ODDS CHOICE: BOARD SAYS NO.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing 

EL SEGUNDO - In the wake of the Breeders' Cup pick-six fix, Hollywood Park executives believe action has to be taken - even at some cost and inconvenience - to ease suspicion about illegal late betting.

Can it be that nobody else in the California horse-racing industry agrees?

That's the impression created at the California Horse Racing Board's first monthly meeting since the Oct. 26 Breeders' Cup, as representatives of the sport's many factions lined up to argue against a Hollywood Park proposal to cut off wagering a minute or two earlier in order to reduce suspicious-looking mid-race odds shifts.

``The integrity of the sport is at stake here,'' Hollywood Park president Rick Baedeker told the board, which met at a hotel not far from the Inglewood track. ``I'd be surprised if anybody in this room doesn't think we've suffered serious damage as a result of the pick-six controversy.''

But after 50 minutes of testimony and debate, the board dealt Hollywood Park's proposal a surprisingly emphatic rejection in a 5-1 vote in which commissioner Marie Moretti offered the lone dissent. The board seemed to be persuaded by arguments that the rule change would be no more than a cosmetic solution to the problem, that it would unfairly deny fans the chance to change or cancel bets in the case of late scratches, and that it might cost race tracks revenue by shortening the betting period.

An angry Baedeker told reporters: ``The complacency is shocking to me. I think we'll look back and see how disastrous the impact of the pick-six scandal has been and wish we'd taken more aggressive steps to address the confidence of the players.''

The Churchill Downs company announced two weeks ago a policy change for Hollywood Park and the six other U.S. racetracks it owns, to cut off betting when the ``minutes to post'' counter hits zero instead of when the starting gate opens, as has been the way for decades. The idea is to allow wagers from off-track facilities to be tabulated and final odds posted before each race begins, preventing incidents such as the one at Hollywood Park in April when a winner's odds dropped from 9-2 to 2-5 during the race.

The new policy has taken effect - apparently without much complaint or loss of betting revenue - at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, Calder Race Course in Florida and Hoosier Park in Indiana, states where a regulatory body's approval wasn't required as it is in California.

At Thursday's meeting, Baedeker told the racing board that though investigators believe the suspicious odds drops are not the result of illegal late bets by insiders, the perception of wrongdoing is damaging the sport and is reinforced by the charges of late betting by the Maryland man who claimed $3.1 million in winnings in the Breeders' Cup pick-six.

Baedeker said the track's own ``unscientific'' survey of 301 regular customers last weekend indicates 68 percent of fans think it is ``likely that fraudulent bets could be made after the start of the race'' and that 53 percent supported the zero-to-post betting cutoff proposal and 40 percent opposed it.

``I would ask how many of the people who believe (late bets are being made) are going to make other (gambling) choices,'' Baedeker said. ``The public will tell you the odds change (only) on the horses that win. I know that's not exactly true, but it's the perception.''

Baedeker emphasized the rule change would apply only to Hollywood Park and only to the track's current season, which ends Dec. 22 and that it no longer would be necessary if tote companies made technological improvements to process betting data more quickly.

But Thoroughbred Owners of California president John Van de Kamp argued that if investigation has shown the fans' perception of wrongdoing to be inaccurate, it's ``premature'' to make a rule change with unclear ramifications.

Those speaking against the Hollywood Park plan included Oak Tree Racing Association boss Sherwood Chillingworth, a parimutuel employees union representative and several self-described horseplayers.

Racing board vice chairman Roger Licht asked Autotote president Brooks Pierce whether he had evidence of ``past-post'' betting involving his company's equipment. Pierce said no.

Licht asked whether past-posting was possible. ``After what I've been through the last three weeks (since the Breeders' Cup),'' Pierce said, ``I wouldn't comment on whether anything is possible.''

Board chairman Alan Landsburg asked Baedeker to consider a compromise that would shut off betting early at off-track facilities, source of the late-processed bets, but not for on-site fans. Baedeker said that would undercut the parimutuel principal of a level playing field and said he rather would have no change than have that one.

The rejection of Hollywood Park's proposal should increase the pressure on the racing industry and tote companies to make the parimutuel machinery more efficient and safe from fraud.

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