Hawthorne not cashing checks?

[Fast n Firm]

I understand Hawthorne is not cashing checks, not even HORSEMEN or EMPLOYEES.  What's going on over there?                                                     

[fuzzypants]

That is pretty bad when a track wont cash checks for owners and trainers if you have a horse on the grounds.

[timtam]

SON OF A BI@##$#$#CH

[Horse Voice]

They are tightening up on the stiffs, yes.

If your checks are always good you won't have a problem.

Besides...cashing checks at the track is a privilege, an "extra"...not a "right". The racetrack isn't your personal bank. Grow up.

[Fast n Firm]

We are talking about checks issued by the HGCA (Horseman's Guarantee Corp.) AND checks issued by the TRACK (employees checks).  Are we calling them STIFFS?  Now you tell me...Who should grow-up? 

[Horse Voice]

We are talking about checks issued by the HGCA (Horseman's Guarantee Corp.) AND checks issued by the TRACK (employees checks).  Are we calling them STIFFS?  Now you tell me...Who should grow-up? 

Well, first, you could grow up a little and make it clear what kind of checks you are talking about in the first post, where you made your allegation.

And even if they are house checks, HGCA, or an IOU scribbled on a cocktail napkin from TC III: Hawthorne is under NO obligation to cash employee checks, nor any other kind, unless so directed by law or contract; the "grow-up" comment is for people who can't take care of their financial matters on their own time, away from the workplace. Do what everybody else does -- take your paycheck to YOUR OWN BANK and cash it, you big babies.

(If you are one of these near-vagrant gypsy-type folks in the game who can't mantain a proper bank account, well, that's your call, but how on earth does that become Hawthorne's problem too? Go to the Currency Exchange and cash your check...or open a proper bank account, if you don't like paying the juice.)

What -- because they have a money room, Hawthorne is supposed to provide free banking for everybody? Baloney.

[Fast n Firm]

I guess I do have to grow up....
I had NO idea that the Horsemen and Employees are "NEAR VAGRANT GYPSY-TYPE STIFFS"

[Horse Voice]

I guess I do have to grow up....
I had NO idea that the Horsemen and Employees are "NEAR VAGRANT GYPSY-TYPE STIFFS"

Perhaps that's a little harsh for employees and most horsemen; certainly a few horsemenr and some of the help lives like that.

You tell me: how would you refer to an adult who doesn't have a bank account and has to conduct all of their financial business at a racetrack, casino, or tavern? Is this a "grown-up" person, in your opinion? A responsible, well-adjusted, stable adult? Would you have such a person handle YOUR finances?

[fuzzypants]

I guess I do have to grow up....
I had NO idea that the Horsemen and Employees are "NEAR VAGRANT GYPSY-TYPE STIFFS"

Yeh who would have ever thought that whens the last time you have been to a race track??

[Fast n Firm]

We are talking about cashing checks.  Not doing your personal banking there.  And like a bank the racetracks business is MONEY.  Wouldn't it make more sense to provide this service on track and maybe get that cash back into the windows?
Just wondering if there are financial problems at Hawthorne, as I am not aware of tracks that don't cash checks.

[Prairie]

What a silly thing to be discussing!!

I teach at a school.  I can't go to the administration office and ask them to cash my check.  My neighbor works for Abbott Laboratories.  How do you think the payroll department would react if he went in and asked them to cash his check?

The trainers and grooms that I know, however, make it a point to bank with nationwide facilities, such as Fifth Third, Bank of America, Chase, etc.  That way, they can always find a branch within a reasonable distance.  As another poster stated, there is always the currency exchange.

Hawthorne has absolutely no responsibility to pay their employees in cash or act as a bank for the horsemen.       

[Horse Voice]

We are talking about cashing checks.  Not doing your personal banking there.  And like a bank the racetracks business is MONEY.  Wouldn't it make more sense to provide this service on track and maybe get that cash back into the windows?
Just wondering if there are financial problems at Hawthorne, as I am not aware of tracks that don't cash checks.

That's quite the poor assumption on your part -- lots of businesses deal in cash; it doesn't make them a bank, nor does it infer that somehow they should automatically provide free banking services. Hawthorne has been shedding non-value added activities for about 5 years; I'm surprised they haven't cut this one out sooner.

(And it's almost a weekly activity around here for someone -- usually someone with less than 10 posts, ahem    -- to come out here and "wonder" if there are financial problems at Hawthorne. I KNEW that's where this bullshit complaint was headed. It's tiresome.)

What would "make more sense" would be for people to take their hard-earned checks AWAY from the racetrack, and deposit them in the bank...then maybe come back with a little money to gamble with IF they can afford it.

We can be sure that if Hawthorne resumes cashing checks, some other "Newbie" (i.e., prolly the same jerkoff with his 20th different screen name) will come out here and criticize Hawthorne for being a "gambling enabler". It never ends.

[Fast n Firm]

To compare a school or Abbott Laboratories to the racetrack is silly.  To imply that this was a ploy to question the integrity of Hawthorne is also silly.  I have never posted on this site before now, although I have read this forum occasionally for several years.  Information which I have found to be true and not true.

The Sport of Kings...we have seen changes some good some bad...

The racetrack is a world all its own.  People that work 365 days a year to take care of the magnificent athletes on the backside.  It consists of people that are on call 24 hours a day.  Unless you are an Owner, Trainer, Jockey, Excersise Rider, Groom, Pony Person or Employee I doubt that you can understand the daily regime. 
Trainers cash checks at the track and in turn pay their help.  Jockey's cash checks at the track and in turn pay their valets and agents.  People ship in to run horses, they need to cash checks to pay the groom that runs the horse and the Pony Person that takes the horse to post.  These are people that have been on the road for hours, must (according to Illinois Racing Board Rules) be in attendance of their horse until race time, race the horse, cool them out and get on the road for the long haul home.  No, this is not a 9 - 5 job by any means. 

I only question WHY Hawthorne has made the decision to stop a practice that has been and is a practice of track's throughout the country.
       

[looking in]

Speaking from only my own personal experience.
For a couple summers I traveled from track to track with a stakes colt.
Traveled with the horse in a  nine horse van.
Lived in the shed row or tack room.
A different city and track every ten days or so.
It would have been near impossible to cash a check without the tracks help.

[servicetech]

Speaking from only my own personal experience.
For a couple summers I traveled from track to track with a stakes colt.
Traveled with the horse in a  nine horse van.
Lived in the shed row or tack room.
A different city and track every ten days or so.
It would have been near impossible to cash a check without the tracks help.

  good post,BUT IDIOTS like horsevoice {aka.Mr.hawthorne} would never understand this,

[CLOCKERTERRY]

Almost every track cashes checks, especially for backside help.

That said, without knowing for sure what is it isn't going on at Haw ... lots of smoke.

[Horse Voice]

The racetrack is a world all its own.  People that work 365 days a year to take care of the magnificent athletes on the backside.  It consists of people that are on call 24 hours a day.  Unless you are an Owner, Trainer, Jockey, Excersise Rider, Groom, Pony Person or Employee I doubt that you can understand the daily regime.

I am none of those, and I understand the "daily regime" just fine. I've been around the backside long enough and often enough to know that just about all of the types of workers you mention have a fair amount of dead time in their day, most every day, and can take care of their personal banking business then. Using the 24/7/365 excuse and blaming the horses for poor personal time management is simply a crutch.

Face it: the ability to cash a check at the track is merely a convenience, not a necessity. 

Trainers cash checks at the track and in turn pay their help.  Jockey's cash checks at the track and in turn pay their valets and agents.  People ship in to run horses, they need to cash checks to pay the groom that runs the horse and the Pony Person that takes the horse to post.

You are correct, but you have now shed the light of day on another issue: the whole underground economy of the racetrack (i.e., paying help off the books with cash, no payroll records, no employer taxes). Are you sure you want to go there?

Plenty of owners and trainers and jockeys pay their employees by check, keep well-ordered and accurate payroll records, withhold and remit taxes on behalf of their employees, and pay their employer tax liabilities -- all without the help of the track. Imagine that!

You would seem to want to protect the bad actors out there -- the "seat of the pants" type operations that give racing a bad name. Why on earth Hawthorne has to be a party to that mess is beyond me. Perhaps they are tired of the IRS sniffing around about the operations (or whereabouts) of this stable or that trainer, and want to wash their hands of the whole charade.

These are people that have been on the road for hours, must (according to Illinois Racing Board Rules) be in attendance of their horse until race time, race the horse, cool them out and get on the road for the long haul home.  No, this is not a 9 - 5 job by any means. 

I lived out of a suitcase 50 weeks a year, for over 10 years -- the complete antithesis of a 9 to 5 job. Not once did I have to ask my customers or my employer cash a check for me.

I only question WHY Hawthorne has made the decision to stop a practice that has been and is a practice of track's throughout the country. 

It's 2011. Electronic banking is here to stay. You can hardly find a store or a gas station that *doesn't* have an ATM. The bigger, nationwide banks have thousands of locations, some with Sunday hours (!)

There is no "upside" for Hawthorne in offering banking services -- only downside, with bounced checks, additional accounting work, cash flow issues, etc.

I question WHY Hawthorne didn't cut this nonsense off sooner. Perhaps the other tracks will take note, and follow suit.

[Horse Voice]

  good post,BUT IDIOTS like horsevoice {aka.Mr.Hawthorne} would never understand this,

WAFI you are! Yeah, it would have been difficult for poster "looking in" to exist without cashing an occasional check at the track -- when he was a groom 40 YEARS AGO! We didn't have the preponderance of ATM's and branch banking like we do now in 2011.

Absolute, worthless TOOL -- every time you post. Unreal. I thought clockerbob was dragging this forum down, until I read your most recent spewage. You make cb's posts seem relevant and coherent...and that takes some doing.

[Fast n Firm]

So now we can conclude that Hawthorne is protecting itself from Tax evading near vagrant gypsy-type stiffs . and that other tracks should follow their lead.  I think you may have hit on something...YES...a full-scale investigation of the stiffs and the track.

[Horse Voice]

So now we can conclude that Hawthorne is protecting itself from Tax evading near vagrant gypsy-type stiffs . and that other tracks should follow their lead.  I think you may have hit on something...YES...a full-scale investigation of the stiffs and the track.

Get a grip, Goober -- I said "perhaps".

Just curious, though, since you brought it up: is it your opinion that all the help at the racetrack -- especially those paid in cash -- are in total compliance with the Fed, state and local tax laws?

[mottoman]

Could not agree more with all HV's points on this thread!

[Fast n Firm]

Actually I never did bring that up.  I only questioned why Hawthorne was not cashing checks.
I would not imply or accuse anyone of not being in compliance with the laws unless I knew this to be true.

Like I said...I have read posts on this site that I knew to be true and those that were not.

[CLOCKERTERRY]

Has anyone actually confirmed the truth of this, and if there's any truth, the exact circumstances of what is not being cashed?

For instance, I could see suspending the convenience check cashing during the dark season, to save a few bucks.

[sodgod]

Voice,

I agree with you and perhaps Haw. should never have started this practice in the first place.  They are in the racing not banking business.  There will allways be business owners who deal in cash that's not exclusive to owners/trainers on the backside.  Those people should be avoided at all costs.    them.  Like many other businesses it's not a stretch to imagine that Haw. is having a hard time paying their bills so I would not get too worked up over others who suggest such things.  As long as the checks that they issue for payroll or vendors clear there should be no problem.

Sod

[Horse Voice]

Like many other businesses it's not a stretch to imagine that Haw. is having a hard time paying their bills so I would not get too worked up over others who suggest such things.  As long as the checks that they issue for payroll or vendors clear there should be no problem.

Sod, thanks, but I find the never-ending litany of shots at Hawthorne to be quite tiresome. Believe me, they have PLENTY of money -- but they didn't stay in business over 100 years by being stupid with it...and these times and troubled economy aren't even close to some of the other historically difficult times the track has been through.

There is a big difference between having a hard time paying your bills, and tightening up the ship so that you aren't paying out any more than you are taking in; too often, people here see the latter at Hawthorne and mistake it for the former.

IMO, Hawthorne is simply a convenient whipping boy for people whose base problem is that the weather is shitty and there's nothing good on TV. In other words, to the naysayers: get a life, would ya?