The iconic flamingos are again eyeing crowds coming to gamble at famed Hialeah Park in Florida. The track shook off an eight-month coma to reopen after Thanksgiving this year, because the installation of a casino at the grounds has brought the return of horse racing.But once again, the salvation for racing provided by combining with a casino may result with the tail wagging the dog. Florida horsemen have learned a lesson being taught in much of the US, that turning to slots gambling for rescue may result with racing at the outside, looking in at casino gambling.
On opening day, November 28th, almost 27,000 people showed to observe Hialeah shake off the rust and return to racing. By the third day of operation, the group had shrunk to barely over a thousand.
While tracks see slots as a hanging rope saving them from oblivion, slot operators see tracks simply as a key to get established, soon to be discarded if possible. Like Rhode Island's dog tracks before them, Florida's horse and dog racing venues welcome casinos, only to peer proposals raised to scale back and even eliminate live racing.
Racing enthusiasts might welcome the preservation of historic sites and venues by using slots, but realism dictates that businessmen seeing vastly profitable resources, like racinos, carrying expensive subsidies, like tracks, will move to subtract the dead weight. Like John Brunetti, the Hialeah Park owner, told WKRG-TV, horse racing is now "a way to an end," only a strategy to acquire casino licensing.
Published on December 19, 2009 by EdBradley
Read More... [Source: Horse Racing News]
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