Funding Issue Latest Delay for Brockton Meet
Description:
The potential return of live racing to the Brockton Fairgrounds was delayed once again July 21, when the Massachusetts Gaming Commission tabled the track's request for funds to cover the administrative and operational expenses of running a live meet because it does not comply with current state statute.
Rather than deny Brockton owner George Carney a $1,473,947 distribution from the state's Race Horse Development Fund, the commissioners decided to allow the attorney for the Carney family to return in a week to present a legal argument as to why the disbursement would be allowable.
Alex Lightbown, MGC acting director of racing and chief veterinarian, recommended during the hearing that the track's request for $2.5 million in purses for a 15-day live meet and the request of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association for $262,000 to cover its administrative costs be approved. But in concert with MGC general counsel Catherine Blue, Lightbown recommended the commissioners turn down the request for RHDF money to run the meet.
"This was a difficult decision, because we understand the passion of the folks involved and their desire to race at Brockton," Blue said. "But the issue here is a legal one, and it did not pass legal muster."
At issue is the language in the statute that governs racing and simulcasting in the state. The track's operational and administrative costs must be supported by pari-mutuel revenue and not by the RHDF, which was established by the 2011 expanded gaming legislation to shore up the state's struggling Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries.
Suffolk Downs, which is running a six-day live meet in 2016 and simulcasts year-round, was able to receive funding for its operational and administrative costs because the money is supplied through full-card simulcasts.
Under state law, RHDF money is to be allocated 80% for purses, 16% for breeders, and 4% for backstretch welfare, and split between the Massachusetts Thoroughbred and Standardbred horsemen.
Attorney Michael Morizio, who has represented the Carney family's interests for more than 20 years, argued in his testimony that the law would allow the disbursement for the Brockton Fairgrounds, but he did not persuade the commissioners.
"It looks to me to be pretty black-and-white," said Stephen Crosby, the MGC chairman who is also an attorney. "There is no other bucket of money. We're trying to be flexible, and to be flexible in the distribution of the RHDF, but we can't get to 'yes' if we can't get to the question of whether the $1.4 million is appropriate."
The commissioners, who were not scheduled to reconvene until late August, agreed to meet at a date to be determined the week of July 24 as long as there can be a quorum. The Carney family hoped to begin the Brockton meet by the end of July.
"We have got to get this resolved. This is a big, important issue," Crosby said.
Bill Lagorio, the president of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association who negotiated a purse agreement with the Carneys, was at the hearing and was blindsided by the MGC's action.
"I've attended every meeting with attorney Blue and Dr. Lightbown, and it was never said to me that the money could not be used (for the track). This interpretation of the law is new to me," he said.
The Carney family hoped to receive funding and final license approval to begin live racing by the end of July at the Brockton Fairgrounds, which has not held a Thoroughbred meet since 2001.
The action Thursday marked the second delay in as many months. The Carneys, who were granted a conditional racing license by the MGC last fall, withdrew their request for final licensing approval at the June hearing because renovations on the four-furlong track that would comply with industry safety standards and equine and jockey welfare requirements were not completed.