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Photo
by George Starks - Tim Harless (right) talks with racing director
Richard Delk (left) before
the start of racing action Wednesday at the
Darke County Fair. Harness racing may get a boost
in the future from
the states casinos, but according to Harless, that help is at least a
year away.
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Casinos could help
save harness racing
By George Starks
GREENVILLE- It hasn’t been that many years ago when a person would see
a packed grandstands for harness racing at the Darke County Fair. For
those who couldn’t afford to get in to see the racing action, they
would line the fence from the grandstands to the fourth turn just to
watch.
The fair would bring in over 400 thousand dollars a week from
para-mutual betting alone.
Today, those bets have dwindled to just over 100 thousand for the week
of the fair. A significant drop from days gone by. The crowds are no
longer what they use to be, even with free admission to the grandstands.
According to long time harness horseman Tim Harless, numbers are down
at all tracks and some fairs have cut back on the amount of racing
being done.
“This fair still has more sessions than anybody, including Delaware
(Ohio)” said Harless. “We still have our supporters who sponsor
blankets so the interest from business is still there. One thing that
has really hurt us is the lack of mares that are being bred in Ohio. A
decade ago, there were more mares bred in Ohio than in any other state.
Now we’re well off the mark. So numbers of people are down, the number
of Ohio born bred mares are down and the betting is down”
However, help could be on the way.
With surrounding states (Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania) having
casino type wagering and help supplement the purses. Ohio is now doing
the same thing and it may be the answer for the sport.
“In Indiana, the minimum purse is around five grand while the minimum
purse at other tracks here (Ohio) is about 1,200 dollars,” Harless
pointed out. “We have a lot of trainers that take part in the Indiana
program so you can see how and why the numbers have dropped off here.”
Will the casinos help?
“In the last election, the new governor said he wanted to study this
issue and he did,” Harless stated. “Now the law has passed and now each
of the big seven tracks can now have a casino. Jim Buchy told me last
Thursday the we could have the first casino up and running by this
December. I think it will take at least five years for us to see a
positive effect from the casinos but it will help save us in a lot of
ways. It’s going to take time but we will benefit from this in the long
run. It all boils down to money.”
With numbers down across the board, more people are affected by it than
what meets the eye.
“This is agri-business,” said Harless. “For instance, this is how
Conrad Photo makes a living. The blacksmiths are affected as well as
the secretaries and the clerks in charge. Many people in the media that
cover harness events for a living are affected. I can’t quote you the
exact number of jobs affected by harness racing but it’s more than what
I just mentioned.”
While the local fair tracks race only during fair week and have no huge
name owners, the bigger tracks do and that make a difference.
“There’s a lot of gaming interests in tracks in Ohio,” said Harless.
“For example, Scioto Downs is owned by Mountaineer, Penn National owns
Toledo while Lebanon is still owned by private interests. We get many
to sponsor our blankets and each blanket goes from 75 to 100 dollars
each and we sell 75 to 80 to local business. We have great support here
but our fair is second to none. Some companies are putting their
business logos on their blanket. Dave Knapp Ford sponsors a blanket and
the truck to drag the track with every year. That’s huge for us. I give
credit to our fair board though. They stand behind us and very
supportive.”
Harness racing is a business and like any other business, it’s about
the bottom line and making changes.
“We really need to re-think about the way we do business,” Harless
quipped. “Some fairs have cut back and others have cut harness racing
out. I don’t think that will happen here, at least in my life. The
board here is now looking at a two day tractor pull and that’s a
business decision because this place is filled.”
In a world that has the motto “show me the money”, the Darke County
Fair is no different. We attend and enjoy the fair but big changes may
be on the horizon.
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George
Starks Photo - With harness horse racing in a shambles
attendance wise, there are two things that
could save the age-old
sport: Sponsors and casinos. These blankets represent just a few of the
local sponsors in
Darke County at the annual Great Darke County Fair.
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