MA Commission Delays Action on 2023 Live Racing License

When new information was brought forward at the 11th hour, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission Nov. 14 suspended the emergency hearing it had convened to vote on a license application for 2023 live Thoroughbred racing dates from the group hoping to develop a racetrack in the town of Hardwick.

Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center has a purchase-and-sales agreement on the 360-acre Meadowbrook Farm and plans to build a new track. It filed the application in hope of restoring live racing and revitalizing breeding in the Bay State.  

Under the state statute governing racing and simulcasting, the deadline for denying or approving a live racing license is Nov. 15 of every year. The adjudicatory hearing has not been rescheduled.

The commissioners decided not to take a vote on the application after getting late word that a petition signed by more than the required number of the town's voters was submitted to the Hardwick Board of Selectmen. The petition asked the board to reverse its earlier decision to allow the track. 

This is the latest step in the on-again-off-again saga regarding the development.

At a board meeting in Hardwick Oct. 25 and in the wake of growing opposition to the project, the three-member panel voted to delay an up or down vote so that the townsfolk could have more input. On Oct. 27 the board changed course and voted 3-0 to reject the project, then Nov. 9 the board reversed itself again and voted 2-1 to approve it.

After the 2-1 vote to approve the track, the MGC scheduled its emergency meeting for Nov. 14 to consider the 2023 racing dates application from Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center. Meanwhile, that Nov. 9 vote gave the townsfolk the opportunity to gather the required signatures on a petition to put the matter back in play. 

Following deliberations at its Nov. 14 session, MGC chair Cathy Judd-Stein read the following statement before suspending the proceedings:

"The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has convened today regarding the Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center LLC's application for a license to hold or conduct a new racing meeting. Pursuant to c. 128A, section 13A, on Oct. 27, 2022, the Hardwick Board of Selectmen initially voted to disapprove the location of the racetrack where the meeting is to be held or conducted. On Nov. 9, 2022, the board of selectmen then reversed their vote and approved the location of the racetrack. On Nov. 14, 2022, a petition of 12% of the voters of Hardwick was filed with the town clerk protesting against such approval taking effect, also in accordance with section 13A. Given the filing of the petition, and with the agreement of the applicant, the commission will suspend the remainder of this hearing until the 13A process is complete." 

According to Hardwick town officials, the board is required to meet again at a future date to vote again for or against the new track. If they don't shoot down the proposal, there will be a special election within 45 days after that vote where the voters will have the final say. 

Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center is headed by Richard Fields. He is one of the owners of Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, which owned Suffolk Downs before the East Boston property was sold to a real estate developer in May 2017. The last live meet in New England, which was hosted by the New England affiliate of the Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, ended at Suffolk Downs June 30, 2019.

Paul Umbrello, the executive director of the NEHBPA, said that the group is pleased with the MGC's action of Nov.14 to delay temporarily the vote on the racing license.

"We live to fight another day," he said. "This gives us the chance to come back and make the case for live racing in 2023. One day at a time."