News Source Found on: http://www.miami.com
Dog track exec was champion of the sport
BY TERE FIGUERAS NEGRETE
tfigueras@MiamiHerald.com
Fred Havenick, who as president of Flagler Dog Track made it his mission to keep the once-glamorous parimutuel alive -- introducing an ill-fated campaign to bring slots-style gambling to Miami-Dade -- died Wednesday at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Havenick, who suffered from lymphoma, was 62.
The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Havenick became a champion of dog racing by chance: He fell for Barbara Hecht, the daughter of the legendary Flagler owner Isadore Hecht.
Havenick took over the racetrack in 1977 following the death of his father-in-law.
Things had changed drastically since the mid-century heyday of dog racing in Miami, when Hechts' Flagler track was one of three in the county. With dog racing aficionados aging and younger generations lured away by online gambling, cruises to nowhere and acres of slot machines ensconced at Indian casinos, Havenick and his counterparts found themselves fighting for survival.
In the 1990s, the racetrack began marketing to Hispanics in hopes of luring a new demographic. Onsite poker games followed. But Flagler, off Northwest Fourth Street and 37th Avenue, never regained its luster.
In 2004, Havenick and owners of other parimutuels launched a campaign to convince voters in Miami-Dade and Broward to approve slot machines at racetracks and jai-alai frontons.
The measure passed in Broward but failed in Miami-Dade -- leaving Flagler in the dust and Havenick heartbroken. His family has vowed to launch a second campaign.
''The only thing I can think about is that Freddie won't be around to pull the arm on the first slot machine,'' said his wife, Barbara Hecht Havenick.
Havenick earned a bachelor's degree in economics at New York University and a law degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He and Barbara married in 1977.
Havenick found he had a natural affinity for the Hecht family enterprise, which includes the Naples Fort Myers Dog Track in Bonita Springs and another track in Corpus Christi, Texas.
''He fell in face first,'' Barbara Havenick said. ``But he was very smart and treated it just like any other business.''
Said his son and right-hand man at Flagler, Izzy Havenick: ``If he didn't set foot at the track at least once a day, he wasn't a happy camper.''
Havenick was a devoted guardian of the Hecht legacy, which includes a long history of philanthropy. Several buildings at the university bear the Hecht family name. Havenick was a member of the University of Miami's citizen board, and in 1985 he was inducted into the Merrick Society for his philanthropy. He served in the Beacon Council and was founder and chairman of MetroBank of Dade County.
Havenick was stung by criticism from anti-gambling groups, who depicted his family business as unsavory, said longtime attorney and friend Ron Book. ''He loved this community very much, and I know it gnawed at him,'' Book said.
In addition to his wife, Havenick is survived by sons Izzy, Alex and Michael Hecht Havenick, daughter Jenny Havenick Bielawski, son-in-law Tim Bielawski, sister Nancy Fiverson and mother Tillie Havenick.
Funeral services will be at 12:45 p.m. today at Temple Beth Sholom, 4144 Chase Ave., Miami Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, P.O. Box 016960 (M867) Miami, FL 33101.
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