I want to respond to Russ Pulliam's column, "Gamblers push shallow arguments" on Dec. 18. My family and I own Standardbred (harness) racehorses. We run this venture as a business and it is our hope to make it a full-time vocation. Because the racing season in Indiana runs only from April through October, we have to move our horses to other locations every year so they can continue racing through the winter months.

This year we are racing them in Florida and Ontario, Canada. Purses at the Ontario racetracks are already supplemented by revenue generated by slot machines, and those in Florida will be in the near future as legislation to legalize slot machines at Pompano Park has been recently enacted.

While it is too early to tell how the Florida purses will be affected by slot machine revenue, the impact in Ontario is evident. Right now, after considering currency conversion rates, our two horses are racing for purses about 30 percent higher than those for comparable classes at the recent Indiana Downs meet. If our horses continue to race well over the next few months, it will make more sense from a business standpoint to leave them in Canada than to ship them back to Indiana next spring. If that is the case, we will be pumping money into the Ontario economy instead of Indiana's.

If we leave the horses in Canada, our local trainer will not be using the revenue from training bills to hire staff that will buy products and use services in the Anderson and Shelbyville areas. He will not be buying grain, hay and bedding from local suppliers. In addition, we will not be paying Indiana veterinarians or blacksmiths to care for our horses, nor will we pay the owners of a local training center monthly stall rent for housing them.

All of that money will be heading to their counterparts in Ontario. Also, as long as our horses remain up north, we will travel to Ontario occasionally, spending money at Canadian restaurants, hotels and other establishments. This is money that could remain in Indiana but won't as long as our business opportunities are better elsewhere.

All things being equal, we would prefer to race our horses at Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs. However, we will make decisions that are best for our business. As long as purses at the Indiana racetracks are not supplemented by slot machine revenue, the grass will be greener for us in the Great White North and other locations where additional racetrack gaming is legal.

Pulliam may think that our argument for slot machines at the racetracks is shallow, but we do not. I hope that legislators agree that money leaving the state is a serious matter and that they pass legislation to enable our business to do the bulk of its spending in Indiana, not other states or Canadian provinces.