Stronach to Fla. horsemen: Decoupling = 3 years of racing

The Stronach Group said it would guarantee at least three more years of racing at Gulfstream Park if it won approval to decouple its Thoroughbred and casino licenses. If not, an executive said, the track could be closed sooner.

That was what Stronach advisor Keith Brackpool told horsemen Wednesday morning at a meeting that lasted more than two hours at Gulfstream’s Sport of Kings hall.

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“If we don’t get decoupled, we can’t give assurances that we can continue to race,” said Stronach executive Stephen Screnci, who spoke to Horse Racing Nation after the closed-door meeting called by the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “That wasn’t a threat. That was a statement.”

One horseman said he was one of the many who begged to differ.

“It was basically a threat that they could close anytime they wanted,” said the trainer who spoke to Horse Racing Nation on the condition of anonymity.

Brackpool and Screnci told horsemen the future of the track is tied to an expanded casino and new hotel that could be built by the Stronach Group and perhaps other investors if the Florida state legislature allows the racing and slot-machine licenses to be separated.

Florida house bill 105, which was filed Jan. 6 by first-term Republican representative Adam Anderson of Palm Harbor, would remove the requirement that a Thoroughbred permit holder must conduct live racing in order to maintain a slot-machine license. It has not been assigned yet to a committee. As the law stands, Gulfstream cannot operate a casino without running at least 40 racing dates per year.

The trainer who spoke to HRN said the mood was decidedly “anti-decoupling, and it seemed like most people were a little bit angry.”

That was said to be reflected in the skepticism expressed by the horsemen.

“I called their bluff on it,” the trainer said. “Three more years is all they would guarantee until 2028. ... They kept saying, ‘You don’t have any guaranteed commitment if you don’t decouple. If you decouple, you’d have a guaranteed commitment.’ ... They acted like they were doing us a favor by committing to three years.”

Screnci, who is president of racing and business development for the Stronach Group’s company 1/ST, did not categorically disagree.

“Look, I was the president of the (FTHA) here for almost five years, and I understand the emotion of this sport,” he said. “I’m an owner. I’ve been involved in it a long time. I completely get it. Everybody wants certainty. They’re uncomfortable, and I can understand that.”

Saffie Joseph Jr., the leading trainer at Gulfstream for nearly four years running, did most of the talking during the meeting, according to Screnci. Joseph was not immediately available to discuss what he said.

Screnci said he and Brackpool tried to convince owners and trainers in the meeting that if Stronach were allowed under decoupling to expand the casino and build the hotel, there would be more money available to pay for racing expenses than there can be under the current arrangement.

“What we tried to tell them is, look, this is our plan to hopefully continue racing here for as long as we can,” he said. “Without it, we don’t know where we go from here.”

There also was no ducking from the conjecture that the Stronach Group knows the Gulfstream Park real estate might carry a price tag too good for a seller to resist.

“The value of the property in an urban area, 245 acres, is substantial,” Screnci said. “So at what point do you continue with a business that’s not making money and just hold the real estate? I’m not foreshadowing that’s what they want to do. What I’m trying to tell you is this is a way we think we can kind of subsidize the property and continue to race.”

The FTHA will hold another meeting with horsemen Thursday at Palm Meadows Training Center, the Boynton Beach, Fla., track also owned by the Stronach Group.