The walking death of pari-mutuel racing in Tennessee, Part 8
by Frank Cotolo
Part 1 is here.
Part 2 ishere.
Part 3 is here.
Part 4 is here.
Part 5 ishere.
Part 6 is here.
Part 7 is here.
“What is it called? Mechanical Downs?” I said. “Wait. Better. Robot Raceway.”
Racing Commissioner Conrad snickered after trying to hold in any response. “If nothing else,” he said, “it’s a start.”
It is still unclear to me how the amusement-park pari-mutuels-horse-substitute breed began but Commissioner Conrad was serious about the first attempt at testing the state’s pari-mutuels project with mechanical horses.
“Life-sized?” I asked.
“I doubt that. But word is they’re big structures.”
“Then it is like merry-go-round horses let loose to compete?”
“You might say that, yeah. Not gotten any details but for the proposal.”
I assumed Commissioner Conrad would be the strongest voice for creating any pari-mutuel track for racetrack facility — mechanical or living equines. But I never imagined a “Coney Island Downs Raceway” [sic]. I implored Conrad to keep me informed on all details he received pertaining to the “aluminous Equus caballus’ bloodline.”
My national connections to pari-mutuel horseracing at the time were reduced to writing articles for the standardbred and thoroughbred trade and pari-mutuel racing-audience magazines. Keeping a presence in the genre was important to me because as the 1990s approached there were no guarantees I would remain a member of the great Opry empire. Though I had a contract, there was always some amount of money I might have to agree to accept to be released with dignity. My professional relationship to Wolfman was never in jeopardy. But Wolfman’s professional relationship with any major corporate entity was always challenged. So, if his Nashville Network presence crumbled then so would my residence in the state’s controlling media.
Meanwhile: I was keeping my horse-racing-journalist-fingers tapping in case I got the cowboy boot from Opry. And the Tennessee pari-mutuel legalization was my story. A scoop worthy of spending what time I had left in a day. Thank goodness Natasha was supportive so I could continue burning the professional candle at both ends.
Nashville newspapers were not following the pari-mutuel story. Nothing from Memphis news outlets got ink. But Conrad told me there was reporting about the Memphis mechanical racing project in other states.
“The Chicago Tribune ran a piece on the robot track,” Conrad said.
“Did it mention investors?”
“Only in company names. Made up, I guess, to keep the project alive and still remain anonymous. Except for one state senator.”
I will call that state senator Mr. Goody. He was quoted in a regional newspaper saying there were some groups around the state deeply interested in supporting the pari-mutuel horse racing law. He cited the fact that Tennessee had county fairs with harness racing and quarter horse and thoroughbred people interested in adding wagering to the events.
Conrad said The Lincoln County Fair in Fayetteville “features harness racing. It’s an integral part of the Fair’s tradition. Goes back to the late 1880.” He quoted from a local news article that harness racing had “an enduring popularity among local enthusiasts.”
“But,” I said to Conrad, “could robot horses create local enthusiasts?”
“It’s not whatever creature is racing that anyone’s afraid of. It’s the folks the gambling attracts. And the bad element associated with them.”
“Could you get your hands on some solid information,” I said. “What do the robots look like; how do they move; are there robot jockeys?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
The only image I had of robot horses was from my experience as a kid at Coney Island in Brooklyn where one of the most popular rides was The Steeplechase. It was a classic; a gravity-powered roller-coaster type structure where riders sat strapped on wooden horses sliding on a curved metal base to simulate a thoroughbred race. How any similar fake horses could compete on a contraption like that was a mystery to me. And the human element factor was impossible to imagine the races would always be on the up and up.
I was sure there were already racketeers conjuring every scheme possible to control the steel raceway operations to their financial advantage; making a mockery of the pari-mutuel system and sucking skads of money from local enthusiasts. It was bad enough the history of fixed horse races and criminal intervention clouded the sport’s integrity; how would the likes of fake horseflesh appear to benefit its image?
