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Horse Racing Fans Graying and Fewer, But Betting More

``But around the country and in New Jersey, horse racing fans -- always overwhelmingly male -- are growing older. And each year, fewer are going to the tracks.

```Horse racing has done a poor job of attracting the next generation of horse racing fans,' said Adam Steinberg, an analyst with CIBC Brokerage who studies the gaming industry. `To this day, it's still old men.'

``...Sandy Zoccali, a track regular, is pessimistic about the future of racing. He says tracks are trying, but failing, to bring in young fans.

``...Officials involved in the state's horse racing industry say attendance is unlikely to increase drastically without major changes in how the tracks do business.

``George Zoffinger, who was appointed this month to run the Sports Authority, said he is considering adding slot machines to the racetrack, a change fans and horsemen both say is needed to keep New Jersey competitive with its neighbors. Delaware tracks have slot machines, and New York state has passed a law to allow them.

```We're going to have to get slots,' said Francis X. Keegan, president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horseman's Association. `I don't know of any other way of doing this right now other than to create new gambling opportunities.'

``The amount wagered on horses in New Jersey has climbed steadily in recent years through simulcasting, off-track betting and telephone wagering.

``...John Walzak, a University of Arizona professor who studies horse racing, blamed longer professional sports seasons, casinos, lotteries and horse racing's initial refusal decades ago to televise events as reasons for the loss of clientele..."

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