Massachusetts Legislators Fail to Renew Racing Law

The two-day live racing festival planned for Suffolk Downs Aug. 4-5 will be scratched unless Massachusetts lawmakers, who inadvertently ended the formal legislative session for the year July 31 without renewing the law authorizing live racing and simulcasting, can come up with a quick remedy. A special legislative session is on the docket for Aug. 2. 

The connections of about 250 horses planning to ship to Suffolk for the weekend now have their plans on hold, and the employment status of nearly 300 track workers connected with simulcasting and live racing is also now up in the air.

"We need to know tomorrow if we're a go this weekend or not, because people have to get horses on vans and ship in for the weekend," said Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer of Suffolk Downs. "As it is now, I'm sure just the uncertainty will have a pretty significant damaging effect on the weekend."

The current racing statute was part of a bill that would have extended the legality of live racing and simulcasting, but statehouse sources said that bill somehow got "lost" in the legislative shuffle at the end of the July 31 session before the midnight deadline. Without the necessary action, live racing and simulcasting became illegal in the state Wednesday.

"We understand how hard the legislature works on policy, but by the same token, this isn't a hard one. This has been law since 1992," Tuttle said. "It's a little bit frustrating to get caught up in the meat grinder at the end of the session like this."

Simulcasting at Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park, which ended live dog racing when it was outlawed in 2010, and harness racing and simulcasting at the Penn National Gaming Inc.-owned Plainridge Park Casino, the state's sole Standardbred track and only slots machine parlor, are similarly impacted.

Live harness racing was scheduled for Aug. 2 at Plainridge. According to a statement from general manager Lance George, Thursday's live harness racing card has been rescheduled to Friday, formerly a dark day, in hopes that the legislature acts tomorrow to pass the law and the Governor signs the bill. 

On Wednesday morning, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission notified Suffolk Downs and Plainridge to shut down all live racing and simulcasting and told Raynham Park to cease simulcasting.

"The Commonwealth's racing legislation ... expired as of midnight on July 31, 2018. The legislature adjourned without taking action on a replacement or extension bill," MGC executive director Edward Bedrosian wrote to Suffolk Downs, Plainridge, and Raynham. "As of today, there is no statutory authorization for live horse racing or simulcasting in the Commonwealth."

The gaming commission will convene in Springfield, Mass., at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in a regularly scheduled meeting and will take up the issue as its first order of business.

The House and Senate each will return in informal sessions Aug. 2. If action is taken on the racing and simulcasting bill by both bodies, it could then move to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk, providing there are no objections.

Brian Hickey, the lobbyist for the Thoroughbred horsemen, was unavailable for comment. But Tuttle said the management of Sterling Suffolk Racecourse Aug. 1 was reaching out to the legislative leadership to ask that they consider taking this up as one of the first orders of business Aug. 2.

PNGI officials were of a similar mindset, hoping the races could go off as scheduled Aug. 2.

"We are optimistic that lawmakers will work toward a solution that allows live racing and simulcast wagering to resume in the Commonwealth soon," Eric Schippers, senior vice president of public affairs and government relations for PNGI, said in a statement. "More than 200 people, including track employees, trainers, drivers, and groomsmen, earn a living as part of our racing program at Plainridge Park Casino and are unable to work until the suspension is lifted."

Meanwhile, horsemen, employees, and Thoroughbred racing fans were left wondering whether the show can go on at Suffolk Downs Aug. 4-5 and remain on hold. The track was expecting almost 15,000 fans for the last of Suffolk's two-day racing festivals in the six-day 2018 live meet.

With only a six-day live meet, the horsemen have few opportunities to earn purses and breeder awards.

"Those people presumably want to show up and watch and wager on the races," Tuttle said. "The horsemen, the local horsemen, and Massachusetts breeders, they have limited opportunities to run for purse money now, and it would be a shame if this opportunity is denied to them given what happened."

Suffolk had previously filed a request with the gaming commission to add an additional two days to the 2018 live meet Sept. 15-16, but until the law authorizing live racing and simulcasting can be reinstated, that ask now seems moot.