Bill Would Limit Barrel Racing to Oval or Straight Tracks

Floridas latest gaming option, barrel racing on cloverleaf patterns in Gadsden County, may be banned under a bill now before the Senate.

Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, filed SB 1376 on Wednesday to require quarter horse racing to be conducted on a straight path on a traditional oval or straight track.

The races would require a starting box, jockeys, be electronically timed and conducted over a flat, obstacle-free oval track of at least half a mile with horses registered by the America Quarter Horse Association.

Horse racing does not include steeplechases, hurdle races, barrel racing, timed events, pole bending, or any other rodeo or gymkhana-style events, the bill states.

Since Dec. 1, the Poarch Band Creek Indians have offered head-to-head quarter horse barrel racing at their $20 million pari-mutuel in Gretna.The tribe pits two riders at a time against each other in neighboring fields, running horses in a cloverleaf fashion around three barrels.

The races were set up as a means to allow the county to hold a referendum asking voters to approve more lucrative slot machines alongside the recently opened poker room.

The Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association and the Florida Quarter Horse Breeders and Owners Association are contesting the state license to allow barrel racing.

Hamilton County Downs, off Interstate 75 near the Georgia state line, has since filed a similar application to the state to offer barrel racing as a wagering activity.

Jones bill is considered related to HB 4173 that Rep. Shawn Harrison, R-Tampa, introduced on Dec. 21.

Harrisons bill focuses on repealing a law that allows for summer jai alai permits in South Florida, an item that Jones also seeks in his bill.