19.05.12

Palm Beach Post Delves Into Gretna Pari-Mutue​l Barrel Racing Realities; Governor Scott Says Florida Legislature Should Shut Down Unfair Gretna Loophole.

Following up on an interview with Florida Governor Rick Scott yesterday , December 21, 2011, in which he stated that Gretna Racing's "Pari-Mutuel Barrel" competitions are "not fair" and should be shut down, the Palm Beach Post's top political writer, Dara Kam , reported more extensively today on the situation. Her complete article is reprinted below.

Please note that, while Gretna Racing officials describe what would otherwise seem to be a reasonable hire of 170 people at their would-be slot parlor, the grim reality is that the thousands of jobs that normally accompany legitimate racing, and even more in Florida's breeding industry, have been and will be lost because of the "barrel racing" format, which is specifically designed to sharply eliminate the number of competing horses, and thus the jobs that would normally come with lawful Quarter Horse racing. With at least seven (7) full-time jobs generated by each legitimate racehorse, typical full-time employment on a racetrack literally yields thousands (2,000+) of jobs. So why and how is Gretna Racing killing these jobs? Because its entire slate of racing can be accomplished with less than 8 horses a day, many of which race over and over again, versus a normal racing slate of 100 or more horses per day or so that race only once every two weeks at the maximum, the amount of jobs needed to conduct live racing at Gretna's facility is thus sharply--and purposefully--curtailed by design to meet Florida's minimum requirements to hold poker rooms and ultimately secure a license for slot machines.

Source: Harnesslink