Oaklawn Racing & Gaming plans to announce its new announcer in the coming weeks amid continued financial growth, according to the organization's newest administrator.
Wayne Smith, the new assistant general manager for Oaklawn, addressed the Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club Wednesday at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa. He said Oaklawn could announce its next race caller within the next month.
Former announcer Pete Aiello accepted a full-time position at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino outside of Miami. Smith said Oaklawn is currently considering a number of applications in its search for the next announcer.
Smith also said no plans are in place to construct an overhead pedestrian bridge on Central Avenue. Concerns have been raised in the past about the safety of pedestrians crossing Central from Oaklawn. Hot Springs Mayor Ruth Carney and others have said a skywalk should not be built with public funds if one is ever constructed.
Rotarian Karie Hobby, an Oaklawn employee, introduced Smith on Wednesday. She moved to Hot Springs more than six years ago when she accepted a position at Oaklawn.
Hobby said she was impressed by the management of the Cella family and the management team, led by Eric Jackson, general manager. She said she did not think the leadership could have been any better.
"Six years later, we're 112 years old, and I truly tell you we are just now hitting our growth spurt," Hobby said. "We are bringing in the finest people and our future is bright. And one of the finest people that I have met in recent history is Mr. Wayne Smith."
Smith is originally from Rhode Island and most recently moved from Plainfield, Ill., near Chicago, where he managed the Hollywood Casino in Joliet. He has more than 20 years in the gaming industry, with experience in Las Vegas and throughout the country, and worked in hospitality before his career in gaming.
"I can tell you that I have never lived in the South and I am so thankful that I finally made my way down here, because the hospitality and the welcome that all of you have given me since I first started -- almost four months now -- have just been wonderful," Smith said.
Smith highlighted Oaklawn's success in the three main product lines of racing, gaming and hospitality. He said Oaklawn paid out more than $29 million in prize purses during the 2016 racing season.
Purses are expected to increase to more than $30 million during the 2017 meet. The average purse has increased from about $200,000 in 2009 to more than $500,000 in 2017.
Smith said Oaklawn paid $5 million in taxes in 2005 and expects to pay more than $32 million this year. He said he was impressed by the large employee base with varying amounts of experience. Oaklawn's payroll includes more than 70 full-time equivalent employees.
"We've got a wide gamut of folks and we've got an executive team and a management team that, quite honestly, I was not expecting to see the level of professionalism and the level of expertise that I saw when I first walked in having been around the country," Smith said.
Smith detailed the recent success of horses who have competed at Oaklawn in Triple Crown races during the last 13 years. Oaklawn horses have amassed 14 wins, 13 second-place finishes and placed third seven times out of the last 39 Triple Crown races.
"That's a huge, huge accomplishment and one that we are very, very, very proud of at Oaklawn," Smith said.
Smith said projections for revenue through the Oaklawn Anywhere service were drastically short. Oaklawn easily surpassed its $5 million project for $18 million in revenue during the first year.
The revenue added about $1.5 million to the overall purses. Projections for 2017 place the expected revenue closer to $30 million.
"Typically when you have a gaming guy coming in to the racing side of life, what you find is that racing ultimately over time takes a back seat to gaming, because gaming is where the money is," Smith said.
"But one of the things that has been apparent to me and one of the things the family always wants to make sure everyone understands, racing is our DNA. It is what we do. Without racing, you wouldn't have gaming, and without gaming, obviously, we wouldn't have the kind of race track that we actually have today. One of our big goals is to ensure that racing continues and always will be our DNA."
Smith said the hospitality operations of Oaklawn are more significant than many would expect. Hobby helps manage 29 unique locations on the concessions side.
"It is a big, big operation," Smith said. "I will tell you, almost 70 percent of our overall revenue in Southwest Catering comes during the live meet."
Smith said he was also drawn to Oaklawn for its local investments, including $35 million in goods and services, as well as funding for the Oaklawn Foundation. He said he believed Oaklawn's $60 million in expansion in recent years was the most expensive privately funded improvement in the state during that time.
An estimated 2.7 million people visit Oaklawn every year. Smith said he believed the estimated $150 million economic impact to the surrounding area to be lower than the actual total.
Smith said he wants to push for continued growth to make Oaklawn the "employer of choice" for Hot Springs and for all of Arkansas.
"I would like to first start with Hot Springs, but then I want to increase that out to Arkansas," Smith said. "We want to become the employer of choice in this market. We want to continue to focus on being a good corporate citizen. I think you have seen that over the 112 years that Oaklawn has been in existence.
"Then we also need to continue to drive growth in gaming, which in turn, will drive growth in the thoroughbred racing, which in turn will drive tourism and business in Hot Springs."
Local on 07/28/2016