2005 dates awarded in Ohio

Though members of the Ohio State Racing Commission acknowledged there is room for further cuts, they approved a racing calendar for 2005 that reduces dates by about 10 percent.



Under the schedule, Northfield Park will race 211 days, the most of any harness track, from Jan. 1-Dec. 30. Raceway Park will offer 113 days of racing from April 8-Dec. 17. Scioto Downs was granted 86 days, from May 6-Sept. 24. Lebanon Raceway will hold two meets for a total of 81 days: Jan. 7-May 7, and Sept. 30-Dec. 31.



Final approval hinges on a nine-party agreement between the four Standardbred racetracks, three Thoroughbred tracks, Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association, and Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. As of Oct. 20, when the commission met, all but two parties had signed it.



An earlier plan floated by the commission would have dropped the fall meet at Lebanon and limited Raceway to a September-December schedule.



Jerry Knappenberger, general manager of the OHHA, said his organization and the four harness tracks devised the nine-party agreement the evening before the commission meeting. Thoroughbred interests saw it for the first time at the meeting.



Knappenberger said the harness industry's concerns were addressed in the schedule. He said it was important Northfield be granted close to its usual number of dates because of the value of its export product. He said cuts in dates would be compensated for by the addition of extra races at the tracks.



"We'll be adding races at the other tracks to make sure we have the same number of opportunities," Knappenberger said after the commission meeting. "We have 72 county fairs for 2 year olds and 3 year olds that serve as a feeder system, so we have a lot of horses to race. Our board was more concerned about getting racing opportunities for the membership, and it also wanted to maintain purse levels."



The Ohio HBPA and Thistledown, a Thoroughbred track owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., hadn't signed the nine-party deal as of Oct. 20. The HBPA wants the three Thoroughbred tracks to first sign off on a separate agreement to ensure purses and stabling and training opportunities, as well as a freeze on a common purse pool that divvies up dark-day simulcast revenue.



Bill Murphy, general manager of Thistledown, said he wanted MEC lawyers to read over the nine-party document before he signed it.



In the absence of an agreement by Nov. 2, the commission will hold a special meeting that day, and dates would be cut even further to the minimum amount required by law.

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