On March 17, 2014, Florida's First
District Court of Appeal denied Gretna Racing's request for a rehearing of its
recent ruling that will prohibit the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering
from allowing Gretna Racing or any other Florida entity to conduct
"pari-mutuel barrel racing," the Blood-Horse's Jim Freer reports.
Just over a month earlier, that court
upheld a May 2013 administrative ruling that Florida pari-mutuel regulators
violated a state rulemaking process in 2011 when Gretna Racing was granted a
license to hold "pari-mutuel barrel racing" under its Quarter Horse
permit. And yet, after the initial ruling, the Florida Division of
Pari-Mutuel Wagering immediately pivoted to allow Gretna Racing to hold
pari-mutuel "flag drop" races with Quarter Horses.
Neither "pari-mutuel barrel
racing" or "flag drops" are accredited by the American Quarter Horse
Association, a global organization of 350,000 members across 14
different nations.
Meanwhile, Gretna Racing continues to
host a poker room and daily simulcasting that includes Thoroughbred signals.
To read the complete story on the Blood-Horse, an international horse
racing magazine, go to:
