Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Hollywood tiff takes spotlight off Derby

THEY SAY that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.

As the Sport of Kings enters its shining week leading up to this year's renewal of America's most famous horse race, the Kentucky Derby, Las Vegas race-goers are suffering through dark hours that have led to dark days and a dark weekend of racing from its most popular racing circuit, Southern California.

The glamour stars of this sport, the sophomore division of equine performers, are gaining attention and anticipation for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Everybody becomes a racing fan and has an opinion on who's going to win the Derby, and this town will fill to capacity for the second-best Kentucky Derby party in the world.

So, with all this excitement and hype, race-book operators and racing fans who enjoy the races in the books should be riding a high for the week's activities, but there are pressing matters on their minds that overshadow the Derby fever this year.

No simulcasting

Racing from Hollywood Park has taken center stage for the moment in this city of action, because there is no simulcasting from the Southern California racing emporium, and race books are reverting to old-fashioned bookmaking for the Inglewood races.

And to sum up the situation, another saying -- one picture is worth a thousand words -- would fit the feeling of the time.

Officials from both Hollywood Park and the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association, which is the body that represents the group of pari-mutuel books in the state, couldn't come up with a new agreement that would allow the Southern California racing circuit to continue its simulcasting and commingled pari-mutuel signal into the state for the Hollywood Park meeting.

So, when the curtain raised for Hollywood's Friday-night opener, the only thing that wasn't dark about the races here in Nevada was the spirit and fortitude of the Las Vegas racing fan.

Eleventh-hour negotiations and proposal exchanges did not yield a contract in the closing hours and, as such, it was business the good old-fashioned way for Hollywood Park race betting in the Silver State.

Some race books that were built in the post-simulcasting era were not as equipped to handle the antiquated way of doing business and were scrambling to get audio lines in from the state's dissemination service so customers could hear information and results instead of seeing them. A few books had only the computer lines from the service and were really in the dark, while others improvised and, in some cases, used the adverse situation to create a party-type atmosphere and used their own celebrity race callers. THere was a feeling of comradeship, like people huddled together during a storm, as the ever-resilient racing fans adapted the best they could to the situation.

Other signals

And let us not forget that there were other television signals to choose from if one wanted to watch and wager as well.

For the most part, the handle in most of the race books did fine, and there is no getting around the fact that it was off compared to the live-signal action, but the fans and the books survived the weekend.

As is the way with bookmaking, there were limits on bet-taking and payoffs that players had to reacquaint themselves with as the night's wagering rolled on. There were also some casualties when it came to the smorgasbord of exotic wagers that one is used to with pari-mutuel. Rolling triples were not available in some spots, and trifectas, pick-6s and pick-alls were scrapped as well. The lack of pick-6 availability was really felt on the Sunday Hollywood Park program when a Saturday carryover his $111,000-plus.

All in all, the dark Hollywood Park races could have been worse, and a two-day break before the first full week of racing may provide a resolution to the impasse, but it looks like this could drag on for awhile.

The last such stalemate occurred at the Del Mar meet some seasons ago, and it took more than a few racing cards lost before a settlement was reached.

The politics and practices of rebates to big players here in Las Vegas is one of the thorns on the rose of simulcasting to Nevada. Race tracks are taking a stand that, if books here can rebate thousands of dollars to preferred big punters, then maybe they should charge more of a fee to allow the signal into the state. In addition, tracks may feel that their product is worth more in these rising-cost times.

The tracks, however, have an opportunity to enter the fastest-growing city in the Southwest and have great potential for product growth and exposure that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Money drives train

Money, plain and simple, lies at the root of settlement, and we can only hope that Hollywood Park officials and the race-book negotiators can work thing thing out for the people who ultimately pick up the bill -- the race fan and player.

There is one consolation: The Prime Ticket cable network is showing the replays each evening. Some will go as far as making their bets and then hermetically seal themselves from results until the wee-hour replays.

At this time of year, the only "dark" should be a longshot possibility in the Kentucky Derby, not a term used for the Hollywood Park simulcast signal.

RALPH SIRACO is turf editor of the SUN. His column appears Mondays and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Friday.

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