HANA Letters to the CHRB

Today the California Horse Racing Board is meeting, and Jeff has sent the following letters regarding agenda items on behalf of HANA.


Attn: Mr. Kirk Breed Executive Director CHRB

Re: Agenda Item before the CHRB

Dear Mr. Breed,

My name is Jeff Platt. I am president of an organization called HANA (the Horseplayers Association of North America.) We have only been around since Sept 08 and in that time have grown to over 1100 members - all of them horseplayers - with collective annual handle in excess of $41 million.

Our goal as an organization is to give the customer a voice within the industry and to communicate customer needs and wants to the industry.

Speaking on behalf of more than 1100 HANA members - horseplayers with handle in excess of $41 million annually - I would like to voice our collective player OUTRAGE over the recent past posting incident at Hollywood Park.

I hope the CHRB has some feeling for the players who received refunds when they had legally placed winning wagers. And for players who tossed tickets eligible for a refund. Also some concern for the 33 sites who had to tell their players of the refunds or book the bets themselves. The only two of these sites that we spoke with said it was impossible to let their players know what was going on since the sites couldn't get calls through to HOL until several minutes after the race.

Why did HOL mgmt or the CHRB not make the public aware of the problem until Paulick contacted them on Tuesday? If they had not been contacted when was the info going to be released, if ever?

We at HANA view POOL INTEGRITY as having the utmost importance. We also believe that racing should be regulated in such a way that there are no questions whatsoever about the integrity of the game.

We at HANA want to make sure that the CHRB understands that incidents such as the one that recently happened at Hollywood Park - and the way that incident was handled - do not inspire player confidence about the integrity of the game or the way the game itself is regulated.

This incident and others like it (sadly there was a similar incident at PEN a few days after the HOL event) never would have happened if the industry had done the right thing and invested in a secure tote system based on modern day technology fast enough to render odds and payoffs in real time. Instead, the industry has been allowed to operate using decades old technology that is by today's standards obsolete.

What assurances do we as customers have that this incident will not be repeated going forward? What changes and/or new safegards does the CHRB plan to put in place going forward?

Sincerely,


On Behalf of 1100 HANA Members -
Jeff Platt
President, HANA




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Attn: Mr. Kirk Breed Executive Director CHRB

Re: Rebates in California

Dear Mr. Breed,

My name is Jeff Platt. I am president of an organization called HANA (the Horseplayers Association of North America.) We have only been around since Sept 08 and in that time have grown to over 1100 members - all of them horseplayers - with collective annual handle in excess of $41 million.

Our goal as an organization is to give the customer a voice within the industry and to communicate customer needs and wants to the industry.

Speaking on behalf of more than 1100 HANA members - horseplayers with handle in excess of $41 million annually - I would like to voice STRONG SUPPORT in favor of allowing rebates in California.

We hope the CHRB understands that the industry has paid for several economic studies (Cummings and others) indicating that demand for gambling is price sensitive and elastic. Lower pricing creates interest and demand for the product from customers and drives handle upwards. Higher pricing (increased takeout) reduces customer interest in the product and drives handle downward.

We believe the CHRB has an outstanding opportunity to increase customer interest and demand for thoroughbred racing by lowering pricing by allowing rebates in California.

We further believe that the free market should be used as the sole determinant of rebate percentages. We want the board to understand that we as racing's customers are strongly opposed to any attempts to enforce a CAP on rebates of 2.0 percent as the TOC has recently done to several Account Deposit Wagering companies. We want the board to understand that we are also opposed to TrackNet's requirement that significant rebates only be offered to customers wagering in excess of $1 million annually. Attempts such as those only serve to curtail customer interest and demand for the product.

We reiterate: Let the free market determine rebate percentages and pricing. A free market affords the industry the best chance for maximizing customer interest and demand for the product.

We hope that the CHRB will sieze this opportunity to reverse a decades long industry trend of handle stagnation - and start growing handle instead - by taking action that will immediately allow track and ADW operators to start offering rebates (with rates as determined by a free market) to California residents.


Sincerely,


On Behalf of 1100 HANA Members -
Jeff Platt
President, HANA