Jul 27, 2016 2 min read

Back in the early 2000s, we were promised a savior for horse racing in Pennsylvania. I can only reflect on the negative effects of the slots legislation that changed racing into a corporate function rather than a small-business operation.

I worked at the Meadows Racetrack from 1971 to about 1994, and Adios Week was six days of racing with stake races, where owners paid fees to run for larger purses on five of the six days of racing. Seven or more stake races on the days that had them were the norm back then.

We were promised that slot revenue would support the sport, support breeding and that it would produce more and better horses. The results are that Adios Week has become Adios Weekend with only six stake races this Friday and, I assume, 14 or more stake races on Saturday.

The mom-and-pop stables can’t compete with the corporate stables that have hundreds of horses racing against other horses from corporate stables across the country. It is this racing that I abhor. This year, one stable has entered six of the 12 entries into the Adios.

The decline of harness racing in Western Pennsylvania will be on display at the Meadows. With that property being worth more for development, it will soon be history once state legislators bleed the last amount of profit from racing’s revenue stream. Enjoy it while you can.

Robert Louis Zanakis

Canonsburg