[pmayjr]

Canterbury doesn't have them, but have been trying for 10 years. They have a card room which does help add to purses, and does quite well, but it doesn't do nearly as much as the slots. They might be a band-aid, but I'll give you some points for why they are good.

HORSE RACING UNFORTUNATELY ISN'T A FORM OF GAMBLING THAT'S VERY CONVENIENT FOR PEOPLE. To get a patron to come out and wager, they have to do it when tracks offer live racing. Canterbury has pretty healthy live racing crowds in the summer, but not many of those people bet simulcast. So when there's no live racing, they don't come out. What I'm getting at here, is I think some tracks are legitimately using slots to keep horse racing viable at their tracks, BUT MOSTLY THEY'RE USING AS IT AS ANOTHER WAY TO BECOME PROFITABLE. Because casinos are 24/7/365 operations. If said casino within a horse track is contributing to the horse racing operation properly, then I don't have a problem with it.

From Canterbury's perspective, it's getting to be a lot like Maryland's. They don't have the slots, but Iowa does, and so does Remington Park in Oklahoma (MN and Oklahoma are not exactly next door neighbors, but the 2 tracks share a lot of the same horses). So those tracks are offering bigger purses. Which means horsemen are leaving Canterbury for "greener" oppourtunites at those tracks. Live racing at Canterbury this year was like watching racing at Bay Meadows. Field sizes were noticeably lower, and it's because they don't offer purses that the other tracks offer. This also gives people less incentive to own and breed horses in MN compared to other states (if purses aren't increased).

There's a casino within 3 miles of Canterbury (Indian owned/run) called Mystic Lake, which offers everything short of craps and roulette. Ever since that place has opened, it's been a cash-cow. Canterbury offers it no competition because they have no slots. I see Presque Isle Downs open up, and offer huge purses. I see Louisiana thriving because of it. Remember 3-4 years ago- Delta Friggin' Downs had a million dollar race!

So from what I see of my home-town casino and these other tracks with slots around the country, it's tough for me to see that it's a band-aid. I HATE THAT CASINO GAMING HAS TO PROP UP HORSE RACING, but I don't see anything right now that leads me to believe that it's a band-aid.