Sam Houston postpones plans to resume national simulcasts

Sam Houston Race Park will not resume interstate simulcast wagering on Friday, reversing a plan that it had announced Wednesday.

That announcement came in a news release posted to Twitter on the track's official account Friday morning. It said Sam Houston will continue to distribute its signal to Texas wagering locations as well as international locations that do not require compliance with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

Texas tracks, including Sam Houston, have not been allowed to export wagering signals to other states since July 1, when provisions of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act took effect. The Texas Horse Racing Commission does not recognize the authority of HISA, which requires approval for exporting signals interstate.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 18 in a lawsuit filed by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and others that HISA was unconstitutional for "delegating unsupervised government power to a private entity." Language was added to it in the omnibus spending bill signed by President Joe Biden on Dec. 29. That language gave the FTC authority to "abrogate, add to, and modify the rules of the (horse racing) authority." After that was passed, HISA asked the court to vacate the ruling finding it unconstitutional.

A Tuesday ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied that appeal and remanded the case to the district court. After that ruling, the Texas Horse Racing Commission stated in a letter that HISA "has no effect on the state of Texas" and that it would consider requests to export wagering signals "in a manner consistent with Texas law."

After the ruling and the announcement by the Texas Horse Racing Commission, Sam Houston announced Wednesday that it would resume exporting its signal to other states on Friday.

The track's release attributed the change to continued legal uncertainties surrounding the federal authority, stating that "more time is needed to fully evaluate the many legal complexities." It said the track would resume exporting its signal to other states when it is "confident that it can be done in accordance with applicable laws and regulations."