RACING ROUNDUP : Troubled Hialeah Park Agrees to Suspension

Operators of shuttered Hialeah Park have decided not to protest a state decision that suspended the 1990 racing license for the historic track when the owner tried to race only on weekends, an attorney said.

Track attorney Barry Richard said that he and state officials are working on a consent agreement and that efforts will focus on ensuring Hialeah’s survival next year and beyond.

A hearing scheduled for today by the state Department of Business Regulation, which suspended the track’s license last month, was called off, Richard said.

Hialeah planned a 158-day racing schedule in its first direct competition with the area’s other two tracks, jointly owned Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course. But the season went awry early as crowds and their betting dollars flocked to Calder.

Although its license called for daily racing, Hialeah tried to switch to a weekend-only format, causing the state to act.

Hialeah owner John Brunetti has given initial approval to the main points in the proposed consent agreement but the final wording has not been worked out, Richard said. It includes no fine for failing to conduct the full season.

“It’s a consent order that we agree not to run again this year,” the attorney said. “We neither admitted nor denied that we did anything wrong.”

Brunetti has applied to race next year from Jan. 4 to March 10, which would leave Hialeah competing for the most profitable racing dates in South Florida.

Herve Filion, John Campbell and Walter Case Jr. were harness racing’s leading drivers statistically in 1989, the United States Trotting Assn. said today.

In releasing its yearly statistics, the association listed Filion with the most victories, a single-year record of 814. He drove in 4,076 races during the year, winning 20%. Cat Manzi was second with 687 wins.

For the fourth year in a row, Campbell topped the money list, driving winners of $9,738,450, more than $2.3 million better than his closest rival, Michel Lachance. Filion was third with $5,258,920.

Case led in percentages, capturing 43.4% of his races. He drove 680 winners in 1989.

The racing program at Los Alamitos was canceled Wednesday night because of fog.

The photo-finish camera was not able to distinguish the winners during the qualifying races, track management said.