If you recall, we recently reported how an Administrative Law Judge in Florida ruled that pari-mutuel barrel racing is not legal in the state and he ordered the state's regulators not to license the farce occurring in Gretna, Florida. The division in charge of racing decided they would not appeal the judge's ruling. Case closed, right?
Wrong. While the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering didn't appeal the judge's ruling, they decided to just ignore it and then issued Gretna Racing a modified license to conduct 'flag-drop' racing. Just in case you are wondering what flag-drop racing is, here is a sample in a non-parimutuel setting.
Obviously, this is a farce, to get around the judge's order as it is barrel racing with the exception being at one barrel you pick up a flag only to drop it into a container at another barrel. Clearly a scam to allow them to continue to operate their card room and attempt to get slot machines.
When racing commissions willfully violate judges' orders, one has to wonder why shouldn't offenders of racing rules employ delay tactics? After all, it is not as if the racing commissions are setting a good example.
'fkag drio
3 comments:
I know many racing commissions have the final say under law about anything dealing with racing. For instance, in NJ, the commission can adopt, modify or ignore an administrative law judge's ruling. Not sure about Florida.
But shame on the politicians in the Florida state government. This could be simply handled by defining in law what racing is (see: betting on RUS) and setting a reasonable minimum number of race dates to qualify for card rooms, slots, etc.
Yes, in NJ the NJRC can adopt, modify, or ignore and administrative law judge ruling, but those involve licensees of the racing commission. I doubt they could go against a decision regarding their own actions such as giving a license to an improper racing association. Appeal they could, but they couldn't just ignore it and do as they please.
Using its GPTARP permit, Gulfstream will feature a self-styled "100-yard Thoroughbred Dash" on its opening day tomorrow (July 1) at 10 a.m. Coincidentally, the license awarded to Gretna after the court ruling enabled it to run "100-yard Flag Drop" events much like what Gulfstream staged on April 8, 2012 using Gretna barrel racers as "jockeys."
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