Legislators hoping to rescue horse racing in Michigan

by | 06.25.2012 | 11:42am
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There once were 25,000 people that were employed by the horse racing industry in Michigan. That number has dwindled to 9,000, and without legislative action, many fear that figure will fall even more.

A bill that’s been working its way through the state legislature would revamp the state’s existing Horse Racing Act in a way that horse racing groups say will improve their financial situation. If the legislation is approved, it would allow gambling on historical racing, also known as Instant Racing. The machines would be allowed only at racetracks in the state.

The legislation is opposed by casinos in the state, which successfully promoted a 2004 proposal that banned slots and other forms of video gambling at tracks.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has stated that for now, this issue ‘is not his agenda’.

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  • dr. ichabod

    what tracks are left in michigan??? used to love great lakes downs! no mo detroit, no mo pinnacle; where are they running??

  • Michael Cusortelli

    Mt. Pleasant Meadows is currently running a mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet on weekends.

  • equine

    TMK, TBs in MI are running solely at Mt Pleasant Meadows at a mixed quarter, paint&arabian meet. Results from 6/23 are on Equibase. Horses noncompetitive at tracks like Charlestown &Mountaineer are running here. You run last, you collect $450-$480 in starter bonus money. The meet runs May-Oct. The track has no anti slaughter policy, thus kill buyers can run here.

    At the end of the meet, how many of the noncompetitive horses will make the short drive across the border into Canada? What percentage will shop to tracks like PARX which pays $500-$600 as a starters bonus?

  • Bob C

    Michigan Governor Rick Snyder meet Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.  Both of these clowns have state budgets which are struggling, yet both of them turn up their noses at a new source of revenue.  Could it be that both of them are in the casino industry’s pockets?
    Very likely.

  • Bob C

    How many of you are old enough to remember when there was Thoroughbred racing at Hazel Park?  Of course, DRC used to offer the Michigan Mile and One Eighth which attracted horses like Damascus, Nodouble and some of the best horses of the “60′s and ’70′s. But hey, the politicians have to have their way. Right?

  • BK

    I’m not sure MPM even counts as a racetrack at this point. Pools are empty. A horse won at 69-1 and paid 2.10 to place (the whole WPS pool was $290). One guy scooped the early double pool…for 17 bucks. Races average 5-6 horses. Long way to go if racing is going to be saved in MI. 

  • ZippelBayWalleye

    Lester Siefert – Play Fashion, Corky of Clinton, Jack Van Berg, Jack Foran, George Maker… Hazel Park was a lot of fun even in the winter when the large rollup doors would not operate…

  • Concerned Observer

    Michigan is a perfect example of a state with a strong historical support for horse racing that is quickly fading away. The “POWERS” of racing, if there were any, would make an effort to strengthen and support a future for racing in that State. But who will do it in our disjointed configuration?  Not the Jockey Club, Not Breeders Cup, Not the sale companies, NTRA?, HBPA?.

    NASCAR and the NBA would never turn their back on a critical market.

    So much for the visionaries of racing.

  • May Flower

    How about legislators in MI and nationwide “hoping to rescue” the horses for a change by banning bottom-feeders and crappy racing to give the industry a semblance of decency?

  • Concerned Observer

    Why not go down to good old Detroit and rescue a poor homeless helpless child and quit whining about abandoned horses? You are a human being.. try to get your priorities straight. Until you have helped abandoned people,  don’t lecture me about abandoned animals.

    Go to any major city, see the people. You live in a fairytale world.

  • Michael J. Arndt

    Every one of those horses give jobs to humans from the folks who care for them daily to the veterinary team, to the feed stores, to the farmers who grow their hay, the folks who run and staff all the racetracks and otbs, not to mention all the taxes on every dollar bet which in part pays for the welfare the people you speak of receive, Mr. Myopia.

  • Fgdc2009

    Most of thsoe people are where they are because of their own action or inaction, no amount of aid or help will make them become productive members of society. This nation has taxed itself, through international aid and aid to the ghettos of America and all we have gotten in return is a astronomical crime rate and constant cries of discrimination and prejudice that ignores the billions of dollars that have been siphoned away trying to make equal what is not.

    The horse is a much more beautiful creation of nature that deserves support along with the people who actually want to earn a living racing them.

  • Fgdc2009

    Agreed MPM is not a long term solution. I am not one that supports tracks closing but if there was ever one that should it is MPM, the pools are pathetic.Do they have the capability to export their signal for simo? I don’t even think the track can handle more than 8 horses a race because of the layout. The turns are hard on the horses and the stakes program is scrapped, this will lead to no incentive to breed in the state.

    The Michigan horsemen have to “get it” or forget about the future of racing there. The first couple years Pinnacle was open they conducted their schedule with more sense, but the last year Pinnacle was open, when the horsemen ran the meet, they ran on Sat and Sun and the pools were almost as bad. I remember Great Lakes Downs had a real solid simo following running on the evenings on weekdays.

    The Nebraska horsemen do the same thing, they only run on weekends.

    These lesser circuits have got to realize that for racing to be profitable for them they can’t race up against the big boys on the weekends, at least not all dates. Running on Mondays and Tuesdays is where their niche is, maybe with a weekend date for local promotion.

    I think many of these horsemen insist on running on weekends so their families can come out and see them run and so, for ones who have other jobs so they can work during the week and run on the weekends. This cannot continue, they have to choose, run when the simo market is less competitive or die a slow death with small pools on the weekends.

  • Longshotsblues

    The Horsemen have to get it?

    The Horsemen paid out of their OWN POCKETS to run the last year at PRC. After the MGCB allotted us 84 racing dates, then TOOK THEM ALL BACK BUT 3.

    Do you even remotely know what you are talking about? Get Educated.

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