Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 14, 1991 TAG: 9104140280
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The state Racing Commission has not received a single application since the referendum was approved by voters and legislators in 1988, and the only one expected in the near future is a request for two days of betting annually at a Loudoun County steeplechase course.
The referendum's passage was expected by many to save Virginia's slumping horse-breeding and training industry and to add a boost to the state's economy.
But the continuing slump in the U.S. horse-racing industry, the recession, and major political opposition to off-track betting in the state have dissuaded potential investors from developing a large thoroughbred track, according to officials and industry spokesmen.
"There was great expectation. Now there's no expectation," said Joseph Rogers, racing director at Morven Park Steeplechase in Loudoun County.
Rogers plans to go before the Racing Commission next week in efforts to obtain a betting license for his one-day steeplechase races in May and October.
If his license is granted, betting could begin in the fall.
Many horse tracks in other states have gone out of business or are in financial trouble, industry analysts said.
A study of five tracks that opened in the mid-1980s showed stagnant or falling attendance through the end of the decade.
Officials have sent out about 20 applications to prospective track investors, but none has applied, said Donald Price, executive secretary of the state Racing Commission.
Price said a major track in Virginia would generate about $3 million a year, roughly 2 percent of state revenue.
The jobs, goods and services created by the racetrack would provide an additional $200 million a year, Price estimated.
The biggest deterrent to horse racing, according to some prospective investors, is the state's ban on off-track betting parlors.
"Without it, you're dead," said Dana Hodgdon, who represents a group that initially had expressed interest in running a thoroughbred track.
Before the pari-mutuel betting referendum was passed, there was little public discussion of off-track betting.
Racing supporters have begun pushing the idea within the last 18 months.
Legislators who oppose the betting parlors say supporters should have proposed the option before the referendum was approved.
"There is a sense that the rules of the game were more or less set when the referendum was held" in 1988, said Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg.
This year, off-track betting supporters opted for a tamer measure permitting a Virginia track to show televised races from other states at the Virginia site and allowing betting on those races.
by CNB