Dog tracks to race all year

Both Derby Lane and Tampa Greyhound Track
will have year-round schedules

By DON JENSEN
Times Correspondent
© 2007 St. Petersburg Times
Saturday - March 31, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The greyhound racing landscape in the Tampa Bay area is getting ready for a major overhaul.

For the first time in history, Derby Lane and Tampa Greyhound Track will feature year-round live greyhound racing and compete head-to-head, beginning July 1. Both tracks are expected to make official announcements next week.

Rumors have circulated for the past five years that Derby Lane would eventually race year-round. Tampa's decision to run for 12 months creates competition with both tracks also providing poker and simulcast wagering.

Kristen Ploska, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said Derby Lane was granted a license for 468 performances from July 1 through June 30, 2008, with no racing Sunday or Christmas. The license includes a card room for 45 tables.

The Tampa license is for 416 performances with no Christmas Eve or Christmas racing, and a 30-table card room, Ploska said.

Racing date applications were accepted Dec. 15-Jan. 4.

The tracks are working out details for the upcoming season. Tampa marketing director Hillary Fellenz said Tampa would race seven days a week.

Derby Lane is in the middle of a six-month meet that concludes June 30. Before that, Tampa held a six-month meet.

"We started as a seasonal entertainment venue that has grown into a popular local attraction," Derby Lane president and chairman of the board Vey Weaver said. "The year-round schedule will provide stability for our employees and for greyhounds who might be transported to other tracks at the end of the season."

The 18-mile drive from Derby Lane's compound to Tampa will end for most kennels.

"Thank God it's a reality," said Chuck Marriott, longtime Derby Lane kennel owner and president of the National Greyhound Association. "Everybody is ecstatic about running year-round at one place and not having to get the dogs accustomed to a different racetrack. It's just huge that we can sit here 365 days a year and not have to fight the traffic and everything else.

"(Weaver) told us up front what he did, and said, 'You're never going to have to drive that (Howard Frankland) bridge again.' I've heard rumors of this happening before, but when you hear it from the boss' mouth, it gives it a lot of creditability. As I see it, this will be forever."

With most Derby Lane kennels not expected to double book, Tampa has been looking elsewhere for dogs. Fellenz said Tampa racing secretary Theresa Hughes has received commitments from 12 kennels. Greyhounds would be housed at Tampa's compound in Thonotosassa, currently under renovation.

"We are responding to our customers' requests," Tampa general manager Mike Hater said. "It is a draw, both locally and for tourists vacationing in Tampa. Now fans will not have to travel far to enjoy a day of playing poker and wager on live greyhound racing and simulcasts."

Derby Lane, which opened in 1925, held its longest meet during the 2005-06 campaign, when it picked up dates from Tampa and ran 372 performances. Tampa held only 126 performances that season. For the past three years, Tampa has transferred its poker rights for the meet to Derby Lane with financial terms not disclosed.

Tampa began in 1933 and ran four-month meets with Derby Lane and Sarasota Kennel Club until 1992, when Tampa and Derby Lane went to six-month meets.

Derby Lane track spokeswoman Vera Filipelli said a change in the track's workforce is anticipated with additional full-time employees and fewer seasonal personnel. Derby Lane employs 545 with 194 full time, 156 part time and 195 seasonal.

"Going year-round will be more stable for the kennels," Filipelli said. "They won't have to travel, and have all the additional expense of leaving the dogs out for three to six months and then try to bring them back. That is a huge expense."

There are six Florida greyhound tracks that have live year-round racing: Flagler Greyhound Park (Miami), Mardi Gras Racetrack (Hallandale Beach), Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track (Bonita Springs), Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club, Palm Beach Kennel Club and Sarasota.

According to FDBPR statistics for 2005-06, Derby Lane ranked second among 18 greyhound tracks in total handle ($80,040,474) and card room gross receipts ($6,779,088). Tampa was 10th in total handle ($18,433,951).

AROUND THE TRACKS: Sol Roughshod of Marriott & Rian Kennel starts from the inside box in tonight's $85,000 Sprint Classic 550-yard championship race at Derby Lane. Flying Larussa replaces an injured Flyin Bridgeport in the eight-dog final. Post time for the featured 10th race is 10:07. ... Weaver announced the third Derby Lane Million will be held March 1, 2008. ... Jockey Daniel Centeno enters today with 118 wins, five shy of tying the meet record at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar. ... Contestants who have already qualified locally compete for two spots in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association/Daily Racing Form handicapping contest today.