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By BETSY BRANSCOME
Rappahannock Newt Staff Writer
In the face of the recent pari-mutuel referendum failure in Loudoun County, the race for the races grows ever tighter as the Virginia Racing Coihmission decision proposed for1 Sept. 29 draws closer.
-The Prince William Citizens for Horse Racing, Inc. announced recently that the group is seeking the minimum 4,500 signatures of registered voters in neighboring Prince William County in order to place the pari-mutuel racing referendum on the ballot for the Nov. 8 election.
“We want to remove any potential uncertainty about the acceptability i of the referendum that passed overwhelmingly in 1989,” said CHR president Sid Worley.
J3ack in 1989, the county referendum asked voters: “Shall pari-mutuel betting on horse racing be perinitted in the County of Prince William in accordance with Chapter 29 of Title 59.1 (59.1-363 et seq) of the Code of Virginia?”
In July 1992, however, the state legislature changed the wording of the referendum, shown as follows: “Shall pari-mutuel wagering be permitted in the County of Prince William at a licensed race track in accordance with Chapter 29 of Title 59..1 (59.1-363 et seq) of the Code?”
“The Virginia Racing Commission cannot issue a license to any applicant without a valid referendum vote, within a five-year period,” said VRC executive director Donald Price from his Richmond office Monday. “However, according to our information, all of the remaining five racetrack applicants do have such votes on record.”
In an apparent attempt to outgun any last-minute glitches in the Virginia Jockey Club’s application, a successful ballot referendum in 1994 would ensure Prince William County’s ability to overcome any challenge for the race track license its competitors may present as a result of legislative changes in the 1992 amended pari-mutuel bill.
The same question was asked on an Aug. 2 referendum vote in Loudoun County. The pari-mutuel bill failed by a margin of 55 to 45 percent, negating the Old Dominion Jockey Club’s bid to build a track near Ashbum Village.
The defeat of betting in Loudoun narked the fith loss for pari-mutuel operations in Northern Virginia. Off-track betting questions have foiled in Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church and Fairfax City.
•The Virginia Jockey Club’s James Wilson, a Middleburg businessman and successful racetrack operator in Puerto Rico, said after
90.5%