The State of Horse Racing

Two different sides of the industry. First: 

Everyone knew the day was coming and now it's a reality. After 75 years of horse racing, Betfair Hollywood Park will end its operations following the final race of its autumn meeting Dec. 22.
The words "sad day" were repeated often Thursday afternoon at the Inglewood track, where owners, trainers, jockeys and fans reacted somberly to the news.
The official announcement came in a letter from track President Jack Liebau sent to the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday informing them that Hollywood Park Land Co. would not be requesting any 2014 racing dates.
Since the track was sold in 2005, developing the land has been the primary goal, especially since the business model for horse racing has been facing severe challenges from a dwindling horse population, lagging on-track attendance and continual infighting within the industry.
"From an economic point of view, the land now simply has a higher and better use," Liebau said.
So much has changed since Hollywood Park opened in 1938. It was built to woo the rich and famous. Among the 600 original shareowners were some of the biggest names in the movie business — Jack Warner, Sam Goldwyn and Mervyn LeRoy.
Seabiscuit won the inaugural running of the Hollywood Gold Cup. Some of racing's greatest horses ran at Hollywood Park — Citation, Swaps, Noor, Round Table, Ack Ack, Seattle Slew, Cigar.

Then, this:

 Racing purses in Ohio were based on the amount of pari-mutuel betting. Now, pari-mutuel betting is one of three components contributing to purses, Schmitz said.
Ohio’s gross casino revenue tax, money received by casino operators less winnings paid to patrons, is imposed on casino operators at the rate of 33 percent. The state racing commission gets 3 percent of that, or about $10 million a year now that all four casinos are open. Of that, $9.5 million will be used to increase purses at racetracks and to support horse breeding..
“This will grow horse racing overall in Ohio which is a positive result for agriculture,” Crawford said at the April presentation. “As breeding and purses increase, the number and quality of horses will also increase.”
The state also has paved the way for video lottery play at racetracks. According to Ohio law, a 9 to 11 percent cut of the net win at racetracks will be placed into an escrow account to enhance racing purses, to promote breeding programs and perks for horseman like health insurance and retirement benefits. The net win is the revenue remaining after payout of prizes.
From July to April, the net win at Scioto Downs and Thistledown, which opened April 19, totalled about $121 million, according to state data. At 9 percent, the cut twould be about $10 million.

It is sad that horse racing will be a sideshow in the racinos, and it is unfortunate that only political pull was able to save racing in Ohio, but I am glad that River Downs and Thistledown will stay open.  Race fans in Toledo and Columbus get screwed over, though, as Beulah Park and Raceway Park are moved to Youngstown and Dayton, respectively, in order to get into markets that didn't get actual casinos.