Saturday News and Notes - June 18

- Fines and a week suspension for jockeys Jeremy Rose, Kent Desormeaux, and Corey Nakatani for wearing ads during the Derby.

The racing authority said that Nakatani and Desormeaux did not submit their agreements for review within the deadline. Churchill had refused to endorse Rose's agreement because the advertiser, an online gambling site, was a competitor to one of Churchill's business partners.

[Daily Racing Form] Rose’s agent John Breeden responded, "If an owner says it's OK, who cares what the trainer, the stewards or management says?”

Paradisepoker.com paid $25,000. According to Breeden, Rose gave $5,000 of the money to a Louisville hospital and $20,000 to Alex's Lemonade Stand.

Paradisepoker.com is a poker Web site that takes no bets on horse racing. [Philadelphia Daily News]

- Matt Hagerty reports in the Form that Canada will move towards permitting betting into U.S. pools that have “bet-cancel delays.” The stated concern has been that those betting pools are subject to manipulation, as the delays keep pools open for 3-10 seconds after the start so that tellers can cancel unpaid-for bets. The process will take time however, and taking a look at some of the technological and legal issues to be overcome (not to mention the competition to handle on Canadian tracks), it’s easy to speculate that the bet-cancel delay issue is just an excuse.

A number of issues still need to be addressed, including complex logistics regarding conversion rates for currencies and the establishment of bet-processing protocols that allow totalizator systems in both countries to communicate with each other.
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... Mandatory deductions in Canada in some pools will force Woodbine to use a 25 percent total takeout on superexotic wagers such as the pick six, even if takeout on those bets is lower in the United States. [Daily Racing Form]

And Woodbine’s website poses another issue:

..”Tracks will have to raise the minimum bet value on the U.S. Pick 6 pools where it's more likely a single Canadian ticket could win the entire North American pool. "Imagine the legal ruckus if a Canadian wins the entire Breeders' Cup Pick 6 pool, US$4 million - US$5 million, but has a bet value that converts to less than the required US$2 minimum"

In other words, a $2 bet made in Canadian money currently translates to an equivalent of $1.62; so it would indeed cause a ruckus if pick six bets of $1.62 took down a huge Pick Six pool. I’m glad I’m not the one who has to figure this all out.

- The New Orleans City Counci unanimously approved Churchill’s plans to install VLT’s at the Fair Grounds, but the company made a huge concession in order to gain approval. Churchill originally requested a 24 hour operation, but in the end, they didn’t even come close.

All other racetracks in the state have 24-hour slots, but Churchill opponents said none of those is in the middle of a historic residential neighborhood. They said they feared the racetrack casino, or "racino," would attract so many new gamblers that it would worsen traffic, late-night noise and crime problems in their neighborhoods.

Churchill eventually reduced its request to an average of about 16 hours a day: 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 9 a.m. to midnight on other days.

But the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association, which claims more of the track's residential neighbors among its ranks than any other group, insisted that operations should stop at midnight every night. [Times-Picayune]

Midnight!? I’m not a casino guy, but I imagine the action is just getting started around then in most places. I can’t imagine that Churchill can be too happy about that. They also face a lawsuit by an area resident and have yet to have their plans to construct a new building to house the slots approved. And there’s this, also from the Times-Picayune piece:

The company also agreed to neighbors' other chief demand: for extra around-the-clock police patrols of the surrounding neighborhood. Churchill will buy two new police cruisers and will pay the salaries of the off-duty New Orleans police officers who will drive them.

The 24-hour, seven-day-a-week patrols are to begin 30 days before the slots start operating, probably in late 2006. In the meantime, Churchill already is paying for private guards to patrol the neighborhood from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the Police Department patrolling from 8 p.m. to midnight.

So the racino has to close at midnight, but the track has to pay for around the clock security. Perhaps they’ll be required to supply residents with cleaning and babysitting services as well.

- In Florida, it’s been more than a month since the legislature adjourned without agreeing on a plan for slots. Facing court action initiated by the Broward county pari-mutuels, top legislative leaders are meeting in an attempt to reach common ground. Governor Jeb Bush said "If there is an agreement ... that would be a possible time for a special session." [Sun-Sentinal] Meanwhile, our favorite governor who's a brother of an increasingly unpopular president whose continued stubborness on social security and Iraq in the face of growing public opposition makes him seem more and more like a desperate, floundering man than the “strong leader” that he never really was will not let Terri Schiavo rest in peace even after the results of an autopsy seemed to finally close the book. In what seems like nothing more than a hateful, vindictive ruse to get back at her husband Michael, whom he unsuccessfully fought for years in the Florida courts, he’s asked a prosecutor to investigate Schiavo’s 911 call of 15 years ago, based on some conflicting statements over the years as to the exact time early in the morning his wife collapsed. Bush cynically stated that he wasn’t suggesting any wrongdoing by Schiavo; in that case, I’d be interested to hear exactly what he is suggesting here.

- Greater Good’s success has done wonders for the sex life of his sire Intidab.

From a crop of just six foals, Intidab got multiple graded stakes winner Greater Good, a leading juvenile of 2004 and a contender on the Triple Crown trail this season.

A son of New York sire Phone Trick, Intidab has since been booked to more than 60 mares for the 2005 season. [Daily Racing Form]