Dog tracks race to draw visitors The Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club tries to keep patrons' interest despite fears of possible competition from slots in South Florida.
By Amy L. Edwards
www.sun-sentinel.com
Sentinel Staff Writer
Wednesday - February 9, 2005

LONGWOOD -- The grandstands and adjacent clubhouse that once held hundreds of greyhound-racing fans on the second floor of the Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club were empty and unlit on a recent Friday night.

Even though the stands are closed because of hurricane damage, it's obvious that time has taken its toll on the three floors of the 30-year-old building on Dog Track Road in Longwood. Several hundred racing fans slowly straggled in for the 7:30 p.m. live racing, but they hardly filled seats in the large building's common areas.

"This used to be packed," said Tom Bowersox, director of racing at the kennel club. "It's not what it used to be."

Faced with competition from daily lottery games, Internet gambling and now poker, the public's interest in greyhound racing -- and state tax revenue -- has continued to decline in Florida. Now some track operators say they may be facing another threat to their pocketbooks.

Next month, residents in Broward and Miami-Dade counties will decide whether they'll allow Las Vegas-style slot machines at their jai alai frontons and racetracks, a vote that could bolster attendance in those counties' ailing venues.

Some critics worry that slots could draw gamblers from as far away as Central Florida, hurting Orlando's family-friendly industry and further hurting the parimutuels' business here.

Despite the obstacles facing it, the Seminole County kennel club has tried to attract more customers.

A $2 million clubhouse was built next door to the original building about five years ago. That two-story, state-of-the-art building, with its wood and royal-blue accents, is a stark contrast to its predecessor.

Inside the clubhouse, where patrons can order everything from prime rib to chicken Caesar salad, there are numerous tabletop and big-screen televisions that broadcast races from around the country.

"We wanted to give the people something new to get them out here," Bowersox said. "It has helped."

But attendance may never match the figures from when the club was in its heyday, when Walt Disney World was being built and construction workers flooded the area.

"It's leveling out to be not as good as it used to be," Bowersox said.

At least the Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club has survived.

The Seminole Greyhound Park, formerly on Seminola Boulevard in nearby Casselberry, had its final race in 2000.

Total state revenue for parimutuel wagering, which also includes jai alai and horse racing, dropped from $97 million in 1994-95 to just $34.2 million in 2003-04, according to an annual study recently released by the state. Part of the decrease can be attributed to a tax reduction enacted into law in 2000.

If slot machines are allowed in the Miami-Dade and Broward venues, its supporters say, any tax revenues would be dedicated to schools around the state.

Supporters have said the slots would raise $438 million for public education in the first year and $2.34 billion in five years.

But some locals are skeptical of the claims, and some think slots could hurt Central Florida's greyhound racing.

"I can't think of a single thing it would do that would benefit the rest of us," said Pat Biddix, president and general manager of Melbourne Greyhound Park.

"If anything, it may take away some people . . . who would normally come here."

State Rep. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, an active critic of the South Florida proposal, said slot machines in South Florida will have a "horrific impact" statewide.

"There's going to be an impact on everyone who feeds their family in the tourism business," Johnson said. "This has the potential of changing the balance of the flow of humanity into the state."

Johnson said if the vote is passed in South Florida on March 8, he expects casino operators will begin to petition to open the entire state to casino gambling.

"I'm afraid there will be enormous pressure to do it once we lose tourists to South Florida," he said, "in order to save jobs and to hold on to our place in the pecking order."

But those who support Amendment 4, including South Florida greyhound racetrack operators, said there shouldn't be any effect on their northern counterparts.

"They are far enough away that there will be no difference," said Fred Havenick, president of Flagler Greyhound Track in Miami. "We're not going to be the reason they are going to leave Orlando. We don't see that."

Greyhound-racing fan Jerry Trapp of DeBary agrees. He attends races about once a week and says he wouldn't leave the Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club for South Florida venues.

"I'm content going to the track for enjoyment here," he said. "I'm not going out of my way to see casinos."