Brian Zander pushed hard to land casino gambling at Fairmount Park for the last two decades he ran that horse track, which now is in its 99th season of operation.
But he died in December, and are his dreams also gone?
Not necessarily, but ...
“It’s at a standstill now,†said Melissa Helton, who is in her fourth year as president and general manager of the facility in Collinsville now calling itself FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing although legally it still is Fairmount Park. “Just (waiting) for all the pieces to come together.â€
She was brought in to replace Zander as president and general manager after FanDuel infused money into the business in order to operate a sportsbook there and more importantly gain a license to take mobile bets on athletics throughout Illinois. Another goal, despite the management change, remained to be the construction of a casino there — which finally was approved in 2019 as part of legislation passed by Illinois politicians that expanded legalized gambling in the state.
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“After 19 years, I guess there’s optimistic and cautiously optimistic,†Zander said after that decision came down and had big dreams for the facility that included utilizing its 22-acre infield.
“It can literally hold 100,000 people for a concert,†he said. “I don’t know if we’d get one that big, but we can definitely be more than a racetrack and become more of an entertainment destination.â€
But he was out the next year, after the FanDuel arrival. Helton has a background in the casino business, which Zander did not have, as well as racetrack management experience.
“That’s why I was brought here, to do it,†she said last year. “I work on it every day.â€
Zander was found dead on the floor of his Richmond Heights home on Dec. 11. Authorities said he died of apparent natural causes, with no evidence of illegal drugs or foul play.
His passing has largely gone under the radar, and previous colleagues fondly remember Zander, who was 69.
“He was a brilliant person,†former Fairmount in-house handicapper and longtime ºüÀêÊÓƵ and national sportscaster Jay Randolph said. “He graduated from college in Montreal (McGill University) when he still was in his teens. He became a racing secretary in Massachusetts when he was 18.â€
But it was in Illinois, at Fairmount Park, where Zander settled.
“Brian and I worked together for well over 20 years, he was a good friend,†said Jon Sloane, the track’s former publicist. “He was a very effective general manager, very easy to work with. He was very good with the media, too.â€
Helton said that some of his former colleagues held a remembrance of him at the track shortly after he died, and that a race in his honor is planned for a day to be determined this summer.
Tie tizzy
City SC doesn’t like to lose, something it has done only once in its nine matches this season. But the local Major League Soccer entry doesn’t win much, either, having done so only twice.
It thus has six ties, most in the league, and that is bad for those who have wagered on the team to win via the three-way line — which offers the option of betting on the game to end in a draw in addition to selecting either team to win.
Last year the team won 17 games, lost 12 and tied five, resulting in a nifty profit ($1,247) for those who bet $100 on it to win each time. The payout was so lofty because many of the club’s victories, especially early in the season, were at long odds. City became the first MLS expansion team to win its first five matches en route to claiming the Western Conference title.
It’s been the other way for City’s three-way line backers so far this season, as through five games they were down $165 and since then the club has won just once. That came in a match it was favored in, at home against Austin, and a $100 risk on City in that one returned just a $74 profit.
The tally now through nine games is that City’s three-way line bettors risking $100 a match are down $391 if using the most favorable line available at the three area legal walk-in sportsbooks. The team now is off until May 4, when it plays in Houston.
Odds drop on Battlehawks
Before the inaugural United Football League season kicked off in late March, the odds on the Battlehawks to win the title ranged from 3-1 to 3.7-1 among the area’s physical sportsbooks, with Birmingham and DC in a similar range as the co-favorites.
Now, with 40% of the regular season having been played, Birmingham is the only undefeated team (4-0) and has a two-game lead in the USFL Conference and not surprisingly now is alone in the favorite’s role. Its prices ranged from +130 (a successful $100 wager would be worth a profit of $130), to +150.
The Battlehawks, meanwhile, have won three games in a row and at 3-1 are tied with San Antonio for the XFL Conference lead. But the oddsmakers are giving the B-Hawks much more respect than the Brahmas, as the Battlehawks are the clear No. 2 choice to win the league crown. Their odds as of Friday afternoon were as low as 2-1 at the area books to the best figure at 2½-1 (at FanDuel).
There was a big gap to the third-favorite slot, in which San Antonio was in the 6-1 to 7-1 range. The B-Hawks handed the Bahamas their only loss thus far, 31-24 two weeks ago in San Antonio.
The Battlehawks next play Sunday in DC and are a 3-point favorite at each of the local shops. The Defenders, one of the preseason favorites, are 2-2 and their title odds have risen to about 8-1.