To Race Or Not To Race

DAYTON - Lee Ann Literal has been a racehorse owner and trainer for almost a quarter of a century.

The stables on her 500- acre ranch on Smith Hollow Road are a living testament to that long "track" record. She owns 29 horses, including five that are currently racing and 20 that have retired from the sport over the years.

Literal doesn't make her living racing horses, but the purse money she gets from the five racers does help pay for the care of the retirees. For that reason alone, she wants horse racing in the area to continue.

"I love the sport," she said in a recent interview.

Literal and hundreds of other Touchet Valley residents with a connection to the tracks of Kennewick, Waitsburg, Dayton and Walla Walla, will find out Thursday whether the show will go on.

They are anxiously waiting to hear how many days the Washington State Horse Racing Commission can afford to allocate to the socalled Bush circuit, if any. The commission will make that decision at a meeting in Auburn.

"We've all submitted our dates," Terry Jacoy, treasurer for Waitsburg's Days of Real Sport, said about the four tracks that are organized as Blue Mountain Racing LLC to share the cost of insurance. "We hope to know what the state is giving us and decide if we can run based on that allocation."

Jacoy left Waitsburg earlier this week to attend the commission's meeting. Literal will be attending too. Jacoy said the total the group has asked for is 16 days: 10 days for Kennewick and two each for Walla Walla, Waitsburg and Dayton. But from what commissioners have said before, it seems unlikely the four tracks will get that many.

And despite the communities' need-to-know if their events - Days of Real Sport and Dayton Days among them - are on, it's quite possible the tracks may not even have a clear answer Thursday.

"This has never come up before," Jacoy said. "I really don't have any idea how they (commissioners) will approach it."

The state may tell each track how many days it's getting, or the commission may give a total for all four and let the group figure out how to divide them between the venues, he said. Or the commission may give the days requested but require a private-sector contribution toward the cost of the commission's staff state-mandated monitoring and auditing.

Last year, the racing commission provided $328,754 to fund 19 days of racing at the four tracks. It included three days of spring racing in Walla Walla during Balloon Stampede, but that request has been dropped for the first time this year.

Since racing normally starts in Kennewick on April 1, the latest everyone on the circuit can begin to make plans is March 1, Jacoy said.

" We're waiting to see what cards are dealt to us," said Dan McKinley, who chairs the Days of Real Sport. "We can't act until we know what's there."

The state warned the tracks last year that there were no guarantees racing would happen here this year, yet no one locally has given up on the idea.

"This would be our number 98 coming up," McKin- ley said about the number of years Days of Real Sport has taken place in Waitsburg.

Over time, the odds have slowly mounted against the sport's continuation. Although Waitsburg's handle was up slightly last year, from $49,000 in 2009 to $56,000 in 2010, the income from horse racing has trended down for years, hovering more around $100,000 in Waitsburg and around $150,000 in Dayton during its heyday.

Commission officials have said that tax revenues from wagering have dropped steadily since 2008 and are expected to drop further this year. The commission's contribution to races provides purse money, incentives for jockeys and track insurance.

There are just two carriers left in the insurance field that cover horse racing, and they have set a minimum premium shared between the four tracks. Together, the tracks paid $96,000 in liability insurance and $124,000 in jockey insurance for a total of $220,000, Jacoy said.

If the commission comes through with what would probably be a smaller number of days, this fixed cost would be spread over fewer races, thus increasing their cost for the track operators.

The operators met last week and explored a number of alternatives but didn't settle on any for lack of the commission's decision.

Jacoy said he personally doesn't like the idea of just running the Days of Real Sport for one weekend day instead of the traditional two because it takes a big effort to set up for the races, and horse owners need the incentive of enough races to make it worth their trip here.

If racing went "dark" for one year, it would be tough to revive it in the future because of the way funds paid to the state are distributed to support races in subsequent years, not to mention the sustainability of a racing infrastructure through which owners like Literal keep going each year.

She is hopeful the private sector can be roused to come through with financial contributions if there's a gap left by the state, but everyone's waiting on the sidelines for the commission's decision.

"The question is: Do these events mean enough to the people in our communities to give us some financial support," Literal asked.

Literal, Jacoy and McKinley said the loss of racing would be a loss to many in the community, from businesses that benefit from the visitors to youth groups that sell items to raise money for their causes and activities. The same is true for everyone involved in the care, feeding and preparation of the horses for their races as well as running the races themselves, such as feed stores, groomers, betting crews and so on.

"It will have a ripple effect," Literal said, not to mention the emotional loss from being members of the tight-knit community that horse racing has become to many in the sport.

"I would miss seeing my friends," Literal said. "They come from all over. It's like its own family."