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Track tries to carry momentum

With Tampa Bay Downs' spring meet over, track officials are optimistic more labor problems won't hinder growth.

By BRANT JAMES

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2001

OLDSMAR -- Momentum has been illusory for Tampa Bay Downs.

Each spurt of forward progress, of Triple Crown contenders lured to the track and increased purses, has been countered the past three years with a blunt stop.

Each time the culprit has been labor strife, and the meet that ended Sunday lost its first 15 days as track management and the Tampa Bay Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association haggled over a contract.

"We obviously got off to a very slow start," track general manager John Grady said. "I think we would have been very successful had we had that contract. That's basically a sixth of the season we lost."

The impasse helped drop the track's total live handle by 9.5 percent from last year to $1,563,471 and also dented on-track handle and attendance, which dropped 2.2 percent to 297,881. In the end, the deal struck was much the same as the previous, except its duration was extended to three years.

Unencumbered momentum? Maybe not, as 10-day windows allow each side to opt out before the start of each meet.

"We certainly don't think we'll do it and we think there is a very large amount of horsemen who would be shocked if something like that were to happen by their side," Grady said.

So as most of the horsemen who participated in the TBD meet scatter to other tracks across the country, there is a possibility the momentum gained in this meet might have to be regenerated.

If there is to be an easy path into the next meet, it will be papered with money. Much of the friction within the TBHBPA in the most recent negotiation occurred when some of the broad membership believed its board -- led by Leonard Alexander, Bob Jeffries and Bob Van Worp, who had been denied stalls -- was pursuing a personal crusade against management.

In the end, horsemen saw purses increase for the seventh consecutive year, up 4.9 percent from last year. An average of $101,900 was distributed daily. An agreement struck this year that sends TBD's simulcast to Miami's tracks enhances those revenue streams and perhaps signals a growing prominence. Fans at Miami tracks bet $2.9-million on TBD races, which helped intrastate handle increase 8.5 percent to $59-million. Trainers such as Don Rice, who led the meet with more than $300,000 in earnings, are pleased with the current course.

"I think we're doing better every year," he said, "and I think the next few will be even better. The young guys in here now -- (assistant general manager) Peter Berube and (vice president of facilities) Bob Cassanese -- are really trying to make it a better place. You have to have good management and have to have good horses, and I think we're getting both now."

Allowance and claiming races fill the daily programs, but stakes go further in raising the track's broad profile with fans. While Menifee, Impeachment, Parade Ground, Wheelaway and Secret Status sprung from the Tampa Bay Derby and Florida Oaks to greater national prominence in the past few years, no 3-year-old has done so this year. The best hope appears to be Tampa Bay Derby-winner Burning Roma, who was being pointed toward the Preakness before a disappointing third-place finish in a Pimlico stakes.

TBD will remain a popular venue for horsemen, in part because of its hospitable winter climate. Derek Bell, who won this year's jockey title, said he is considering purchasing a home in the area, but he sees things that need to be improved. Tops on his wish list is a safety rail, which helps prevent major injuries when riders spill along the rails. When fans pack the facility, as they did for Saturday's Kentucky Derby, Grady is reassured Tampa Bay Downs has found a niche in the area.

"I think we are a significant part of the sports structure in this area," Grady said.

The trick is maintaining it.

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