HORSE RACING REDUX 2

At the bottom of this piece, I will share with you some of the comments people have posted on my latest blog piece about horse racing at Idaho Downs, which was formerly known as Les Bois Park.

I find these comments interesting, in part because these are the people who want my board and me to help them get horse racing back in Ada County.

To respond to these comments, in general terms, let me again point out the facts:

In 2002, I attended a meeting of the Idaho Racing Commission and was the only person who testified against granting live and simulcast horse racing licenses to Lariat Productions. I based my position on the applicant’s appalling business and criminal records. At that time, the horsemen defended Lariat and accused me of trying to put an end to horse racing at the facility. By now, most people are aware that Lariat’s days at the track turned out to be the dismal disaster I had predicted.

Turning the clock ahead to 2009, Capitol Racing had been leasing the facility for three years, and lost over $1 million a year each year. My colleagues and I agreed to renegotiate the terms of the lease, but Capitol Racing never came to the table.

At that point, if it had been our goal to get rid of horse racing and change the use of the facility, believe me when I say that my colleagues and I are all straightforward, outspoken and pragmatic enough to have simply done so, rather than attempting to find a credible operator through the RFP (Request for Proposals) process and beyond.

We put out an RFP to find a new operator for the $5 million facility and received two proposals. Neither applicant, including the Greene Group, made it through our screening process. We were seeking an operator with a business plan, the financial wherewithal to be able to support the upfront and ongoing investment, and horse racing experience. The Greene Group failed to meet these minimum standards.

After we rejected the first two proposals, we announced that we would entertain proposals from anyone who came forward with one. At that time, I met with representatives of the horsemen and encouraged them to submit their own proposal and cut out the middleman in the situation. The horsemen never did submit a proposal of their own to the county.

We received one new proposal, from the company now doing business as Idaho Entertainment. They had a business plan, the financial backing to run a track, and they passed our background check. We negotiated a deal and a contract was signed between Ada County and Idaho Entertainment in July of 2009.

Since that time, we have all been waiting for an agreement to be reached between Idaho Entertainment and the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the only horsemen’s group authorized by the Racing Commission to speak on behalf of all of the race horse owners.

A couple of months ago, the Idaho Racing Commission took a vote at one of their meetings, and by a narrow margin (21 – 18, I believe) the horsemen themselves voted in favor of the Racing Commission changing the rule and allowing other horsemen’s groups to be able to negotiate an acceptable agreement.

It is my understanding that the Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred folks have been ready and willing to enter into an agreement with Idaho Entertainment for some time now, but the HBPA Board has been standing in the way of us getting horse racing back at the county’s track.

Here are the comments posted on my last piece about horse racing:

Craig
craig224@hotmail.com
How’s this for a new idea that will get racing back? It’s sort of like “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” It’s “when the shoe is on the other foot.”

Ullman is so hot on a rule change, so why doesn’t she make a “simple rule change” to allow different operators to negotiate with the HBPA?

Why should Idaho Entertainment have a “monopoly on the right to negotiate an agreement,” anyway?

Oh? What’s that you say? Rules that prevent that?

And BTW, thanks for bringing up Lariat. Do you really think the horsemen would have chosen Lariat? Don’t you know that some of the rules that you want to change are in place because the lessons learned from Lariat?

It is not the HBPA that is holding up racing in Ada County, it is the very poor choice that Ullman made in operators.
There would have been racing last year and this year if either one of two things had happened:

1) The horsemen had chosen an operator.
2) Idaho Entertainment was willing to negotiate. If they were willing to negotiate, we would have racing. Instead, they are only willing to threaten to close it down unless he horsemen give in and give up. They have not proven that they even want racing. In fact, if you look at Wyoming (19 days in 2006 down to 16 days in 2008 down to 8 days last year down to ZERO days this year), you just might get the impression that they do NOT want racing. All they want is to break down the rules and laws that are in place in Idaho. Where does it end?

And who wrote that letter from Dr. Hoffman, anyway? Was it you or was it Eric Spector?

Jodi
jodi_perkins84@hotmail.com
No Sharon,
It seems more likely you did all of those things to make it look like you made an effort to keep horse racing in Boise. Tom is right, anyone who had any knowledge of Spector’s history would know the outcome of this situation. The various horsemen’s groups have been backed into a corner due to the desperate situation the commissioners’ decisions have put them in. All of the fighting amongst them is the effect of the problems the commissioners have caused. So either you did no reserch at all or you did and knew what woud happen. Maybe, you just don’t care. Either way you’re covered, right? After all you did put out an RFP and sign a contract.

Peter Bianconi
Pb234@gmail.com
You keep playing the Lariat Productions card over and over. Comparing Lariat to the Green Group, who the horsemen wanted the track to go to this time, is completely rediculous. Green Group was without a doubt the best qualified applicant but you blew a few minor discrepancies with their Coeur d’Alene Bingo operation way out of proportion to put a negative light on them. Also, you never did a second RFP so Idaho Entertainment basically got the lease without it properly being re-bid. Then on top of that you let the last group take many, many items that did not belong to them after they left. The entire Ada County Commissioners Board screwed this up. Not the HBPA and not the ISRC. Take the responsibility you so much deserve and face the fact that horse racing in the Treasuure Valley will NEVER return. If you were not trying to save face you would not be showing up at all the ISRC meetings trying to tell them how to do their jobs. I would be interested to know how many ISRC meetings you attended prior to Idaho Entertainment being awarded the lease. My guess would be it is about the same as the economic impact Les Bois Park is having on the community right now. ZERO!!