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                                             Odds On Moinet
wins the first leg of the Night Style Series at The Meadowlands
     in 1:53 with leading driver George Brennan at the lines.

Odds On Moinet, Catawba win Night Styles leg
Fresh off an upset in the Tender Loving Care, Odds On Moinet picked up another victory in the opening round of the Night Styles Series on Thursday night at Meadowlands Racetrack.

Driven by George Brennan, Odds On Moinet slipped up the rail after a pocket trip to win the second of the two $16,000 splits for pacing fillies and mares in a career best 1:53. Despite her stakes win the week prior, Odds On Moinet was sent off as the 5-1 third choice in the betting and paid $12.40 to win. Mid-Western Jatelo rallied off a second-over trip to finish 1 1-4 lengths behind in second, while I Cant Stoplovinu flew home fastest of all to grab third.

Odd On Moinet posted her third win in four starts this season at Meadowlands Racetrack, where she won the $61,000 Tender Loving Care Final on March 5. A daughter of Real Artist-Aparte, Odds On Moinet was a $32,000 yearling purchase by trainer Robin Schadt and Dana Parham's Odds On Racing of Crete, IL. She has now won five of 13 career starts and $60,039.

Catawba brushed to the top at the half and held off Winsmith Jen by a nose to win the first of the two Night Styles divisions in 1:54.4. Odds On Aventure was three lengths behind them in third. Driven by Yannick Gingras, Catawba picked up her second win in four starts since trainer Delvy Lopez and Triple P Stables plucked her out of the 2010 January Select Mixed Sale for $20,000.

World Trotting Derby Ends at DuQuoin
Du Quoin’s 29-year run as “Home of the World Trotting Derby” has ended with the state’s decision to cancel both the 2010 derby and its companion World Trotting Derby Filly Division.

Eliminating the World Trotting Derby and other high ticket stakes is a move seen by many as a $1 million Du Quoin State Fair budget cut that will certainly leave Southern Illinois nervous about the future of the fair itself.

Du Quoin State Fair manager John Rednour told the Du Quoin Evening Call late Wednesday his administrative staff is on track for a full 10-day fair in 2010 which would run from Friday, Aug. 28, through Labor Day on Sept. 6.

Rednour said any thought to ending the fair or its non-fair events, campventions and RV rallies would be devastating on Southern Illinois’ economy.

“Without the fair, I could see at least five businesses in Du Quoin closing,” he said.

Millions of dollars roll through the region’s dining and hotel and motel industry because of the fair.

The decision to end the derby was apparently made jointly by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the racing division and the fair.

The World Trotting Derby was created after a 1979 vote by the Hambletonian Society to move harness racing’s Crown Jewel from the Du Quoin State Fair (its home since 1957) to The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. The Hambletonian is part of harness racing’s Triple Crown that includes the Hambletonian, the Yonkers Trot and the Kentucky Futurity and has flourished since the move.

The Hambletonian’s future in Du Quoin was tenuous, at best, and the Saad Jabr family’s purchase of the fair in 1979 sealed the society’s decision to move the race. Unlike his father Gene Hayes and uncle Don Hayes — who twice before had successfully interceded to return the race to Du Quoin under multi-year contracts, the late W.R. Hayes II was unconvincing. The society and east coast horsemen saw the Jabr purchase of the fair as the perfect time to capture and move the race.

The World Trotting Derby as a replacement never completely rose to the ranks of being a harness racing classic.

It nonetheless was the early September acid test for 3-year-old trotters. Many set world records at Du Quoin and most went on to become either the United State’s Trotting Association’s 3-year-old Trotter of the Year or Horse of the Year. Many beat the records set in July in the Hambletonian.

The late Curt Green, harness racing author and onetime manager of the Du Quoin State Fair, created the World Trotting Derby. Former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson’s staff and later Gov. Jim Edgar styled programs that would largely garner pari-mutuel revenue from betting on races at Maywood Park to pay for the World Trotting Derby purse.

At this writing, the owners 2009 World Trotting Derby winner Muscle Hill have not yet been paid by the State of Illinois, but will be paid soon.

March 15 is the deadline for initial eligibility payments to enter what would have been the 30th anniversary World Trotting Derby. The decision to end the 3-year-old trot comes on the eve of that deadline.

“The racing board and staff gets cut in this, too,” said Rednour. “Many people came down here on overtime.”

“As much as we hate to lose it, the State of Illinois will save that purse and the costs involved around it. We will save the cost of not only the derby, but the filly race and other races,” said Rednour.

It was the Magic Mile at Du Quoin, the Review Futurity in Springfield and the American National in Chicago that brought the fast multi-million dollar colts, fillies and geldings to the Midwest. Will we ever see that again? We may see it only because many horsemen recognize the Magic Mile as the fastest harness track in the world. Owners looking to add value to their colts in future syndication may still come. Only time will tell.

Some Illinois horsemen will actually applaud the decision to end the World Trotting Derby. For the past two years they have lobbied to move that purse money into Illinois owned and bred programs.

“Cutting out the World Trotting Derby is not something I want to do. You know me, I have always been a horseman,” said Rednour. “But, I don’t think taking the World Trotting Derby away will hurt us that much.”

While the fair staff has been asked to create scenarios for a shortened fair, Rednour said a 10-day fair just makes sense. “The real income times for the fair are the first weekend and the last (Labor Day) weekend,” he said.

“There is a problem to cutting back the fair to seven or five days,” he said. He said the fair is working to create night show and free entertainment schedules.

Presently, the USAC and ARCA racing programs are intact.

He said the fair will sponsor most of the entertainment. It may also lease the facilities to other producers to host their own shows.

“Maybe we can come up with some $2 and $5 ticket events to fill seats,” he said.

Sears Needs Just One To Reach 7,000
Five-time leading driver Brian Sears is just one win shy of the 7,000-career mark entering the Thursday night card at Meadowlands Racetrack. He is listed to drive in all 10 races on the program, which kicks off at 7 p.m.

The U.S. Harness Writers Association named Sears the 2009 Driver of the Year for campaigning Muscle Hill into harness racing's record books last season. Muscle Hill's stunning 1:50.1 Hambletonian victory helped propel the reinsman to a single-day earnings record of $1,555,674 on August 8, 2009. Sears surpassed $100 million in career earnings in 2009, ranking him eighth on harness racing's all-time list.

A 42-year-old resident of Secaucus, NJ, Sears won five straight Meadowlands driving titles from 2005-2009. He currently ranks second behind George Brennan in the standings with 82 victories.

Zenyatta in Santa Margarita Saturday
Undefeated Zenyatta returns to action Saturday in the 73rd running of the Grade I, $250,000 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap at Santa Anita, where last seen on Nov. 7 she was scoring an unprecedented victory over males in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic that extended her unbeaten streak to 14, led to a repeat as champion older female, and emblazoned her enormous popularity.

If you listen to her Hall of Fame jockey, Zenyatta's 2010 campaign as a 6-year-old will only buttress her brilliance.

"I know it sounds funny," Mike Smith said following a recent workout, "but I really think she's getting better."

Zenyatta will carry high weight of 127 pounds against eight opponents in the mile-and-one-eighth Santa Margarita as she prepares for her greatly anticipated showdown with 4-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year, in the $5 million Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 9.

Fans on Saturday may begin their 2010 comparisons between the pair of illustrious females. Rachael Alexandra makes her seasonal debut 25 minutes earlier than Zenyatta in the inaugural $200,000 New Orleans Ladies' Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at the Fair Grounds in Louisiana.

Scheduled post time for the seventh-race Santa Margarita is 3:40 p.m. on a 10-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m.

No Live Racing At Rockingham In 2010

Rockingham Park, the home of thoroughbred and harness racing in the state of New Hampshire for the past 104 years, will not host a live horse racing meeting in 2010, the Salem landmark announced today.

The New Hampshire legislature passed legislation in the final minutes of the 2009 session which eliminated funding for the New Hampshire Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission to regulate live racing in New Hampshire for this year. The loss of this funding meant the commission cannot provide regulation and oversight, and therefore cannot allow dates to be issued to Rockingham or any other track in the state.

“We have waited as long as we can for the legislature to correct this, but we cannot wait any longer,” said Edward M. Callahan, president and general manager of Rockingham Park. “We must notify the horsemen who come from all over the country so they can make other plans. Attempts have been made to restore the funding to the commission, but those attempts have been unsuccessful. In addition to the taxes that are paid, over the past few years the state has eliminated various funds from racing and has increased fees which would cost Rockingham almost $500,000 per year in order to hold live racing.”

Rockingham Park generated over $2.5 million per year directly to the state of New Hampshire in the form of fees and taxes from racing, food sales, charitable gaming, and lottery sales. In testimony in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, live horse racing was shown to generate an economic impact of almost $12 million per year in New Hampshire, with Rockingham’s racing and simulcasting impact combined to be over $30 million per year.

Since 1933 when wagering on horse races was legalized, Rockingham has contributed over $300 million to the state of New Hampshire.

“The legislature in its efforts to close a budget hole of over $140 million does not feel the funding of the Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission for live racing is beneficial,” Callahan said.

With no live racing in 2010, it is estimated that over 100 jobs will be lost and that the state will lose over 870 horsemen who had been licensed at Rockingham over the past year.

Current operations which include charitable gaming, charitable bingo, full card thoroughbred, harness, and greyhound simulcasting, and various shows and exhibitions will continue to provide employment for the racetrack’s remaining employees.

Rockingham will continue to pursue the ability to offer the product it has offered since the track first offered live horse racing in 1906, and the racetrack hopes that racing may be able to return in the future. Rockingham will seek legislative approval for the installation of slot machines in order to generate additional revenue to the state of New Hampshire, create jobs, increase tourism, increase purses, and improve the quality of the live racing product.

The last year that live racing was not conducted at Rockingham Park was 1983 after the grandstand burned to the ground during a devastating fire that shuttered the track. The owners of the facility at that time did not feel racing could be conducted profitably and decided to sell the property to the current owners, Rockingham Venture, Inc. Rockingham Venture Inc. rebuilt the track and re-opened on May 24, 1984 to a crowd of over 12,000 fans.

Harness Museum Seeks Input
It’s time! Time to update the museum’s timeline reader board located in the Delvin Miller Historic Timeline at The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY.

The last historical reference is for 2001 and we invite harness racing fans to help us bring the exhibit up to the present. Send ideas by April 1 to director@harnessmuseum.com.

The museum is looking for items considered significant to harness racing that took place between 2001 and 2010. Two or three lines will do and suggestions can have had either a positive or negative impact on the sport. We look forward to the response!

More than 28,000 people visited The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame last year. This showcase to the sport is located at 240 Main Street in Goshen, New York and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last tour 4:00 p.m.)

The Museum is currently offering free admissioen for walk-in visitors and $4.00/person for group docent-guided tours. For information on the Museum, special events, gift shop services, free traveling exhibits and promotional opportunities as well as educational programs the Museum offers, please call 845.294.6330 or visit www.harnessmuseum.com.

Officials Support Monmouth Schedule
When Monmouth Park officials announced they would be slashing the New Jersey track’s race schedule nearly in half in order to provide larger purses and create better quality racing for bettors, they were bombarded by negative editorial opinions and commentaries suggesting the change had signaled the death of the local industry.

But Bob Kulina, vice president and general manager of Monmouth, and John Forbes, president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, beg to differ.

“The last time I checked, it wasn’t dying,” said Forbes during a March 9 National Thoroughbred Racing Association teleconference, noting how Monmouth conducted a 141-day meet last year with purses of more than $300,000 a day, had large summer crowds, and hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 2007.

While it came as a shock when Monmouth officials announced March 9 that the track would this year run a reduced 50-day meet from May to September with purses boosted to $1 million per day, Forbes and Kulina claim the move may actually save the local industry, which in its current state cannot begin to compete with neighboring states that benefit from the revenues of casino gaming.

“What we have to face is competition from neighboring states whose purses are augmented by casino gaming, and we have a casino industry that wants us to disappear,” said Forbes. “One of the things we recognize is that with or without slot revenue, racing has to change. We’ve heard from the customer, and we’ve gone recently from a local sport to a national sport with full card simulcasting.

“The customer has spoken—he wants quality racing, larger fields, and we think it’s time that someone stepped up and gave the customer in racing what he’s looking for. This isn’t a survival issue; it’s an issue of responding of what we all know is most important—quality racing—and that’s what we hope to provide. We don’t use tax dollars to support our game; the casinos don’t give us a handout. We have to sign an agreement with the casinos not to go after slots; they buy us off. So it’s a struggle, but we felt we needed to get to the heart of the matter.”

Kulina said the new purse schedule at Monmouth would include bottom level claiming races ranging from $5,000-$30,000; maiden special weight races at $75,000-$90,000; and overnight stakes at $100,000. The major stakes races—such as the $1 million Haskell Invitational (gr. I)—would stay at the same level they were last year.

With the fall meeting at the Meadowlands being eliminated, the Meadowlands Cup (gr. II) would be moved to Monmouth, and the date of the Pegasus Stakes (gr. III) would be moved to serve as a prep race for the Haskell. Meadowland’s Violet and Cliffhanger Stakes (both gr. III) will be put on hold for 2010.

Eliminating Meadowlands' fall meet is a one-year experiment, and Kulina said he plans to assess the decision over the summer in order to decide what will happen in the future.

An agreement has been made with New Jersey breeders to run two and a half New Jersey-bred programs a day, with the state-bred maiden special worth $75,000.

“They’ll have the corresponding purses, and the New Jersey-breds will get a 20% bonus if they finish 1-2-3 in open races,” said Kulina. “This is a wonderful thing for the New Jersey breeders, and I think this is a win-win proposition for everybody. We’re making their rewards program whole and they are very happy. They’re going to have funding for an out-of-state New Jersey-bred program for the rest of the year. So we think we have most the issues resolved.”

Kulina said the goal for Monmouth’s 2010 season is to consistently have 8- to 10-horse fields.

“We’re working on a meaningful payback to horses that finish outside the money,” he explained. “We think it’s important that owners are rewarded for participation in fields. We’re trying to spread some of the money around, not only to the small owners, but to everybody, because it’s a very costly game. So we’re doing some different things, and we’re cautiously optimistic that this is a model that will work. No matter what level the race is, if it’s competitive, it’s a good race.”

Kulina said he realized that by cutting 50% of its race dates, Monmouth will have to increase the handle on its existing races by 50% just to break even on revenue.

“That is the gamble, but we are adding two to three races every day that we race. Our signal will be stronger so people in other parts of the country will look at it. We made very soft projections, and we reduced the days that are extremely weak, so we’re hoping that if we offer one of the best products in the market, the consumer will respond to it.”

One of the many concerns with the new schedule is how it will affect the smaller horsemen in the state. While Forbes said he is apprehensive of how those players will deal with the situation, he’s more concentrated on looking at the future of the sport.

“We’re surrounded by five states that have casino gambling and slot revenue and we sit in the middle of that,” he said. “Our sense was that over the next five years we would be dying a slow death with the reduction of days to try and keep our purse levels competitive.

“If this is the death for the small horsemen, it’s because he doesn’t have the kind of horse that America wants to bet on,” Forbes continued. “But I don’t it’s the death…I think it’s an opportunity for our horsemen to recognize that not to upgrade, not to improve the product for the consumer is a prescription to eventually be eliminated from the mix here in the Midlantic. We’re very concerned about our small horsemen, but we also want them to step up to the plate. If they can’t recognize that poor racing with horses that aren’t competitive is itself a death then none of us are responding to what the industry wants.”

Forbes made a reference to the boutique track Atlantic City, which offers a handful of turf racing dates each year, and has somehow remained a popular local venue in spite of not even having a functioning tote board.

“(Atlantic City) is an example of the fact New Jersey racing isn’t dying—somehow it still exists,” he said. “If they’re willing to step up to the plate and attach some decent purses to their turf racing, we’re hopeful they have a place in New Jersey. But they’re going to have to offer a product the public wants to bet on, and if they’re not a positive part of our solution to our problems, then they will have to go by the wayside. They have to recognize that what New Jersey has done is dramatic, with intent, and its back to the old adage if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”