BY EVAN WEINER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
The eve of the running of the annual June Belmont in Elmont, New York is a good time to review the "racino" industry. For those who have never heard of the time “racino” you better get used to it. A "racino" is a horse racing facility whether it is for thoroughbreds or harness or standard bred horses, which depends on a casino loaded with slot machines to survive.
For the most part, standard bred racing in the northeast United States would be gone by now without the “machines” and the thoroughbred industry would be on life support. Around 1950, baseball, boxing and horse racing were the crown jewels of American sports. Horse racing has diminished in popularity because of the abundance of state sponsored gambling through lotteries at local stores and in New York, keno in restaurants.
