THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 28, 1995 TAG: 9511280340
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The opening of Virginia's first modern-day pari-mutuel race track will more than double the state's horse industry, a race track spokesman told farmers Monday.
Virginia's $640 million horse industry will increase by more than 100 percent, said spokesman Pete Johns of Colonial Downs, which is developing the race track in New Kent County. Johns spoke at the annual convention of the Virginia Farm Bureau.
Colonial Downs ``will give the agribusinesses of Virginia a needed boost,'' he said.
Virginia's horse industry now employs about 6,500 people. That number should grow to about 8,500 when the track is fully open in 1997, Johns said.
Horse breeding and training centers, as well as veterinary clinics, will spring up near the track, he predicted. ``It creates the Lexington effect,'' Johns said, referring to the center of thoroughbred horse racing in Kentucky.
``We hope there will be opportunities for new concepts and programs for local farmers,'' Johns said.
He also described the potential impact equine visitors would have on Virginia's economy:
Each horse will eat 14 to 17 pounds of grain a day, at least half of which could be Virginia-grown oats.
Each horse will eat 15 to 20 pounds of hay a day. The state's hay industry already is worth more than $27 million a year, the 13th most valuable farm commodity, according to the Virginia Agricultural Statistics Service.
Plans call for 1,000 stalls at the track with more horses to be stabled elsewhere.
Stalls will require one or two fresh bales of straw per day for bedding, possibly creating a market for farmers who now plow the stubble back into their fields.
Track officials are working with companies like Southern States to develop a method to turn horse manure into pelletized fertilizer. Otherwise, the manure will be sold to mushroom growers in West Virginia or Pennsylvania.
The track will open next summer for a limited season despite an ongoing court challenge from a losing applicant for the state's only pari-mutuel license, Johns said.
About 2,000 horses will race there when the track has its first full 102-day season, from June 15 to Oct. 15, 1997, he said.
The track will employ 800 to 900 people full-time, Johns said, not counting workers who deal with horses.
KEYWORDS: PARI-MUTUEL BETTING HORSE RACING VIRGINIA by CNB