THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The General Assembly opened Virginia to horse racing to revive the commonwealth's once-proud horse-breeding business and to provide live entertainment.
Off-track betting parlors accomplish neither. They are, first and last, venues for gambling. Might as well wager on which raindrop will reach the bottom of a window first as on horses sprinting across TV screens.
Colonial Downs, which is licensed to build the state's only horse-racing track, has Virginia Racing Commission authorization to open an off-track betting parlor in Chesapeake this month and another in Richmond in March, even though it's anybody's guess when track construction will begin, out in New Kent County.
Fouling up the works is a lawsuit by the Virginia Jockey Club contesting the track and betting licenses that the racing commission awarded to Colonial Downs.
Preferring a sure thing over a gamble, Colonial Downs is waiting till the lawsuit is decided before building the track and grandstand. Still, it seeks to make money now; hence its eagerness to open betting parlors.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to satisfy a legislative requirement that live horse racing occur within a year of issuance of licenses for off-track betting parlors, Colonial Downs plans to hold races on a temporary track with spectators in tents.
But state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, argues that the legislature requires the promised permanent track and grandstand be finished by Aug. 15. Stolle said he would introduce legislation prohibiting all off-track betting parlors until the facility described in Colonial Downs' application for a racing permit is built.
His fear, and ours, is that Colonial Downs will dawdle in building the track while reaping considerable revenue from off-track betting. Horseless horse bets were not what the General Assembly had in mind when it approved horse racing. The off-track betting parlors were allowed only because Colonial Downs said the revenue from them was necessary for the operation of a first-rate track.
Gambling's allure is well-documented. According to the Central Statistical Office in London, for example, the Brits spend four pounds on the lottery for every pound on tea.
Virginia already has the lottery, with new games continually added to attract and hold gamblers. For now, the state should do without horseless horse betting. We prefer Stolle's idea of waiting to open off-track betting parlors till the track is built. Short of that, the legislature should set a date the parlors will be shut down if the permanent track in New Kent County has not yet opened. by CNB