Dutch Bros billionaire Travis Boersma has abandoned his attempt to revive Oregon’s horse racing industry. He has announced that his company, TMB Racing, is terminating its 99-year lease of the Josephine County fairgrounds track.
The company invested $50 million to upgrade the track, which Boersma had dubbed Grants Pass Downs. However, he was thwarted in his attempts to open a casino in tandem with the racetrack, which he called the “Flying Lark.” He insisted that the casino was an integral part of making the overall development financially viable.
On February 16, as reported by the Daily Courier, Boersma’s attorneys informed the count that “TMB Racing has irrevocably and permanently abandoned the project located at the Josephine County Fairgrounds, including the ‘Flying Lark’ building.”
This occurred after the company failed to obtain permission for a casino from the Oregon Racing Commission. This was primarily caused by the intervention of Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who said state policy is only to allow casinos on reservation land. Boersma exercised the lease’s termination clause. The county has estimated that it will lose $313,999 annually in taxes as a result.
Others have expressed an interest in possibly reviving the county race track, including the Southern Oregon Horse Racing Association.
