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Bandera Downs in Bandera, Texas, long since shut down and overgrown with weeds
Texas HORSE
working hard to save Texas horse racing
A group of Texas horsemen are fighting for a constitutional amendment to allow Texans to vote on allowing slot machines at racetracks.
by Stacy Pigott
Dan Fick, executive director of Texas HORSE
Nearly half of Texas’ racehorse breeders, owners and trainers intend to reduce their investment in the state’s horse racing industry
in 2013, according to an online poll conducted by Texas HORSE from Jan. 15 – Feb. 8. Additionally, 81% of survey respondents already race in states other than Texas, and half reported at least 75% of their racing is done out of state.
Those are depressing figures for Texas’ horse racing industry, which has seen signifi- cant declines in race dates (41%), races (48%) and purses (47%) over the last 10 years due to the introduction of slot machines in the surrounding states of Louisiana (1994), New Mexico (1997) and Oklahoma (2004).
“This is very clear proof that our Texas racehorse breeders, owners and trainers are moving their racing operations primarily to the
surrounding states of Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma, where the purses and breeders awards are significantly increased by slot machines at
the racetracks,” said Dan Fick, executive director of Texas HORSE, which conducted the survey through its website, www.texas-horse.com, and Texas horse racing industry e-newsletters.
Micah McKinney, vice president of Reliance Ranches in Llano, Texas, agreed, not- ing that the situation is affecting his family’s operation. With fellow Texan Debra Gotovac, McKinney co-owned Back In The Pack, winner of the 2011 All American Juvenile at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.
“In 2007, our family moved to Llano to raise Texas-bred Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds to primarily race at Texas tracks,” McKinney said. “Since that time,
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SPEEDHORSE, March 8, 2013
Speedhorse