BOSTON — The nation's largest horse track operator is showing some interest in bringing racing back to Massachusetts.
Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer at the Stronach Group, told the News Service in an interview from California this week that his company has talked with George Carney, the owner of a former dog racing track in Raynham, about a potential partnership or lease.
"We're very, very early in preliminary discussions," said Ritvo, whose company is also a supplier of pari-mutuel wagering technology. "There's no plans other than to say we're interested in the Boston market."
Stronach officials, who run Santa Anita Park, Pimlico Race Course and Gulfstream Park, have talked with Massachusetts Gaming Commission Executive Director Ed Bedrosian and Commissioner Gayle Cameron, Ritvo said.
"Boston's an unbelievable racing community. Boston's a big market," said Ritvo, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but grew up in Revere.
Horse racing is at an all-time low in Massachusetts, but industry supporters say it's worth saving, arguing a professionally-run track is profitable and can create jobs while helping to preserve horse farms.
Asked about critics who have long dismissed it a dying industry, Ritvo said the horse racing business has been holding steady in the United States at $10 billion a year for the last five years. Stronach has a $4 billion market share, he said, and believes there's room for further growth.
"We believe that marketed properly, that racing still has opportunity for growth," he said, speculating that casino operators have not been attentive to the needs of tracks at their facilities.
The next steps for Stronach, which does not operate any facilities in Massachusetts, include plans to visit the Raynham site, and an exploration of state rules and regulations as they pertain to simulcasting rights and electronic betting, more formally known as advanced deposit wagering.
Battle in Boston
Meanwhile, the battle over the future of horse racing in Massachusetts is also being fought on Beacon Hill.
Pending legislation (H 208) sponsored by Reps. Adrian Madaro of East Boston and RoseLee Vincent would extend existing simulcast rights for one year, including those held by Suffolk Downs, the former East Boston track that was recently sold and has been running limited races in recent years.
The Legislature over the years has repeatedly extended the simulcast laws, but this year the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association is fighting against an extension, arguing the state needs to instead pass a different bill (S 175) that gives the Massachusetts Gaming Commission broader powers to regulate the racing industry and pass regulations they believe are in the best interests of the industry's development.
Bill Lagorio, president of the association, told the News Service the bill repeals antiquated racing laws and gives the commission powers that would allow it to maximize the impact of the Race Horse Development Fund, which is financed with expanding gaming revenues and was created to bolster the industry. The fund's current balance, $13.5 million, is being eyed by those in the horse businesses as well as by lawmakers facing an overall state budget squeeze.
Limited racing at Suffolk Downs — 15 days of racing over the past three years — won't facilitate the industry's growth in Massachusetts and simulcast rights now held by Suffolk should be reconsidered by policymakers and regulators if they are interested in putting the race horse fund to good use, Lagorio said.
The fund has helped Plainridge Park Casino to more consistently run harness racing and its potential to boost the racing industry will increase when casinos being built in Springfield and Everett open. Like Plainridge, those casinos will deliver a percentage of gaming revenues to the fund.
The bill empowering the Gaming Commission, which has already consumed the responsibilities of the former state racing commission, is sponsored by Winthrop Sen. Joseph Boncore. A version of the legislation cleared the Senate last session, Lagorio said.
The legislation states that its intent is to grant the Gaming Commission "all necessary authority to oversee and regulate all aspects of horse racing in the Commonwealth with the object of promoting its efficient operation, and the honesty and integrity of the wagering process related to it." The bill instructs the commission to "utilize best efforts to ensure that the horse racing industry be preserved and sustained for, amongst other reasons, the preservation of open space, the agricultural benefits associated with horse racing, and the creation and preservation of jobs and businesses associated with horse racing."
Racing to success?
Crosby views the commission as "stewards" of the legislative mission, enshrined in the 2011 casino law, to "enhance and strengthen the horse racing industry in Massachusetts," he wrote in a letter. He noted the commission's push for legislative reforms to boost racing and said thoroughbred racing could see the kind of lift that the commission has seen at the standardbred track in Plainville.
Plainridge Park Casino is running 125 racing days, up from 80; purses have increased from $2.6 million in 2014 to $7.4 million in 2017, the live racing handle has more than doubled to $7.6 million to $18 million, and annual registered yearlings (one-year-old standardbred horses) have increased from 36 to 51, according to Crosby.
Crosby wrote: "Though thoroughbred racing is in the process of losing its one operative race track with its minimal number of racing days, there is reason to believe that the thoroughbred industry in Massachusetts can be resurrected, if all of the strategic tools the Legislature envisioned are put into play. It is the Commission's belief that with a reorganized regulatory structure, and empowering the Gaming Commission to strategically manage all the thoroughbred revenue streams – including the Race Horse Development Fund, that there is a legitimate chance of designing a sustainable strategy, for thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts."
As for Ritvo, his interest in the Massachusetts market runs deeper than his role with Stronach.
In the 1980s, Ritvo won 500 races as a jockey at Suffolk Downs. He met his wife, Kathy Ritvo, at Suffolk Downs and she went on to train Mucho Macho Man, the horse that won the Breeder's Cup Classic in 2013. She is the only woman to have trained a horse that won a $5 million race, Ritvo said.
"Racing's been really good to me and my family," he said.
By Michael P. Norton
State House News Service
Reprinted with permission of The Gloucester Times