Although purists abhor VLTs and slots, they have helped racing prosper in several states

Slots at racetracks are good for racing. Owners and breeders in New York will soon know how richly rewarding that can be.

As much as the thought of video lottery terminals at racetracks grates on racing purists, VLTs are providing meaningful purse money to many Thoroughbred owners and breeders and helping the overall health of the game.

The notion that slots would be good for racing is not something we had embraced several years ago. We were relatively neutral on the subject, though our main objection was that the racing industry should not become dependent on a source of revenue that could disappear on the whim of a state government or one government official.

That said, slots have been a big boon to racing in a number of states, notably at tracks that without VLTs would either not be in operation or would be hosting minor-league racing.

There is no greater testimony to the benefits of slot machines than in Iowa.

Prairie Meadows went bankrupt in the 1980s without them. Today, with VLTs at the track, average daily purse distribution is $106,416, and total distribution for the year is expected to be $15-million. Slots are so lucrative that the not-for-profit group that operates the track has made a $150-million offer to purchase it from Polk County, which owns it. That price is more than Magna Entertainment Corp. paid for Santa Anita Park or Gulfstream Park, more than Churchill Downs Inc. paid for Hollywood Park, and almost twice as much as Churchill paid for Calder Race Course.

Delaware Park, once on the verge of closing due to low pari-mutuel handle and lack of revenues, was revitalized in the mid-1990s when VLTs were legalized. Today, with some 2,000 VLTs at the track, it now distributes $257,000 per day in purses, making it one of the highest-paying tracks on the eastern seaboard.

Woodbine near Toronto also was struggling a few years ago, but slots at the track have transformed it from a money loser to a big money maker overnight. The track was reported to be losing $10-million per year before it had slots and is now making $40-million a year with them. Owners are also profiting. Average daily purse distribution in 1999 at Woodbine was $315,408; in 2001, it is $502,522, 59% higher, and rising.

Slots have also been a boon at West Virginia tracks Mountaineer Park, where the average daily purse distribution is $143,046, and at Charles Town Races, as well as tracks in New Mexico. In all likelihood, Louisiana soon will be seeing the benefits.

On October 31, New York Governor George Pataki signed into law a bill that legalizes VLTs at Aqueduct and Finger Lakes, as well as at several of the state's harness tracks. Aqueduct is expected eventually to have about 2,500 slots at the track. That is more than are in operation at most other tracks nationally. There are about 2,000 in operation at Mountaineer, 1,500 at Prairie Meadows, and 1,700 at Woodbine.

In New York, 35% of the money the track receives for its share of the VLT profits in the first year must go toward the racing industry, meaning purses, and 45% in the second year and thereafter. Since Aqueduct only operates in the winter and spring but will host VLTs year-round, money from the slots will go toward purses at the two other tracks the New York Racing Association operates-Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

Early estimates suggest that purses may increase by as much as 20% from current levels at NYRA tracks from contributions from VLTs. That would increase Aqueduct's average daily purse distribution from $370,000 to $444,000; Belmont Park's spring meeting average from $465,000 to $558,000; and Saratoga's average from $606,000 to $727,100, which would make it the highest of any single meeting in the country. And those are for the low estimates on contribution. Purses at Finger Lakes, which average $80,000 per day now, may double.

The challenge for racing will be to get all those people who come to Aqueduct and Finger Lakes to play the VLTs to lift up their heads every now and then to notice racing and to eventually become fans. Unfortunately, converting VLT players into horse bettors has not yet been done successfully at any of the tracks with slots.

So, racing purists will have to be content knowing that all those slot players are providing better racing for the real aficionados of the sport.

Most people can probably live with that.