Page 89 - Speedhorse March 2018

By far, the majority of the purse money and the OKB money comes from the horsemen’s share of gaming machines....
Now Let’s Look at Gaming Money
Remington Park has 750 games; Will Rogers has only 250 games. The legal distribu- tion of gaming proceeds earmarks from 22% to 30% of the net gaming revenue (amount
left in the machine after the players are paid their winnings) for horsemen. The machines at Remington do better than $370 per machine per day for 365 days per year. The machines at Will Rogers do about $200 per machine per day for 365 days. The Thoroughbreds get 50% of the gaming money, the Quarter Horses get 45%, and the Paints & Appaloosas get 5% - this split is the same for all tracks that run sep- arate meets for the breeds. The law allows the horsemen’s representative group to specify how much of the horsemen’s share goes to OKB and how much to purse money within some limits. The Act says that not less than 9% nor more than 33% of the horsemen’s money can be used for OKB. The OQHRA reviews and deter- mines the OKB percentage in board meetings open to all members each year in October or November for the next calendar year.
There is Another Source of Gaming Money That Factors Into the Purse and OKB Levels at FMT and WRD
What saves Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs and allows us to pay more money out at those tracks is the Tulsa Area Tribal Purse Fund. Because Fair Meadows wasn’t allowed to have machines when the gaming act was passed, there was a fund created that tribes within 20 miles of the enclosure of that track had to pay money into. In fact, they pay 25%
of the net income on that tribe’s proportionate share of a total of 400 machines in the Tulsa market . . . and the Thoroughbreds get 1/2
of that, Quarter Horses get 40% and Paints & Appaloosas get 10%. That fund gener-
ates about $6 million annually, so Quarter Horses gets about $ 2.4 million and Paints & Appaloosas get about $ 600,000. That money is used to help fund OKB money at Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs and the bal- ance goes to increase the overnight purse levels at Fair Meadows and at Will Rogers Downs. NONE of the Tribal Purse Money is used at Remington Park because their purses and OKB levels are already much better than the other two racetracks.
The OQHRA, by law, is required to submit a written plan to the Racing Commission each year. That document is a public document and anyone can get a copy. It is due by Nov. 1 for the next calendar year, so by Nov. 1, 2018, we will submit the plan on how to use the money in the tribal fund at Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs for 2019. The OQHRA board has always tried to divide it up so that the purses at Fair Meadows average at least $9,000 per race for Quarter Horses and $8,000 for Paints & Appaloosas if there is enough money. The remainder is then directed to supplement the purses and OKB levels at Will Rogers Downs. For 2018, the board has directed about $2 million at Fair Meadows and the other $1 million at Will Rogers Downs.
The bottom line is - a track can’t pay out purse money it doesn’t have . . . the law sets the amount of money that goes to purses from
wagering on racing and playing the machines . . . as the economy fluctuates and as the people attend or stay home from the track and the handle goes up and down, so does the available purse money. The gaming money earned from the machines is pretty much the same way. The levels are pretty much dictated both in OKB and in purse money by the funds available. OQHRA, as the horsemen’s representative, meets with the racing secretary or management at each track about 60 to 90 days before the live meet begins and we project how much money we think there will be for the meet and how much OKB money is available for that track and then we look at the total number of races to be run and try to project how many maid- ens, maiden claiming, claiming, and allowance races we will be able to fill, and how much is added to stakes races . . . and then we set the levels accordingly.
Money earned from any of the sources we discussed is audited by the State Auditor and Inspector and annual reports regarding all money generated from gaming and wagering are avail- able to anyone on the State Auditor’s website.
I won’t be surprised if you have more questions, and please feel free to call me or email me at OQHRA@aol.com if you do.
I encourage you, if you can, to come to the OQHRA board meetings. They are open to the membership and the purse money and the distributions are discussed for everyone to put in their two cents before decisions are made and nothing is secret about the process. It is pretty much all set out in the law if you want to take the time to pick it out.
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