The application will request both live race dates and simulcasting days, Deal said.
Last week the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) approved a rule change that will allow Backstretch LLC, which is owned by the Choctaw Nation, to apply for a 2004 racing license. The deadline to submit 2004 applications was June 1, Gordon Hare, OHRC executive director, said. The rule change will allow new owners of racetracks to apply for race dates later.
The Choctaw Nation, through Backstretch LLC, purchased Blue Ribbon Downs from Race Horses Inc. on Oct. 31, just days before the track was to be sold Nov. 4 to satisfy a debt to the City of Sallisaw. The remainder of the loan and Blue Ribbon Downs' past-due property taxes were paid Nov. 3.
Deal said the application for 2004 race dates, "is a work in progress. We're hoping to submit the application by mid-December."
Hare said the OHRC-approved rule change, which will allow Backstretch LLC to apply for a license, must still be signed by the governor. "We hand carried the proposal to him this afternoon," Hare said Friday.
Hare's assistant, Bonnie Morris, said Tuesday that Gov. Brad Henry has not yet signed the rule change to her knowledge. "He has 45 days to sign it," Morris said. "It hasn't been returned to us yet."
If Henry approves the rule change, Blue Ribbon Downs' application for race days could be on the OHRC agenda Dec. 18. But Morris said that regularly scheduled meeting has been cancelled the last three years due to the holidays.
"But this meeting hasn't been cancelled yet," she said.
The next regularly scheduled OHRC meeting is Jan. 15.
Deal said he isn't sure yet how many days Backstretch LLC will request. When the Choctaw Nation bought the track is was reported they hope to seek between 60 and 80 live race days.
Deal said the application will request live racing dates mostly on the weekends.
