by Jeff Apel

The Thoroughbred Owners of California and Hollywood Park reached a tentative agreement on Friday on a horsemen’s contract that includes a purse structure for the Inglewood, California, track’s  40-day fall meeting.

The agreement alleviates concerns among horsemen who feared that the lack of a deal could lead to the cancellation of Hollywood’s fall meeting. The meet begins October 29 and runs through December 21.

A dispute involving host fees paid by four advance deposit wagering providers was not settled by the agreement.

“In our opinion, it was vital,” said Drew Couto, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “Without a horsemen’s agreement, you have no interstate simulcasting. In an economic climate like this, you certainly don’t want to be in that situation.”

Couto said a committee that includes Martin Panza, Hollywood’s director of racing and racing secretary, is currently devising monetary values for Hollywood’s purses. Panza could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

“What happened in the markets this week certainly has made setting a purse schedule that you think you can sustain through the meet extremely difficult,” Couto said. “We have no idea how [mutuel] handle is going to go going forward. That’s one of the areas we’re trying to work together to get a purse structure we can sustain.”

Couto hopes an agreement can be reached with ADW providers Television Games Newtwork, Twinspires, XpressBet, and Youbet.com by the time Hollywood opens. The Thoroughbred Owners of California is seeking a higher rate of return from the ADW providers, who combined to account for 4.7% of the total mutuel handle at last year’s Hollywood meeting.

Couto said it is possible that Hollywood purses may have to be cut 4.7% if the agreement is not reached.

“The economy is going to have a much more significant impact on purse revenues than this dispute is,” Couto said. “If you look at what the economy is doing, 4.7% is much less than what is going to happen because of general economics.”

An agreement would enable fans not living in California to bet on racing in the state using an ADW provider. An agreement is already in place that allows fans in California to wager on racing in the state through an ADW provider.

“We’re not asking for anything unfair,” Couto said. “I know that the ADW companies, you have to guarantee them a rate of return to be profitable or they won’t be in business. I wish that was the view towards owners and racetracks.

“Without live racing, there’s no ADW. But without ADW, there is live racing. We need to get a more equitable share.”

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor