No horse racing this summer

There will be no horse races during this summer’s Northwest Montana Fair, Flathead County Fairgrounds Manager Mark Campbell said Monday.

Members of the Kalispell Turf Club notified Campbell that the absence of funding from the Montana Board of Horse Racing is preventing them from staging local races.

Without that money to offset some operational costs, the Turf Club determined it couldn’t adequately fund the race program, he said.

Campbell had been talking with Turf Club members for several weeks about this summer’s race plans and he had been optimistic the group would be able to pull the event off.

“Horse racing has always been an exciting program at the Northwest Montana Fair,” Campbell said. “It will be missed, but we understand the challenges and costs associated in producing a live race meet.”

No other groups or individuals have expressed any interest to fair officials about staging horse races this summer, he said.

Last month, Campbell said if there was no horse racing this summer, he and Fair Board members would try to find an alternative event for the final Friday and Saturday afternoons of the fair. They would like to keep attendance high on those days.

Now that a decision about horse racing has been made, he will evaluate options for another event.

“I don’t know what we may offer as an alternative,” Campbell said. He wants to find an event that would attract many of the same people who would have attended the horse races. One idea already mentioned among his staff is to expand the Indian relay races and stage additional afternoon races.

Horse races also have been canceled in Missoula this summer because of the loss of funding from the state. No races were held there last summer, either.

The state horse racing board previously distributed some revenue generated from simulcast betting at off-track betting sites to tracks where live racing meets were held. Those off-track sites, however, no longer are operating as the board tries to get out of debt and revamp its operations under a new oversight board.

Separately, Campbell said the Kalispell Turf Club has leased space at the fairgrounds from mid-April until early August for its members to train race horses. He expects as many as 30 horses to be trained at the fairgrounds this summer. Trainers use the arena and barns.

Campbell views the training program as one more step in maintaining an interest in horse racing here.

“We’d like to have horse racing here,” he said.

Campbell plans to continue conversations with the Turf Club about staging races during the 2013 fair. This summer will mark the fourth year in the recent past with no horse races at the fair. Races were not held in 2007, 2008 or 2009.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.