Confidence Reigns, Playfair Ceo Says Judge’s New Opinion May Help Track’s Application For ‘98 Dates

The chief executive officer at Playfair Race Course says he’s confident the Spokane track will have a 1998 season.

Don Johnson has asked the Washington Horse Racing Commission for 43 days of on-site racing in Spokane, from Sept. 6 to Nov. 24.

The commission withheld approval of the dates at its December meeting, citing an investigation that shows Playfair has operated in conflict with orders issued in late 1996.

The WHRC determined that, from December 1996 through last August, the Muckleshoot Tribe provided at least $1.2 million for racing operations at Playfair.

The commission awarded ‘97 dates in Spokane contingent on the previous management’s “utilization of its own assets.”

In short, they were to accept no tribal money.

The commission found that the Muckleshoot “at a minimum are paying maintenance, salary and insurance expenses directly related to horse racing.”

Various factions of the industry have testified that tribal money in a race track represents a conflict of interest. The Muckleshoot operate a profitable casino in Auburn, Wash. Casinos and track operators have historically seen themselves as competing for the same gaming dollar.

That opinion, and the commission’s investigation into Playfair’s ties to a Native American tribe may be moot, however, if an oral opinion issued by Thurston County judge Paula Casey is as “pro-Playfair” as Johnson and others view it.

Casey’s most recent comment seems to support the view that the commission may have exceeded its authority in stipulating that the Muckleshoot Tribe could not invest in the track. She also indicated that the conflict of interest issue would have to be proven.

New Playfair Park - in essence, the tribe - plans to re-submit its bid for a license to run Playfair, sources indicate.

“The dates are being held in abeyance,” Johnson said. “We’re waiting for the commission to let us know what they require of us. I can’t see the commission, or anybody involved in this industry, letting live racing die over here. It’s not going to happen.”

Johnson said he spent two weeks this month in the East, scouting potential off-track sites for Playfair’s ‘98 season.

Although simulcasting has yet to be the boon to local horsemen’s purses that was hoped for, the process is working at Emerald Downs.

Thriving off-track betting business and a shorter ‘98 season of live racing at Emerald Downs has prompted track officials to announce a 41 percent increase in purses at the Auburn track.

Horsemen will compete for a bottom purse of $4,000 at Emerald Downs. That, and rebuilding a racing surface often criticized as unkind to horses, should help Emerald retain more fit horses this year, racing commission executive secretary Bruce Batson said.

Attracting and keeping competitive horses was a problem last year.

Playfair expects to offer an $1,800 bottom purse this fall, Johnson said.

“We need that to get up to $2,500 or $3,000,” he said.

What has to rise first is the money bet by the track’s on-site patrons on its own race programs. Playfair took in an average of $45,000 daily on-site on local races during its fall meet.

Little more than a decade ago, Inland Northwest horse players were sending well over $200,000 a day through the windows on local races.

Playfair received a temporary windfall when, after the ‘92 closure of Longacres, it was granted exclusive access to Western Washington markets during its fall meet. With the advent of full-card satellite racing, that access has been diluted by competition from the finest tracks in the country. Playfair is only one of a number of tracks to access King County bettors when Emerald Downs is not running a live meet.

Playfair currently serves an off-track betting site for races from Yakima Meadows and major tracks nationwide.

Yakima closes April 12. Emerald’s summer meet - 15 days shorter than last season - starts April 25 and runs through Sept. 14.

, DataTimes