Texas horsemen must rally again for historical racing

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – As the Lone Star Park meet was coming to a close last year, there was a hopeful feeling that historical racing might be approved to help sagging purses in Texas. And by the fall, rules providing for the electronic pari-mutuel game were adopted by the Texas Racing Commission.

But as Lone Star wraps up this year’s meet Sunday, the mood is different. There are no historical racing terminals in operation at any of the state’s tracks, and the facilities remain unable to operate any forms of gaming, offtrack betting, or account wagering. A suit challenging the commission on historical racing was brought about by charitable bingo and tribal interests last September. The bingo and tribal interests received a favorable ruling, with the judge asserting that the commission did not have jurisdiction to pass rules providing for historical racing and that it was a matter for the state legislature.

The commission did not appeal the decision, according to a representative of the panel, and at its next meeting Aug. 25, it could conduct a vote on repealing the historical racing rules. Sam Houston Race Park, along with other state racing organizations like the Texas Horsemen’s Partnership, in late spring filed an appeal to the judge’s ruling as intervenors, or affected parties in the case, according to Andrea Young, president of Sam Houston.

“We believe the commission had the authority to do what they did,” she said. “Seeing this through the appeals court is the logical next step. [Historical racing] is not a long-term solution. Certainly, it will help purse levels. We know we’re still at a significant disadvantage without gaming. However, we thought this would help horsemen in the interim.”

Jan Haynes, president of the Texas Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said that at present, historical racing is key to the livelihood of the industry in Texas.

“It’s our only lifeline,” she said.

Haynes and Marsha Rountree, executive director of the Texas Horsemen’s Partnership, have been passing out literature to horsemen to encourage them to speak out against the repeal of the historical racing rules. The commission opened a public-comment period on the topic that closes July 26.

“We’re trying to get everybody involved,” said Haynes. “We’re trying to get horsemen to write letters and e-mail the commission.”

As of Thursday, a few hundred letters had been submitted on the subject to the commission, according to a representative of the panel. When the comment period for potential passage of historical racing rules was opened last summer, the commission received about 13,000 letters, with approximately 9,900 of them in favor of historical racing in Texas, according to the commission’s annual report for 2014.

Texas is surrounded by states able to augment purses with gaming, and since 2009 the number of live horse-racing dates in Texas has plummeted from 265 to last year’s total of 186, according to the annual report. There is simply not enough purse money to fund more racing, according to some officials in Texas.