enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

A driver takes out a 2-year-old horse for its first Scarborough Downs race. Since slot machines opened at Bangor Raceway in 2005, the average Downs purse has almost tripled – though statewide, the overall amount bet on live and simulcast races fell from 2007 to 2008.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

John Beckwith, a harness-racing driver and blacksmith at Scarborough Downs, says racino revenue “makes it easier to make a living” in the industry.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Irv Mauran, a driver and owner at Scarborough Downs, prepares a horse he’ll be driving for an upcoming race.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Horse trainers, owners and drivers watch a televised race in the paddock area at Scarborough Downs. The added purse money has brought in both new owners and higher-quality horses.

HARNESSING RACINO REVENUE

$56.9 MILLION: Amount of gaming taxes paid by Hollywood Slots since opening in 2005.

$21.2 MILLION: Portion of gaming taxes put into Maine harness racing.

$1.9 MILLION: Total purse at Scarborough Downs in 2005.

$4.3 MILLION: Downs' total purse in 2008.

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Watch Preparing for the Maine Stakes, a slide show on Maine's Sire Stakes breeding program and race series.

 

SCARBOROUGH — Only once has John Beckwith slid a dollar into a slot machine at Bangor's Hollywood Slots, pulled the lever and waited.

He never heard the bells and whistles.

But he's felt the payoff.

A blacksmith and harness-racing driver, Beckwith spends his days at Scarborough Downs, shoeing a dozen horses a week and taking the reins on race days.

It's a living, he said, that has gotten far more comfortable since millions of dollars of new revenue began pouring into the industry in the fall of 2005 when a racino opened at Bangor Raceway with the promise of an industry resurgence.

Since then, purses have more than doubled at both Maine's commercial tracks, race dates have increased, and the quality of horses racing in Maine has improved dramatically because owners can afford better stock.

The harness-racing industry, once on the brink of collapse, is finally enjoying better times, according to a majority of Maine's horsemen and horsewomen.

"We're still down here scratching for a living," said Beckwith. "But it's boosted everyone's morale to race for a little more money. It makes it easier to make a living. Prior to the slots, this was a losing proposition."

From when Hollywood Slots opened through 2008, it has filtered some $21.2 million into harness racing as part of $56.9 million in gaming taxes paid to the state by owner Penn National Gaming.

In 2008 alone, $4.5 million went to increase purses, another $1.3 million specifically to Maine Sire Stakes Fund purses, and another $1.3 million to support the state's agricultural fairs.

"I've seen the resurgence basically of people finally making money," said Henry Jackson, executive director of the state's Harness Racing Commission. "People are able to pay their bills. I would say we've somewhat stabilized our industry and made some strides forward as far as profitability is concerned."

Beckwith can agree with that.

In the early part of this decade, money was so tight in the business that occasionally he would shoe a horse and get stiffed on the payment.

"I tried to be careful with who I did business with," said Beckwith. "But I got burnt a few times."

It was a dark period for an industry that once enjoyed profitable times and large crowds.

"Things were pretty grim, and the long-term survival didn't look very good, frankly," said Fred Nichols, racing secretary at Bangor Raceway.

'A BETTER STANDARD OF LIFE'

During that period, horsemen spoke longingly of tracks like Dover Downs in Delaware, where slot money had revived a once-ailing sport.

And they had reason to rejoice when voters endorsed Question 2 in a statewide referendum in 2003, allowing the addition of slot machines at both of Maine's commercial tracks.

That same fall, a proposed Indian casino was defeated by a 2-1 ratio. That campaign was heavily opposed, which some believe may have allowed the racino question to slip by voters.

Question 2 had a stipulation: The host community had to approve a racino.

Bangor residents had voted "yes" the previous June, but Scarborough voters rejected slot machines the following November. Since then, Scarborough has looked for a home in Saco and Westbrook to no avail.

Money began filtering through the industry almost immediately when 475 machines opened in a temporary facility in Bangor in November 2005.

Fifty-one cents from every dollar at Hollywood Slots goes to the state in gaming taxes. A portion of that money gets filtered back into the harness-racing industry: 10 percent for purses; 4 percent to encourage racing at commercial tracks; 3 percent to Sire Stakes purses; another 3 percent to support the agricultural fairs, and 2 percent to support off-track betting parlors.

Driver Irv Mauran, 62, has raced in Maine for decades and said the difference is remarkable.

"I've seen the...