FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. An article by Kathleen Haughney in the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that a Florida senate bill to establish destination-type casinos originally was meant to limit gambling in the Sunshine State. However, the bill was modified so much that, if enacted into law, every geographical sector of Florida can have at least slot machines, subject to approval by voters in the various communities.

Dade County (Miami) and adjacent Broward County are presently home to seven racinos operating at horse-racing and dog-racing tracks. Under the enlarged senate bill, these racinos would be able to expand into full-scale casinos. In addition, racinos would have their current 35 percent tax rate reduced to the 10 percent rate proposed for casinos.

The outlook is that the senate bill will not become law in 2012, but may in 2013. Whatever the year, vastly augmented gambling is most likely  coming to Florida in the near future because the state requires the revenue and needs the destination casinos for tourism. When that occurs, Calder, Gulfstream Park, Pompano Park, and Tampa Bay Downs, will morph into full-line casinos that happen to have horse racing as part of their overall product mix.

Whether additional gambling is a pro or con for horse racing remains to be seen. The experience with racinos in other venues does not suggest that larger crowds who come to gamble translate into more betting on horse racing.

Rather than handwringing and lamenting the future competition from casino gambling, horse racing needs to figure out how to offer a more competitive product, particularly when it comes to fuller fields and lower takeout. With the prospects dramatically improving for legalization of full-scale casino gambling, bloodstock interests unfortunately can’t count on the racetracks to make a concerted effort in this regard.

Copyright © 2012 Horse Racing Business

Click here to read the South Florida Sun Sentinel article.

HALLANDALE, FL. On January 6, 2012, Gulfstream Park held a $51,500 Maiden Special Weight race for 3-year-old fillies at 6 furlongs on dirt. Todd Pletcher sent out first-time starter The Last Meow for Town and Country Farms. This filly is one of only three offspring from Storm Cat’s last crop and hence her name. She took the lead out of the gate and won by 7 ½ lengths in 1:09.82.

After the track photographer took The Last Meow’s picture in the Winner’s Circle, the groom removed her saddle.  One could not help but notice that she has a significant case of the genetic deformity lordosis, also known as swayback or low in the back or soft in the back. Curvature of the spine is seen in about 1 percent of all horses.

This defect no doubt accounted for the bidding on The Last Meow stalling at $220,000 at the Saratoga select summer yearling sale in 2010, despite the fact that she is by the outstanding sire Storm Cat and out of the Grade III-winning mare Rich Woman by Successful Appeal.

A study at the University of Kentucky found that lordosis does not inhibit broodmares from carrying foals to full term. Similarly, the mechanics of performance horses like jumpers and American Saddlebred show horses are not usually interfered with by the deformity. However, the study also said that racehorses with lordosis are often negatively affected, meaning it impedes their speed.

The business of selecting weanlings and yearlings for racing is a risky and inexact proposition. Some of the most perfectly conformed entries with the bluest of bloodlines have failed as racehorses. Not one of the nine most expensive auction yearlings in history won more than three races and two of them never even made it to the races. The record price paid for a Thoroughbred at auction is $16 million for the 2-year-old The Green Monkey in 2006, who turned in a torrid time of nine and four-fifths seconds for an eighth of a mile. In three career starts, he finished third, fourth, and fourth.

On the other hand, some of the best racehorses have had conformation flaws that turned off prospective buyers. Northern Dancer (too small) and Sunday Silence (sickle-hocked) are prominent examples of yearlings that did not reach their reserve price at auction, yet went on to become not only Hall of Fame inductees but sensational sires as well.

Looking back on the careers of racehorses can be like attending a high school class reunion, where the kid voted “most likely to succeed” forty or fifty years ago has badly underachieved, while the supposed dunce or clown that struggled to graduate has eclipsed the rest of the class in professional acclaim.

The chance to buy a racehorse prospect that others spurn because of conformation imperfections and/or a deficient pedigree and then have that ugly duckling turn into a swan is what makes for great intrigue. It is like selecting Tom Brady in the sixth round of the NFL draft and subsequently watching him develop into a surefire Hall of Fame selection.

Whether The Last Meow will go on to be a graded stakes winner will be interesting to watch. When she runs, she epitomizes the adage “pretty is as pretty does.”

Copyright © 2012 Horse Racing Business

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. I met a barber today in his shop near the beach who is a partner with two of his friends in owning a couple of horses that train at Calder and race at nearby Calder and Gulfstream. The wiry and lively fellow looks to be in his seventies and came to the United States years ago from Eastern Europe.

When a customer sits in the barber’s chair, he faces a large mirror and a prominent picture taken in late 2011 in the winner’s circle at Calder. The barber’s 4-year-old Hold That Tiger gelding had won a $50,000 claiming race on the turf. The proud owner told me all about how much he had received in purses with the gelding as well as from betting on him.

The affable barber is eagerly looking forward to his gelding’s next race at Gulfstream sometime in the next week or so, although he can watch the horse run in person only on the weekends because of cutting duties at his shop.

His other horse at Calder has had some physical problems the trainer is trying to overcome.

This conversation reminds that horse racing is truly an egalitarian sport attracting folks ranging from royalty and billionaires to people who work with their hands and, in this case, scissors. Horse racing gives aficionados of the turf something in common to talk about–and argue about–regardless of the particulars of the parties involved.

Copyright © 2012 Horse Racing Business