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Haggling over table games delays action on fund cuts
By
LINDA DOUGHERTY – Negotiations
over the details of adding table games at casinos stretched the state’s
budget impasse into November, denying the breeding and racing industry
a final sigh of relief over what were still expected to be less damage
than feared earlier in the year. Failure of the House and Senate to
agree on how much to tax casinos appeared to be the key issue dividing
lawmakers. Resolution was not expected before mid-November.
“The
legislature is still dragging its feet on the table games bill, and
this is where the official change to the horsemen’s share of slots
revenue is expected to be,” said Mark McDermott, executive director of
the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association.
Fairbanks leads in mares for 2009
By
LINDA DOUGHERTY – Proof
that the Pennsylvania breeding program is booming while interest in
other state programs is waning came on Oct. 22 with the release of The
Jockey Club’s annual “Report of Mares Bred” for 2009. The RMB showed
the Keystone State is the only one among the major breeding states in
which more mares were bred in 2009 than in the year before. First-year
stallion Fairbanks, who stands at Northview Stallion Station’s new
facility in Peach Bottom, Pa., serviced 103 mares, the most for 2009.
Lentenor 3rd in debut
at Keeneland
 LEXINGTON, Ky. – Lentenor,
the 2-year-old full brother to ill-fated Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro,
made his first career start at Keeneland on Oct. 31 for owners Roy and
Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stable, finishing a game third. Shipped to the Lexington,
Ky. oval by trainer Michael Matz, Lentenor
debuted in a seven furlong maiden special weight on the synthetic
surface. Dispatched
as an 8-1 chance and ridden by Julien R. Leparoux, Lentenor
rushed up along the inside during the early stages of the race, was
patiently rated by Leparoux around the turn, then was able to weave his
way out of traffic and came into the stretch four-wide. But through the final furlong,
Lentenor drifted inward and did not make
up any ground on the eventual winner, Positive Split.
Greenwood may renege
on grandstand promise
By
LINDA DOUGHERTY – BENSALEM, Pa. –
Horsemen at Philadelphia Park have been eagerly
awaiting the moment when the grandstand, now home to thousands of slots
machines, is returned to its former use as a horse racing venue. Within
months after slots legislation was passed in 2004, Greenwood
Racing, Inc. seized most of the space in the grandstand and transformed
it into a cramped, smoky casino, leaving very little room for horse
racing patrons. But Greenwood placated horsemen and fans by
stating that it intended
to return the majority of the grandstand back to a racing and
simulcasting facility with one year after the completion of the
stand-alone casino in the front parking lot. That casino, given the
curious name “Parx,” is scheduled for a mid-December grand opening. Now
it appears that with the impending passage of the table games bill,
Greenwood may be preparing to welsh on that promise.
Breeders
see a transformed Timber Ridge
By LINDA DOUGHERTY
– FELTON, Pa. –
As stormy skies gave way to beautiful, Indian summer-like
weather and the sounds of the Hanover Express Band filled the air,
owners and breeders from across Pennsylvania came to Timber Ridge
Farm its first Open House, showcasing the G1-winning and
millionaire stallions Fastness (Ire) and Buzzards Bay. In one short
year, Timber Ridge owner Boggs Shoemaker and his wife Polly have made
great strides in transforming what was essentially a private farm into
a busy, vibrant operation.
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alleged Ponzi-schemer Tony Young were sold at auction in early
October, fetching some surprising bids from a crowd of several hundred
that included neighbors of his victims who said they were there to help
their friends if possible and out of concern for the Young’s
horses. Meanwhile, Young himself reportedly awaits his fate in
a
million dollar
home in a ritzy section of Palm Beach, Fla., which, the government
says, was bought with stolen funds, but is protected from seizure, at
least temporarily, by Florida’s unique Homestead act.
Hunt Master Michael Tillson pleaded guilty to
defiant trespass, a summary offense, and was sentenced to 90 days
probation and a $300 fine. The penalty, imposed
by Judge Anthony Scarcione on Oct. 23, was far lighter than the
possible jail time faced by Tillson when he was charged with second-
and third-degree misdemeanors last November for allegedly trespassing
on a 160-acre property owned by Shirley Heyburn in West Bradford
Township.
completed a sweep of the two
oldest and most prestigious
equitation championships, winning the Hunt Seat Medal Final
Championships at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg on
Oct. 11. And with that, despite having one more year as a junior,
Springsteen, 17, said she’s going to college next year, not taking a
year off between high school and college, as do many top junior riders.
