Who let the dogs out?

Lawmakers will find themselves scrapping over the last bones of live greyhound racing and presiding over the emergence of off-track betting parlors when the Legislature reconvenes next week.

For the two remaining dog tracks — The Lodge at Belmont and Seabrook Greyhound Park — the cost of staging live races dwarfs the rewards, but state law requires the tracks to present 50 days of live racing in order to offer simulcast wagering on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races run at other venues. The New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission reported that in 2008, the total handle, or amount wagered, at the four racetracks — the three greyhound parks at Belmont, Seabrook and Hinsdale and Rockingham Park in Salem — was $181.7-million, of which live dog and harness racing accounted for just $3.1-million.

The Lodge accepted $47.1-million in wagers, of which a mere $181,825 — four-tenths of one-percent of the total handle — was bet on live greyhound racing. Rick Newman, a lobbyist who represents The Lodge, estimated that the cost of the 50-day live racing program was about $350,000 while the profit to the track was about $38,000.

Nevertheless, track owners oppose legislation to outlaw live greyhound racing championed by GREY2K, a non-profit organization headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts that seeks to prohibit dog racing on humanitarian grounds. House Bill 630, sponsored by Representative Mary Cooney (D-Plymouth), would forbid live racing beginning 2010, but allow the existing tracks to continue to offer simulcast wagering.

Instead, the track owners favor House Bill 624, introduced by Representative Fran Wendelboe (R-New Hampton), which would repeal the requirement to stage live racing in order to offer simulcast wagering, but would grant the tracks the option of scheduling live racing rather prohibit it by statute. Newman pointed out that while ostensibly banning live racing HB-630 would require The Lodge to run ten races, each with a field of eight dogs, a day for 50 days this summer.

Newman said that given a choice The Lodge would not present live greyhound racing in 2009 and probably not in 2010. However, he stressed that "this should be a business decision that we make annually." Newman said that the track should not be required to stage a fixed program of live racing, it should have the option to offer it as part of its business strategy. "I can imagine circumstances where we might want to have a ten-day race meet, for example," he said.

More importantly, he explained that prohibiting live racing would turn the racetracks into off-track betting parlors (OTBs), especially in the eyes of the tracks that simulcast the thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races that generate their profit.

"The tracks treat OTBs differently from other racetracks," Newman said. Bets placed on simulcast races in New Hampshire are subject to the regulations of the state where the race is run, which set the "take-out" or share of the wager assigned to the host track. "We pay a percentage to the host track," he said, "and we are concerned that if we become an OTB instead of a racetrack, that percentage could increase. It is a subtle but significant point in our industry," he continued. "We do not want to compromise our position with our partners by becoming an OTB, We want to be seen as a racetrack."

Last week the House Local and Regulated Revenues Committee scuttled HB-624 and shelved HB-630. But, Representative Mary Beth Walz (D-Bow), who chairs the committee, has indicated that she will reopen discussion on HB-630 while Wendelboe, with support from the track owners, said yesterday that she will seek to overturn the committee recommendation and persuade the House to adopt HB-624 when it comes to the floor next week.