Slots revenue would solve many of these problems — Calder vice president Ken Dunn has publicly stated he thinks getting slots would double Calder's purse money. Blanco contends there won't be much trouble getting slots once Jeb Bush vacates the governor's seat: "The Governor's [anti-slots] jaunt was about appeasing certain elements in his political party. We're confident voters will understand that this isn't just good for the track — some of that money will go to the school system as well."
Canet says the future isn't bright. "In five years, I see Gulfstream being around for sure. Maybe Calder. A lot depends on slots."
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Racing analysts say Calder Race Course, which currently
relies on older patrons and revenue from simulcasting,
might need slot machines to survive
Jonathan Postal
Jonathan Postal
Will Frank Stronach's extravagant new facility one day be
South Florida's sole racing venue?
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The Future
Gulfstream is crawling with construction workers. The five-story faade is already visible from Federal Highway, but — only eight weeks before opening day — it is far from a finished product. Savin says the view through the main entrance gates will consist of a paved walkway, a massive fountain, and the grandstand.
Will Stronach's new horse-racing palace eventually be the only game in town? Will shopping for a pair of Kenneth Coles and laying down 50 bucks on the number three horse to place become the fashionable way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Hallandale?
Stronach, who referred all questions to Savin, is betting that it will. In 2003 he completed a 300-acre, $100 million Boynton Beach training center that includes state-of-the-art living quarters for grooms and open-air stables for horses. "Everything in that place is so first-class," remarks Goldberg. "I'll say this much for Stronach — I've never seen anything like that place before."
If the brash Austrian wins his wager, the refurbished Gulfstream track and ownership of hundreds of high-caliber horses will tower over South Florida racing like George Steinbrenner looms over Major League Baseball.
"Gulfstream's success will depend on three things," Beyer says. "Whether their purses are any good. Whether the slots ever come through. And whether Magna turns out to be right about the questionable proposition that people who come to Gulfstream to play the slots or go shopping will also want to bet on horses."
Magna's recent brush with political impropriety might have slowed the process of prodding legislators to finally put pen to paper and draft the legislation that will bring slots to Broward. Most in Tallahassee are mum about this past July's $48,000 lobbying debacle — in which the company paid four of Florida's Republican lawmakers to travel to company headquarters in Toronto. Two were on the committee that regulates Florida pari-mutuels: former Senate President Jim King of Jacksonville and Sen. Dennis Jones of St. Petersburg. The embarrassing episode "hasn't made lobbying any easier," says Kent Stirling, executive director of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.
Nevertheless, regulation for slot machines at four Broward pari-mutuels — including Gulfstream, Hollywood Greyhound Track, Dania Jai-Alai, and Pompano Park — will likely be approved when the legislature meets in special session December 5.
Magna's owner is determined to move forward. "Mr. Stronach is very passionate about horse racing, so he's overseeing this project, right down to the silverware patterns," Savin says. "But he's also a self-made billionaire, and he likes a return on his investment. Call it passionate capitalism."
Regardless, by the 2007 slots vote, Churchill Downs and Magna will set the landscape for horse racing in South Florida.
"The sport isn't going away," opines Hammer Goldberg. "But it'll probably change in the next few years. Churchill Downs isn't going down without a fight, but neither did Brunetti."
