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DAYTON–A bill which could reinvigorate the horse-racing industry in Washington state got a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee Monday, and Dayton Days Inc. President Tim Donohue testified in favor of House Bill 1928, along with a number of others who support the proposed legislation.

Donohue, who is also a Thoroughbred breeder and member of the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, joined the hearing via Zoom, referencing written testimony previously submitted by Dayton Days Inc., and urging lawmakers to pass the bill.

House Bill 1928 would establish a fund with the Washington Horse Racing Commission (WHRC) and allocate $6 million from sales tax on equine-related sales in Washington without increasing taxes. The WHRC regulates horse racing in the state, and between competition for the gaming dollar from lottery, casinos and other factors, horse racing has been in decline. In the 1970s, 40% of the gambling dollar was wagered at Washington tracks; it is now 1% with 90-95% being gambled at casinos.

Small race tracks like Dayton, Waitsburg and Kennewick’s Sundown would be subsidized if the bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Schmick (R-9-Colfax), passes. Having been granted a hearing in the Appropriations Committee, the bill may now be voted by the committee to advance. Sixteenth District Rep. Skyler Rude (R-Walla Walla) sits on the Appropriations Committee.

The bill is scheduled for executive session today, February 3 in the House Committee on Appropriations.

In that written testimony, Dayton Days Inc. pointed to the loss of tourism dollars which accompanied the two-day race meet each Memorial Day until its final meet in 2010. Letters from local businesses, also submitted for the record, estimated that sales declined in the years following the loss of horse racing by 22-25% on Memorial Day weekend.

The financial boost to the small tracks would not only provide race horse owners a place to test their up-and-coming horses, it would also provide additional race horses in the “pipeline” to the state’s Class 1 track, Emerald Downs in Auburn.

“The overall benefit to the State would be to see the breeding of horses return,” says Doug Moore, Executive Director of the WHRC, “along with attracting more horses to compete at the tracks, which generates revenue to the agricultural industry in the State, and generates and provides thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

“It is estimated that an additional 400 horses at the [Emerald] track would bring in $8,000 to $10,000 a day for hay and oats alone,” Moore noted, “not to mention other revenue and jobs it will create. It would bring tourism back to the eastern Washington communities that have seen a significant decline in attendance since the loss of live racing at their community day events. It would provide funding to encourage and sustain youth programs throughout the State as well.”

One of the factors is the robust horse-racing industry in Oregon, which receives revenue from contracts for off-track wagering, televised racing and has other beneficiaries who support racing. Purses in Oregon are significantly higher than Washington’s, putting this state at a disadvantage the legislation would counter, if passed.

Besides supporting small tracks like Dayton and Waitsburg, the bill would provide support for the Washington-Bred Owners Bonus Feed and Breeder Award Account, for breeder awards. HB 1928 was patterned after a Texas bill, which, when passed in 2019, Texas-bred horses listed at the sale tripled in two years.

If passed, $900,000 would be available for grants to other equine activities in the state, with the intent to focus on youth, 4-H and FFA, and equine rescue and therapy ranches. Any equine group would be eligible to apply.

Emerald Downs, operated by the Muckleshoot Tribe, would receive $3.6 million, of which $2.7 million is designated for purses. A purse in a horse race is typically, but not always, distributed among all the entries in the race, sometimes pro-rated in order of finish. The $900,000 left would be for Emerald’s facility maintenance, upgrades, and equine health and research. Nothing in the bill would prohibit Emerald from allocating additional money from the $900,000 to purses. “Zero dollars would go to the association [Emerald] in respect to the day-to-day operations,” Moore pointed out.

Through the 1980s, ’90s and 2000s, revenue at the Blue Mountain Circuit tracks, as Dayton, Waitsburg, Walla Walla and Kennewick are known, was on a gradual decline while expenses to hold races, especially insurance for jockeys, increased. In 2010, wagering at Dayton Days was 13% lower than 2009, and 2009 had dropped 15% from 2008.

In early 2011, the WHRC announced it would not award race days to Dayton, Waitsburg and Walla Walla. In 2010, Dayton Days Inc. received $31,600 from the WHRC, had a two-day handle of $62,026 and paid $50,181.

“This is more my take,” said Rep. Schmick. “This is a small investment in the horse industry for the state of Washington. The Commission’s…main goals are to protect the horses, to protect the riders and those folks who take care of the horses, and to have a fair and level playing field.

“I want to be very clear that some of the money would go to the Class C tracks…would allow them to be able to host a meet where currently that doesn’t happen anymore. And it’s just because there’s just not enough money. It would be a boon, especially to those small tracks…to be able to offer horse racing again like they used to.”

Rep. Schmick said horse racing’s annual impact, direct and indirect, as reported by the Seattle-King County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, is about $240 million to the state.

Moore said tracks in Texas attest to the success of the concept: “In two years, one track reported a 78% increase in horses participating, and the breeders show a 140% increase in foal production,” Moore said.

Ron Crockett testified that Texas’s numbers grew from $12 million per race day to $31 million, after their bill was signed into law. “Ours is currently $13 million,” he said. “I think we can go to $20 million with this bill.”

“It provides assistance so that the Washington Horse Racing Commission can properly regulate the sport,” testified Patrick H. LePley, a Bellevue attorney who also owns Hern-LePley Racing. “It allows for money to support 4-H and animal husbandry programs in the state. It sets aside funds to revive racing at the Class C racetracks, and it will help Washington-breds in the purse account at Emerald Downs.

“If horse racing continues to wither or go away in this state, and it surely will if we continue on our current course,” LePley said. “Then we lose the ecosystem that supports horses in Washington. Because, really, Emerald Downs is the hub.”