There are many track owners across this land who would be more than happy to rid themselves of costly, dirty, and, increasingly, embarrassing (negative coverage, dead horses) horseracing. But they can’t and still retain their gaming licenses.
Another American racetrack has closed its doors for good. Gulfstream
Park West, formerly known as Calder Race Course, ran its final race
Saturday. How we got here is, regarding the industry at large, quite
instructive.
Calder opened on May 6, 1971, to a capacity crowd of over 16,000.
Over the years, those crowds, like the ones at the vast majority of
U.S. tracks, waned. In 1999, Churchill Downs Inc. purchased Calder;
in 2010, Churchill introduced casino gaming, making the track a
racino (which, as we know, is designed to subsidize the
horseracing). As part of its (casino) licensing, Churchill was
required to run at least 40 days of racing. But as the years passed,
Churchill (as it has at many of its other properties) grew less and
less interested in racing. The money, after all, was in the slots,
and for Churchill, a publicly traded company, profits are all that
matter.
So, in 2014, Churchill leased Calder to the Stronach Group, owner of
nearby Gulfstream Park, and the track was rechristened Gulfstream
West. In a move that underscored how little Churchill cared about
the horseracing there, in 2015 the grandstand was razed – i.e., no
fans allowed. Still, it appeared that Churchill was stuck with this
arrangement. Until, that is, the company found a loophole in state
law.
In order to maintain its gaming license, Churchill had to offer
parimutuel gambling, with the most prominent form being, of course,
horseracing. But, it turns out, jai alai would do, and Churchill
went about building a fronton (a jai alai arena) in the hope of
supplanting horseracing. Eventually, Florida’s Department of
Business and Professional Regulation (and various state courts)
decided jai alai would indeed suffice, rendering racing unnecessary.
And so here we are. While true that Gulfstream will absorb some of
the Calder dates, not all will be made up. In the big picture,
another racetrack has been shuttered. (Florida will be left with but
two Thoroughbred tracks, Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs.) And that’s
progress.
Truth is, Churchill is not alone: There are many track owners across
this land who would be more than happy to rid themselves of costly,
dirty, and, increasingly, embarrassing (negative coverage, dead
horses) horseracing. But they can’t and still retain their gaming
licenses. That’s because the “horsemen” lobby is strong and have the
politicos’ ears. Recently, though, that has begun to change (see
Governor Wolf in Pennsylvania). Would that that trend continues and
this corporate welfare propping up a cruel, declining industry gets
redirected where it belongs – education, infrastructure,
property-tax relief, etc. For now, we savor another victory.