Kane Chester race secretary

Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack, which will launch its inaugural live harness meet in September, has announced several key staff appointments. Joining the Harrah’s Chester team will be Rick Kane, as racing secretary; Barry Brown, as publicity/simulcast manager; and Steve Smith, as mutuel manager.

Kane, currently the racing secretary at Rockingham Park, has held a variety of senior racing posts since entering the industry in 1971. Included among those positions are a stint as racing secretary at the now-closed Brandywine Raceway, in nearby Wilmington, Del., in 1987 and 1988. Kane also has headed the racing departments at Raceway Park, Ocean Downs, and Scarborough Downs, among others, and recently was the assistant racing secretary at Freehold Raceway.

Brown will lead the track’s publicity and simulcast efforts. He held a variety of positions from 1994 through 2004 at Freehold Raceway, where his duties included advertising, special events, promotions, program production, patron services, tournament director, and the expansion of the track’s simulcast network. Brown is a 1993 graduate of the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program.

Smith will oversee the facility’s mutuel department, and will be responsible for tote policy, protocol, scheduling, and management. He joins Harrah’s Chester following a four-year stint as the U.S. sales manager at United Tote. Previously, Smith was the assistant general manager at Dania Jai-Alai, in Dania, Fla., where he had direct responsibility for the mutuel department, simulcasts, and customer service. In the late 1970s he was a mutuel supervisor at Delaware Park, and worked in the mutuel department at Dover Downs, Harrington Raceway, Pimlico Racecourse, and Laurel Raceway.

Brown and Smith will assume their duties in June; Kane will remain at Rockingham until later in the summer.

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