EAST BOSTON, MASS. – Sept. 12. That date is circled in red on the calendar of every local horseman, for it either will be the day a dagger is driven through the heart of the racing and breeding industries in Massachusetts or it could signal the dawn of a new and exciting era. Next Friday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is scheduled to announce its long-awaited decision on whether Mohegan Sun and partner Suffolk Downs or rival Wynn Resorts will be awarded the sole Boston-area destination resort casino license. If Mohegan Sun’s plan to develop and operate a $1.3 billion casino on a portion of the racetrack grounds leased from Suffolk Downs is chosen, track owners have committed to live racing for a minimum of the next 15 years and will implement a $40 million racing-improvement program. But if Steve Wynn gets the green light for a $1.6 billion casino just two miles from the stable gate, it is lights out for the track and the horsemen. “It’s very simple: If this decision doesn’t go for us, all of the other breeders in Massachusetts and I am out of business,” said George Brown, 79, president of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association and the owner of Briar Hill Farm, which has been in his family since 1850. “This decision we’re all waiting for is as critical as could be. How many horsemen could stay in business without racing? You can’t do it without earning income,” said Anthony Spadea, president of the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “Without the racetrack, the farms would shut down, and we would lose the open, green space to development. Once that happened, you could never get it back. If the decision isn’t in our favor, it’s the end. The game is over.” Leading trainer Jay Bernardini, who has a stable of 40 horses and employs 10 to 15 people in the barn each day, started working on Suffolk’s backside when he was 9 years old. He has had his trainer’s license and been a mainstay in New England racing for more than 30 years. While outsiders might suggest that if Suffolk shuts down, the horsemen and riders could move to other tracks, those people who would be affected scoff at that suggestion. “I can’t even think about the alternative,” said leading rider David Amiss, 49. “It’s not that easy to just pick up and start over someplace else. Even though I keep myself as fit as a racehorse and have all this experience, trainers who don’t know you don’t ride you. They’re all looking for that hot, young jock in the room. Nobody wants to leave here.” Even the top-tier New England horsemen like Bernardini, who owns a home in the area and has a son who is a National Honor Society member and plays on his school’s sports teams, struggle mightily when they try to compete at other East Coast tracks while Suffolk is idle. Those with Massachusetts-breds in the barn are particularly compromised. “We need a place to ply our trade. Suffolk Downs is our home,” Bernardini said. Despite the uncertainty that has been hanging over the track since the Massachusetts legislature authorized the expansion of gaming in October 2011, the horsemen are optimistic that Sept. 12 will be a red-letter day. “I’ve had people lined up for years who want to send me mares from Florida, but a lot of them sent them to New York and Pennsylvania [for the incentives fueled by casino revenue], and I don’t blame them,” said Brown, who bred only 25 horses this year instead of the 75 he bred in past years. “But I am optimistic. The whole idea of the expanded gaming bill was to create jobs, so why would they want to knock out thousands of racing-industry jobs?” “Fifteen and 10 years ago, I rode up and down the street in front of the State House on horseback lobbying for slots at the track,” said Amiss. “I tell all of the riders to remain positive, and now more than ever, we stand together. The decision of the gaming commissioners will be momentous, and it will affect a lot of people’s lives as well as their livelihoods.” Even if Mohegan Sun/Suffolk Downs wins the casino-application battle, the war won’t be over until after the November election. There is a referendum on the statewide ballot to repeal the expanded gaming legislation. A new poll released this week indicated that 52 percent of registered voters favor letting the law stand. “Hopefully, in November, people will vote to keep the casino,” said Bernardini. “I’m really excited about what the future could hold for the horsemen and how great this track can be.” Thoroughbreds to get bulk of money The Massachusetts Gaming Commission endorsed the recommendation of its Horse Racing Committee to divide monies in the Race Horse Development Fund at a rate of 75 percent to the Thoroughbred industry and 25 percent to the Standardbred horsemen and breeders at a public hearing Thursday. Of each allotment, 80 percent will be dedicated to purse accounts, with 16 percent going to the breeders and 4 percent to backstretch welfare. The Race Horse Development Fund was established to protect the state’s horse-racing interests in 2011 legislation that authorized the development of up to three destination resort casinos and one standalone slots parlor. The RHDF will be supported by future expanded gaming revenue in the state, including 5 percent of the license fees of $25 million for the slots parlor and $50 million for each of the casinos, 9 percent of the slots revenue and 0.625 percent of the combined gross gaming revenue from the casinos. The commissioners also endorsed the committee’s recommendation that they draft regulations to address the use of the funds in the event that “one of the breeds is no longer racing due to lack of racing facilities.” That is a direct reference to the possibility that Wynn Resorts is selected over Mohegan Sun when the state gaming commission chooses the licensee for the sole Boston-area casino project. The last surviving Thoroughbred track in New England would then shutter its doors. In its report, the Horse Racing Committee recommended that in that event, the Thoroughbred industries’ share of the monies would “continue to be collected and held in an escrow account for three fiscal years to allow for and encourage the development of new facilities to ensure the continued racing of that breed.”