Decoupling will be of paramount concern for horsemen and those worried about its imminent devastating effects on Florida's Thoroughbred, American Quarter Horse and Standardbred industries when the Florida Senate Regulated Industries Committee at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Can somebody please explain to me how Gretna got to be such an important player in the Seminole Compact decision?
Florida horsemen are screwed. Only a miracle can save the $1.2 billion Florida horse racing industry they represent. Not a single savior emerged Tuesday.
It's not exactly hush-hush. But neither does anybody want to talk on the record. Nevertheless, here it is: A new comprehensive gaming bill pushed by a consortium of gaming industry operatives is apparently close to being filed in the Florida Legislature.
Legislators, don't sign off on the Seminole Compact until you uncouple "decoupling."
When Tampa Bay Downs Thoroughbred trainer and Massachusetts transplant Laurine Fuller-Vargas recently heard that Florida legislators were considering the possibility of decoupling horse racing from slot machines, she put her anger into immediate action, walking the businesses in her hometown of Morristown, knocking on doors and distributing literature on NoDecoupling.com to spread the word among her fellow horsemen that their livelihoods could actually come to an end if Florida were to enact the misguided policy.
