He was correct. The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) approved Backstretch LLC's application for 61 live race dates in 2004 at the OHRC meeting Thursday in Oklahoma City.
The OHRC also approved simulcast racing at Blue Ribbon Downs, which could begin as early as next week, Gordon Hare, OHRC executive director, said. Backstretch plans to offer 358 days of simulcast racing at Blue Ribbon Downs and three simulcast centers at Enid, Lawton and Okmulgee.
The live race meet will run on two and three-day weekends during the spring and fall, from Feb. 21 through May 1 and from Aug. 6 through Oct. 30. Deal said that, although some of those race dates are on the same days as racing at Remington Park, he did not believe live racing at Blue Ribbon Downs would suffer.
"There is some overlap," Deal said, "but we don't expect the conflict to be too bad."
In the past, the fair race meets at Fair Meadows in Tulsa often attracted horses stabled, trained and raced at Blue Ribbon Downs. When Fair Meadows was holding live racing, the Sallisaw racetrack often had to cancel live racing due to a lack of entries.
The summer break in Blue Ribbon Downs' 2004 schedule should take of that, he said. "We'll be racing again in August," he said.
The OHRC also approved transferring escrowed horsemen's purse accounts from Race Horses Inc. to Backstretch LLC. The commission made arrangements for the state to hold the horsemen's purse funds, a total of $97,799.24, in escrow while the transfer of Blue Ribbon Downs' ownership took place.
The purse funds do not belong to the racetrack owner, but are monies set aside from other sources including entry fees, wagering, etc., which accrue for race purses.
The transfer of $196,869 in the Oklahoma-bred account for racing awards at Blue Ribbon Downs was also approved. The Oklahoma-bred program is for horses bred in Oklahoma only, and money is provided to the program by Oklahoma horse owners.
Backstretch LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Choctaw Nation, purchased Blue Ribbon Downs on Oct. 31, and finalized the sale on Nov. 3, paying off Race Horses Inc.'s past-due accounts, including over $3 million owed to the Sallisaw Municipal Authority, the same week.
Race Horses Inc. then sold races owned by Race Horses Inc. to the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association. The races include some of those most popular among horsemen, including the Back Gold race program which includes futurities and derbies at different Quarter Horse distances; the Blue Ribbon Futurity and Derby, traditionally held in March; and the Oklahoma-bred Quarter Horse Futurity, along with other races.
Oklahoma Appaloosa Racing has purchased the Strike It Rich Stallion Progeny race and will hold that race at Fair Meadows.
The Cherokee Nation took some steps backward from negotiations for a state gaming compact after the Choctaws purchased Blue Ribbon Downs, state Finance Director Scott Meacham said recently.
The compact, Meacham said, would perhaps have included gaming at the state's three racetracks, a proposition horsemen are supporting to improve horse racing revenues.
The Cherokees in October announced an interest in bidding on the racetrack at a sheriff's sale slated for Nov. 4, but the Choctaw Nation stepped in and purchased the track privately the week before the auction. The auction was to satisfy the debt Race Horses Inc. owed to the city.
Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation spokesman, said the racetrack lies within traditional Cherokee territory.
Concerns about the compact include Choctaw gaming in Cherokee territory.
Choctaw officials said the racetrack must run as a private business. Neal Leader, assistant attorney general who advises the OHRC, said the same. He said that although the racetrack is within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation, it is not located on Cherokee property, and thus falls under the state's jurisdiction.
Mike Bailey, Choctaw assistant chief, said the Choctaws did not intend to be in a conflict with the Cherokees. "We're not there to invade anyone else's sovereignty," he said. "It's not to be a conflict with the Cherokees."
Miller said the Cherokee Nation wishes the Choctaws luck with the racetrack, "for the good of the community." He also said the Cherokee Nation's "concerns are still there."
