Back in 2015 horse racing in Virginia was near the brink of death.
Colonial Downs had closed its doors, and the industry was essentially without revenue. But legislative and management changes in the last seven years injected new life into the commonwealth’s equine racing community.
Now, as the state seeks to consolidate oversight its gambling industries, horsemen in Virginia are worried about their future.
“The beautiful thing about that program is its saving our farms,” Debbie Easter with the Virginia Equine Alliance Board told the Joint subcommittee to study the feasibility of establishing Virginia Gaming Commission at their August meeting this week.
She was talking about the 2018 Historic Horse Racing bill which injected, via historic horse racing machine funds, much needed funds into one of the state’s oldest industries. The machines are similar to slot machines but use randomized historic horse race data.
Back in 2015, Colonial Downs, the state’s only thoroughbred horse track, closed down after a disagreement between management and the horsemen who run and manage the horses. That cut off much of the money being sent to the horse industry across the state. But the track was eventually sold to new owners and a new deal was struck with the horsemen. A reopened facility and freshly legalized historic racing machines have led to a surge of funds, breathing new life into an industry once near its end.
“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of investment in horse farms, equipment sales, farm store sales, all related to the horse industry here in Virginia," Botetourt County Delegate Terry Austin told the committee. "And in the valley, we’ve seen so much development take place.”
This update on horse racing at the legislature comes as the elected officials look to consolidate most gambling industries under one, new state agency, the Virginia Gaming Commission. The need comes, legislators say, as gaming has expanded exponentially: casinos, skill games, online betting, fantasy sports, etc.
But in the eyes of the Virginia Equine Alliance, this good news, including $2 billion in industry revenue and 30 thousand jobs they've help create, could be harmed if the state’s existing Horse Racing Commission gets axed in favor of something larger and new.
“We don’t want to pull the main revenue source for racing and put it in a new commission where racing is disconnected from the prime revenue source,” said Jeb Hannum, executive director of the VEA, Hannum said the way race funds flow to Virginia businesses could get muddied if another level of bureaucracy is added.
The committee will vote on recommendations for a new gambling commission later this year.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
