COLUMN: Jay Richards

     Hopes for home TV racing from California were shelved indefinitely Wednesday when independent bookmaker Vic Salerno withdrew his petition to the Nevada Gaming Commission for the rights to negotiate simulcast contracts with H ollywood Park and Golden Gate Fields.
      Salerno, CEO of Leroy's statewide chain of race and sports books, was joined in Carson City by a large contingent of high-level executives from several major resorts belonging to th e Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association, who strenuously opposed his plans to bring home TV racing to Las Vegas.
      Salerno had hoped to negotiate an initial simulcast package with Hollywood Park and Golden Gate Fields, eventuall y extending to other major California tracks.
      He estimated recouping expenses and making a profit through Leroy's telephone wagering accounts.
      However, in the face of fierce oppositio n from a select group of NPMA resorts, Salerno withdrew his bid.
      "Our withdrawal was based on a combination of factors," Salerno said. "Foremost, we don't want to do anything that could be construed as destructive to th e (race book) industry.
      "The biggest factor in our decision was the NPMA's indication they were close to reaching an agreement with Hollywood Park."
      So, with Salerno graciously having stepped aside, we'll soon know whether the NPMA was truthful in its claim of being close to ending the 5 1/2-month simulcast blackout from California or blowing more smoke.
      You'll know the answer in a day or two, when the NPMA membership is polled on the latest simulcast counter-offer from Hollywood Park, which opens its spring/summer meeting tonight at 7.
      If a deal with Hollywood Park is not in place by next week, the wise guys are betting the entire meeting -- which runs through July 21 -- will be blacked out.
      In its 14-page petition to the Gaming Commission to deny the Salerno proposal, the NPMA -- controlled by a small but powerful group of Str ip resorts -- hypocritically tried to come across as altruistic guardians of the public welfare, concerned more about the well-being of the local citizenry than its bottom-line profits.
      Before you die laughing, examine a few of the NPMA "concerns" expressed in its petition. My thoughts follow in italics:
      "Will home cable broadcasts lead to increases in problem gambling?"
      Comment: I think they really mean your gambling addiction is welcomed in their casinos 24 hours a day. Just don't limit your sickness to home and restrict them from luring you to their myriad other games which feed your disease.
      "Will extending gambling opportunities to home television affect the quality of life in Nevada?"
      Comment: I'll believe the casinos are serious about the inherent dangers of wagering on horses by telephone when I see them magnanimously shut down sports betting phone accounts for the same concerns.
  & #160;   "Casino management at many properties was adamantly against the proliferation of any home wagering because of the obvious political and social implications involving problem and underage gambling."
      Co mment: Let such management come forward, be identified and forever more refuse to accept telephone wagers on any sporting event shown on home TV.
      "Would encouraging Leroy's to extend its gambling operations into the home send the wrong message to the rest of the United States and to the National Gambling Study Committee?"
      Comment: Wait a minute. I believe I've seen Nevada representatives deliver another message to Washington, D.C. , the one that says, "Gambling is the main source of our economy ... kindly keep your federal nose out of our state business!"
      "A large number of casino properties both inside and outside of the NPMA have expressed concern that in-home wagering will necessarily keep patrons out of the traditional casinos."
      Comment: Assuredly, it will bring the same ruin to the casino business as home videos brought to the motion picture industry. Unfortunately, most casino executives aren't that far-sighted.
      Afterthought: These same casino execs are so worried about the imaginary horrors of home TV racing they haven't bothered to peek into their race books to no tice most of their players have long since departed.
      And, finally: "It (home wagering) is found to encourage problem gambling. Studies already show that easy accessibility to a gambling product is directly correlate d to the severity of problem gambling. Nothing is more accessible than a person's television."
      Comment: Or a casino.
     
      Jay Richards' horse racing column is published Friday and Sunday.