At yesterday’s Virginia Racing Commission meeting, Chairman
Clinton Miller made a point of discussing the now infamous editorial in The
Hook, noting it was imperative that industry stakeholders respond to articles
that present misinformation as fact.
That said, here’s Nick Hahn’s response…
“You’re Off”
Ms. Giles article on Colonial Downs and Virginia Racing had
so many inaccuracies and unsubstantiated accusations, that format may prevent correcting
all of them in a single response, but I’ll try to do my best.
“Virginia has never had much in the way of horse racing.”
Really? Four Kentucky Derby winners, six Preakness winners, and eleven
Belmont Stakes winners. If anything Virginia horse racing was too strong
as its breeding industry thrived for nearly a century despite the lack of
support in the legislature. Virginia racing eroded its retention because it was
forced to export its thoroughbreds because it lacked live racing. What might have
happened in Virginia if Governor Mann hadn’t abolished pari-mutuel racing in
the early 1900s. For the next century, it survived solely as a breeding
state…and for those who do not know, Secretariat who still holds the record in
all Triple Crown races, is a Virginia-bred.
“Virginia embraces horse racing.” Did you know about
Quality Road, Winchester, Victor’s Cry, Researcher, or Horse of the Year St.
Liam (Kentucky-bred but bred by a Virginia breeder). Let me pause here a
minute while you Google them up. These are a few Virginia-breds that have
recently won at racing’s top level that few in Virginia know. While
Colonial Downs is nationally and even internationally known and recognized for
its turf racing, the amount of Virginians that support it is hardly a full
embrace. The General Assembly hardly embraces racing strapping its
functionality down with referenda requirements, breakage grabs, etc.
“Dutrow” – Rick Dutrow started two horses at Colonial Downs
this summer, neither of which made the money. Virginia was the first
state to ban and begin steroid testing on horses and will honor bans generated
in other states. Dutrow’s ban is currently under appeal in New York. The
Virginia Racing Commission (VRC) has been very proactive on issues such as whip
use, drug testing, licensing and breakdown research.
“Corrupt” decision on the operator’s application? The VRC’s
decision withstood a three-year appeal process by a disgruntled applicant that
had his application turned down. It might still be contested if the
applicant had to withdraw his appeal to deal with his own legal issues.
At the time of the VRC’s awarding of the license, northern Virginia had turned
down the Redskins stadium, Legoland and Disney largely due to traffic
concerns. New Kent offered free land and great access. Three of the
six application submitted targeted New Kent. More than a few liked New
Kent’s site.
“Enable the Downs to enjoy a monopoly?” Can Virginia really
support two tracks and the pari-mutuel network to support them? The
grandstand that Colonial Downs built was a $50 million facility in the late
nineties when it was built. Who is going to step up and build another one
and generate the hundreds of millions in handle that is needed to support
it?
“Enforce the 150 race days required by the Racing Act.”
The act has been (correctly) amended by the legislature several times to allow
the VRC to determine the correct number of day that Virginia racing can
support. Within the last half-decade the VRC has attempted several times
to stretch out the number of racing days. It started some very disturbing
trends in regard to attendance, field size and most importantly handle.
If you don’t race for at least $175,000/day in Virginia, the economic model
begins to break down quickly. Extending the number of live racing days
has been attempted several times with no breakthroughs only setbacks.
“Maryland Jockey Club involvement?" Maryland within
the last two decades has been able to support year round racing. Today,
between the two states, there isn’t enough purse money to continue year round
racing. What would lead you to believe the two states shouldn’t work
together to seek this goal? Are there enough experienced personnel in a
relatively new racing state in Virginia to safely offer racing? The
outriders, gate staff, and administrative personal that Colonial hires via
Maryland during their meet are among the most experienced in the nation.
Even the track announcer is known nationwide for his clear race calls and accurate
eye. The amount of personnel (read that jobs, Governor) needed to conduct
live racing is immense.
“That’s also Colonial Downs’ address”...an inference to
improprieties due to the commission’s physical location. That’s part of
the strict regulatory nature of horse racing in Virginia. Name any other
industry in Virginia where its enforcement agency is located onsite. I
don’t see restaurants and pubs petitioning the Commonwealth to set up ABC
enforcement offices in their parking lots. All racing employees that do
the work to create live racing are those who ship in for the duration of a
33-day meet or just a weekend of the meet. So let’s get them to
drive across town to get their mandatory licensing that includes fingerprint
and background checks. Let’s not have enforcement staff or veterinarians
available on-site to immediate address situations when they do occur. By
the way, the VRC address is 10700 Horsemen’s Road. Colonial’s address is
10515 Colonial Downs Parkway. The VRC offices are located across the mile
and a quarter oval from Colonial’s office. Colonial keeps the racing
secretary and horsemen’s bookkeeper offices on the backstretch, next to
VRC.
The labeling in the article to include “Farce”, “Corrupt”, and “Bent and Broken Laws” is either unsupported or grossly misdirected.
However, the publication of your article does invoke my fear. It’s scary
in modern times that an article like this gets published showing how little
sportswriters know about horse racing. That alone should invoke
fear among those that lead our industry.
