Gov. DeSantis attends Florida sale to support racing

As a bill that would allow racetracks to decouple horse racing from slot machines makes its way through the Florida legislature, Governor Ron DeSantis visited the OBS 2-year-olds in training sale Thursday morning to show support for the Thoroughbred industry.

"We have a big, diverse state, different populations can be for different things," DeSantis said, perhaps in reference to the bill's sponsor being from the state's panhandle. "I understand the importance of the (horse-racing) industry to the state, not just in terms of the economy, which it is important, but the culture and way of life.

"So we’ll be looking at what ends up being produced in the Florida legislature, but you can count me as one who will not look favorably on legislation that is going to decimate (an industry)."

The Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry has done a full-court press against the bill, which on Tuesday moved from the Senate as a separate bill back to the House as part of a larger gambling bill. Before the OBS visit, DeSantis had neither backed nor supported the bill, which has passed favorably through four committees on its current voyage to a senate committee and then the house.

Decoupling, which also would allow Tampa Bay Downs to split its racing and card-room licenses, has been pushed by The Stronach Group in its hopes to increase gaming revenue without being tied down by the requirement that it run at least 40 days of races per year.