Virginia’s Colonial Downs is laying off its 32 remaining employees and closing its off-track betting operations in response to a long-running dispute with horsemen.
The fight between the shuttered track and the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has stretched on for more than a year. The VHBPA, which represents about 1,200 thoroughbred breeders and trainers, wanted a longer racing season. Colonial Downs and its owner, Colorado-based Jacobs Entertainment, wanted a shorter season with higher purses, in part because the group makes its money through online gambling and loses money operating the track. When the two sides couldn’t reach a deal last year, the racing season was canceled, and Colonial Downs surrendered its exclusive license to run thoroughbred racing in Virginia.
Stan Guidroz, regional vice president of Jacobs Entertainment, said the company does not plan to sell the track. Instead, he said, it will seek permission from the Virginia Racing Commission to renew its license and resume racing with another, yet-to-be identified group of horsemen.
The track and its owners aren’t happy either with a bill that passed both chambers of the General Assembly by wide margins earlier this year that will redirect some $2 million in revenue from online horse bets toward a non-profit organization that will be selected by the commission to promote racing around the state. The non-profit would be able to strike agreements with Colonial Downs or other tracks.
Guidroz said the track and its betting operations made a profit of less than $1 million in 2013. Last year, when no races were held and off-site gambling was curtailed, the company lost between $3 million and $4 million, with similar losses projected for 2015 if the layoffs didn’t occur.
