North Dakota Horse Park Race Meet Scrapped
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Racing officials in North Dakota have moved to leave a horse park in Fargo without horse racing this summer because of the facility's debt problems.
State racing commissioner Gunner laCour said the North Dakota Horse Park owes nearly $1.8 million in tax increment financing to the city of Fargo. The facility was supposed to start paying off its debt March 1, but no payments have been made.
The commission last year had authorized a 2015 meet at the Fargo racetrack on July 18-19, July 25- 26, and Aug. 1-2. The dates will now be awarded to Chippewa Downs in Belcourt.
This would have been the 10th year of horse racing in Fargo.
According to The Jockey Club Information Systems, North Dakota Horse Park held six days of live racing last year with a total of $109,316 in purses. With 276 starters for the 35 races, there was an average 7.89 runners per race.