Ohio Racing Headed for Slots?
Scioto Downs Manager, Racing Association Call for Economic Help
Bordered on three sides by states that have slots generated revenues at its race tracks, does Ohio need to get on board to see its equine industry growth survive?
Ohio's previous rejection of slots at its race tracks could appreciably affect its agricultural economics that include the equine industry and its three thoroughbred tracks, as well as its four standard bred tracks in reduction of its horse racing purse prize amounts and its foal production.
Henry County (Napoleon) Ohio native Stacy (Christy) Cahill, this month appointed general manager of Scioto Downs Race Track in Columbus, Ohio, recently stated that passage of a slots referendum due in Indiana will substantially increase the difficulty for Ohio to keep horsemen on its own tracks. If Indiana goes to slots support, Ohio will be surrounded by three slots friendly states.
If Ohio continues "lagging way behind" in the slots issue, and purse money resultantly decreases, best horses will be shipped to run elsewhere. The fan base will also travel elsewhere.
Cahill Looks Forward
Despite Cahill's glass half empty forecast on Ohio's horse racing future, she looks forward to the challenge of managing Scioto Downs. A graduate of Napoleon High School in 1983, Cahill grew up in a racing atmosphere. Her exposure to her parents' efforts in the sport as racers and trainers influenced her life decision to get into the mix herself.
The Christys moved to Central Florida after Stacy's Ohio graduation. First accepting a job at a Florida racetrack after college, Cahill returned to Ohio to be assistant to long-time Scioto Downs Racing Secretary Jim Ewart. Ewart's move to Indiana left Cahill with the opportunity to fill in at that post. Now she becomes Scioto's third general manager and its first female leader.
Cahill, having grown up at the racetrack while her parents participated in the sport, was a natural choice well educated in the field with previous positions as a clerk and charter, a mutuel clerk, and then as Ewart's assistant and replacement.
Trickle Down for Equine Industry
Ohio's total betting (year-to-date handle) thus far at its three thoroughbred tracks is down an average of 12.9 percent. At the four harness tracks, the spiral is at 19 percent. Standard bred foaling is reduced from 1,606 in 2006 to 1,468, and registered thoroughbreds dropped to 292 in 2006 from the previous normal yearly average of 600, or more, says the Ohio State Racing Commission 2006 annual report.
The economic trickle down effects the veterinary industry, feed suppliers, and farm labor. The equine industry in Ohio employs 15,000 people, according to the Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association. Ohio's equine economy is an annual $700 million operation.
The harness association, along with the Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners organization, and the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, have joined for the first time to try to impact the Ohio legislature in sponsoring an outreach program to raise awareness of the equine industry's dilemma.
