Joe De Francis acknowledges that he is not his father, from whom he inherited Pimlico and Laurel Park a decade ago.

"I certainly would agree with the conclusion that I'm not as visible as my father was," De Francis said. "But that doesn't mean I don't care as much as he did about the fans and their comments."

De Francis said that in his father's day, every racing fan congregated from noon to 5 p.m. at one track. "If he walked around the facility once, everybody said, 'I saw Frank De Francis today,' " his son said.

Nowadays, he said, with nine betting sites open from noon to midnight and with the increased complexities of the business, his responsibilities as president and chief executive officer leave him little time for mingling with patrons.

However, he said, he created a customer-relations department four years ago "to respond to every customer suggestion, complaint, criticism, problem. The door's always open. The people there are knowledgeable and friendly."

De Francis said he worked with the employees' union to form a labor-management committee and brought in "expert trainers" to assist managers in satisfying employees. Next, he said, the trainers will work with the employees who deal directly with the public.

"We felt that in order to improve the friendliness and the customer service provided by our work force, we needed to improve employee morale to the maximum possible extent," De Francis said. "I preface that comment with the statement: You can always do better. This place is not Disneyland, and I recognize that. But I think we've made great strides in the last several years."

Then why, De Francis was asked, did many readers complain about poor customer service and indifferent employees?

"As just about anybody who deals in these kinds of surveys with tell you the people who have a bitch or a complaint are going to be motivated to take the time to send an e-mail or pick up the phone and call," he said.

De Francis said the two points of criticism that bother him most involve his supposed apathy toward horse racing and his failure to maintain the racetracks.

"The great misnomer here is that somehow I don't like racing," he said. "When I practiced law, horse racing was my main passion. If I had a spare minute, I'd spend it at the track.

"The concern that we have purposely allowed the facilities to deteriorate to somehow strengthen our case for slots is simply wrong. The facilities are so aged that we wouldn't need to do that in any case. They suck up every dollar of capital we put into them."

And, he said, he has sunk every dollar he can into improvements.

"Of all the criticisms, personally speaking, that's the one that hurts the most," he said, "because we've plowed back every dollar of cash that the companies have generated either into servicing the debt, which was something I inherited, or into refurbishing and fixing up the facilities."

In the process, he said, he and his relatives have not taken one dollar in dividends, distributions or returns on their investment.

"If this was a public company, if we were Churchill Downs and I made that statement, I'd be fired," he said.

The De Francises have drawn salaries. Last year, Joe De Francis paid himself $350,000.

Pub Date: 3/25/99