Florida decoupling bill clears House but faces tough path forward

The Florida House of Representatives on Wednesday night overwhelmingly passed a bill that would allow the state’s two remaining Thoroughbred tracks to operate casinos without a requirement to run live races, but a similar bill in the Senate is expected to face an uphill climb.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 77 to 34, one week after a stripped-down version of the bill passed out of the House Commerce Committee. The bill would allow both Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach and Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar to “decouple” their gambling and racing licenses.

The decoupling effort, which is supported by Gulfstream’s owner but opposed by every other Thoroughbred constituency in the state, is proceeding along the same trajectory as last year, when similar legislation sailed through the House but stalled in the Senate. A bill that contains a number of contingencies to decoupling, including a three-year run-up between the announcement of any decoupling and the cessation of live racing, has been introduced to the Senate and assigned to the Regulated Industries Committee but has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Florida’s current legislative session is scheduled to end on March 13.

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association has been lobbying Senate members to oppose the effort for at least one year, to give the association time to work on an effort to bring tracks, breeders, and horsemen together on a long-term plan for live racing in the state. That effort could include the activation of a racing license held by the FTBOA on a new track near Ocala, Fla., in the center of Florida’s equine industry.

Last year, the Senate bill stalled after Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed his opposition to any effort that would threaten the equine industry. In addition to breeding, Florida’s farms are most prominently used as breaking-and-training facilities to prepare 2-year-olds for racing careers.

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