Peter Schorsch
Rep. Adam Anderson has filed a bill (HB 105) that could quite literally save thoroughbred horse racing in Florida.
It would also provide fairness to the parimutuel industry by leveling the playing field among all players.
The measure would allow Gulfstream Park to independently operate live horse racing and a casino. Currently, thoroughbred horse racing is the only parimutuel activity still required to operate its primary activity — in this case, horse racing — to operate slot machines.
All other parimutuels — from jai alai to harness racing — were decoupled through legislation passed in 2021. This legislation allowed facilities to operate pari-mutuel activity separately from slot machines or other allowable gaming.
Anderson’s bill would not only ensure fairness to thoroughbred horse racing permitholders by eliminating restrictions already removed from other parimutuel facilities, but it would also allow one major thoroughbred horse racing facility, Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, to improve its facilities and quite literally save horse racing in general.
Gulfstream Park has become prime real estate in an ever-evolving, densely populated urban area. The existing footprint fails to maximize the land’s most efficient and highest-use potential. To alleviate that, significant physical changes and expansion to non-racing activities must be undertaken, and Gulfstream Park’s owners are willing to invest significantly to make it happen.
However, being left out of the 2021 decoupling legislation creates a significant barrier. By tying slot machine permits to horse racing activity, the slot machine activity, though economically fruitful, has zero value on paper.
Imagine being a banker and looking at a financial portfolio where certain revenue comes with major contingencies that could halt a significant revenue stream if unmet. That’s what is happening: continuing to tie slot machine permits to horse racing activity at Gulfstream Park.
Horse racing is declining, but Gulfstream Park is still trying to preserve it as a significant industry. The park hopes to attract more attention to its racing activities by improving its facility and expanding its gaming beyond parimutuel.
Improvements to the park’s slot machine facilities are being considered. Improvements would also include new restaurants, shops, and the development of areas of the property, furthering the potential to attract more interest in a sport that needs it.
It is not just hyperbole to say this legislation is needed to preserve thoroughbred horse racing in Florida. The Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association Board unanimously voted to endorse the bill. They understand that without passage, the opportunity for its nearly 6,000 members, which comprises horse owners and trainers, to continue to race at Gulfstream will be significantly reduced.
While several thoroughbred horse racing facilities exist throughout the state, Gulfstream is the only one that has horse racing and slot machines. Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar is permitted as a card room but does not have slots. That means Gulfstream, sitting on 245 acres of valuable land, is well positioned to revive interest in a sport that dates back to ancient times.
The Legislature did well in decoupling other parimutuel facilities in 2021, and the time is now to expand that to thoroughbred horse racing. If lawmakers saw it fit to begin this effort, there should be no reason for them to see it fit not to finish it.
