Casinos biggest blunder, ‘un’marketing their racetracks

by John Berry

Way back in 2004, I was hired back to Pompano Park to be the point guy to drum up votes in our beloved Broward County to get a referendum on the ballot seeking permission in building a casino right in front of our eyes at PPk.

We had a roster of talent that could get any team to the Super Bowl or World Series.

Our “Sweet 16” included Wally Hennessey, Mickey McNichol, Bruce Ranger, Peter Blood, Jim McDonald, John Hallett, Jake Huff, Stan Whittemore, Mike Simons, Joe Pavia, Jr., Mike Deters, Leopold Sawyers, Dave Ingraham, Mike Murphy, DeShawn Minor, and Tom Sells, plus many, many others.

We covered libraries, schools, community centers — wherever we could detail the advantages of having a casino in our backyard to help our educational system keep up with the times in our world. After all, just about everything that makes up our material world today has been invented during our lifetime, from two to three inch bottle cap television screens to color television, and today’s 77” monsters, from medical advances covering just about every aspect of health, and, of course, the internet that has had profound effects on our world.

In our lifetime, we have completely re-invented communication, including the smartphone, GPS systems for our cars, and health care advances that were not even in dreams not too long ago, including DNA testing and artificial organs, and, most recently, AI, Artificial Intelligence.

In other words, the message was that our children and grandchildren must get to know more — a lot more — in today’s world than our Sweet 16 team had to know growing up just a generation or two ago, and the promised funding to education could help play a vital role for our future in the hands of our youth.

Never mind that it would insure the future of racing here in South Florida — that would be a gimme — but our Sweet 16, surely, had that unspoken thought in mind, as well.

Not one single time did our Sweet 16 group mention gam(bl)ing in our efforts to obtain these votes — not once.

Our efforts paid off with a resounding “yes” vote by our residents and the ribbon cutting ceremony began what was to become a new era in Florida harness racing.

It was amazing to see the steel rising and things taking shape and, when all was said and done, Pompano Park really became the winter capital of harness racing.

With over 1,500 slots, a championship poker room, a simulcasting palace, several dining choices, including a luscious five-star buffet, an Italian eatery, a storied steakhouse restaurant that would rival any other, and other snack attack spots for those that must have non-stop action. Pompano Park was the prime destination.

By the way, they had an outstanding gift shop, as well.

Today, no more buffet, no more Bragozzo, no more snack attack outlets (they do have a place for a slice of pizza), and the steakhouse is closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

The gift shop is gone, too.

The “steel” as the casino was being built became the “steal” of harness racing here as the systematic development of de-coupling began to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

The casino that “insured” the survival of harness racing at the winter capital, placed the fate of many thousands in jeopardy and, at the same time, cost the casino, potentially, several thousand players — a tough number to swallow when you’re in the casino business begging for new blood (money).

Here it is, almost 19 years later, and the evidence is shockingly clear that harness racing was un-marketed systematically and surgically removed in the city that the Van Lenneps built 75 years prior.

Now, it has become a cancer — still early stage — spreading strategically and surgically in pari-mutuel racing.

In South Florida, the first signs were somewhat hazy as the grandstand seating was designed to be, uncharacteristically, far away from the finish line, leaving the once hallowed “Top Of The Park building to rot away with the ages with only the announcer’s booth, timer’s quarters, and audio-video room left among the remains of the once asbestos loaded confines.

And while the excitement of the casino became stronger along with dreams about our harness racing future, another ominous sign was the continued dilapidation of the barn area.

Yes, huge sums were invested in the casino and hardly a dime in the barn area.

Rumors swirled around that political dollars were in play for a de-coupling move that would allow the casino to remain intact while removing the necessity for racing to continue at the track.

Pompano Park did have one friend in the Florida Legislature — Representative Dan Daley, son of noted trainer/driver Dan Daley — but as Wally Hennessey once remarked, “Dan was in a tough spot — kind of trying to climb Mt. Everest without Sherpas by your side.”

Pompano Park had record numbers in their final seasons, over 20 one-million-dollar handle programs under the grand direction of Gabe Prewitt, but it didn’t matter and never did.

Of course, the value of the 200 plus acres of land came into big play as the economics would prove to be the downfall of harness racing with those promises to keep harness racing alive and thriving melting like a snowball in our 80-degree heat.

Our pari-mutuel thoroughbred “neigh”bor, Calder Race Course, would be the next fatality with rumblings that the iconic Gulfstream Park just may be next down the line in Florida.

The iconic Arlington Park, known as the most beautiful track in America with a history going back to 1927, is now just that, history, and when one thinks of their owner, Churchill Downs, as the epitome of track ownership, one would think that Arlington was untouchable.

Not so.

Yes, there are no “favorites” these days in the pari-mutuel industry.

There are signs that other tracks with casinos are catching on in the un-marketing of our grand sport.

Having just noticed a digital ad from The Red Mile casino, the top of the ad shows the horses distorted out of observation with a welcoming bonus and nary a mention of the sport that has graced Lexington, KY, for over 150 years.

Upon inquiry, other Kentucky horsemen and women have reported that there is no directional signage at the main entrance and one, literally, has to ask for instructions to get trackside.

Another observed that, after you are directed to the elevator to access this iconic track, straight ahead when the elevator door opens is the men’s restroom on the second floor.

One ageless veteran (who saw the Niatross historic Time Trial in 1980) remarked, “I’ve been coming to The Red Mile for, gosh, 50-some-odd years and, since then, I have witnessed the millions [of dollars] being poured into the casino and not even a dollar-and-a-half for upgrading the grandstand.

“The barns are in terrible shape and I am afraid that they’ll be condemned somewhere in the future and I haven’t seen a dime invested in that direction.

“Again, many of us think it’s a systematic plan to, eventually, rid themselves of harness racing.”

Another horseman added, “The Breeders Crown is scheduled to be here in [20]27 and their hotel is a priority and, in their mind, much more important than caring for the barns here, and to think, horsepeople own the track!”

Finally, one other Bluegrass man said, “Some of us have been here forever and we raced for a couple of thousand dollars and were left out in the cold when the goodies [big purses] came into play and, when that happened, the big boys that were racing elsewhere for the big purses swarmed in and we had no protection in the race office when condition sheets came out.

“We were told to upgrade, but we, who supported Kentucky racing for decades, couldn’t and had to race for the scraps, or nothing at all.

“Politics means money and money is the king.

“I’d bet a million that, when the real big bucks are put on the table for that lush Lexington Mile land, the owners will go the way that Roosevelt and Liberty Bell and Pompano and Freehold did.

“The dollars will go into politics and decoupling will threaten their future, too… It’s a terrible thing to say but, maybe then I won’t feel so bad for not being able to enjoy the big bucks, too.”

In short, the horsemen don’t need a hotel, they need the barns and grandstand to be renovated to the modernization standards available today, just like the casinos.

Think it’s not serious? Just close your eyes and picture The Red Mile digital ad, with the horses image blurred out of the picture!

It’s not all bad, though.

Longtime horseman Mike Deters lamented, “At Tioga Downs, the barns have a bit of age on them as they were a quarter horse track when they opened about 50 years ago, but they recently put new roofs on the barns and placed window fittings on the back to protect from the winds.

“They do invest in track necessities and horsemen appreciate their efforts.”

At Saratoga, where facilities are shared by both thoroughbred and harness interests, frequent inspections are held making sure that all fire hazards are erased and all electrical necessities are safe, so that’s a couple of positives in fairness to those that do care about our future.

We need much more of that.

May The Horse Be With You!