Odd Couple of NY Racing
The New York Times has a long, front-page article on the evolving relationship of Marylou Whitney, “the doyenne of racing,” and Magna owner Frank Stronach, and how the two could affect the future of New York racing. The piece does a good job of conveying the clash between old-money racing and upstart entrepreneurialism, and the unease with which both cultures regard each other:
“‘I don’t care if Frank Stronach is taking over — he’s not moving me out,’ Ms. Whitney said … No one at the table disagreed that the [racing] industry was in trouble; Las Vegas, state lotteries and the proliferation of gambling and slot machines in state after state had been siphoning gambling dollars from horse racing for decades. But no one was eager to embrace Mr. Stronach, either. They were tired of what they considered his bullying and hectoring, and suspicious of his plan to Las Vegasize racing. Look at what he had done at Gulfstream Park, his track in South Florida: rock concerts, scantily clad cheerleaders. What next? …
“Mr. Stronach has long favored aggressiveness over accommodation … Mr. Stronach envisions horse racing as the anchor of a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week global gambling and entertainment colossus. He envisions a day when customers at his tracks can bet on horses, play slot machines or his racing game, shop and dine. Away from the tracks, they could watch races on his TV network and bet on them online …”
What the article doesn’t do is give much sense of what a Stronach-Whitney alliance could mean for New York racing. I had the impression after reading the piece that there is wariness mixed with respect, but little warmth, on both sides, and that the future of racing in New York is more complicated than any of the discussion over it has so far suggested. (And it did sound complicated already, what with the NYRA franchise expiring in 2007 and the slots issue.)
One reader writes: “That was quite a story in the NYT today … That Stronach guy at least seems to realize that racing in its current form is dying, unlike the society doyenne lady. I’m not so sure that cheerleaders are the answer, but I would be interested in visiting Gulfstream and checking out the changes that they’re making. It’s sad that [many people] don’t have the attention span to wait 20 minutes between races, but better to acknowledge that and provide additional stimulation at the track than to live in denial and watch the last few venues wither away.” Good point.
