Page 38 - 28 December 2012

FAIR MEADOWS 2013 LIVE RACING SEASON
BACK ON SOLID GROUND
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ed efforts of state breed associations and horsemen, Fair Meadows will host live racing next year.
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if style seems to not work properly.
On Dec. 12, Oklahoma horsemen has raced since the 1980s. However, live to meet again on Dec. 6 and take public com-
breathed a collective sigh of relief
when the Tulsa County fair board met
and reversed several decisions dating back
to Nov. 1 that would have resulted in the cancellation of live racing at Fair Meadows at Tulsa in 2013. Live racing has been rein- stated at Fair Meadows for 2013 thanks to the joint efforts of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association (OQHRA) and the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma (TRAO).
Initially, on Nov. 1, the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, also known as the fair board, voted to approve a $1.44 million per year naming and sponsorship deal with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The deal gave the Creek Nation naming rights to the current QuikTrip Center,
and included a controversial provision that ended live racing at Fair Meadows, which
racing was not mentioned on the Nov. 1 agenda and no discussion was held when the five-member fair board voted in favor of the naming agreement.
The decision would have affected not only the 34-day meet and approximately 400 races held each year at Fair Meadows, but also $2 million per year the racetrack was receiv-
ing from the Creek, Osage and Cherokee tribes in lieu of having gaming machines at the track. Additionally, it was questionable whether the tribes would continue to honor another provision of the Tribal Gaming
Act of 2004 that requires payments of $6-8 million a year into a purse fund for horsemen across the state.
When word got out about the naming agreement and the provision to end live racing, a collective public outcry forced the fair board to readdress the issue. The fair board agreed
ments regarding the naming and sponsorship agreement. Once again, the issue of live racing was not on the agenda. As a precursor to that meeting, on Dec. 5 Equestrians United to Save Fair Meadows met and discussed ideas to save and improve the racetrack. A large group of horsemen returned for the Dec. 6 meeting with questions and comments, seeking answers. Listening to comments but taking no questions and offering no answers, the fair board reiter- ated its earlier position that live racing was a financially losing operation and upheld their earlier decision to give naming rights to the Creek Nation and discontinue live racing.
With this second strike against horse racing, attorneys hired to represent the horsemen’s associations presented the
fair board with some hard facts—Fair Meadows had already signed agreements with the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing
36 SPEEDHORSE, December 28, 2012