Horse Racing
ILLINOIS HORSERACING VINDCATED IN U.S. SUPREME COURT
By
Jun 17, 2009, 13:09

On Monday, the US Supreme Court denied a petition by riverboat casinos in Illinois to further withhold funds guaranteed to the Illinois horseracing industry, a legal battle that has been waged for the last three years. Defense of the “Molaro Bill” was championed by Hawthorne Race Course.

“Obviously this is a great win for our industry and for Hawthorne in particular,” said Tim Carey, 4th generation president and general manager of Hawthorne. “The intent of this bill was to sustain 40,000 Illinois agribusiness jobs supported by horseracing. We’ve been a family business for 100 years and so we inherently understand the importance of these jobs, especially in this economic climate. In the last two years we’ve taken on over $20,000,000 in debt to insure that Illinois racing continues for the next 100 years. We wholeheartedly believe in the viability of this historic sport.”

The ruling makes Illinois the last state in the nation to provide some parity between casino and horseracing industries—both State-regulated businesses. “Every other state that has casino gaming allows for slots at race tracks, or for some type of compensation if slots are not allowed,” said Carey. “Because Illinois racing hasn’t had that benefit, purses here couldn’t compete with tracks in other states. This put jobs within the industry in great peril, and this is clearly a time when every job counts.”

Critics have claimed that the ruling effectively forces one industry to subsidize another. “Not true,” says Carey. “We’d much rather have slots so that we can compete, but the boats don’t want the competition. I know legislators are scared that slots at the tracks seems like an expansion of gaming, but we’ve had gaming at Hawthorne for 100 years, longer than anyone has lived in this community. And again, nearly every other state in the nation has allowed for slots at the tracks. The stigma of gaming isn’t realistic anymore. We could create thousands of new jobs.”

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