Prewitt clears the air in Hoosier Park mandatory drivers meeting
The Indiana track’s head of racing tells drivers that big bettors are reaching
out to say they’re not happy with some things they’re seeing on the track, such as
giving holes without a strategic reason.
by Brett Sturman
In a meeting on Friday (April 17) in advance of that night’s race card, Harrah’s Hoosier Park vice president/general manager of racing Gabe Prewitt put the track’s driving colony on notice that longstanding, business-as-usual antics will no longer be tolerated.
The meeting, first previewed earlier in the week in a social media post in which Prewitt said, “In the process of reviewing the Indiana rules for giving holes, will be making MAJOR adjustments to how this is governed.”
Reinforcing the seriousness of the meeting, Prewitt posted a day later that the meeting would be mandatory for “anyone planning to drive at Hoosier Park from this day forward.”
What Prewitt was referencing in the posts is what he spoke with me about on Friday hours before the meeting, which is a highly-commendable effort to rid his track of integrity-compromising drives that has regrettably become a plague throughout the sport.
“I’m close with many gamblers wagering on our product – a lot of these guys bet very good money that I know personally – and they’ve reached out to me at different times because they don’t like what they’re seeing on the track,” said Prewitt. “We have this place going as good as it’s ever gone in terms of handle, but some don’t want to continue to put their money into a place where they see what’s happening with the racing.”
Further explaining his position, Prewitt said, “I understand that not everyone sees each situation the same, but overall, it feels like things have continued to be a little worse. I’ll give you some examples. The rule for giving holes in Indiana is you must keep a hole closed unless it’s for a strategic reason. I’m really a believer that it does become a gray area and I’m not an extreme believer that you can never give a hole or that you must drive on to the top – there’s different reasons and different strategies, and it can be counterproductive if you police it as a matter of black and white.
“But having said all of that, I had a guy in the 12th race [Thursday] night give up ahole right at the half mile, and I’m very curious to get his strategy on that. I had two guys on Wednesday night, one in race 8 and one in race 10 – strangle their animal to let two guys in front of them going into the first turn So, again, I’m very curious to get their strategy on that. In another example, I had a guy again from [Thursday] night violently right line his horse multiple times to the outside just to let another guy shoot right through on the inside.”
The horse that shot through was the heavy favorite who otherwise would not have had the room to make that move, Prewitt said.
Replays from those races all perfectly validate Prewitt’s descriptions of those events, and in my opinion are all driving abominations. In calling out these events – from just these last two days no less, let alone everything that’s come before it – Prewitt intends to change the traditional counterpoint to all this which is basically for any bystander to be quiet and leave the driving to the drivers.
“I’m not saying it’s for any nefarious reasons,” said Prewitt, “but it’s in a way manipulating the results of the races which is unfair to the betting public, and that’s kind of why we are here. I would say that ‘racing’ is a term used very loosely at the track right now. It’s turned into a bit of a gentlemen’s club and having watched every race this entire meet, doing favors has become widespread.
“I just want to sit everybody down, and say what’s happened in the past is in the past,” said Prewitt. “Now, most of these guys have probably never really had anyone that has cared about, and has been as passionate about, the gambling aspect as I am. They’re used to just doing what they want with nobody really saying anything. I just want to address all of that right now, because the next time I see somebody strangle a horse to give two holes [they] get a week [suspension], and that’s from me, not the judges – you’re out. I don’t care if it’s the night before Super Night. If I see you violently jerk a right line where it’s not a horse getting tired – it’s you getting out of the way so the horse behind you can get around you – that’s a week immediately.
“I just want them to know that people are betting on this with real money and supporting us to a degree that we’ve been overwhelmed with success and continue to be. We’re coming off a record year, which has bucked an industry where handle has gone downward, and we’ve been blessed with support and I’m not going to let that waver due to people that are unhappy with what they are seeing on the racetrack. As a horseplayer first and foremost, I sympathize with them. I will absolutely defend my guys to the end of the earth when we’re in the right, but when we’re in the wrong, we’ve got to clean it up.
“I love them; I’m not mad at them – I’m just going to tell them this is a fresh start for everybody… I’ve seen plenty of tracks all day, every day that race and don’t care about the gambler. And you can probably give as many holes as you want and do whatever else you want there, but it’s not going to happen here under my watch.”
Following the late Friday afternoon drivers’ meeting, racing at Hoosier Park that evening looked vastly different from the immediately prior race cards. As a function of being forced to actually ‘race,’ results were less predictable, and it resulted in neither Pick-5 on the card being hit. Almost poetically, a $25,226 carryover and a $100,000 Pick-5 guaranteed pool will now await bettor’s when racing resumes on Wednesday (April 22).
