Lone Star handle plunges with interstate simulcasting blocked

Handle on racing from Lone Star Park plunged Saturday after state regulators blacked out the track’s simulcasting signal to other states rather than comply with the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which took effect on Friday.

Through the first four races Saturday at Lone Star Park, total handle was $83,683, or less than $21,000 per race. That compares to a total handle of $488,051, an average of just over $122,000 per race, through the first four races on the previous Saturday.

The win, place and show pool for the first race at the Grand Prairie oval, a $15,000 maiden claiming race for Texas-breds, was just $5,634, according to Equibase statistics.

The shutoff of interstate wagering is the result of the Texas Racing Commission’s challenge to the federal law’s jurisdiction, with the board maintaining that Texas law gives it exclusive authority to regulate races run in the state.

As a result, the commission elected to shut down interstate simulcasting as it appeals an adverse court ruling rejecting its contention that the federal law is unconstitutional.

The federal act was signed into law in 2020, and called for a newly created Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to draft and enforce uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S.

The law, overseen by the Federal Trade Commission, is comprised of two programs: the racetrack safety program, which took effect on Friday, and the anti-doping and medication control program, which will go into effect in January 2023.