A bill that would decouple gaming licenses tied to Florida Thoroughbred tracks passed the Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee of the State House of Representatives Feb. 5 in Tallahassee despite opposition from Florida horsemen and a breeding representative.
By clearing the Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee, House Bill 105 can now proceed into the full Florida House of Representatives. There is a similar decoupling bill proposed in the Senate.
In introducing the bill Wednesday before the subcommittee, the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Adam Anderson, took aim at what he described as subsidies provided to the horse racing industry in Florida. He cited earlier decoupling legislation passed in Florida in 2021—which led to the demise of greyhound and Standardbred racing in the state—and said that law “did not appropriately apply the new policy to Thoroughbred permit holders.”
1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., favors decoupling, and on Wednesday, the bill’s language was amended to include Tampa Bay Downs and its card room. That amendment, proposed by Rep. Brad Yeager, passed easily.
Roughly two-thirds of the committee voted in favor of the amended bill, and only Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson sharply criticized the proposed legislation in public remarks. She noted the importance of the equine industry to her district of Marion County, including numerous farms around Ocala.
Sign up for BloodHorse Daily
She cited an American Horse Council Foundation report that said the Thoroughbred industry contributes $3.24 billion to the Florida economy. That same report indicates that Florida’s 87,600 Thoroughbreds—one of every four horses in Florida—support 33,500 jobs or 30% of equine employment.
“My question is, why on earth would you pull that kind of money out of the Florida industry, and how is that economical?” she asked Anderson.
Anderson replied that nothing would be “pulled” from the racing industry in the bill itself and mentioned that racing and breeding-related subsidies—the equine industry considers them tax incentives earned when it agreed to, and supported, allowing added gaming into the state—would not be discontinued. But when previous legislation provided decoupling for operators of greyhound and Standardbred racinos, those owners chose to pull the plug on racing. Casinos are far more profitable than racing and require fewer resources, such as racetrack land and stabling.
Jena Antonucci, who became the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when Arcangelo won the 2023 Belmont Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park, spoke before legislators, telling them she considers herself “lucky” to call Marion County her residence and to train horses at Gulfstream Park.
(L-R): Jon Ebbert, Jena Antonucci, and Javier Castellano. Arcangelo with Javier Castellano won the Belmont Stakes (G1) Presented by NYRA Bets at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. on June 10, 2023
“It’s been an honor to do so, and it would be devastating to not be able to do both of my life’s passions that have started since I was 3 years old,” she said, her voice sometimes cracking with emotion. “I’ve watched the state evolve over my lifetime and watch farms change to show facilities and residential areas, and the idea that Gulfstream Park would potentially not be a cornerstone of horse racing is absolutely mind-numbing. But past that, more than anything, is what it would mean to our local economies, to the agriculture in the state and the billions of dollars that it generates just behind tourism and what that means; less farm owners and less community and less enrichment. The racing is just a very, very small portion of what happens.”
Lobbyist Jeff Johnston (not the former jockey of the same name) spoke to legislators on behalf of Gulfstream Park. He noted, “Nobody said racing is stopping. They are decoupling the two so they can be independent, and and it gives the track flexibility to do things that they need to do at the track.
“Nowhere in the bill, and you can read the bill, does it say that racing (will be) discontinued. Matter of fact, Gulfstream Park races more than anybody in the country. Statutorily, we need to race 40 days a year; we race 200. Gulfstream Park does more for the industry in Florida than anybody else. Furthermore, in 2025 they’ve already submitted for their racing: 200 days. They’ve already submitted to the department 200 days in 2026. I don’t know where the narrative of racing is stopping is coming from.”
Johnston did not mention that in January 1/ST Racing representative Keith Brackpool said that even with decoupling live racing at Gulfstream Park’s current site could not be guaranteed past 2028 because the land is too valuable.
Horsemen are concerned by the threat of decoupling, knowing what has previously occurred.
Racing at Tampa Bay Downs
Jan Meehan, vice president of the Tampa Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, spoke out in opposition to decoupling during the meeting, and just days ago, the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen, the designated horsemen’s group in South Florida, announced in a Feb. 3 statement that its board voted unanimously against the passage of HB 105 after they had previously indicated support for it.
Lonny Powell, CEO of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association, passionately told the committee of his concerns. In explaining the emotion in his remarks, Powell spoke of being the third generation of his family in the horse racing business.
“This is not just a piece of paper that everybody’s just going to continue to race,” he said. “This is a piece of paper that will allow many people to lose their jobs, and for a 70-something, a 75, 80-year-old industry in this state, a signature industry in this state, to be in peril.”
He later added about Gulfstream Park, “The track was bought when it wasn’t a casino, and it got its casino gaming because the people voted to support racing through the casino.”
However, their comments did not sway enough members of the subcommittee to oppose the decoupling bill.
Whether the Thoroughbred industry receives more support in the full legislature will be determined in the weeks and months ahead. Last year in supportive action, legislators passed a tax package that extended incentives through House Bill 7073, which allotted more than $32.5 million to the Florida racing and breeding industries.
Leave feedback about this