.

Del Mar was back, and with the long simulcast dispute between the tracks and books resolved, all of Nevada got to see it. But not all of Nevada welcomed the return of California racing to its betting emporiums. It wasn't exactly Standing Room Only in most of Las Vegas' race books.

Over at Arizona Charlie's, you could find a seat with no problem. What's more, there was no line to make a bet. And as the nine horses for the first race were loaded into the starting gate and sent on their way to the roar of some 30,000 at the track, there was no celebration in the race books.

Yes, the players were appreciative they could once again bet on California. But Nevada's bettors aren't so forgiving. Nearly nine months of darkness, as the tracks and the books played an expensive game of chicken, did not sit well with bettors.

"I thought the whole thing was stupid," said Charlotte Reinhart of Las Vegas. "They both lost money."

Sam, who is retired and is a recreational player, said the simulcast dispute never made sense to him.

"I didn't understand what they were fighting about," he said. "I thought everyone was making money."

They were. Just not enough.

And as Trevor Denman's melodic race calls filled the half-packed room, Mary Sapp, Arizona Charlie's race and sports director, could only echo a sigh of relief.

"It's nice to have it back," she said of the signal, which also meant carrying the Northern California fair circuit, which is in Santa Rosa this week. "It was devastating to our budget."

At Sapp's place, California racing made up half the handle. Arizona Charlie's survived. But not without some scars.

Normally, the race book would be close to capacity, even on a Wednesday. But there remain a lot of hurt feelings. And a lot of California regulars either stayed away or bet Saratoga, which also opened its summer meet Wednesday.

"It was a situation where nobody won," Sapp said. "I fully understand both sides. And I'm not bitter. I'm just disappointed it went this far."

It's going to take some time for things to get back to normal in Las Vegas. Eventually, the books will catch up. Many bettors will return at some point. Some, however, may not. And that's their right.

Both sides stand to make millions with the return of California racing to Nevada. The millions that have been lost probably won't be recouped.

But if both sides learned a lesson about how damaging impasses like the recent blackout are to the industry and prevent an encore in the future, it will be worth a lot more in the long run.