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By ALAN K. STOUT
alanks@leader.net
Friday, March 14, 2003 Page: 3C
PLAINS TWP. – Last year’s driving champion is eager to log his first
victory. The public relations director expects a fine season. The general
manager says the facility, from the track to the restaurant, is ready to go.
And the executive director of the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission hopes
that slot machines might be in place by season’s end.
These thoughts and others were revealed Thursday at The Downs at Pocono,
which had its annual media luncheon in preparation for the 2003 season.
The 127-day schedule opens Saturday and continues through Oct. 19. Races
will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and post time
will be 7:40 p.m.
Like last year, the track will continue its aggressive marketing plan that
will include promotions with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers af2 football
team and the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic golf tournament.
There also will be a program in which 15 area youth, through an essay
contest, will visit the facility for a full week and learn about all facets of
racing, including caring for the horses.
According to the track’s media guide, overnight purses for the 2003 season
are expected to hit $7 million, up from the $6.8 million in 2002. Last year’s
average nightly purses totaled some $54,000. In addition to the overnight
purses, there will be a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and $100,000 Pennsylvania
Championship Finals, along with the Pennsylvania All Stars, Pennsylvania Fair
Finals and the W.N. Reynolds Memorial Stake.
John Zimich, public relations director of the facility, said two of the
track’s premier stake events, the Max Hempt Memorial and the James Lynch
memorial, annually attract the nation’s top three year-old colts and fillies
to the track.
Harness driver Mike Simons, who was last year’s driving champion and won
203 races, says he’s looking forward to Saturday.
“Everybody wants to get a good start,” said Simons. “You want to win
right off the bat and get the ball rolling and get momentum. It’s like a
sports team starting the season – you want to win that first game.”
Tom Kauffman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Harness Racing
Commission, also attended the luncheon. He said pending legislation should
soon shed some light on the possibility of adding slot machines to
Pennsylvania’s tracks, including The Downs at Pocono.
“Adding slots to the tracks would be a significant new source of
revenue,” said Kauffman, who is a strong advocate for adding the machines.
“We know that Governor Rendell supports slots at tracks, and we are
anticipating that in his March 25 announcement, which is the second part of
his budget, that slots at tracks will be a part of it. Right now there are at
least three bills at different legislators that would legalize slots at
tracks.”
Kaufam said slots at tracks have been legal in Delaware and West Virginia
for nine years, and purses there are two to five times higher than those in
Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, he said, tracks in Pennsylvania are struggling to
compete.
“It’s a matter of survival,” he said. “We’re very hopeful something will
happen this spring.”