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View Full Version : Virginia's Horse Racing Future?

Flysofree
08-20-2014, 01:21 PM
Hard to get any solid information, but the outlook does not seem bright at this point for thoroughbred racing in Virginia. Does anyone here know anything? The last I heard there was possibly going to be some legal action between the track owner.... (Jacobs) and the horsemen's association. That was hearsay only.
bello
08-20-2014, 01:29 PM
Enjoy the harness meet coming up this month.

As far as Thoroughbreds......crickets.......no one discusses it
VeryOldMan
08-20-2014, 02:25 PM
Hard to get any solid information, but the outlook does not seem bright at this point for thoroughbred racing in Virginia. Does anyone here know anything? The last I heard there was possibly going to be some legal action between the track owner.... (Jacobs) and the horsemen's association. That was hearsay only.

There's an earlier thread titled "Colonial Downs" that has a link to one article discussing litigation brought at the end of June by the track against the racing commission.

Here's a link to a different article from 3 weeks ago from a Tidewater news source with some discussion of broader mess:

http://www.tidewaterreview.com/news/va-tr-byline-colonialdownsupdate-meeting-0730-20140728,0,490846.story?page=1
Flysofree
08-20-2014, 04:02 PM
Appreciate that information. I am not certain that harness racing alone saves online wagering in Virginia as per the language in the law that allows it. It is still considered live racing on Virginia soil, so maybe that's all the law requires in order for Virginians to continue to wager horses online. There was a brief 1 day "jumpers meet" 4 races back in the spring. No publicity was made of it until after the fact. I was thinking at the time that that alone was enough to save the online wagering for this year 2014 anyway. That's why the owner probably wants only a 10 day meet to keep the internet wagering alive. I really have no idea what his reasoning is unless that's it.
I just don't want Virginia to end up like they did in Texas and elsewhere.
bello
08-20-2014, 05:01 PM
They are another State with weird rules. I travel to VA often. The OTB's can only take bets on harness during this disagreement with the T'bred owners, but if you have an EZ Horseplay account you can play the t'breds. Problem is I don't live in VA so I can't get an EZPlay account and I am stuck with harness.