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Sunday, July 15, 2001

Once again a legislator will try to legalize the placement of slot machines at Pennsylvania's four racetracks -- a bill the tracks long have argued is necessary for their survival.

The Meadows harness track, in particular, says it has been extremely hard hit financially since the legalization of slots in nearby West Virginia.

Mountaineer Race Track & Gambling Resort in Chester, W.Va., a thoroughbred facility, and Wheeling Downs, a greyhound track, are easy drives for residents of southwestern Pennsylvania, and a look at license plates in the parking lots shows they are pulling in a lot of area residents who might otherwise be gambling at The Meadows.

State Rep. Tom Petrone, D-West End, said he will introduce his slots machine bill in Harrisburg this fall. He plans to hold a public hearing at The Meadows in early August. The date will be announced later.

The measure would not just financially benefit racetracks and horsemen. Some of the proceeds raised from the slots would go to guarantee senior citizens access to expensive prescription drugs.

Jockeys without insurance

Although tracks provide accident insurance of up to $100,000, hundreds of the nation's jockeys have been riding without standard family health insurance since The Jockeys' Guild staff allowed its omnibus policy to expire this past spring. The Guild was unable to pay the premiums after a 43 percent increase. Some guild officers have blamed fiscal mismanagement.

Board member Robert Colton told SportsBusiness Journal that only 10 to 20 percent of the 650 eligible jockeys have signed up for the federal COBRA federal life safety net insurance program. The rest apparently cannot afford the increased price of COBRA coverage.

The lapsed Guild insurance prompted the resignation of longtime executive director John Giovanni. In a controversial split vote, the Guild board then replaced the remaining office staff with Matrix Capital Associations, a consulting firm based in California.

In the wake of that decision, current president Pat Day and past president Jerry Bailey resigned their positions, Bailey resigned this past week. Day cited philosophical differences with Matrix Capital; Bailey said he cannot support the company's hiring because he was not provided with enough background on the company.

Matrix leader L. Wayne Gertmenian, a Pepperdine University professor, declined to provide detailed information to SportsBusness Journal.

"Our job is to see if we can't get insurance for them, and we are doing the best we can," he said.

Remembering Waterford

Mountaineer Race Track marked 50 years of racing this spring. As part of its celebration the track brought in a former jockey who rode opening day at the track, when it was known as Waterford Park, May 19, 1951.

Web Snyder, now 88 and a resident of Charles Town, W.Va., recently shared some of his memories with the Post-Gazette.

When the track first opened, he said, the racing strip was composed of golden sand. "It was beautiful," he said. "I don't know where they got the sand from, but it looked like gold. It could rain at 10 in the morning, but when the first race went off at 1, the track would be fast.

"They took that off, I don't know why."

The next surface had gravel in it, and Snyder said it was harder on the horses.

Another vivid memory is that of watching airplanes bearing patrons -- or the day's supply of Daily Racing Forms -- land in the track's infield.

"I saw 22 planes one day," he said. "They'd park real close together near the odds board. Then one day there was a rider coming in for some big races. It was raining and foggy, and the plane hooked a guide wire.

"They landed OK, but I think it tore the plane up a little bit."

The unofficial landing strip soon went out of business.

Safety equipment for the riders left a lot to be desired. It would be about 40 years before safety vests became mandatory, and helmets provided little protection compared to those used today.

"They were like skull caps," Snyder said. "They just sort of fit tight around the head. They were made out of plastic. They had a sort of lining and string that you could draw around your head. The lining would hit your head -- the skull cap didn't quite fit."

Snyder retired in 1952, then became an outrider, and he also galloped horses. When he got too old for that, he became an escort pony rider. He didn't give that up until about five years ago.

Horse bits

Tamara Princess, a full sister to reigning champion older mare Riboletta, recently won her career debut at Hollywood Park. ... Davy Jones, a member of the '60s pop singing group The Monkees, made a side trip to Colonial Downs in Virginia during his current singing tour. He has an unraced 2-year-old colt named Indiantown Jones in training at the track. When not touring, Jones exercises thoroughbreds and rides in amateur races.