THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120568
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Horse racing, somebody once said, is animated roulette.
The definition gallops to mind as the Virginia Racing Commission prepares today to announce the site of the state's first parimutuel thoroughbred track.
If the glorified gambling parlor ends up in Virginia Beach or Portsmouth, the area's tourist industry will have hit the daily double, say those with an interest in the project.
A new industry, even a troubled one, will be welcomed by Hampton Roads, which is not exactly overflowing with big-time sports attractions.
It's open to interpretation, though, whether thoroughbred and harness racing on the scale planned for Virginia even fits this definition.
Racing lives on the margin of sports, and that margin may be shrinking. Maryland, with a long history of racing, is feeling the pinch at the turnstiles. Attendance at Pimlico and Laurel has nosedived.
Maybe state lotteries are hurting business. There are more ways to scratch the gambling itch than there used to be.
In general, America notices the running of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont. Then it doesn't give the horsey set another thought.
Most people, if they acknowledge racing's existence at all, fail to detect much romance in the sport of kings. It's more likely that they visualize the horses as slot machines on legs.
For all its pitfalls, though, handicapping horses is easy compared with picking a winner in the Virginia race track derby.
Several recent reports characterize the competition as a horse race between Virginia Beach and Portsmouth. With few exceptions, tracks do not thrive on tourist trade. And yet, in Richmond and Washington, D.C., people who care about racing believe that the Beach should win out - partly because of location, mainly because of the Churchill Downs management.
The Portsmouth effort, supported by a Virginia-based syndicate, is highly rated, but loses points for its proposed site, in the center of a renewed neighborhood.
The politics involved in the licensing of a track run deep. Based strictly on location, one would think that a facility in New Kent County would best serve all of Virginia.
Although it would be well suited for summer vacationers, Princess Anne Downs, off Dam Neck and London Bridge roads, is at the end of the line. New Kent County, halfway between Williamsburg and Richmond, offers a central location, thus greater accessibility for more people.
Wherever the track is built, it cannot survive strictly on summer traffic. Simulcasts of out-of-state cards are a vital part of the year-round operation.
Combined with the Virginia lottery, the fallout from parimutuel wagering will be felt in many places throughout the community, including meetings of the local chapter of Gamblers Anonymous.
When Harvey M., the force behind G.A. in Virginia Beach, called the other day, one was reminded of an old joke:
A race track is the only place where windows clean people.
Harvey, a former railbird himself, offered a friendly reminder for people eagerly anticipating the arrival of Virginia's one and only horse track.
``Bet with your head,'' he advised, ``not over your head.''
For some, that will be easier said than done.
Wherever Virginia's roulette wheel finds a home. by CNB