FUTURE OF SIMULCASTS BRIGHTENS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing 

A trip to Boise, Idaho, last weekend reminded this Californian how far behind the times our state has fallen when it comes to wagering on out-of-town horse races.

At Les Bois Park, a small fairgrounds track with a corrugated metal facade, peeling banisters and sun-baked weeds in the infield, a plain but serviceable simulcast center offers full racing programs from as many as 17 U.S. thoroughbred, quarterhorse and greyhound tracks, literally hundreds of betting opportunities a day.

Late on a Friday afternoon, action and odds from eight tracks at once were displayed on a row of overhead television screens, and patrons ignored the set on which Mark McGwire was swinging for No. 60.

This was Idaho, mind you, which hasn't produced a champion since Gary Stevens rode his first winner at Les Bois in 1979.

Meanwhile, in California, home of some of the nation's classiest live racing, our conservative gambling laws have restricted the simulcast menu to in-state tracks (Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields, the fairs), non-U.S. tracks (in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia) and a handful of stakes races from other states. We're old-fashioned.

But the gap between California and progressive states like Nevada, Pennsylvania and even Idaho is about to be narrowed. Starting Jan. 1, under a bill signed into law recently by Gov. Pete Wilson, tracks here may offer up to 20 out-of-state simulcast races on ``live'' racing days and, theoretically, an unlimited number on dark days.

The chance to follow the horses on major circuits in Kentucky, New York and Florida will represent a long first step in the right direction.

``We're entering new territory here,'' said Michael ``Roxy'' Roxborough, the influential Las Vegas oddsmaker who is a big racing fan. ``But all we're really doing is entering the 20th century when the 21st is about to begin.''

Roxborough's advice is to give the customers what they want.

``And what they want,'' he said Wednesday after the closing-day races at Del Mar, ``is to not be limited in the number of races they can bet on.''

But the challenge for racing executives is more complicated than that. For one thing, unlike Idaho, Pennsylvania and trackless Nevada, we have first-rate live racing. It would be possible here to have too much simulcasting.

``If we're just presenting more of the same bad product, that won't make sense,'' said Norm Towne, executive director of the Federation of California Racing Associations. ``I think presenting a higher-quality program, in a better-orchestrated fashion, will be better than just kind of throwing everything at the wall.''

Fortunately, months before the new law was signed, the California Horse Racing Board appointed a committee of industry leaders and fans to recommend improvements in the state's simulcast product and facilities. The committee has come up with some good recommendations, including presenting the out-of-state races on a single TV channel, with one or two hosts helping fans follow along (``It's two minutes to post at Aqueduct. And look at that trifecta payoff at Gulfstream! And please note a change in the track condition at Keeneland . . .'').

The hardest part might be getting California execs to agree on which out-of-state tracks to import. Fans, presumably, would howl if a particular circuit were abandoned just as they'd gotten to know the horses, jockeys, trainers and trends there.

Another puzzle is what to do about the time-zone differences. East Coast races might start at 10 a.m. here. How many Del Mar fans will want to get to the track next summer four hours before the first live race?

The advisory panel's recommendations are going to the CHRB's Simulcast Operations Committee chaired by Robert Tourtelot. That committee's hearings are open for public input. Hearing schedules are available from the CHRB at [phone] and on the internet (chrb.ca.gov).

Even with public input and a lot of meetings, Towne said, ``it will be a little bit experimental in the beginning.''

Going like 60: The 60th season of Los Angeles County Fair racing began Thursday at Fairplex Park in Pomona, offering races of limited quality but exposing stray carnival-goers to the sport.

At an exhibit booth near the grandstand entrance, drawings are being held for free $2 win tickets on every horse in every race. The first race on which the drawing was conducted Thursday was won by a horse paying $98.60.

The La Verne woman with the winning ticket will be a fan for life. Either that or she'll quit while she's ahead.

Fairplex racing will be held every day through Sept. 27, the day of the meet's big race, the $100,000 Ralph M. Hinds Pomona Invitational Handicap.

Jockey Victor Espinoza and trainer Mel Stute are shooting for their third straight Fairplex championships.

A WEEK AT THE RACES 

Final Del Mar standings: Jockeys: Corey Nakatani, 44 winners, Alex Solis, 33; Kent Desormeaux and Chris McCarron, 29; Gary Stevens, 28; Eddie Delahoussaye, 22. Victor Espinoza, David Flores, J.C. Gonzalez and Emile Ramsammy, 18. Trainers: Bob Baffert, 18; Barry Abrams and Bob Hess Jr., 14; Jack Carava, 12; Bruce Headley and Richard Mandella, 10; Julio Canani and Ron McAnally, 9; Mike Mitchell and Bill Mott, 8.

Handicapper helper: You'd expect horses from the inside post positions to have an edge in the tight turns of Fairplex Park's five-eighths-mile track. But in 1997, in races of 1 1/16 miles and up, posts 1 and 2 went a combined 7 for 108 (6.5 percent) and the most productive were posts 6-9 (17.7 percent). Statistics were inconclusive for sprints.

Upcoming stakes: At Fairplex Park: today, $50,000 Beau Brummel, 2-year-olds, 6-1/2 furlongs; Saturday, $50,000 Phil D. Shepherd, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles; Sunday, $50,000 E.B. Johnson, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 1/16 miles; Monday, California-bred fillies and mares 3 and up, 6-1/2 furlongs; Tuesday, $50,000 Aprisa Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs; Wednesday, $110,000 Barretts Debutante, 2-year-old fillies, 6-1/2 furlongs; Thursday, $110,000 Barretts Juvenile, 2-year-olds, 6-1/2 furlongs. At Belmont Park: Saturday, $400,000 Man o' War, 3-year-olds and up, 1-3/8 miles on turf, and $200,000 Gazelle Handicap, 3-year-old fillies, 1-1/8 miles; Sunday, $200,000 Garden City Handicap, 3-year-old fillies, 1-1/8 miles on turf.

Mileposts: Belmont Park in New York opens its 33-day fall meet today. Highlights: the Sept. 18 Woodward Stakes card, the Oct. 10 Jockey Club Gold Cup card and a $1 million pick-six guarantee Oct. 24. . . . Here, interest in guaranteed pick sixes has leveled off. A $2.5 million guarantee Monday at Del Mar drew $3.2 million in wagers, lowest of the four such promotions at Hollywood Park and Del Mar. . . . Woodward favorite Coronado's Quest will go to stud at the end of his 3-year-old season, it was reported. . . . Retirement plans: Santa Anita Derby winner Indian Charlie will stand at stud at the Vinery, in Midway, Ky., and top-ranked Skip Away will go to Hopewell Farm in Lexington at year's end. . . . Los Alamitos quarterhorse jockey Guillermo Gutierrez was suspended for a year after he was found Aug. 16 with a buzzer, an electrical device to prod horses. . . . In a rarity, Del Mar stewards scratched Sweet Mazarine minutes before a Sept. 4 race because she was insufficiently warmed up by jockey Kent Desormeaux. Good. The importance of warmups is underrated. . . . Owners Marty and Pam Wygod switched trainers again, from David Hofmans to Julio Canani. . . . After a thoroughbred record-tying 85th defeat in as many chances, Zippy Chippy was banned ``for the public's protection'' by stewards at Finger Lakes racetrack in upstate New York. . . . Trainer Richard Cross is becoming a bloodstock agent.

- Kevin Modesti

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BOX: A WEEK AT THE RACES (see text)