|
Sunday, May 8, 2005
They're pulling for slots
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
 |
Also on this page: THE RACINO IS ON | |||||
SCARBOROUGH — In the burgeoning light after a spring rain shower, Scarborough Downs is prickled with activity. Trainers lead their horses from the muddied paddock toward the track. Drivers fasten their mud goggles and their animated faces turn stoic. A bugle pipes through the grandstand and spectators wander to a cluster of benches with peeling white paint. They clutch their tickets and program hoping to make a buck. The starting car revs and the horses are off. At Scarborough Downs, life goes on . . . As tracks around the country are reborn from new gaming revenue streams, Maine's largest commercial track is simply getting by. Horsemen race for relatively low purses, live racing doesn't attract the crowds it used to and the venue simply begs for improvements. From the paddock to the grandstand, even in the front office, folks are waiting for better days. To a person it is still slot machines they believe will lead the way to that better day, despite the town of Scarborough and two other towns rebuffing the notion since legislation passed in 2003 to allow racinos in Maine. The horsemen believe legislators and southern Maine citizens will see the positive effects of a racino in Bangor and eventually will approve them for this Scarborough landmark. "A lot of us are still waiting and doing a lot of hoping," said Elmer Ballard, 70, a longtime trainer and horse owner from Lebanon whose lined and weathered face speaks of his years in the industry. "People think slots are a scummy thing, but if we can prove to them it's not a bad thing, it would mean everything." Most are still optimistic this aging track will be revived and the sport will offer more security. For now they hope. STILL A GATHERING PLACE Jeanne Ferland, a 70-year-old woman from Berwick, comes to the track once a week with her husband. The two have roots in harness racing, and were at Scarborough Downs when it opened 55 years ago. "The racing is just as good as it was," she said, "but the industry has changed. People don't go to the track like they used to." Ferland knows many talented horsemen and women who have left the business. "There's not enough money to be made," Ferland said. "The purse structure hasn't gone up. These guys are racing for nothing." Most of the spectators on this rainy Sunday are older men and couples perched behind the glass facade. Several dozen are seated by the simulcasting televisions, race cards and wagers laid out on the table in front of them. Some are having lunch in the Downs Club, which enjoys a good reputation. Some are eating pizza and drinking soda, laughing and socializing. Quite a few are smoking in the enclosed glass lounge. In all, two to three hundred people are milling about. The Downs has live racing Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons. Later this summer, Wednesday night racing will be added. "This is a great place to come on a Saturday night," said Ferland. "We also go to Rockingham and Plainridge. We bet on every (live) race." PONDERING THE FUTURE Over in the paddock, drivers and trainers are hanging on. Days before the weekend races, a heavy morning rain has muddied the paddock. Horsemen tend to their morning chores cloaked by slicker hoods and ball caps. Lonnie Lefebvre leans against his barn door and takes a drag of his cigarette. "It's how long people can last," said Lefebvre, 48. "The ones who are here, they're hanging in there. But how long can you go?" Lefebvre and driver Shane Taggart talk of others who have left, gone to more profitable places like Delaware and Florida. Eddie Davies. Jason McDougal. Mike Sweeney. They've left Maine for tracks with slots. Slots mean more revenue. More revenue means bigger purses and daily handles. Horsemen can make a more comfortable living at these tracks. Saratoga Raceway and Monticello Raceway, both in New York, opened with slot machines in 2004. Delaware's tracks have had them since 1995. Pennsylvania soon will add 61,000 slot machines at seven racetracks, five casinos and two resorts, according to information from Harness Tracks of America, the industry association. Taggart was at New York's Saratoga track after it got slot machines in January 2004. He was blown away. "They had so many people standing outside in line they had to delay the race," said Taggart. "Two years before the slots, nobody was there." Taggart is only 26. He's made a go of racing in New England but says he will leave Scarborough Downs if it doesn't get slot machines. "If they don't get slots, nothing's keeping me here," said Taggart. Drew Campbell, the winningest driver in Maine last year, has faith slots will come to Scarborough Downs when lawmakers and citizens see what happens at Bangor Raceway. Campbell makes ends meet by racing seven days a week at Scarborough, Rockingham Park in New Hampshire and Plainridge in Massachusetts. Come summer, he adds the Maine fair circuit to his tightly packed schedule. "When Bangor gets up and running, it will be a good trial," said Campbell. "It won't be a crime scene like they all think. The governor will see it's well run. They will understand it will be a great source of revenue for the state." SLOTS CHANGE EVERYTHING A 2003 referendum legalized slot machines within 2,000 feet of Maine's two commercial harness tracks. Scarborough residents voted down an attempt to install slot machines at the track late in 2003, then voters in Saco and Westbrook voted down attempts to move the racetrack to those communities and install slot machines there. Penn National Gaming, which owns Bangor Raceway, recently announced plans to install 475 slot machines at a local restaurant as early as this fall. The company eventually will install up to 1,500 slots. Four percent of the net income from the slot terminals at Bangor will be funneled to the Downs when the slots are up and running. A Scarborough Downs spokeswoman, Kathryn Rolston, said purse increases will be first on the agenda when that new revenue stream opens up. "We haven't been able to give big purse increases. If we had alternate sources of income we would," said Rolston. "The first thing we would do is give a purse increase. That's the whole idea behind the slots at Bangor. It will help their purse and it will help us." The track's average purse is $1,780 per race, which includes stakes races. The season's top purse comes in at $3,500. All purses are divided between the top five horses in a race. At other tracks, purses are larger. At Monticello, for example, purses have increased by almost 120 percent since the installation of slots in June 2004. The track's top class of horses raced for $3,200 per race a year ago. Starting next week they will race for $8,000, said the Monticello publicist, John Manzi. Sharon Terry, the Downs owner, said she agrees with most horsemen that gaming machines appear to be the best added form of revenue for harness racing tracks. Terry said her late husband, Joe Ricci, tried all kinds of things to bring in new revenue. He tried a supper club with entertainers, a Halloween hayride, flea markets. "None of it really worked," said Terry. "You have to stick with what it is you know, and that is the gaming aspect. (Slots) is what's supporting all of the tracks that are still viable." Terry said she's committed to keeping Scarborough Downs going, but massive improvements are just impractical with the current financial picture. The Downs has turned a small profit every year since 2001. "We'll do what we can do to keep the industry surviving," said Terry. "We'll have to see how much of an injection there will be from Bangor and reassess when that happens." AN UPHILL BATTLE The current political wind would have to change for slot machines to be added at Scarborough Downs. First, the Downs would need new state legislation to operate a racino. Next, Scarborough voters would have to welcome the idea and overturn an ordinance that prohibits slots in the town. Scarborough Town Councilor Steve Ross believes that's unlikely, but could see things changing if the economy takes a turn for the worse. "It would be a very involved process," said Ross. "Right now there's not the desire along the coast to do that. But when the bad times get here, that could change." Councilor Patrick O'Reily is less optimistic. "I can't imagine a day that there would ever be slot machines at Scarborough," he said. "It's extremely unlikely. The electorate was overwhelming to ban the support at Scarborough twice in the last few years. The local economy here just doesn't need it." The Maine Legislature is looking at a proposal to allow the Passamaquoddy tribe to build a harness-racing track with slot machines in Washington County. If that idea flies and is successful, a case for Scarborough Downs could gain steam. REMAINING OPTIMISTIC By race day the paddock is buzzing. Trainers and stablehands ready the animals. Drivers in their colors pace about splattered with mud. Eight races, spaced 20 minutes apart, keep everyone busy. Though times haven't been easy, on race day optimism is up. "There have been so many obstacles, politically it makes people unsure," said Denise McNitt, a horse breeder and veterinarian. "But the horse business is an optimistic business. And people are still hoping." Under it all lies a deep love for the sport, said Diann Perkins, president of the Maine Standardbred Breeders and Owners. "The horsemen love this place, but they're so frustrated," said Perkins. "With more money, this place could become a state-of-the-art facility. This place at one time was that. They've let it go downhill . . . I think this place has a lot of potential." Perkins thinks bigger purses will mean a kind of renaissance for former owners who want to return. "I think if we can increase the purses, you're going to see former owners getting back in," said Perkins. "Maine is leading the nation in harness racing in a way, but we're poor and we're just hanging on." Through all of the difficult times, the quality of racing has remained high. Some talented drivers have competed here. Some memorable races have been called. It has remained a labor of love. "You can earn a decent living but it's harder now," said Campbell. "Being around these creatures, it's work but enjoyable work. To be around racehorses all day, people would kill for that." Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at:
|
||||||
Visit our