Advanced Forum Search -- Advanced Casino Search

Slots good bet for horse racing
Message was posted: 07:35 Sep 25th, 2006

User: Wildcat Rank: Casino Gold: 3095CG Contributor rating: 6560 Status: Offline

Gambling news from http://www.app.com/ New Jersey's horse racing and breeding industry faces stiff competition from neighboring states that offer slot machines at their tracks. The only thing stopping the state from doing the same thing here is the Atlantic City casinos. It's long past time for the Legislature to stop letting one key industry undermine the health of another. It's time for slot machines at the tracks. Revenue from the slots helps tracks boost purses, which entice better horses, a better quality of racing and more fans to the tracks. That brings in more money to the state. With Delaware and New York already having slot machines and Pennsylvania getting them soon, New Jersey is in danger of losing horse breeders to states that can offer more lucrative purses. The horse industry is too important to New Jersey to allow that to happen. That point was made clear Wednesday at a horse industry symposium at Monmouth Park. Racing and racing-related enterprises are a $3.2 billion industry that employs 6,000 people. In addition, thousands of acres of farmland are being preserved as horse farms. Slot machines are essential to keeping the horse-racing industry alive, Michael Harrison of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey told state and local officials. The casino industry disagrees. It believes slots at the tracks would violate the competitive protection clause in the law that states slots can be placed only in Atlantic City. But the casino industry is hardly hurting, racking up a record $5.02 billion in revenues last year. The casinos already help the thoroughbred and standardbred tracks, kicking in $86 million over four years in an agreement that ends after the 2007 racing season. Extending that subsidy is an option for legislators. But it would not provide the long-term revenue stream the horse industry needs. The competitive climate has changed in the 15 years since Atlantic City last enjoyed the East Coast monopoly on casino gambling. The state must adjust to those changes, especially when a vital industry like the horse industry is threatened by out-of-state competition. Legislative leaders must impress upon casino advocates, led by Sen. William L. Gormley, R-Atlantic, that the financial health of both the casino and horse industries is vital to the state's economy. For the casinos, the competition from slots at the tracks will hardly matter. For the tracks, the slots can be a lifesaver.