NEWS
Churchill official acknowledges horsemen’s challenges
Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008 11:56 AM
by Frank Angst
While speaking at an equine conference, Churchill Downs Inc. Vice President Tom Aronson said horsemen face tough economic challenges early in the 21st century.
Aronson delivered his timely assessment during the Kentucky International Equine Summit on Monday at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Lexington.
Churchill currently is in a dispute with horsemen over how revenues from advance deposit wagering sites will be divided, a disagreement which led to Kentucky horsemen not allowing the Louisville track to export its signal to ADW sites on its first two days of the current spring meeting.
“The dispute is entirely understandable,” Aronson said. “It’s not good, and we need to solve it soon but it’s understandable.”
Aronson was participating on a panel discussing the equine economy in the 21st century. He said he understands the horsemen’s concerns as more wagering dollars move to ADW outlets.
“It’s become a necessity,” Aronson said. “It’s our new reality.”
Because horsemen face significant expenses in purchase and care of horses, Aronson said racetracks and horsemen have to work together to create new customers on the Internet to improve the economics of the sport.
“If we do not make a full fledged effort to move online … we will end up in a hole we can never get out of,” Aronson said.
Churchill Downs Inc. President Robert L. Evans acknowledged that the racetrack company is in a fairly significant battle over ADW fees.
Evans said the horsemen’s plan, which would divide money collected through ADW wagering equally among the ADW outlets, racetracks, and horsemen in a consistent model throughout the nation, is unfeasible.
“I do know this,” Evans said. “It makes our business unprofitable, so we’re not going to agree to that.”
Also participating on Aronson’s panel focusing on the state of the industry were Richard Wilcke, director of the equine industry program at the University of Louisville. Wilcke offered historical perspective of the economics of the equine industry.
Steve Day, president of Dover Saddlery, documented the economic impact of equine sports. He said 453,000 people work in equine-related jobs and the various sports have an economic impact of $102.3-billion a year.
The University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program and the University of Kentucky’s Equine Initiative are presenting the summit. The program, which continues through Tuesday, includes three general topics: Equine Economy in the 21st Century, Emerging Science of Horse Breeding, and Wellbeing of the Competitive Horse.
Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior writer
