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Associated Press July 31, 2004 Horse Racing Falls Behind As purses decline and breeders leave, industry says pull-tabs may be its last hope. By Nick Werner, The Columbus Republic SEYMOUR, Ind. -- One of the most desired Thoroughbreds will leave Seymour's Swifty Farms in August to be auctioned at a prestigious sale in Saratoga, N.Y. The unnamed yearling has a lineage that almost sounds biblical. She is the last foal of late 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, conceived with May Day Ninety, the stakes-producing daughter of racing legend Alydar, known for his battles with 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Nicknamed "Princess" by trainers, the filly has been as anticipated an athlete among horsemen as Damon Bailey was in the basketball crowd. But unlike the Bedford prodigy, this star will likely pass on remaining a Hoosier. Her arrival comes at an unfortunate time. Indiana horse racing has struggled with the addition of a second track and the growing popularity of riverboat casinos. As profits have fallen at Hoosier Park in Anderson and Indiana Downs in Shelbyville, so have purses. And breeders are starting to take their money and horses to more competitive states, like New York, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Swifty Farms, the largest Thoroughbred farm in the state at 386 acres and about 140 horses, has cut its full-time work force by about 58 percent since 2000, owner Don Myers said, and expects to reduce its number of mares even more. "If we don't get something," Myers said, "Indiana Downs will close and Hoosier Park will probably close. There will be no racetracks in Indiana and, consequently, no Indiana Thoroughbred program." Over the years, the sprawling Swifty Farms has become a landmark for travelers on I-65 between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky. About eight miles south of Seymour, sitting on the west wide of the highway, the farm is home to some of the state's most expensive stallions, including Crown Ambassador and his son, Pass Rush. Myers, owner of Swifty Oil Co., started the farm in 1972, buying 46 acres and building a barn. For about six years, he bred paint horses for show but abandoned the breed when a friend introduced him to Kentucky Thoroughbreds. Before pari-mutuel horse racing moved to Indiana in 1995, Myers raced his ponies in Kentucky. When Churchill Downs built Hoosier Park in Anderson, Myers bought more land and horses and doubled his farm. At the farm's peak in 2000, Myers had 31 full-time employees and 180 horses. He now has about 140 horses, 40 of which will be auctioned soon, and 13 employees. Most of the losses were labor positions that became unnecessary with the farm doing less business. "We're cutting back all the time," Myers said. In 2003, the farm bred 161 mares. As of June of this year, with breeding season almost over, it had bred about 60. Myers wants to reduce the permanent herd to between 35 and 54 by January, and in a few years, to 20 horses. Farm manager Larry Smallwood said Swifty Farms' cutbacks would affect local agricultural suppliers. The farm bought about $200,000 of hay, straw and feed from the Seymour and Columbus area in 2003. The farm is on track to buy about $120,000 worth in 2004. "All those horse people are involved with people in the ag business, too," Smallwood said. "Those horses have to eat. It's been difficult to educate our legislators about how big this industry is." Myers sat in his air-conditioned office recently, talking business with Smallwood and Indiana Downs general manager Jon Schuster. The topic for the hour was how to revive horse racing in Indiana. Until December 2002, Hoosier Park held a lucrative state subsidy, funded by riverboat gambling, all to itself. But since Indiana Downs took its half of the share, both parks have been running in the red. "We lost about $3.9 million last year, and we are expecting to lose about $1.4 million this year," Schuster said. Hoosier Park lost $555,000 in 2003, according to the track's vice president of communications, Tom Bannon. New riverboat casinos also have distracted gamblers. As a result, purses have suffered, meaning breeders and owners are looking elsewhere. "Purses drive the industry, and right now, Indiana purses are at the bottom," Smallwood said. To remain competitive with other states, horsemen have put all their money on legislation to allow pull-tab gambling in the state's tracks and off-track betting facilities in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville. But the idea has met resistance from Indiana Senate leadership and those opposed to gambling. The bill died in the Senate this past session, largely because of opposition from President Pro Tempore Robert Garton, R-Columbus. Garton has argued that pull-tabs would extend gambling and detract from horse racing. "They don't want pull-tabs, they want a casino," he said. Myers said Indiana has already paved the way with riverboats and the lottery. "I'm not aware of too many towns in Indiana where you can't walk across the street and buy a lottery ticket," he said. "Now, is that gambling?" Schuster said pull-tabs, taxed at about 35 cents per dollar, would be a boon to state coffers and would allow tracks to survive without subsidies. "It takes us off the dole and puts all kinds of tax money into state dollars," he said. Indiana Downs and Hoosier Park have said they are willing to give up licenses on unbuilt OTBs to get the legislation passed. No matter what happens, Swifty Farms will survive because it was built before the Hoosier tracks existed and knows how to survive on a Kentucky market. But the likelihood of Hoosier Thoroughbreds like "Princess" racing before a hometown crowd could be a long shot.  |
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