The Main Course in AZ: Crow

[johnhannibalsmith]

Sen. Steve Pierce of Prescott is sponsoring a bill to legalize advance deposit wagering on horse and dog races in Arizona.

Arizona is among the 15 states that don't allow residents to set up an account and withdraw money for betting on tracks via phone, mobile device or computer.

But people are doing it anyway, and therefore the state and its tracks are losing revenues to other states, Pierce said.

Arizona Department of Racing spokesman Greg Stiles says his agency is still reviewing Senate Bill 1282, so officials haven't decided whether to support it. Alongside phones, it appears to allow Internet betting at advance deposit wagering sites too, he said. A summary has not yet been posted online.

As the article mentions, there doesn't appear to be any summary of the bill to be found. A search for SB 1212 (2014) leads me only to "MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW FOR LITIGATION EXPENSES RELATED TO THE EXPANSION OF THE MEXICAN WOLF RECOVERY PROGRAM IN THIS STATE."

Needless to say, I hope that those in a position of advocacy for the sport, the industry, the bettors, the horsemen, the State, and the whole notion of common sense will keep an eye out for this one and do whatever possible to make sure the dunderheads at the top don't screw it up with bad ideas in the form of nuance. It's rare that even a good idea results in good implementation and good ideas are hard enough to come by.

Here's to hoping they actually get it right and get it done.

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?Fro...SectionID=1086

[johnhannibalsmith]

Errr, okay, part of the reason I was learning about Mexican wolves instead of ADWs was that I was given the wrong SB and actually read the article after posting the link.

Here ya go, it's 1282:

http://legiscan.com/AZ/text/SB1282/id/942283

[Track Collector]

Although I have not paid attention to all the bill's details, on the surface it sounds like an improvement for AZ bettors.

I still have a biased interest........I found something call "The Arizona County Fairs Racing Betterment Fund."

When funding assistance ended a number of years ago, all but one or two of those neat county racing fairs stopped running. It sure would be nice be able to visit them again. Places like Duncan, Stafford, Douglas, St. Johns, etc.


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[johnhannibalsmith]

Pretty sure you can still head to Sonoita the last weekend in April/ first weekend in May to get your fix of the only true country fair (not including the Pima fair dates given to RIL) action left.

[Track Collector]

Originally Posted by johnhannibalsmith

Pretty sure you can still head to Sonoita the last weekend in April/ first weekend in May to get your fix of the only true country fair (not including the Pima fair dates given to RIL) action left.

Sonoita is very nice as well, but they were running back to back weekends when I visited a number of years ago, and not just one weekend like in the past few years. Hats off to them for still being able to pull off 2 days of racing when just about all the other fairs could not make it work financially. They are kind of located in the middle of nowhere, but still very much worth visiting.


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[nvemil]

I hope they do the right thing and get something done on the ADW legislation.

In reference to Arizona's "B" racing circuit what little is left is seemingly on it's last leg.

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/2...ason-of-racing

[Track Collector]

Originally Posted by nvemil

I hope they do the right thing and get something done on the ADW legislation.

In reference to Arizona's "B" racing circuit what little is left is seemingly on it's last leg.

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/2...ason-of-racing

Here is another article which seems to have a different view.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt...00da1d4c1.html

Some interesting points:
(a) Only a previously damaged barn is being demolished.
(b) The grandstand is not scheduled to be demolished.
(c) The Pima County Horseman's Group were the ones who stopped on-going dialog with the county.
(c) Another group wants to run races on the same site. They want to expand the number of race days and offer simulcasting on days in addition to when live racing is held.

Another interesting link to the Rillito Park Foundation.

http://www.rillitoparkfoundation.org/#


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[Robert Goren]

Given the current political climate in AZ, the bill is DOA, as much as I wish it wasn't so.

[BlueShoe]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

Given the current political climate in AZ, the bill is DOA, as much as I wish it wasn't so.

Odd remark, since Pierce is a Republican, and is the majority whip in the state senate. Like the rest of us, would like to see Arizona get on board with the rest of the nation on ADWs.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by BlueShoe

Odd remark, since Pierce is a Republican, and is the majority whip in the state senate. Like the rest of us, would like to see Arizona get on board with the rest of the nation on ADWs.

We will see how far this bill goes.

[BlueShoe]

Originally Posted by nvemil

In reference to Arizona's "B" racing circuit what little is left is seemingly on it's last leg.

On a related note, Yavapai Downs, which has not had a live meeting since 2010, may race again this year, according to the new owner.
www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=126802&SectionID=1&Sub sectionID=1086&S=1