Last August, Gulf Greyhound Park in La Marque, Texas, the state’s last full-time dog racetrack, announced live racing would stop at the end of 2015. The track’s owners said increasingly expensive live racing no longer was profitable due to the expansion of other types of gambling. Gulf Greyhound Park still will simulcast races in other states.
Kennel operators and breeders said their business will suffer while the track takes advantage of a loophole to stay open. David Peck, president of the Texas Greyhound Association, representing more than 150 kennel and breeder members, said, “Without live racing, these are off-track betting facilities. They’re just a little simulcasting parlor. The racing commission will get the fees, but we’re not going to get anything.” Gulf Greyhound Park also has asked the Texas Racing Commission to approve 172 racing dates in 2018, but none in 2016 and 2017. The two-year layoff will severely impact their industry, breeders and kennel operators said, and have asked the racing commission not to allow it.
Although the commission considers the state’s three dog tracks to be active, Gulf Coast Racing in Corpus Christi has not held a live race since 2007 and Valley Race Park in Harlingen has held only six races since 2010—but both remain open and began to offer simulcasting as a way to stay in business when profits began to decline. Gamblers statewide wagered $63.2 million on live dog races in 2000, compared to $6.9 million in 2014, when Gulf Greyhound Park was the only track to offer live races. The $55 million facility, opened in November 1992, set national attendance and wagering records in its first year of operation.
It’s not only the tracks but the racing commission itself that faces a dim future. The commission voted to allow historical racing machines at the state’s tracks, a move track owners hoped would boost declining revenues. Anti-gambling forces said the racing commission overstepped its authority by legalizing the machines, and legislators defunded the racing commission, causing a one-day shutdown in September at state’s dog and horse tracks. Following a compromise, the racing commission received funding for three months and recently received another 90-day extension.
Animal rights activists, including Massachusetts-based Grey2K USA, also opposed historical racing, claiming the machines would allow the continuation of live dog racing. The group said state reports indicated between 2008 and 2014, about 2,300 injuries were reported, and 750 dogs suffered bone fractures. Figures from Valley Race Park, which ended live racing in 2009, were included in the reports. Management there said it improved the racing surface and injury rates improved. The state’s greyhound association also tried to hire a track superintendent and have on-site maintenance responsibility, Peck said. “Something is lost in the transfer when it’s your dogs out there and somebody else is taking care of the track. All over the country, the greyhound association has tried to put a safety plan in place. Has that always happened? Quite frankly, no,” he said.
Peck noted the greyhound association has to sign off on simulcasting contracts. If Gulf Greyhound Park and the association do not come to an agreement, formal arbitration would have to commence. “We haven’t formally decided on that. That’s something we’ll definitely entertain.” Peck added he believes the racing commission will not allow simulcasting unless tracks offer live racing too. The association has asked the racing commission to mediate between Gulf Greyhound Park and its members. Racing commission spokesman Robert Elrod said, “We’d certainly be willing to have a discussion, but I can’t speculate on what the result of that discussion might be. It’s important to remember that we are a regulatory agency only. We don’t run or promote the industry.
