State panel bans betting on ‘historical races’
Texas oversight commission rescinds approval of controversial gambling
The Texas Racing Commission reverses course and votes to bar horse and dog tracks statewide from using “historical racing” terminals that allow bets on already-run races.
AUSTIN — The Texas Racing Commission voted Thursday to rescind its approval of a new form of betting known as “historical racing,” delivering the state’s horse industry a bittersweet ending to a 17-month standoff with lawmakers who had accused the agency of illegally expanding gambling.
The narrow rejection of the controversial betting game all but erases the chance of a looming industry-wide shutdown and ends a fierce quest by cash-strapped tracks in Houston and elsewhere that had seen the game as a potential cash cow.
“The question of the commission’s approval of historical racing has been settled,” said Andrea Young, president of Sam Houston Race Park. “The question of where the industry goes from here is still unsettled.”
Racing commissioners and other state officials said they were just happy to be done with a sometimes-ugly dispute that stretched from the Capitol to the courthouse and back.
It started in the summer of 2014 when the commission approved historical racing, which allows players to bet on previously run races that have been stripped of identifying markers via terminals that resemble slot machines. The move was celebrated by the tracks but decried by other gambling interests and lawmakers who saw it as an expansion of gambling the commission legally could not approve.
Angry lawmakers eventually ordered the commission to repeal its approval of the game or lose its funding. The defunding move would have stopped racing activities because state law requires agency staff to oversee all races.
But the commission resisted for months, voting twice not to reverse course, even after a one-
“The question of the commission’s approval of historical racing has been settled. The question of where the industry goes from here is still unsettled.” Andrea Young, president of Sam Houston Race Park
day industry shutdown.
A lawsuit filed by the industry against state officials over the defunding threat delayed a commission vote this month but ultimately proved to take too long as the commission decided to act just days before a temporary funding compromise was set to expire at the end of the month.
Thursday’s vote was 5-4, with Comptroller Glenn Hegar and two recent appointees of Gov. Greg Abbott joining two longtime historical racing opponents to form a majority.
Hegar, who previously had abstained from weighing in on the issue, cast the deciding vote.
Hegar, who, like Abbott and other officials, is a Republican, said in a statement that he chose to vote because he believed the uncertainty generated by the standoff between the commission and legislative budget-writers was “not in the state’s best fiscal interest.”
“It’s time to put this issue behind us and move on,” Hegar said.
Commission Chairman Rolando Pablos, one of the recent Abbott appointees, agreed, saying before the vote that he hoped to “press the reset button” in discussions about how to help the industry.
Patrick satisfied
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, one of the loudest opponents of historical racing, who was criticized for refusing to meet with horse industry officials, celebrated the vote in a statement.
“Only the Texas Legislature can approve any expansion of gambling,” he said.
The Legislative Budget Board, which controls the commission’s budget and is run, in part, by Patrick, is expected to give full funding to the agency soon, which would end the possibility of a shutdown in the middle of the thor- oughbred racing season at the Houston track and before key racing seasons at the state’s two other major tracks, Retama Park in San Antonio and Lone Star Park in North Texas.
The lawsuit filed by the industry is expected to be rendered moot by the commission’s reversal.
Another lawsuit, filed by charitable bingo groups who alleged the commission did not have the authority to approve historical racing, remains before an appeals court but also is likely now moot.
Horse racing industry officials expressed disappointment about the vote but hope for the future.
Marsha Rountree, executive director of the Texas Horsemen’s Partnership, said in a statement that “real Texans will now suffer due to the continuing decline of the horse racing industry in Texas” and called for “legislation in the 2017 session to give Texas tracks a fighting chance to compete against neighbor- ing states.”
In San Antonio, Toby Keeton, who has been training quarter horses at Retama since the track opened in 1995, said the industry would have to “go about things differently.”
“They kind of had us by the ying-yang on that deal,” Keeton said. “Those politicians, if you bash them too much you just make it harder on yourself.”
Tracks look elsewhere
Young, at Sam Houston Race Park, said the tracks were looking for a tax incentive package or the approval of online wagering on horse racing, or even the OK of historical racing by the Legislature.
“We’re looking toward 2017 and what we can accomplish there,” Young said.