WHOA! HOLD YOUR HORSES
Legislators drop ball on bill approving races, simulcasts
Racetrack regulars were stunned yesterday after lawmakers effectively banned simulcast and live horse racing by failing to pass a bill in the jampacked final hours of the legislative session, throwing two days of racing at Suffolk Downs this weekend into limbo.
“It’s ridiculous that something like this can be missed,” said Jay Fortunato, a 48-year-old from Revere, as he walked up to Suffolk Downs yesterday to put a bet on a simulcast Saratoga race only to be turned away by a note on the door.
“Does it speak to the ineptitude on Beacon Hill? I don’t know,” he said. “It was probably just not that important to whoever makes the decisions.”
The House and Senate — working as fast as they could to finish business for the season Tuesday night into yesterday morning — failed to enact a relatively routine bill that updated the sunset date for live and simulcast horse racing in Massachusetts, shuttering operations at Suffolk Downs, Plainridge Park Casino and Raynham Park.
Suffolk Downs operations chief Chip Tuttle said he was surprised the bill didn’t pass and attributed the mistake to the chaos of the rush to get business done.
“It’s a frustration that it consistently comes down to the controlled chaos of the end of the legislative session,” Tuttle told the Herald. “It’s not really conducive to fairness or certainty for business operations, for our employees and for our customers.”
“It’s not particularly contentious or controversial as policy goes,” he added. “Racing has been legal here since 1935 and simulcast since 1992.”
The track had simulcasts scheduled yesterday but had to send 40 workers home when officials there learned of the legislature’s mishap. Tuttle said he expects to do the same tomorrow.
The big worry is Saturday, when the track is expecting hundreds of horses for the weekend and about 8,000 spectators to arrive for each of the two days of races — one of the four weekends of live racing scheduled for the year at Suffolk Downs. Tuttle said the owners and spectators need to know by today whether the event can be held.
“We’ve got over 200 horses shipping in for this weekend,” he said. “Their owners and trainers need to know if they are going to put them on vans in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia and come here.”
Both the House and the Senate meet today for informal sessions where bills can be enacted, but they need unanimous approval.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo is “optimistic that both the House and Senate will quickly reach consensus on extending the law,” his spokeswoman said in a statement.