Can somebody please explain to me how Gretna got to be such an important player in the Seminole Compact decision?
I've been scratching my head over that all week.
The fact is, between Monday and Thursday I heard it half a dozen times in the Capitol -- gambling expansion in Florida depends on what the Supreme Court decides about Gretna.
How can that be? For goodness sake, that's like Wall Street saying, "We can't reverse the downward trend of the Dow until we get Bernie Madoff back."
Gretna is plain-and-simple an illegal operation. And why it's gotten as far as it has is beyond me.
Maybe you aren't aware, but a pari-mutuel known as Hamilton Downs conducted the exact, same illegal events as the Gretna facility -- both dumpy, dusty outposts, one in Hamilton County, the other 24 miles west of Tallahassee in Gadsden County.
Both facilities' business models were carbon copies of each other. Each was running phony races. The state cited both of them and in 2013 DOAH issued an 87-page ruling saying the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering had overstepped its authority in issuing a license for "pari-mutuel barrel racing."
The ruling said 1) barrel racing isn't real racing, and 2) it's not a legitimate and approved Quarter Horse race.
In June 2013 Gretna and Hamilton Downs both were ordered to cease and desist "pari-mutuel barrel racing." At about the same time, the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering entered into a consent agreement with Hamilton and Gretna, essentially saying that while it's in the process of rulemaking, Hamilton and Gretna can conduct "flag drops."
In 2015, Hamilton, which owns two permits, suddenly relinquished its jai alai permit to the state of Florida -- just gave it back. An unprecedented event.
Then the state filed a complaint against Hamilton's Quarter Horse permit, but -- get this -- ignored that the same thing is going on at Gretna. Same events, yet no complaint is filed.
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court is considering the merits of slot machines at Gretna.
Remember, two years of "live racing" are required for a permitholder to be licensed for slot machines.
Now here's the rub: If the events at Gretna and Hamilton have been ruled illegal, how is it that a slot license can be awarded to either of these two? But Gretna certainly figures they're in the hunt for one and so do the legislators I talked to earlier in the week.
Hamilton has a hearing on its case March 7-9.
Florida racehorse owners, trainers and breeders described the events that have taken place at Hamilton and Gretna Racing LLC as “defacto decoupling,” explaining that they are designed to skirt Florida requirements for legitimate live horse racing.
Thoroughbred horsemen had joined in support of the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association, which prevailed in the 2013 litigation over “pari-mutuel barrel racing.”
There are 39 pari-mutuel licenses in Florida. If every one of the counties those licenses represent actually votes for slots, the Sunshine State becomes a very different place. Down the road, no jai alai, no live racing, for that matter, no horse industry to speak of. A casino perhaps in every third county in the state.
Nothing seems quite above board today in the sad world of pari-mutuel wagering under Gov. Rick Scott's Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
As horse racing writer Ray Paulick said of Florida on his website The Paulick Report, "Slick lawyers and opportunists are making a sham and a mockery of the rules that regulate horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering, along with the sport of racing itself."
To "slick lawyers and opportunists" I would add "elected officeholders looking for committee cash."
Here's the bottom line: If the state finds Hamilton Downs illegal -- which it has -- then so is Gretna. And because Gretna is illegal, any Florida expansion of gambling based on some kind of Supreme Court vindication of Gretna's right to offer slot machines will be as meaningless as a campaign promise blowing in the wind.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
