Closing scenes

by Trey Nosrac

One of the most interesting stage and screen characters is Blanche DuBois, from Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She is a Southern belle struggling with the changing times and fading beauty. The play finds her flawed, fragile, and vulnerable, relocated to a cramped apartment with complex problems. In her famous final line of the play, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” the audience is troubled because we know the strangers will not be kind. Her deteriorating stability makes her future bleak.

In many ways, Blanche Dubois serves as an analogy for our sport. We had a good run that occurred decades ago, but today we are vulnerable. We have shrunk to a solid foothold in a few mid-western states and pockets of Canada. Each state depends on current legislation holding firm and favorable economic winds.

We tend to beat ourselves up when another harness racing venue disappears or wagering numbers decrease, and we ask why somebody didn’t do something.

Do what?

Each state that lost its harness racing hoofprint is a different sad story. Each story involves politics and economics. Each state that continues to host harness racing has a political structure that allows it to be a viable sport.

For example, harness horse racing in Ohio is terrific and would be a good wager for the last state racing program standing. Ohio has constructed an outstanding, multilayered program for participants with solid purses. Revised Code (ORC) #3769.08 is the governmental path that led Ohio to its strong position. The Ohio Standardbred Development, established under the ORC, supports developing and promoting standardbred racing.
Legislation, present and future, is where our survival becomes sticky. As we know, there are daily news reports about many national and state programs being slashed. Some legislation does not change but can lose funding. In Ohio, the legislation for harness horse racing does not have an expiration date. Still, the funding levels and distribution are subject to biennial adjustments through the state budgeting process that involves the governor and both houses of Congress.

Legislation depends on people. Over the last five years, significant scandals have involved bribery and corruption in the Ohio Statehouse. They involved the former Speaker of the Ohio House convicted in a $60 million bribery scheme for a $1.3 billion energy bailout. Other convictions and scams hit the airwaves: racketeering, accepting bribes, paying bribes, embezzlement, destroying evidence, ethics violations, public corruption, etc. A recent HBO special, The Dark Money Game, focuses on several misdeeds in Ohio government. Trailer here.

Legislators, currently favorable to Ohio harness racing, hold our future in their often-slippery hands. Who knows what might happen if a powerful voice whispers the words decoupling or defunding to a few bendable ears?

Nobody knows what the future holds for our little sport over the next decade. Those who enjoy the fascinating game of raising and racing trotters and pacers keep hoping for the best and not having the rug pulled out. We try to remain optimistic despite troubling gambling indicators and a shrinking footprint. Almost daily, a portion of our harness racing minds feel a flicker of – “What if it all goes wrong? What if our contracts do not hold? What if intruders edge us out, and what if the money goes away?”

Should the pari-mutuel model falter and the purse subsidies stop, there will still be people who love this sport to the bottom of their bones and want it to continue in some form. The continuation of harness racing will not likely be a great business model or fiscal investment; the shift will be towards sports purists and hobbyists who use their money to play.

Over this summer, let’s look into some scenarios and paths to travel in case of harness racing Armageddon. Some of these columns you may find ridiculous, and some may have a flicker of promise. After a lifetime of playing the harness racing game as it was, these new models and ideas will be hard to imagine. Be forewarned: reading post-apocalyptic resurrection suggestions will be uncomfortable because we will never be what we used to be.

The future rolls forward. Where, or if, our beloved little sport fits into that future is yet to be determined. Maybe, just maybe, we can transition or rebuild an enjoyable niche sport that does not depend on the kindness of strangers.