by Jason Settlemoir

Jason Settlemoir

Nichols, NY — Over the last month it has really started to sink into me that harness racing is dying, and will never be the same within the next few years.

Those of you that know me personally know that I am an eternal optimist. My glass is always half full. I have devoted my life to harness racing since the age of 13 when I called my first harness race. Today I find myself doing what I love best, promoting our sport at Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs, and I can’t think of doing anything other than working in this industry. Harness racing has so many great aspects from the great horses to the wonderful people involved in our business; it is hard for me to sit idly and watch our great sport crumble and do nothing.

Recent articles have told the story: “Michigan governor vetoes funding for racing,” “Harness racing in Quebec at a seeming end,” “Slots Revenue to Purses Reduced in Pennsylvania.” I have to believe that other states will be reducing money to the horsemen in the very near future, like Pennsylvania has done.

Many of the recent yearling sales have seen declines. An exception is Ohio, which in my estimation, was up only because the number of horses being offered was down from previous years. The Morrisville Sale was down; the Lexington Selected Sale was down. One bright spot was the Harrisburg Sale, which saw an increase this year after falling last year.

One of the greatest racetracks to ever exist, the Meadowlands, is on the balls of its feet, and is losing money each year. I can’t see the taxpayers of New Jersey footing the bill much longer. I could be wrong though.

Have you seen the handle results from the Breeders Crown at Woodbine? In 2008 the Meadowlands wagered $5,020,659 on 13 races, and in 2009 Woodbine, on 12 races, wagered $2,686,982, over $2.3 million down. In 2006 when Woodbine hosted the Breeders Crown the handle was $3,813,910, a difference of $1.13 million when comparing the event at the same place.

Our customers have begun to speak loud and clear, and they are telling us to change. Do we really believe that this sport would exist as it does now without expanded gaming in these jurisdictions? Is there a future in harness racing? Does anyone even care anymore?

I have started to hear some chatter recently about moving forward and doing “something,” but actions speak louder than words. The time is now. I read that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Sound familiar?

These are the issues we need to work on. First and foremost we need to fix the problems within our industry.

• We need to quit arguing amongst ourselves. Who is correct and who is incorrect will not amount to a hill of beans if we don’t have an industry to work in or on. We need to work on and with our number-one people: the “customer.”

There is a newly formed group you may have heard of known as “Horseplayers Association of North America.” We need to sit down with them as I believe our customer must come first. This group, in my opinion, has a realistic view on how to solve some of our problems in the industry. They identify one of the biggest problems as being the “takeout rate” at each track and rebating. We must embrace the concept of the “takeout rate” being too much and we must also embrace “rebating.”

Both of these topics come up numerous times on the HANA Web site www.horseplayersassociation.org. Take a look at their Web site with a keen eye focused on what they are saying about the “takeout rates” and “rebating.”

• We also need to address racing dates. Why should Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and Harrah’s Chester go at the same time of the year, and why should Chester race right along with the Meadowlands and Yonkers. Are we not defeating our purpose? The Meadowlands pools are the only ones large enough to accommodate a “big bettor” in the United States, as far as harness racing is concerned. This issue needs to be addressed.

We race way too much and to add insult to injury everyone races at virtually the same time. We are diluting our wagering pools to small amounts, offering the high players nowhere to bet the big money. The glut of racing results in horse shortages that cause small fields and produce an inferior product for the gambler, which in turn they don’t want to bet.

• We need a marketing plan, but only after we fix our “inside the industry problems” like takeout rates, rebating, race dates, our integrity situations, cleanliness of racetracks, small wagering pools and programs being too complicated for beginners.

Speaking of programs for beginners, I found it hard to believe that Tioga and Vernon were the only two regular users of the “beginners program” that the Marketing Committee at the USTA developed.

Dr. Joan Zielinski has again been commissioned by the USTA to report on the problems in harness racing. Her first report was released on Aug. 19, 1991. Now it is almost 2010, and I bet when this next report comes out, it will say many of the same things it said back then. It may well report that the state of harness racing is much worse than in 1991.

From her report in 1991 I took this part about marketing: “The best way to kill a poor product is through a lot of good advertising.” She is saying we must fix our internal problems before marketing to the masses, and I could not agree more. After we fix our “woes” we will need to address having a marketing campaign, and I believe it needs to be not only grassroots but also nationally done through mass media, social networks and so forth.

Do you know what the sad part about this is? Casino operators don’t care one thing about horse racing, and that seems ridiculous to me. At Tioga Downs we promoted the last night of racing in 2009 on Sept. 12, and we packed the place. It was the biggest night we ever had on our gaming floor as well. The one thing casino operators don’t get or don’t understand is that 50 percent of the racing customers will play on their gaming floor.

I am certainly not trying to upset anyone and be negative — as I said my glass is always half full and it will continue to be. But sometimes I think that glass is about to get knocked over. I am trying to get the industry to wake up and make changes. We seem to have been in a deep coma for quite some time, and we need to encourage change in our sport.

I am ready to step forward and encourage change. Who else is ready?

If you have any comments or suggestions or if you have ideas you would like me to explore, please contact me at Jasonlbj01@aol.com.

Jason Settlemoir is vice president of racing operations at Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs, and a USTA director from District 8 (New York). The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.