Columnist Ralph Siraco: Horse racing officials make plans for coming year

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Dec. 13, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

The future of horse racing was the focal point of two year-end industry confabs far away from the action on the track last week.

However, the actions and reactions from sessions at the Symposium on Racing, held at Lowes Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz., and those from the annual meeting of the Jockeys' Guild, held in Dallas, will certainly shape the Sport of Kings' product next year.

The Symposium on Racing, sponsored by the University of Arizona, has brought together racing officials, track operators, regulators, associations and industry vendors for more than 30 years.

The 31st gathering featured topics covering marketing, player tracking, sponsorship and advertising, along with some hot-button concerns such as the infiltration of online betting exchanges, slot machines and the impact of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's efforts to market the sport. The Jockeys' Guild two-day assembly focused on its leadership and the continuing concern over inadequate catastrophic accident insurance for member riders.

Monday's opener called for unity among the 1,259-member Guild. Although only 154 jockeys attended the private meetings, the insurance topic was heated among those attendees. Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux was not re-elected to the executive board after he announced intentions of investigating Guild president Wayne Gertmenian. At issue is approximately $2 million per year that racetracks pay the Guild intended to be used for an annual policy that in 2002 cost $450,000 to cover the jockeys for the catastrophic accident insurance.

Although Gertmenian was given a vote of confidence with a renewed employment contract through 2009 during the meetings, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations are asking the Guild to immediately account for the $2.2 million that the TRA has paid each of the past two years.

Although the symposium covered many pressing issues in racing, the jockey insurance coverage did not make the agenda. Instead, the industry addressed immediate concerns surrounding its position in the ever-changing gaming terrain and impending competition.

On Tuesday, Tom Meeker, chairman and chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, Inc., warned the windfall of slot machines at racetracks could be a Pandora's box. He believes tracks should seek slot machines only if those tracks can show that slot revenue would make the racing and agribusiness in such jurisdictions better as a result.

Meeker, who rarely attends or speaks at such conferences, said, "If we allow this to continue, if we fall prey to the belief that we are going to be a solution for budget deficits, then racing will suffer, and indeed it will be threatened."

Wednesday's session was highlighted by the international racing community asking the U.S. racing industry to clarify its position on Internet betting exchanges.

Betting exchanges have grown exponentially since 2000, but are widely considered to be illegal bookmaking operations by U.S. authorities. Exchanges allow account-holders to post a price on a horse and accept bets from other account-holders on that price, thus allowing one side to bet the horse to win while the other is betting it loses.

The exchange Web sites charge a commission on the transactions. Many industry operators believe that betting exchanges are bad for racing, reasoning that encouraging bettors to make money on losing would strip the sport of its integrity. Although trying to create a betting exchange in the United States as a way to compete has been controversial, an industry-owned and policed betting exchange could protect racing's integrity and revenue.

Friday's closing session again featured a presentation by the NTRA which put the organization itself on notice.

Mandated in 1998 to increase the popularity of horse racing through a mix of advertising, marketing and lobbying, the NTRA will now be measured for success. NTRA president D.G. Van Clief indicated the association's goal is to make the sport of horse racing a "top 10" sport by 2010. It is ranked 11th currently. Van Clief also admitted that the NTRA national advertising campaign, intended to raise the awareness of the sport, could not "break through all the clutter."

What seems to be cluttered right now are a number of complex issues with more constructive opinions than conclusive solutions.