Los Alamitos Hopes to Tap Into South Korean Market

Quarter horse racing in Asia?

Jeff True hopes it’s an idea whose time has come.

The director of marketing at Los Alamitos Race Course recently visited tracks in Seoul to begin negotiations for the rights to broadcast as many as 10 live races a day via satellite to South Korea. If successful, True hopes the deal will open other markets in Asia.

“Los Alamitos is trying to go global,” True said. “We seem to have a better rate of success outside of the U.S. than inside the U.S.”

That’s particularly true of the South Korea deal, which True said could raise the daily handle at the track by as much as $1 million, about double what it is now.

Los Alamitos currently sends its signal to more than 225 international markets and in return receives a percentage of all wagering. In recent years, wagering on simulcast races--known as off-track betting--has grown to account for the majority of the track’s nightly average handle of about $1 million.

True said that Chicago, with about 30 off-track wagering centers, is the track’s No. 1 source of off-track revenue in the United States. But he said it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince other states to take simulcasts from California race tracks.

Most states severely restrict importation of out-of-state racing signals. But a larger problem hindering the exportation of West Coast signals is that those races often begin after tracks and off-track betting facilities in eastern time zones have closed for the night.

Additionally, True said, quarter horse racing isn’t as popular as thoroughbred racing in the United States, outside of the Midwest and Southwest.

True hopes the South Korea venture will open doors to all of Asia and other parts of the world. The track no longer imports signals from Australia, but is interested in exporting its televised races there, as well as increasing the number of locations in Central and South America.

“We’re looking at other markets that may open up,” True said.

South Korea works well for live broadcasting with the current racing schedule at Los Alamitos, according to True.

“Friday night at 7 in the evening here is 11 a.m. on Saturday in South Korea,” he said. “In Seoul there is one race track that has an average handle of $40-$45 million a day showing 12 live thoroughbred races. They’re not particularly good thoroughbred races. In fact, they’ll tell you that they are not very good horses. But the way I look at it, if they are doing $45 million a day on 12 live thoroughbred races, for us to send 10 competitive races in a good time slot that is intermingled with live racing, I don’t know how I can avoid doing $1 million.”

True said he hopes to complete the deal with South Korea by the end of October.

FIRST-TIME LOSER

The 2-year-old colt Royal Always, which topped the bidding at $650,000 at the 1998 Vessels Schvaneveldt auction, has been shipped to Los Alamitos in an attempt to redeem him after a disastrous debut Aug. 6 at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, where he finished ninth in a $3,100 coming-out race. Trainer Donna McArthur called the maiden race, in which one competitor flipped over and another broke through the starting gate, “a total disaster.” She said Royal Always will now be pointed toward the Golden State Futurity and Los Alamitos Million, two upcoming big-stakes races, in an attempt to win back some of his auction price.