dana delisle Maine's premier P J

[chief yogi]

hope we do kill this bill and wake up. our industry has been on welfare from the day bangor got machines. too many people have had the lets get thru today attitude. the whole states horsepeople need to decide to get with the long term thinking. it wont help if too many people live here but race out of state. yes purses are better but they still need to support maine. race some here more often and help find a way to turn things around. support the enrtry box is the simplest way. looking at a card of 5 horse fields just wont get the people out to the track. bring your owners out more often. talk to the public a bit. every time a driver hands a whip to a kid there are smiles and good words among the public. when the lawmakers see no one at the races it makes it too easy to vote to take the welfare check away.

[Wendall Tilley]

Bingo again Yogi!Hit the nail on the head again!We probably Know each other from back in the heydays of racing.Back when Freeman and Donnie and Fitchie were the kings.

[lukee]

Did you all know what the town of Oxfords cut was for last year 1.9 million
what was the horsemans cut-- 000
the issue was the law
and the country hicks running oxford knew almost nothing about racing
and they were know it alls.Here the track sets empty no racing no nothing
thank you to the know nothing and they know who they are-heres a clue
their name is the opposite of OLD

[chief yogi]

i have been around new england racing a long time. its sad how it changed here and everywhere. the casinos just put the nail in the coffin. started years ago with the lottery.  to me  the casinos sucked the money that used to be bet at the tracks. all par-mutuels have gone downhill dogs jai-lai. the money from the casinos boosted purses for the short term but also with it came a change in racing. used to be if you payed attention to details, watched replays you had a good idea of whats going on. with the jump in purses came a lot more vet related work. a lot more form reversals. that helped push fans out the door too. i personally dont see the thrill in casinos, not my thing but i would not trust anything there. the short attention span of most americans do love the casinos though. i wish all racing could be turned around or at least stablized. i am just not sure it will happen but i remain hopefull. i do believe as i stated before that oxford should be paying at least the same to the industry as bangor. i also think that they should be held to running at least a week fair meet at the fairgrounds, maybe even a short meet. i also think that the commission should help with this. they can work with the gambling commission.