Monarch

For over two years, the simulcasting signal from 1/ST-operated racetracks, along with several others around the country, has been missing in Arizona--the residual fall-out from a long-simmering dispute between the owners of Arizona Downs and the arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) tasked with distributing the company's signal. In both California and Arizona, stakeholders argue that this simulcasting blackout has hit both the bettors and the industry--by how much appears open to debate. A recent analysis by the Arizona Horseman's Benevolent & Protective Association (AZHBPA) of the projected lost revenue...

A bid by The Stronach Group (TSG)'s simulcast signal brokerage company to keep the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) from enforcing a law requiring companies that provide off-track- betting signals to sell them to anyone in the state who wants to buy them got stymied by a federal appeals court ruling Aug. 20. A three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals affirmed an earlier district court's denial of a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging whether a relatively new state statute or the federal Interstate Horseracing...

This week saw the final horses stabled at Turf Paradise leave the premises as the facility closes its doors for the summer beneath an array of question marks dangling over the industry in the state. For one, the horses weren't the only Turf Paradise residents to vacate the facility this week. At the beginning of May, track management sent the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) a letter giving the organization 30 days to "remove its belongings" from its Turf Paradise office and to "remove the trailer (medical trailer)...

The Arizona racing industry is now well into month two of the simulcasting stand-off between an arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) tasked with distributing the company's signal and the Arizona Department of Gaming. In a leveraging bid, the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) this week voted to withdraw the Turf Paradise signal from all Stronach Group affiliates. According to a letter from the Arizona HBPA to the Arizona Department of Gaming dated Mar. 11, such a move would involve the following TSG-affiliated entities: Santa Anita, Golden Gate...

In a special meeting Friday, the Arizona Racing Commission upheld its earlier decision to enforce a state law passed last year requiring all simulcast providers that send their races into Arizona to offer the products uniformly among all tracks and all their Off-Track Betting parlors (OTB). "I didn't expect anything different," said Bob Hutton, president of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), about the decision. The meeting, which went on for two-and-a-half hours, was well attended by individuals on both sides of the stand-off, said Hutton. "It was...

The simulcasting stand-off between an arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) tasked with distributing the company's signal and the Arizona Department of Gaming has nearly reached the two-week mark, and the affected stakeholders are sending out mixed signals of their own as to its impact. The issue surrounds a state law passed last year requiring all simulcast providers that send their races into Arizona to offer the products uniformly among all tracks and all their Off-Track Betting parlors (OTB). On Jan. 24 of this year, the Arizona Racing Commission passed a...