It’s a Good Bet ‘Mr. Ed’ Won’t Be on This Channel

With on-track attendance slipping over the past few years, those in charge of horse racing are hoping to boost attendance by keeping people at home.

The Television Games Network (TVG) debuted earlier this month, amid much anticipation in horse racing circles. The cable channel features live racing from venues around the country, with the chance for the television audience to bet on races by telephone, computer or the television’s remote control.

TVG currently only reaches 1.1 million households, but with deals pending with cable providers such as Cox Cable and Time Warner, TVG’s goal is to be accessible to 15 million households by 2001, according to Rick Baedecker, vice president of communications at TVG.

The 24-hour channel has signed long-term, exclusive contracts with 20 major racetracks, including many high-profile tracks, including Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Park, and in Southern California, Del Mar, Hollywood Park, Oak Tree at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos.

According to Jeff True, director of marketing at Los Alamitos, the track saw its attendance drop 7%-8% each year between 1994-97 before it leveled off the last two years. He said that is typical of horse-racing tracks around the country, and TVG will help turn that around by opening the sport up to a new audience.

“The new customers that haven’t seen live events will see the fun at the race track and want to experience it first hand,” True said.

Baedecker said if the venture is as successful as TVG is hoping, purses at the race tracks involved could double in five to 10 years.

“NTRA [National Thoroughbred Racing Assn.] says that there are 6 million racing fans, but there are another 60 million look-alikes,” Baedecker said. “They are similar in that they play office football pools and go to Vegas a couple of times a year. . . . If we reached 10% of that, we’d double our market.”

Los Alamitos is hoping to be one of the big winners if TVG is successful. The track benefits from it’s evening race schedule. Post times Thursday and Friday are 7:15, Saturday is 6:30 and Sunday is 5:30.

“The fact is, we’re going to be in front of a majority of people watching TV,” True said.

How huge the rewards are for Los Alamitos remains to be seen. There is a contract dispute regarding source market revenue--10% of all revenue from betting on TVG races will be given back to the home market where the bettor is watching from, and the Southern California tracks have yet to reach an agreement on how that should be divided--but it is not considered a major problem. True said if everything goes as planned, Los Alamitos could be in for a big windfall.

“We have calculated that if [TVG] meets the projections they’re talking about, we could be making a seven-figure return annually,” True said.

A SUPERNOVA DIES

One of Los Alamitos trainer Paul Jones’ top horses, A Supernova, died unexpectedly last week. A Supernova’s last start was on May 29 in the Spencer L. Childers California Breeders Championship. About two weeks later, A Supernova suffered a severe bout of colic and later died at the Chino Equine Medical Center.

Jones still has a number of top horses at Los Alamitos this year, including Metalico, a 5-year-old who has yet to lose this season.

CLOSING POINTS

Kenneth Chapman, who started in horse racing as a jockey in 1945 and is currently a trainer at Los Alamitos, has won eight races, placed in 11 and showed in 10 of the 76 races his horses have entered this season. Chapman, 68, has won 269 quarter horse races at Los Alamitos. . . . Jockey Alex Bautista filled in for Jacky Martin, who had the flu, to ride Flyby Alibi in last Saturday’s trial race for the Ed Burke Memorial Futurity, which is a qualifying heat for the $1 million Los Alamitos Bonanza. Bautista rode the 31-1 longshot to victory.