NEWS
Slots solidify Pa. Thoroughbred industry
Posted: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:40 AM
by Tom De Martini
Implementing slot machine gaming at Pennsylvania racetracks has given the state’s Thoroughbred industry the financial shot in the arm it sorely needed and provided breeders the foundation for future success.
That was the message Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association Executive Director Mark McDermott had for attendees at the Pennsylvania Gaming Congress and Mid-Atlantic Racing Forum on Monday in Harrisburg.
“We are in a fortunate position. We now have a solid foundation to move considerably forward and rival Kentucky in the breeding industry,” McDermott said. “We have the facilities here, we have the land here, and the right attitude is here.”
The state’s breeders’ incentive fund, which consists of monies garnered from slot machine and pari-mutuel wagering, pays incentive awards to owners, breeders, and stallion owners of Pennsylvania-bred horses.
That fund ballooned to more than $21.7-million in 2008 with $14.5-million coming from casino operations, McDermott said. The top incentive award recipient garnered more than $260,000 in additional earnings last year.
Prior to alternative gaming, the fund paid out between $6-million and $7-million per year in the mid-2000s.
As a direct result, registered state-bred foals in the Keystone State soared to 1,510 last year, up from 910 in 2001.
“The lesson in all of this is because we are such a subject in the legislative and executive branch of state government, unity is an absolute necessity in getting anything accomplished,” McDermott said. “It is the most important element in a program like this.”
Tom De Martini is a New Jersey-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
