racino | Horse Racing Free Tips

Illinois Purse Increases: ‘A Band-Aid On A Gushing Wound’

Purses will be on the short-term rise at the tracks in Illinois, thanks to a pair of recent money recovery efforts initiated by the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA).

One increase at the current Thoroughbred meet at Hawthorne Race Course that will be effective June 15-July 15 involves an 18% across-the-board purse bump derived from a claw-back of funds related to the closure of Arlington International Racecourse.

A separate initiative required passage of a bill in the Illinois Legislature on its final day of the session last month. That action transferred $5.1 million of a surplus in the state's Horse Racing Fund to purses at both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred meets at Hawthorne, plus the Thoroughbred meet at FanDuel Racing (more commonly known as Fairmount Park).

David McCaffrey, the ITHA's executive director, told commissioners at Thursday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting that while horsemen are grateful for any help they can get, the influxes will only provide temporary financial relief.

“This is a terrific band-aid,” McCaffrey said, speaking specifically about the money from the Horse Racing Fund. “Make no mistake, it's a band-aid on a gushing wound that is Illinois racing, because things are at their all-time worst right now.”

According to an explanation posted in the ITHA's website, After Arlington closed in September 2021, that track's corporate management “attempted to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars from the horsemen's purse account. Arlington eventually folded in its attempt to keep the money after ITHA pursued litigation against Arlington, compelling the track to release the money. ITHA is now directing the remaining settlement funds to Hawthorne purses, which will account for the purse increase from June 15 to July 15.”

The separate $5.1-million transfer comes from the Horse Racing Fund, which McCaffrey said is largely derived from a 1.5% tax on all bets placed on Illinois racing. Traditionally, that fund accumulates and operates at surplus, and it had grown to “about $10 million” by the beginning of 2023, McCaffrey said.

Starting back in January, McCaffrey said, The ITHA, the IRB, and other stakeholders had lobbied for the passage of a law that would direct about half of the surplus toward Thoroughbred and Standardbred purses.

The ITHA's website noted that the Hawthorne share for the Thoroughbred purse account will be $2.295 million, and that the increase from the fund will go into effect “possibly starting in mid-July, upon the expiration of the [separate] purse increase beginning June 15.”

Racinos became legal in Illinois in 2019, but they aren't up and running yet at Hawthorne or FanDuel.

“Hopefully, it gives us a bridge to get to racinos when they start producing some revenue,” McCaffrey said.

The post Illinois Purse Increases: ‘A Band-Aid On A Gushing Wound’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

OHBPA Fires Back at Belterra’s Attempt to Dismiss ‘Deprived’ VLT Money Suit

The Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) told a federal judge Mar. 23 that the present and former owners of Belterra Park are attempting to get out from under a $2.7-million lawsuit over gaming revenues that the track allegedly wrongfully withheld between 2014 and 2018 on the grounds that Ohio's statutory construct for racino revenue sharing offers horsemen no legal remedy when they are denied their fair share.

But in fact, the OHBPA states in a memorandum opposing Belterra's motion to dismiss the case, both common law and the state statute are on the side of the horsemen in allowing for exactly the sort of relief the OHBPA is seeking.

That's also what the OHBPA stated in its original Dec. 18 complaint that contended Belterra never made good on a four-year difference between a placeholder rate that was first established for video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming and an eventually revised rate.

The court filing states that the defendants “are holding [$2,769,652] in funds owed to [the OHBPA]. Belterra asserts that no claim can be made, or even exists under the law, so it gets to keep the money. An injury, perhaps, but no available relief, says Belterra. In essence, Belterra acknowledges it is the beneficiary of the windfall, then attempts to find cover from the General Assembly, the Ohio State Racing Commission, and an escrow agreement to which the OHBPA was not a party.”

The OHBPA states that Belterra's theory for dismissing the suit “rises and falls on the faulty notion that the statute at issue–Ohio Revised Code Section 3769.087(C)–essentially 'preempts the field,' and thus leaves a horsemen's association no recourse in cases of mishandled funds or revenue-sharing disputes between race tracks and horsemen. But Belterra has utterly failed to show that the statute forecloses private rights of action or common-law claims, citing no statutory language and no case law requiring such a result.

“Second, the OHBPA's Complaint states valid common-law causes of action upon which relief may be granted,” the filing continues.

“Lastly, the OHBPA states valid claims under a private-right-of-action theory. For these reasons, and those further set forth below, the Court should deny Belterra's Motion to Dismiss.”

Belterra Park itself is named as a defendant, as is the racino's current owner/operator, Boyd Gaming Corporation. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., (which, according to the suit, owned Belterra between 2011 and 2018) and Penn National Gaming, Inc. (which, according to the suit, briefly had an ownership interest in Belterra in 2018), are also listed as defendants.

According to the defendants' motion to dismiss filed Feb. 16 in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division), the Belterra collective alleged that the “OHBPA has failed to state any viable claims against Defendants. OHBPA's cleverly labeled claims are nothing more than an attempt to plead around the fact that there is no private right of action under the relevant Ohio statute or regulation. Quite simply, OHBPA has no right to receive the “catch up” payments and only the Racing Commission is authorized to enforce [the relevant state codes] and the Resolution.”

According to the OHBPA's complaint, when VLT gaming was first legalized by Ohio in 2009, the state authorized racinos to retain 66.5% of revenues, with “between 9% and 11%” of those net-win proceeds to then be paid to Thoroughbred and Standardbred entities.

Those percentages were set five years before any actual VLT gaming happened at Belterra, and in 2012 the state authorized the Ohio State Racing Commission to set the actual rate that would go to purses, based upon that 9-11% range. But until a new, firm, rate got set, 9% was to be used as the placeholder to determine purse proceeds.

“At all relevant times, the OHBPA and Belterra Park each understood that, pursuant to the statute, the actual percentage rate was to be set at some future time, and that Belterra Park would need to make a 'true-up' payment to the OHBPA for any difference between the 9% placeholder rate and a statutorily-set rate that was greater than 9%,” the suit contended.

Belterra didn't open for VLT gaming until May 1, 2014, largely because the former track known as River Downs was undergoing a substantial renovation to rebrand the property as Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center. The capital expenditures for that project were to be a factor in determining the new calculation rate for purse money, but the suit alleged Belterra stalled and tried to overstate the costs it incurred fixing up the property.

The post OHBPA Fires Back at Belterra’s Attempt to Dismiss ‘Deprived’ VLT Money Suit appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Belterra Wants To Dismiss Ohio HBPA Lawsuit Over $2.7M in ‘Deprived’ VLT Money

The present and former owners of Belterra Park have filed a motion to toss out a federal lawsuit filed by the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) that seeks to recoup more than $2.7 in gaming revenues that the OHBPA alleges the track wrongfully withheld between 2014 and 2018.

According to a motion to dismiss filed Feb. 16 in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division), the defendants are alleging that “OHBPA has failed to state any viable claims against Defendants. OHBPA's cleverly labeled claims are nothing more than an attempt to plead around the fact that there is no private right of action under the relevant Ohio statute or regulation. Quite simply, OHBPA has no right to receive the “catch up” payments and only the Racing Commission is authorized to enforce [the relevant state codes] and the Resolution.”

Back on Dec. 18, the OHBPA's suit contended that Belterra never made good on a four-year difference between a placeholder rate first established for video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming and the eventually revised rate, which it claims totals $2,769,652.

“The OHBPA has been deprived of these funds, which go directly toward the benefit of horse breeding and horse racing in Ohio,” the OHBPA contended in its suit (which is explained in greater detail here).

On Tuesday, the defendants outlined a four-plank argument for dismissing the lawsuit:

“First, OHBPA has no right to the claimed payments under the relevant statutory or regulatory scheme, and even if it did, there is no private right of action for it to enforce the statute or regulation. Although OHBPA crafts its attempt at enforcing the statutes and regulations as tort claims, those claims fail.

“Second, the applicable statute, rules, and resolution regulating the payment of the VLT
commission percentage rates to the horsemen's associations are not retroactive. Therefore,
in contravention of an express contract and statutory and rule authority vested in the Racing
Commission, OHBPA is asking this Court to order Defendants to go back in time and pay
OHBPA additional funds for the time period between May 1, 2014 and July 1, 2018. Quite simply, OHBPA has no right to any extra payments and no authority to bring this action.

“Third, because OHBPA has no right to possess the payments Defendants' retention of
those payment cannot be wrongful, and therefore, its claim for conversion fails.

“Finally, OHBPA's claim for unjust enrichment fails because (a) there is an express contract covering the same subject, which precludes the unjust enrichment claim, (b) OHBPA has not conferred a benefit on Defendants, and (c) Defendants' non-payment of the purported extra VLT
commission rate payments is not “unjust” because OHBPA has no right to those payments…. Defendants have paid all amounts required to be paid and distributed according to Ohio law. As such, Defendants respectfully request that the Court dismiss OHBPA's Complaint.”

The post Belterra Wants To Dismiss Ohio HBPA Lawsuit Over $2.7M in ‘Deprived’ VLT Money appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post