Penn National reopening approved but final decision depends on racing commission capabilities

Penn National racetrack in Grantville has received approval from the state’s health department to re-open for spectator-free racing beginning June 19, according to state racing officials, but that plan is pending a discussion in front of the state’s racing commission.

According to the racing officials, a plan submitted by Penn National to begin racing next Friday still needs “guidance” from the state racing commission, which will meet tomorrow. If the commission gives its go-ahead, racing will resume on Friday, with a Wednesday and Friday night schedule for the first three weeks of racing, according to the officials.

Todd Mostoller, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said that regulatory officials employed by the state racing commission who would be needed for the safe conduct of racing have been furloughed, and that the plan hinges on whether the commission can get those employees back to work in time for next Friday’s reopening card.

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“The horsemen are committed to running, Penn is committed to running,” Mostoller said. “There’s nothing guaranteed. There are only high probabilities.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has a weekly press conference scheduled for Friday afternoon, and Wolf may announce new reopening protocols that could lead to the limited reopening of some casinos in the state, including the casino at Penn National racetrack.

Chris McErlean, the vice president of racing for Penn National’s parent company, said on Thursday morning that if the casino is allowed to reopen, then Penn National will open some areas of the grandstand to spectators and simulcast players. If not, then racing will be conducted spectator-free until the state relaxes the protocols on public gathering.

Penn National would be the first track to reopen in Pennsylvania since all tracks and casinos in the state were ordered closed in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Penn National was conducting racing when the order came down, and horses have remained on the track’s backstretch.

Late in May, Wolf issued revised guidelines for the resumption of sporting events that paved the way for tracks to apply for permission to reopen from the state’s Department of Health, under a color-coded system. Mostoller said that the health department issued the okay for Penn National to reopen on Wednesday.

Mostoller said that the track’s condition book would be “posted online very soon.” Purses for races in the condition books will be “as it was when racing ceased in March,” Mostoller said. Purses at Pennsylvania racetracks are heavily subsidized by revenues from casinos in the state.

Mostoller also said that the Pennsylvania HBPA continues “to work diligently” on getting approval for the opening of Presque Isle Downs in Erie. Presque Isle was not running live when the shutdown order was issued, and there are no horses on the grounds, complicating the approval process. In addition, Presque Isle is located in a color-coded area of the state that calls for stricter COVID-19 protocols than in Grantville.