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That would be a little unfair since Special Agent never mentioned the word which possibly explains her puzzlement with NZTAB's remark. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
It was a very good week for the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative (TRI), the group leading the fight to kill bills in the Florida legislature that would allow for decoupling at Gulfstream Park, which would mean the track could continue to offer casino gaming without the requisite that it must hold live thoroughbred racing. The matter had come to the attention of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who attended the OBS April sale on Thursday and made it clear where he stands on the issue. “You can count on me as one that is not going to look favorably on legislation that is going to decimate any of our signature industries,” DeSantis said. “That's just the way it goes. I just try to not put my finger in the wind; just do what's right. But on this issue with the horses, it seems to me that we have proposals that will have the effect of harming the industry here in Florida to basically benefit one special interest.” Gulfstream is owned by The Stronach Group and run by its chairwoman, CEO and president Belinda Stronach. No one from The Stronach Group has publicly commented on DeSantis' bombshell announcement, but they can't be happy. They were hoping to go forward with plans to either sell the property or keep it and build a casino on the land. Both plans would mean the end of live racing at Gulfstream. And now, thanks to DeSantis, they have hit a major roadblock. But no one among the leaders of the TRI is ready to declare victory. “We have momentum on our side, but I wouldn't erect a tombstone quite yet,” said Dr. Barry Eisaman, a founding member of the TRI. Without having DeSantis on their side, it would stand to reason that those who have been pushing for decoupling would simply give up and move on the something else. But that's not how politics works. “You would think they would back off,” said TRI Senior Advisor Damon Thayer. “The House has actually posted one of the versions of the bill for action on Wednesday. Like we said right from the start, the bill is teed up for passage in the House. The clock is ticking with the session ending on May 2. We have gotten some strong indicators that the Senate doesn't really want to deal with this issue. I've been around legislatures long enough to know that a lot of crazy things can happen in the waning days. I'm likely to have anxiety about this right up until May 2 when the session ends. According to Thayer, the bill currently circulating in the Senate must be approved by two more committees before going before the Senate for a full vote. For that to happen in less than two weeks would seem highly unlikely. The Florida legislature will not reconvene until January, 2026. That gives both sides time to regroup. TRI President David O'Farrell has kept an optimistic outlook so far as how Florida racing gets throughout this whole mess. He believes that once May 2 comes and goes, those on both sides of the issue can come together to find solutions that work for everyone. “There's still a long way to go,” O'Farrell said. “We bought ourselves some time and that was kind of the message we wanted to send all along to the legislators. They were trying to rush it through the process and we were caught flat-footed earlier in the year. It was moving very quickly through chambers in Tallahassee and our message all along was 'what's the rush, give us a little bit of time, let us negotiate our path forward.' The rug had been pulled out from under us, so to speak. We were already feeling the effects from threat of decoupling. Let's table it for this year. The whole bill was one-sided, all the amended changes to the bill were one-sided. The horsemen never really had any say. Now, let's come back next year in an election year with a plan that will work for all parties including the state of Florida. Let's not have to choose sides here. Let's not end up where one entity ends up benefitting from this legislation and an entire industry gets torn down. Let's cool our jets and come back and find a solution where everyone can win and one which ultimately benefits the state of Florida.” O'Farrell understands that when you have a track owner who doesn't want to own that track anymore, bad things can happen. He can easily see a future without Gulfstream Park, but says that by no means would mean the end of quality racing in Florida. “All options are on the table at this point,” he said. “We just finished unifying all the groups together, which has been great. A lot of times the horsemen, the breeders, the racetracks don't get along, but we've gotten a lot of the groups together through this effort to decouple. We have also started some constructive talk regarding what the future could look like. It's still a long way off from nailing down specifics so far as what the future of Florida racing will look like. There are a lot of people engaged in the matter and lot of people working on this. It is something that should come to fruition sooner than later. It's a little too early to guess where racing will be three years, five years, ten years from now. But I'm very confident there will be a solution and I am actually very excited about the future of Florida racing. Now we have a little bit more time to start to look at what direction things might go, whether in South Florida, whether in Ocala. It might mean a combination of the two. If you find a way to improve the purses, the answer may involve Tampa Bay Downs. We're not really sure. We at least have the time to consider these things without the full on pressure of decoupling happening in a matter of a couple of weeks.” TRI Vice President Jon Green shares O'Farrell's outlook. “Our main goal at the Thoroughbred racing Initiative has always been to kill the bill and then come to negotiation table with management where the horsemen and track management can agree on a bill that benefits everybody,” he said. “Nothing is done until it is done. I would say it would be much more favorable for both parties for the bill to be killed and for us to have clean slate and be able to work together.” But that depends on Belinda Stronach cooperating with the horsemen, which is something the horsemen have no control over. Does she have any incentive to do so and wouldn't it be in her best financial interests to go ahead and sell the track to cash in on the value of its land? “Can she just pull the plug and cash in? That's a valid question,” Thayer said. “We've been asked it before because our short-term goal is to defeat decoupling. The answer is, yes, she could (close Gulfstream). It's her choice. But I don't think it would be a very wise move. I think it would send a bad signal to the legislature and it would show her true colors when it came to the horse racing industry, which clearly has a lot of support in Tallahassee. Their revenue from the slots there is about $39 million a year. We believe she makes money on the horse racing operation, which supplies 200 days of content to two other companies she owns, XpressBet and Monarch. I would be surprised if she just decided to pull the plug. I don't think that would be a very good business or political move.” On both sides, the conclusion has been reached that nothing is going to happen overnight and that things will surely drag on into next year. No one know where this will end. Thanks to DeSantis, the effort to decouple has certainly been weakened. But has it been killed off? Probably not. That's not how politics works. “It's too soon to spike the ball or do a victory dance in the end zone,” Thayer said. “Hopefully, that day will come.” The post Week In Review: DeSantis’s Position On Decoupling Bill Has Changed the Narrative, But the Battle is Not Over appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
That's pure gold @TAB For Ever - did your trainer not get the memo? -
By Chief Stipe · Posted
I don't have a problem with awards for outstanding contributions to racing however the random plethora of such rewards are diminishing their effect. As well some of the nominees tend to make a mockery of some awards. For example how does a Club that doesn't own a racecourse and has 3 meetings abandoned in 5 years make the finalists ahead of many worthy Clubs? -
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