On Tuesday, the Louisiana Racing Commission awarded traditional racing dates to Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans despite a warning from an official of the track’s parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., that the track was “unable and unwilling” to commit to a meet without legislative help.
Oz Sharif, an attorney for CDI, told the commission that a Churchill lobbyist had been meeting with legislators over the past several weeks in order to work on a deal that would counteract the effects of a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling in March that said the operation of historical horse racing devices was illegal in the state without local approval. Sharif said that revenue from the machines made up for operating losses from racing at Fair Grounds.
Churchill, which owns a company that manufactures and operates HHR devices, had installed the machines at all 13 of its OTB parlors surrounding Fair Grounds. But the company had to cease operating them a week ago, when the ruling went into effect. The ruling had no impact on the operation of slot machines or video-poker machines, which remain legal in the state.
“Faced with this reality, operating under the current status quo is no longer an option," Shariff said, according to a prepared statement he read to the commission.
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The commission voted to approve a dates allotment running from Nov. 20 to April 9. The state’s horsemen had requested the dates without approval from Churchill Downs.
According to The Paulick Report, Louie Roussel Jr., a horse owner who once owned the track, pushed back on Churchill’s contention that it lost money on the Fair Grounds operation. According to The Paulick Report, Roussel told the commission he was speaking on behalf of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.
“Gov. Landry has told me to tell them, take out your HHR machines, replace them with the video poker machines you had, and start the process, the legislative process, if you want HHR machines,” Roussel said, according to The Paulick Report. “There will be no state subsidy for this racetrack. None.”
Following the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling, Churchill said it was “evaluating our product within our OTBs” when asked about whether the company would push for local referenda to approve HHR machines or simply replace the machines with already legal devices. No other tracks in Louisiana operate a significant number of HHR machines at their casinos or OTBs.
Churchill has a history of taking its ball and going home when it does not get what it wants from legislatures, such as in Illinois, where it sold Arlington Park after the statehouse balked at adjusting tax rates for a casino at the track. The company benefits from a close working relationship with lawmakers in both Kentucky and Virginia, where legislators have awarded the company local monopolies on specific types of gambling.
The Louisiana Legislature is in session until June 12. The commission, which has the option of approving fines for licensed racetracks that do not comply with its orders, has scheduled a meeting for June 15 to follow up on the situation.
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