Denied HHR license, Grants Pass cancels meeting

Grants Pass Downs in Oregon will not conduct a 2022 live race meet, the track announced on Tuesday, citing a recent decision by the state racing commission to deny the track a license to operate historical horse-racing machines.

Grants Pass was scheduled to run 38 live racing dates this year, spread out from mid-May until late October. The track opened for training earlier this month.

Earlier this year, the state’s Justice Department issued an opinion that historical horse-racing machines, which are devices similar to slot machines, were illegal under the state’s constitution. Grants Pass had planned to open an HHR facility on its grounds this year.

On Feb. 22, the state racing commission considered the track’s license for the facility, known as the Flying Lark, but it rejected the license due to the Justice Department decision. The commission released a statement saying that it believed that the machines did not violate the constitution, but that it was “prohibited” from issuing a license due to the attorney general’s opinion.

The statement noted that the legislature had authorized HHRs and that the commission had previously licensed HHR operations at Portland Meadows, which closed in 2018.

“What was allowed in Portland should not be prohibited in Grants Pass,” the statement said.

Travis Boersma, who purchased the operating license of Grants Pass in 2019, said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the meet’s cancellation that the decision to deny the license denied the track its “economic engine.”

“At this point, it’s clear running the meet isn’t feasible,” Boersma said.

Native American tribes currently operate 12 casinos across Oregon. The tribes have consistently lobbied against any expansion of casino-type gambling.