Subsidy plans worry horse-racing industry

Associated Press

BOSTON

Horse-track operators and breeders are concerned the good times might be trotting to a close as some states move to rein in a lucrative subsidy that’s helped prop up their long-suffering industry.

Twenty states divert a slice of casino and slots parlors revenue to help boost horse-racing prize money, according to the American Gaming Association. Bigger purses, the thinking goes, will draw the top-level horses and generate more track bets, helping revive the once-popular industry.

But facing budget deficits and out-of-state casino competition, some lawmakers are reassessing.

“Every local track and every local horsemen’s group is always worried about that,” says Christopher Scherf, executive vice president of the Maryland-based Thoroughbred Racing Associations. “Politicians see someone has money and they figure they can use it. That’s what they do.”

Generally, the racing subsidies call for diverting a percentage of table game and slot machine revenues to a state fund with strict guidelines for how the money is spent.

Massachusetts, for example, gives 75 percent of the money to the thoroughbred racing industry and the rest to harness racing. The two industries must then dedicate 80 percent to racing purses, 16 percent toward races reserved for Massachusetts-bred horses and 4 percent to health and retirement benefits for industry workers.

Such subsidies are a critical lifeline for racing, which has seen steady declines across a number of industry metrics.