4 JANUARY 1,2010
Smoke Signals
Gib
DPI) is
Spirit Mountain
sponsors event at
Portland Meadows
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Spirit Mountain Oregon Champi
onship Day at Portland Meadows,
when the best of Oregon-bred thor
oughbreds ran their hearts out, was
held Monday, Dec. 14.
Oregon's horse breeders and own
ers said it was the biggest money
day that Oregon's only horse racing
track sees.
On the third-floor Turf Club, a
great buffet served owners, breed
ers and representatives from Spirit
Mountain Casino as horses ran wild
around the oval, one-mile track
down below.
It was the sixth race, the Janet
Wineberg Stakes, and Oregon
Thoroughbred Owners and Breed
ers Association President Gay
Welliver, owner of Welliver Farms
in McMinnville, took more than a
passing interest.
"Go, go, go!" she cried as Shame
on Rosie pulled ahead.
This was the first of two "stakes"
races initiated by the husband-and-wife
team, Bill and Janet Wineberg,
and underwritten with $20,000
from Spirit Mountain Casino.
In all, the casino sponsored five
stakes races to the tune of more
than $70,000 during the nine-race
afternoon.
The casino's publicity team of
Marketing Manager Greg Fritz, E
marketing Manager Chris Cherry
and Marketing Sponsorship Co
ordinator Jocelyn Huffman also
reached out to fans of Oregon horse
racing with a giveaway of 2,000
casino signature blankets.
"You can get two," said 63-year-old
Arnie Enkelis of Portland,
which wasn't exactly true. He only
had one blanket, he said, because
that was all he could carry.
Enkelis visits the track weekly,
he said. He also takes a teacher
friend to Spirit Mountain Casino
whenever he gets out to the coast,
where he owns a rental house.
"I play craps," he said, "and she
plays bingo."
A fount of information, Enkelis
also mentioned, almost in passing,
that Portland Meadows is up for
sale. That remark, however, was
a good bet.
With owner, Ontario, Canada
based Magna Entertainment Corp.,
in bankruptcy, the track is indeed
for sale. The Byzantine funding
structure of horse racing in Oregon
today is sagging under the weight of
competing entertainment options.
State gaming machines are prin
cipally the problem, said Wendie
Hayes-Pounds, executive director of
the Oregon Thoroughbred Owners
and Breeders Association, but other
gaming opportunities and scads
of competing entertainments that
have nothing to do with gaming all
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Jocelyn Huffman, middle, Marketing Sponsorship coordinator for Spirit
Mountain Casino and Tribal member, is shown by Gay Welliver, right, where to
go to give the trophy to the owners of the winning horse of a race during Spirit
Mountain Oregon Championship Day at Portland Meadows on Monday, Dec.
1 4. On the left is Greg Fritz, marketing manager for Spirit Mountain Casino.
chip away at recreational dollars
that at one time used to come to
the track.
It's no wonder the participants
were pleased to see Spirit Mountain
Casino jumping in with support.
"We're so grateful," said Welliver,
with Shame on Rosie heading over
to the winner's circle. "At one time,
horse breeding was quite extensive
here. Today, we're the T-ball of
horse racing."
"All of us in thoroughbred racing
have discovered that a relationship
between racing and casinos is the
way to stay alive, to bring more
people in and add credibility to the
facility," Hayes-Pounds said.
The ultimate in that relation
ship already has a name. "Racinos"
horse and dog racetracks with
casinos inside are part of the
entertainment mix in 11 states,
though Oregon is not, or not yet,
one of them.
Spirit Mountain did not enter
the day's races with an eye toward
becoming a racino, but to be pre
pared, whatever the Oregon future
of horse racing may hold.
As it happened, Spirit Mountain
arranged the day's events as the
result of a deal made with Portland
Meadows at the state Legislature.
The deal held off an effort by the
racetrack to bring some 40 new
gaming machines into the club
house. "Obviously we don't want to see
Portland Meadows turn into a pri
vate casino," said Tribal member
and lobbyist Justin Martin, "with
40 machines now, then 200 next
time. You know how it goes. We've
got concerns about that just as
we have concerns about a private
casino in Wood Village. That being
said, the Tribe has an interest in
Above, Greg Fritz, marketing
manager for Spirit Mountain Casino,
opens a box of stadium blankets,
to have available as a giveaway,
as people take one from the table
during Spirit Mountain Oregon
Championship Day at Portland
Meadows on Monday Dec. 14.
The Tribe was a co-sponsor of
the event along with the Oregon
Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders
Association as well as the Oregon
Horsemen's Benevolent and
Protective Association.
horse racing because it's an enter
tainment business and we're an
entertainment business.
"So, that's why Grand Ronde is
the main sponsor for Oregon Bred
Day. And we're obviously excited
about this relationship. If off-reservation
gaming or private casinos
were to become a reality in Oregon,
we have a responsibility to our
membership to look at how the new
gaming market would unfold.
"That's why we're working on a
relationship with Portland Mead
ows. If the policy changes in Or
egon, we need to be prepared for
that."
Beyond Spirit Mountain's spon
sorship and blanket giveaway,
Portland Meadows General Man
ager Will Alempijevic and Food &
Beverage Manager Kent Hunter
also pulled in about a dozen ven
dors. Guests sampled wines and beers,
nuts and cheeses, and had the
chance to enjoy the work of Port
land artist Michael Kelly, whose
specialty is painting race horses
in full tilt.
See RACES
continued on page 5