Blue Ribbon Downs will not be a pari-mutual racetrack again, Chad Smith, Cherokee Nation principal chief, told the Associated Press last week.

But there is a chance that horse owners and trainers won’t have to leave the area if the Cherokee Nation agrees to a lease proposed by Joel Pierce of Sallisaw.

Pierce, who owns Pierce Feeds in Sallisaw and is himself a racehorse owner, said Thursday, “We submitted our proposal to the Cherokee Nation on Jan. 22, as requested, but we haven’t heard anything back yet.”

Pierce said he submitted a “turn-key proposal” to the Cherokee Nation to lease the racetrack and all its equipment as a training track.

“That means they will provide the starting gates, tractors, everything we’d need to operate a training track,” Pierce said. “That would help these boys (horse trainers and owners) from having to go someplace else.”

Pierce, who owns a training facility just east of the Blue Ribbon Downs property, said he didn’t want to release the amount of money offered to lease the racetrack, and the rumor that he might open a restaurant in one of the buildings at the racetrack was not true.

Although Smith told the Associated Press that the nation “bought 100 acres that had a track on it,” the racetrack property is actually 222 acres, according to the Sequoyah County Clerk and Assessor’s offices.

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation spokesman, said Friday morning, “The chief wasn’t intimately involved in the purchase of the racetrack,” and didn’t know specifically how large the property was.

Miller said the purchase was done by the business arm of the Cherokee Nation, which is known as Cherokee Nation Enterprises (CNE).

Miller said CNE is also reviewing Pierce’s proposal, and Miller did not know where the lease was in the review process.

“I know they are still reviewing it,” Miller said about both Pierce’s proposal and what CNE might do with the property.

Miller said, “I’m not going to rule out anything.”

There is not deadline or timeline for making a decision on the track’s future use, Miller said.

But he added, “The land is on Interstate 40, so there are a lot of options. We’re interested in growing the economy and creating jobs in our area, and Sequoyah County is in our area. We’re trying to figure out the best way to do that with that property. Sequoyah County is a big part of the Cherokee Nation and we want the economy to thrive and we want jobs for Cherokees and others there.”

Sallisaw Mayor Shannon Vann said Thursday that he has heard nothing new about the racetrack.

“Nothing seems to be happening,” he said.

Vann said it would be nearly impossible to tell at this point what effect the track’s closing has had on Sallisaw’s or the area’s economy because of the recession. Sallisaw’s sales tax returns dropped throughout the fall and winter months, causing city officials some concern about the city’s budget. But tax returns were up in January, most likely reflecting Christmas and after-Christmas shopping.

“Our sales tax receipts were up about $29,000,” Vann said. “That’s the good news. January (sales tax returns) might be bad, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Traditionally, sales tax returns drop in January, Vann said.

Vann said he talked to Pierce and believes the Pierce lease proposal would be good for area horsemen.

“It’s probably easier to get the horses trained here,” Vann said, “because the horsemen can’t stall and train at the other racetracks.”

Vann said, “The only bad thing is they wouldn’t be able to get their official works in here.”

The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission and all other such commissions require that the horse be observed by commission officials in a race setting, on the racetracks, to determine if the horse has been trained well enough to race without injury to itself or the horsemen who handle and ride the horse. These official works are traditionally done at the racetrack where the horse is stalled.

Blue Ribbon Downs was sold by the Choctaw Nation to the Cherokee Nation on Dec. 10, after the Choctaw Nation closed the racetrack permanently on Nov. 28. Miller confirmed that the Cherokee Nation is still allowing horsemen to use the Blue Ribbon Chapel as a church.