Horse racing deal reached in Great Falls
The Daily Inter Lake
GREAT FALLS - Cascade County commissioners have approved a one-year agreement with a California-based group to manage horse racing in Great Falls this summer.
Montana Racing LLC, a subsidiary of Oneida Capital LLC, will take over the county's pari-mutuel horse racing facilities and hold race dates on July 18-19 and July 24-26, during the Montana State Fair.
The county will pay $2,000 along with the cost of any repairs needed for equipment and property at the track - far less than the $70,000 the county projected it would lose if it managed the race meet.
The contract with Montana Racing has the company and the county splitting the cost of removing manure from the ground. In addition, Montana Racing will receive $4,500 in concession money for the five racing days, but will pay the county $2,500 to lease the facilities for 10 weeks, starting Friday.
Commission Chairman Joe Briggs said Tuesday that the grounds will become available for training horses as soon as possible.
Commissioners say Oneida Capital has expertise in horse racing that fans will notice when the group takes over.
The fate of horse racing in Great Falls was uncertain this year, in part because the state did not renew a $65,000 subsidy for horse racing at Montana ExpoPark, the county-owned fairgrounds.
Even with the subsidy, the county lost $10,000 last summer, Briggs said.
Briggs said Oneida Capital initially inquired about buying the race track from Cascade County. Another Oneida Capital subsidiary, Wyoming Entertainment, bought Wyoming's only horse racing track in Evanston in 2006 and renovated it.
"Before we would sell this property, there would have to be a great deal of public discussion," Briggs said, so talks turned to a leasing arrangement.
He said the company was concerned about making money under the short-term contract.
"It's a one-year deal that will give us a chance to get to know each other," Briggs said. "We'll just have to see how things go."
The state Board of Horse Racing lists only three approved sites for horse racing in Montana this summer - Miles City this month, Great Falls in July and Yellowstone Downs in Billings in August and September.