Florida Racing's Fight

Florida racing's fight against pari-mutuel barrel racing.

May 9, 2012

In early April, a Florida administrative law judge began hearing a dispute about whether barrel racing is an allowed pari-mutuel activity. This is in regard to Gretna Racing, in Gretna, Florida, near Tallahassee on the Georgia border, which conducted a pari-mutuel barrel racing meet that opened on December 2, 2011. The controversial move is opposed by racing and barrel racing representatives both in the state and nationally.

The case was subsequently postponed until June, but recently released reports describe some of the possible influences on the situation.

The Paulick Report today outlined what it describes as a “bizarre Florida barrel racing scheme”.

The Miami Herald this weekend published a two part report about Gov. Rick Scott and his chief of staff Steve MacNamara. MacNamara worked at Gretna Racing part-owner Marc Dunbar’s law firm, the Herald says, and listed it as a source of income in 2010. Read part one and part two of the story at the Miami Herald's website.