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A meeting was held outside
of the race office on Friday, September 14 at 11am.
Such meetings will continue every other week into the
future to bring horsemen up to date on important
developments in our industry. Four primary topics
were discussed.
VALLEJO
The CHHA continues to aggressively pursue Vallejo as an
alternative site to racing beginning as soon as fall of
2008. We are working hard to get as much information as
possible so that we have as much certainty as possible
that we have a home well into the future. To that end,
while there has been communication with several
potential operators, Great Canadian Gaming
(Frazer/Sandown, Flamboro, Georgian, Hastings Park) has
expressed enough interest to warrant a trip by Ben
Kenney to see them in Canada. We expect them to visit
Northern California in the next few weeks.
CAL-EXPO AND SHA
Cal-Expo continues to negotiate with SHA for a new lease
or lease extension beyond July of 2008. We are pleased
that these discussions continue and will report to you
when definitive agreements have been reached.
BAY MEADOWS AND
THOROUGHBRED DATES
Obviously, this issue affects the first two points
listed above. Bay Meadows future with respect to
specific dates continues to be postponed. Hopefully, in
the next month or two, the CHRB will complete its 3-year
plan for dates. Bay Meadows dates affect the entire
northern California landscape as they directly impact
the fairs, which impact Cal-Expo, Stockton and therefore
impact our racing schedule and possibilities.
Unfortunately, the situation has not yet stabilized
making decision making more difficult. However, as
stated, we expect this picture to be clearer shortly.
OVERPAYMENT AND PURSE
LEVELS
Since purses were reduced,
we have made good progress against the overpayment due
SHA. Moreover, the CHHA has recovered additional monies
to put toward the overpayment. This, combined with the
expected release of monies held in trust, we expect to
have the overpayment fully satisfied in the next one to
two months. Once this occurs, we fully expect a modest
purse increase. We will continue to keep you updated on
these developments.
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