Saratoga: a destination. It attracts high society’s wealthy and middle class offering spas, relaxation, recreation, and entertainment. It’s a total experience. Taking center stage is the horse and gambling. It is the foundation for their whole economy.

Without the horse, Saratoga would not be Saratoga. And without gambling, the horse industry would die. There’s an attitude of acceptance and appreciation that the whole package goes hand-in-hand – or perhaps better said: hand to mouth. Every activity and business feeds one another there and you see it in the people who live and work there.

I know. I went there last week. It was an action packed visit, and yes, I was on a mission. Employed by Scarborough Downs to work in community relations in the town of Scarborough, it was the prudent thing to do. Prior to my visit I viewed the on-line archives of Saratoga’s daily newspaper, the Saratogian to wrap my arms around their slot initiative going back to 2002. I sought to understand their economy, and how neighborhood and high society reacted to the slot initiative.

The decision to go to Saratoga was easy. In my three years working at Scarborough Downs, I have made it known to people that Scarborough Downs and harness racing need slots to survive. Among Scarborough residents that appreciate the track and its history, overwhelmingly, the suggestion was that if Scarborough Downs could look to Saratoga as a model, we’d be onto something good.

Slots is a sensitive issue in southern Maine. It is provoked by fear stirred and created by harness racings primary opposition: the Maine State Lottery. With that said, when I arrived in Saratoga, I immediately noticed an entirely different attitude. All equine interests work together, the community supports the total effort, and the New York State Lottery initiates and funds the promotion of gaming.

Reading recent editorial pieces in Scarborough’s weekly papers has been disheartening. I’ve read: Scarborough doesn’t belong in the gambling business, slots in the center of town would be the equivalent to Biddeford’s trash incinerator, and if harness racing can’t support itself, let it die. These comments suggest that better knowledge of this industry, its people, and the history is needed.

Scarborough has been in the gambling business longer than any town in southern Maine. Forty years ago, if people wanted to gamble, there was only one legal choice: betting on the horses. In business 57 years, Scarborough Downs is Maine’s largest commercial track – it has put Scarborough on the map. In its glory day, it was a destination that attracted tourists and locals alike.

Today there’s more competition for gambling dollars: State lotteries, casinos, and internet gambling have eaten up share of horse betting revenue. As a result, purses dropped, and the industry suffered. Like any business, if you don’t expand your business offerings by giving people what they want, you’re business will die.

As a result, harness racing is dying in Maine. It is not only costing the industry, it is costing Maine its open space and farmland. Horse people have left the state to support their livelihood. And where have they gone?

The Saratogians July 17, 2007 issue headline caught my eye: New blood has harness racing industry on the rise, by Jeff Reynolds. Mainer, Ron Cushing is Saratoga’s leading trainer. So far, he’s earned more than $381,000 this year, stating “Saratoga has been a real good situation for me [it] has provided myself and owners with a real good base for making a living.”

How is that possible? Three years ago Saratoga’s harness race track added gaming. Since then purses have increased four fold. Cushing and several other Mainers left Maine to go earn a living. Simply put: slots is a brand extension that allows harness racing to compete in the gambling arena.

I met with track management, toured the facility, and drove around the surrounding neighborhood. The harness race track and gaming facility is in the heart of a residential neighborhood. Driving the two-tenths of a mile strip in front of one of the track’s three entrances I noted the variety of handsome residential housing in that distance: a mobile home community, modest homes, estates and a new condo complex being built.

Curious about neighborhood reaction, I asked the public relations director if there was opposition to the addition of gaming. “A neighborhood association was strongly opposed in the beginning, but they’ve since publicly come around saying that we are great neighbors”, she said. She offered a sympathetic laugh when I told her that one editorial in my hometown newspaper equated our slots effort to proposing a trash incinerator in the center of our town. “Tell them to come to Saratoga” she suggested, offering to send me the news clip of the association’s testimonial.

I drove down town. The town was alive, and there was something for all: five star hotels, fine restaurants, luxurious spas, small shops and eateries. The town had class. It also had horses and gambling. Flags on telephone polls lined the streets, a network of trolleys created an atmosphere that was relaxed, fun, and inspirational. It was indeed a recreation destination.

Studying the history of Scarborough Downs, I was taken by a vision expressed by Governor Ken Curtis in 1968 when Scarborough Downs was purchased by Ogden. Curtis saw a great opportunity for the town of Scarborough to become a “recreation destination”.

In my position at Scarborough Downs I report to and interact with Scarborough Downs owner, Sharon Terry. She is a class act committed to the harness racing community, and to the town of Scarborough. As a steward of the most coveted commercial property along New England’s interstate system, she has some big decisions to make. Developer consultant, John Hoben has said it best: “she is doing due diligence” – and she should. Scarborough residents should also.

Considering that Scarborough’s comprehensive plan, chapter 6, identifies the Scarborough Down’s property as becoming the “new heart of Scarborough”; a mixed-use down town district. The plan also says (6-4) “The town should cooperate with [the] property owner to establish visionary development plans.” One would hope that Sharon Terry would be able to integrate and modernize her track (a going concern with historic roots in Scarborough) into the plan that the town has envisioned for her property.

The comprehensive plan also suggests that by developing the Scarborough Downs property in a way that meets the town’s needs, the resulting tax contribution and services could ensure that some of Scarborough’s large acre farms could be preserved. That vision aligns with the harness racing industry. Though harness racing modernization requires slots, the Town of Scarborough would also receive $5 to $7 million per year from slot revenue on top of the new property taxes. That’s a nice chunk of change that could be used to preserve more open space, reduce the tax burden, or fund town projects such as schools, library, or a community center.

I am proud to work for Scarborough Downs, and view Scarborough’s comprehensive plan as an invitation to make a good business and industry better by giving the land owner and the town what they want. Governor Ken Curtis’ vision in 1968 is aligned with mine, and the model is Saratoga: A recreation destination. I hope that Scarborough residents will do “due diligence” in looking at this whole package.