Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Around The Ovals

November 2, 2007

Hay Prices Rise for Illinois Horsemen
Local hay production was reduced sharply by winter damage and hostile spring weather -- nine days in April when the temperatures were in the teens and 20s -- and further by dry weather later in the spring, a survey of producers in June indicated. Now horses are being sold off because of the high cost of hay
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With heavy losses in alfalfa, some producers tore up hay fields and planted corn, joining in a $2 million per acre Illinois switch to corn from other crops, mostly from soybeans. Corn prices have been at their highest level in decades.

"We lost five-eighths to seven-eighths of our alfalfa that didn't make it through the winter," Lee Deutsche of east Will County said at the time. The previous year, he and his sons produced 47,000 bales, primarily for Balmoral Park race horses.

Prices were up sharply, in some cases doubling to $5 and $6 per bale.

Rick Neimeyer of Lowell, Ind., who operates one of the few hay and livestock auction houses in the region, said this morning that "people are culling animals out a little more than normal.

"They're keeping livestock, but they're cutting back over the winter months because of the price of hay and corn."

Neimeyer, who has operated Lowell Livestock Auction since 1969, auctions hay and straw at noon Mondays and livestock at 4 p.m.

"The price of hay, I would say is 40 percent higher than normal in the last four or five years," he said.

It's not just cattle producers and dairies that are keeping fewer animals over winter, he said. "A lot of horses have been sold in the last few months too," he said. "People can't afford to keep them over winter... not as many as in the past."

Public Forum On NYRA Situation
At the end of this year, the New York Racing Association's contract to run Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga expires, leaving lawmakers less than two months to make up their mind and either keep NYRA or award the franchise to a new bidder.

The future of New York horse racing was the focus of a public forum held Thursday night in Saratoga Springs. Trainers, horsemen, owners and jockeys asked that partisan politics be put aside so an agreement can soon be reached.

H. James Bond said, "The time's ticking, and we have some state politicians that really just can't make up their mind and make decisions, and there's so many lives depending on this, it's a scary situation."

NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward said, "I know that politics operates on very tight deadlines here in New York. We're playing with a lot of people's lives here."

The forum comes a few days after news broke that the IRS is seeking $1.6 billion in back taxes from NYRA. However, this did not happen under Hayward's watch.

Governor Spitzer has recommended NYRA continue to run the racing portion of the franchise, with another group running gaming. It's up to the Legislature to approve the governor's suggestion. But the Senate has vowed to stall the process as they come up with their own plan.

Sportsman's Park to be Leveled
Sportsman's Park will soon be no more. The Cicero, Illinois facility is on its way to becoming an 89 acre island of retail stores, parks and an outdoor fairground. The town bought the track after it failed as an auto racetrack and closed in 2003.

It has now entered into an agreement with John Buck Company to transform the facility into Fountain Square Laramie Park. It will include three major box stores that will encompass six acres, a 10 acre area with Dancing Water fountains, a fairground, park and bandshell.

Sportsman's thus follows the path of other memorable racing operations such as Garden State Park, Liberty Bell P ark, Brandywine and Roosevelt Raceway.