Magna Int'l Chair Frank Stronach has "reversed an
opinion he offered" last week (See THE DAILY, 11/18) and
said last Thursday that his racetracks "will likely remain"
in the NTRA, according to Matt Hegarty of the DAILY RACING
FORM. Stronach: "We will in all likelihood stay in. A
national organization is very important. ... I talked to
[NTRA Commissioner] Tim Smith about our concerns, and I was
concerned that the papers were reporting negative things,
and I never intended to make any negative comments about the
NTRA. We want to be constructive in this process, not
destructive." But Stronach, who has "requested detailed
financial breakdowns" of the NTRA's various programs, said
that he "planned to discuss several" issues with the NTRA,
including "his belief that directors must be elected,
instead of appointed," and that the NTRA "must sharpen its
direction and work to free racetracks" from federal/state
regulation (DAILY RACING FORM, 11/13).
NTRA HEALTHY? NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith was
interviewed by Hegarty and asked what the NTRA has been
"most successful at" through its first 18 months of
existence: "Two clear areas of success would be increasing
racing's television profile and public profile generally.
And secondly, increasing the industry's optimism about its
own future." Smith, on where the NTRA "has fallen short":
"The most daunting challenge from the start has been to try
to accomplish 'league office'-type results without the
normal complement of powers that most other league offices
would have. I'm talking about pooled media rights,
mandatory sources of funding" (DAILY RACING FORM, 11/14).
BETTOR NUMBERS: Total wagering on the ten-race program
of the November 6 Breeders' Cup at Gulfstream Park set an
all-time North American single-day record of about $10.3M,
which is a 10% increase from the handle of the previous
Breeders' Cup high, set in '98. Wagering on the eight
Breeders' Cup races increased 16% to another all-time high
of about $96.5M, compared to the '98 mark of about $83M.
Additionally, the three-day Breeders' Cup meet generated a
total worldwide handle of about $126.3M (Breeders' Cup).
