by Trey Nosrac

In Trey’s odd little world, a summer hiatus is mandatory. Summers are a robust mixture of tee-times, baseball games, chilled wine coolers, unscripted travel, outdoor concerts, racetracks, beach cottages, and various forms of mischief. All of these activities are coordinated with, and secondary to, the racing path of a 2-year-old trotting filly that drew our eye in a recent fall yearling sale.

In addition, detox is on the docket. No, not what you assume. Trey will try living untethered to the Internet for a few weeks. This divorce from the digital world is not as altruistic and innovative as it may seem. It was the result of a stupid wager. A few beverages led me to boast to a tavern filled with alleged friends where I opined, “I could do just fine without the Internet.” This comment set off a lusty debate and a long saga, which ends later this month with my computer, iPhone, and iPad locked inside the shotgun cabinet of James “One Eyebrow” Sadowski.

The withdrawal period may be difficult, but time will pass as it always does. Eventually, the devices will be powered back up. When the yearling sales catalogs roll off the presses (or are released in pdf files), Trey shall return like a Capistrano Swallow, a bad penny, the Jedi, the Fly, the Living Dead, or Uncle Eddie in his Winnebago. At that time, a robust parade of peculiar projects may possibly plague the pages of HRU, all endorsed by the WWB (Writers Without Borders):

• A participatory opportunity with jaw-dropping prizes, this time for those in the yearling marketplace – The Dam Family Game (contest)
• Excerpts from – How to Gamble Successfully on Trotters and Pacers (fiction)
• Excerpts from – Getting Rich owning Standardbred Racehorses (science-fiction)
• Excerpts from – The Profitable Yearling Purchase (satire/humor)
• Excerpts from – Racing into the Future, Exciting New Strategies (farce)
• A ramping up of the “nudging” that will force my pal, Batman, to invest in our sport (Disturbing Dialogues)
• A few entries so outlandish that they shall be forwarded outside of the harness niche and create a flash mob at a harness racetrack (column)
• A follow up on horses bred as a result of the poetry contest (informational)
• A possible 2yo purchase and regular report with all the money earmarked for a specific charity (project)
• A few fictional tales
• Uncategorical lunacy

Before logging off for the summer, a few updates and unsolicited opinions:

• The “Beau Blacken” series of searching for an underdog sire for our broodmare resulted in a successful pregnancy.
• The Guru is great.
• The Sweden Eight should be embraced as our new national harness racing manifesto because that Swedish V75 wager may be the coolest invention since duct tape.

Several columns over the past few years referred to the changing world of individual state gambling legislation. The month of May 2019 saw several official developments:

√ Montana – Governor Steve Bullock signed into law a 28-page bill that brings sports wagering to Big Sky country via the state’s lottery. Sports betting in Montana will go live in 2019 for both in-person and mobile device wagering within the state.

√ Washington DC – The Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018 became effective on May 3, 2019. The District’s chief financial officer was authorized to adopt rules and regulations following a public comment period. The exact date of the first sports bets in 2019 will soon be determined.

√ Indiana – Governor Eric Holcomb signed a bill that would potentially allow legal sports betting in the Hoosier State as early as August 2019. The law permits both mobile and in-person wagering and the Indiana Gaming Commission will oversee all sports betting regulations.

√ Iowa – Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill to legalize sports betting in the State. Operators must pay a $45,000 licensing fee and there is a 6.75 per cent tax on revenue. The new law permits mobile wagering. The new legislation designates the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to regulate sports betting.

√ Tennessee – The Tennessee Sports Gaming Act is now law. Sports betting operators must pay a $750,000 licensing fee and there is a 20 per cent tax rate.

Stay well. Race well. Wager well. Preach the harness racing gospel at all opportunities. Smell the flowers. Advertise in HRU. Use sunscreen. Thanks for reading. Let everyone abide.