June 29, 2010

Right mix helps Hoosier stand out

I flew to Indianapolis over the weekend to help celebrate a Hoosier hero and past history, and wound up getting a firsthand glimpse of the future of racing.

Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind., some 35 miles northeast of Indianapolis, is a dual breed track that offers both harness and Thoroughbred racing. The track has a relatively short history -- it opened in 1994 and was operated by Churchill Downs until it was fully acquired by a Churchill partner, Centaur of Indianapolis, in 2007. Slots at Indiana's two tracks, Hoosier and Indiana Downs, were legalized that same year.

The historical part of the weekend came with the 17th edition of the Dan Patch purse, a $200,000 race honoring the legendary harness racing champion of the first decade of the 1900s.

The future that I mentioned is the increased dependence of racing these days on slot machines. Tracks with them are thriving, those without them are struggling. It is a fact of life not fully enjoyed or endorsed by racing purists and some racing managements, who consider slots demeaning.

That view is not held by Rod Ratcliff, the chairman and CEO of Centaur LLC, Hoosier Park's parent. He is a realist, and although he knows full well that Hoosier's big racino drives his operation, his overall views are quickly made evident by his track's name.

It is Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, not the other way around. The order of names is neither alphabetical nor accidental.

Ratcliff's philosophy from the start has been to promote racing, and he has insisted on positive efforts to integrate the two. His two general managers, former Churchill executive Jeff Smith, who runs racing, and Jim Brown, general manager of gaming, both are personable, knowledgeable, big good-looking guys who interact constantly with their staffs and customers. Both radiate sincere warmth and friendliness, and the entire track staff, from mutuel clerks to clubhouse waiters and waitresses, reflects their efforts.

The integration effort is apparent in the very construction of the racino and its link to the racetrack. It has a restaurant catering to both operations, and its big windows make certain the casino gamblers are aware of the reason for Hoosier Park's existence.

If one is expecting bucolic mediocrity from an operation built on Indiana cornfields, that misconception is altered on entry to either side of the operation.

The restaurants and food courts of Hoosier Park are exceptional, offering menus that offer food that evoke memories of upscale New York restaurants. The reason is not hard to find. Hoosier Park owns its restaurant operation, and has staffed it with a chef who has mastered the art of providing down-home cooking with metropolitan sophistication. My entr e choice, sea bass, was the best I have ever eaten, and the huge desserts give the impression of having been built in the homes of Indiana's best home bakers.

Running one's own operation offers the advantages of full control of both food quality and food cost, and shows in what Hoosier offers.

On the casino side, as smart and stylish as any in Vegas or Atlantic City, technology and state-of-the-art gambling is quickly apparent on entering the big facility, which houses 2,000 slots. A giant electronic blackjack game, with multiple seating surrounding it, deals the cards. At other tables, friendly male and female "dealers" host the electronic action, with animated conversation but nothing more.

What makes all this "the future" of racing is a simple management truth. Entertainment and gambling are the engines that drive racing success in the present order of things. Those who pine for a return to the glories of racing alone, the beauty of the horse and the sport itself, without slot machines have little chance of being satisfied -- except perhaps at Saratoga or Keeneland or Del Mar. And Saratoga and Keeneland are not immune. Saratoga already has a major racino across the street, at its neighboring harness track, and you can be sure Keeneland will have one, or share one, if slots come to Kentucky.

If they do, they and others who might get slots should visit the heartland, as I did, and see how to do it right.

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