THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230351
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 104 lines
When will the Virginia Racing Commission take the reins in developing quality horse racing in Virginia?
It began by awarding a license for the state's first horse-racing track to a promoter whose qualifications were a share in a failing (now failed) third-rate Texas track and experience as a harness driver.
Now that man, Arthur Stansley, has been elbowed out of his partnership by Jeffrey P. Jacobs, whose family owns the Cleveland Indians. Jacobs has absolutely no horse-racing experience - his expertise is in casino gambling.
``It sounds like we have a new quarterback,'' commissioner Arthur W. Arundel remarked after the Virginia Racing Commission met earlier this week with Jacobs.
Arundel is wrong. Virginia horse racing doesn't have a new quarterback, it has a new croupier.
And as surely as the Preakness follows the Kentucky Derby every year, Jacobs will be back in front of that same commission in a few years lamenting that his track is losing money and demanding that the state bail him out by allowing him to install slot machines there.
Virginia voters were sold a lame horse when they OK'd pari-mutuel betting in 1988. The public was persuaded to accept horse racing because the Virginia thoroughbred industry was faltering. Then we learned that horse racing is not a viable enterprise unless it is combined with off-track betting . . . and, now, slot machines and other forms of casino gambling.
Of course, horseshoe tossing could be a viable enterprise when paired with slot machines.
State officials should remember that voters approved horse racing but didn't demand it.
If horse racing is a junior-varsity sport in the world of gambling, if it can survive only with the aid of other forms of gambling, Virginia ought to get out of the game before the public is left wondering if they live in New Jersey or Virginia.
Jacobs has already told horse owners that the six off-track betting parlors that the state has approved will be insufficient to fatten purses at Colonial Downs. A dozen would be much better, he says.
``We need to tell lawmakers to take the handcuffs off, let us grow the industry,'' Jacobs said.
Grow what industry, Mr. Jacobs?
So far, eight years after Virginia voters approved pari-mutuel betting, no horse-racing industry thrives in the commonwealth. All we have is one off-track betting parlor and some land that's been cleared in New Kent County. The only ponies running in Virginia are on Assateague Island.
But if the racing commission won't revoke the license of this Colonial Downs group, maybe the horse owners will.
Jacobs recently warned horse owners that if they don't like his proposal for a 30-day meet with daily purses guaranteed at $150,000, he'll leave the state.
The owners association votes on Jacob's proposal Aug. 29. May they wish him well on his way back to his casinos.
When will the Virginia Racing Commission take the reins in developing quality horse racing in Virginia?
It began by awarding a license for the state's first horse-racing track to a promoter whose qualifications were a share in a failing (now failed) third-rate Texas track and experience as a harness driver.
Now that man, Arthur Stansley, has been elbowed out of his partnership by Jeffrey P. Jacobs, whose family owns the Cleveland Indians. Jacobs has absolutely no horse-racing experience - his expertise is in casino gambling.
``It sounds like we have a new quarterback,'' commissioner Arthur W. Arundel remarked after the Virginia Racing Commission met earlier this week with Jacobs.
Arundel is wrong. Virginia horse racing doesn't have a new quarterback, it has a new croupier.
And as surely as the Preakness follows the Kentucky Derby every year, Jacobs will be back in front of that same commission in a few years lamenting that his track is losing money and demanding that the state bail him out by allowing him to install slot machines there.
Virginia voters were sold a lame horse when they OK'd pari-mutuel betting in 1988. The public was persuaded to accept horse racing because the Virginia thoroughbred industry was faltering. Then we learned that horse racing is not a viable enterprise unless it is combined with off-track betting . . . and, now, slot machines and other forms of casino gambling.
Of course, horseshoe tossing could be a viable enterprise when paired with slot machines.
State officials should remember that voters approved horse racing but didn't demand it.
If horse racing is a junior-varsity sport in the world of gambling, if it can survive only with the aid of other forms of gambling, Virginia ought to get out of the game before the public is left wondering if they live in New Jersey or Virginia.
Jacobs has already told horse owners that the six off-track betting parlors that the state has approved will be insufficient to fatten purses at Colonial Downs. A dozen would be much better, he says.
``We need to tell lawmakers to take the handcuffs off, let us grow the industry,'' Jacobs said.
Grow what industry, Mr. Jacobs?
So far, eight years after Virginia voters approved pari-mutuel betting, no horse-racing industry exists in the commonwealth. All we have is one off-track betting parlor and some land that's been cleared in New Kent County. The only ponies running in Virginia are on Assateague Island.
But if the racing commission won't revoke the license of this Colonial Downs group, maybe the horse owners will.
Jacobs recently warned horse owners that if they don't like his proposal for a 30-day meet with daily purses guaranteed at $150,000, he'll leave the state.
The owners association votes on Jacob's proposal Aug. 29. May they wish him well on his way back to his casinos. by CNB