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Off track betting
The horse, as an instrument of recreation, has been good for Rappahannock County. Horses have also benefitted more than a few county residents financially, and in that respect what’s good for horse racing and.horse breeding is good for the county.
A state legislative study committee voted 4-2 Nov. 16 to recommend that the coming General Assembly pass revisions in the state pari-mutuel betting laws to allow off-site betting. The recommendation could possibly open the doors for a track in Loudoun County to allow race fans to bet on races run in other states, according to Don Price, executive secretary of the Virginia Racing Commission.
Mr. Price said the changes, if passed in the General Assembly session that begins in January, would allow race tracks in Virginia to import as many as 25 days of races from other tracks for patrons to bet on. The changes would also allow Virginia tracks to open betting sites in other localities.
Off-site betting places would have to be owned by a particular track located in Virginia in order to be legal.
Satellite betting would allow a race track to set up branches in other localities where race fans could bet and watch races at the same time that the race is run on the track. The races would be telecast to the satellite betting sites.
Satellite betting would only be allowed in localities that have passed pari-mutuel betting in referendum. The first to do so in Virginia, Loudoun County agreed to betting Nov. 6.
Morven Park, located just north of Leesburg, may be the first track in the state to hold a race with pari-mutuel betting. Mr. Price said application information for pari-mutuel betting has been sent to the park.
In the two years since the pari-mutuel issue passed, not one single license has been issued for a track. Now that tracks are legal in this state, it makes sense for legislators to make operating them financially appealing for investors.
Horse racing means tourism and other benefits to a state. Charles Town, West Virginia’s track, for example, has drawn countless millions of dollars from the wallets of Virginia residents. And tourism is just the kind of clean industry that this Commonwealth needs to attract if we’re going to balance the ecological needs of tomorrow with the financial realities of today. We stand behind establishing offtrack betting in Virginia.
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