South Point taps into new racing audience

On the next two Thursdays, the South Point Stakes will give away $30,000 to slot players using virtual horse races that will run on their slot machine screens. Qualified slot players get to pick horses in a virtual race and, if their horses win, share in prize money that automatically is downloaded into their slot accounts.

I was involved in a test run and found it a fun, simple way to get horse racing action spoon-fed to a new audience.

Bally’s Technologies developed the software, and eight kinds of virtual races can be run. Fortunately, South Point owner Michael Gaughan chose the horse racing application for his casino.

I hope every racetrack in the country that has slots will look into this software and sign up. The racing industry has been ineffective in marketing horse racing to slot players.

Part of the problem is a lot of racing executives believe it’s insulting to dumb down the sport to reach newcomers. I believe in the opposite: Start from square one if you have to, even if it means educating the masses one by one.

Currently, the Bally’s product is being used at two Indian casinos in Southern California and one other Nevada casino, the El Dorado in Reno. This slot promotion is separate from the South Point Seven handicapping contest held in the race book every Thursday.

■ 3-YEAR-OLD STAKES – It’s hard to believe that within a seven-day period, starting Saturday, three tracks will run rich stakes for 3-year-olds.

With Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another, Belmont Stakes victor Union Rags and Bodemeister on the shelf, I didn’t think many top colts were left in training.

At Saratoga, the $600,000 Jim Dandy on Saturday drew a well-balanced field of eight. The post time favorite among Alpha, Atigun, Teeth of the Dog and Liaison is a tossup.

The $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park will be run Sunday. Trainer Bob Baffert has Paynter, second in the Belmont Stakes, as the solid choice. Dullahan and Gemologist figure to get a lot of support, too.

Then on Aug. 4, the $750,000 West Virginia Derby will be run at Mountaineer Park. Hansen will be a heavy favorite. He easily won the Iowa Derby last out by 10 lengths at Prairie Meadows.

■ HANDICAPPING CHALLENGE – The $150,000 Guaranteed Race Handicapping Challenge at Wynn Las Vegas will be held Aug. 3 and Aug. 4. The entry fee is high – $2,000 – but all fees will be paid out as prize money. Also, the top two finishers will earn a free berth into the 2013 DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the Treasure Island.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.