Columnist Ralph Siraco: Coast’s Muniz will be tough to replace

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Jan. 8, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday, and his Southern California selections run Tuesday through Friday on the scoreboard page. Reach him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 800 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89107.

The word started spreading around the race book early Thursday morning. By the time the last race at Santa Anita was official, the rumors had turned to fact.

Robert "Muggsy" Muniz had resigned his post as director of race book operations for the Coast Resorts casinos.

Depending on what side you listen to, Muniz's departure was a case of either a man moving on to other business endeavors, or a company changing philosophies.

That, however, should be the sidebar to the more obvious fact.

Muniz and Coast Resorts have had an exceptional and rare 22-year run together. In a business that changes department directors as often as building implosions, it is, in some ways, a testament that Muniz and Coast Resorts' partnership had seniority in the race book industry.

No matter what the reasons for the split, no casino company would keep a department director through two decades unless that director was an asset to the company. Conversely, not many people would, or could, stay in the position unless there was full support from the company.

So, while many industry observers ponder the reasons for the split, for many years the association benefited the horseplayers and racing fans of Las Vegas.

Muniz started his service with Coast Resorts before it was Coast Resorts.

It was in 1978 when a young upstart from Pittsburgh walked into the Barbary Coast and convinced book manager Jimmy Vaccaro to hire him. The man who would be known throughout the industry as just "Muggsy" would soon migrate from the sports book to the other side of the operation, the race book.

In short order, Muniz made the Barbary Coast race book the place for horseplayers.

When the company expanded, first with the Gold Coast and then with the Orleans, Muniz continued to staff the race books with people who carried on the customer service that Coast Resorts had become famous for.

And along the way, Muniz became an innovator who pushed the envelop by creating policies -- and condemning other policies -- that have shaped the race books of today.

Muggsy was one of the first race book operators to attend the annual racing symposium at the University of Arizona. His often frank dialogue with the country's racing executives during those early gatherings helped break important ground for the emerging simulcast boom in Nevada race books.

He served on the early panels of the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association as that body negotiated simulcast contracts with tracks for the state's race books.

Muniz also ruffled the status quo when he instituted a rebate program for high-rolling race players who sparked the highest handles the state's race books had ever recorded. After the rebate issue reached fever proportions in the state, gaming regulators outlawed the practice -- a move that has cost the state's race book handle more than $300 million in lost revenue.

Of course Muniz realized that with pari-mutuel commingled pools, race books would have to become competitive in the promotions arena.

He instituted free handicapping contests that offered $1000 cash prizes and rotated those offerings throughout the Coast race books. Those contests continue to alternate at the Gold Coast and Orleans on Wednesdays, and each Thursday at the new Suncoast race book.

Muniz played host to numerous racing seminars that brought the sport's stars to his Las Vegas books. Jockeys and trainers, along with noted public handicappers and celebrities, were showcased. He also started the popular "Toast at the Coast" competition that featured handicappers selections throughout the Del Mar season each year.

Muniz's contributions to racing included a gala charity event for Laffit Pincay, Jr., just weeks before the living legend became racing's winningest jockey of all time, as well as independent donations to support the industry on behalf of Coast Resorts that solidified the local gaming company's commitment to racing.

And Muniz also created what would become the largest horse race handicapping tournament in the world. In just three short years, the Orleans National Handicapping Challenge has become the benchmark of handicapping competitions. Last October, the Challenge boasted 936 entrants who competed for a record $518,000 in cash prizes.

Muniz left Coasts Resorts with an outstanding staff that he handpicked along the way. Although Randi Muniz at the Orleans, Liz Lucas at the Gold Coast and Tom Timko at the Suncoast will certainly miss Muggsy, it is also as certain that his customer service philosophy will carry on with them.

Executive race book host and tournament director Rick Herron has already carded the first Suncoast race handicapping tournament for March 28-31. And tournament coordinator Debbie Flaig assures the $50,000 competition will become another staple of the tour.

Although it is uncertain if Muniz will venture back into the race book industry, for now local race players can take comfort that Coast Resorts plans to carry on his legacy.

archive