Live racing returns to Wyoming

July 1, 2011 - Live horse racing will return to Wyoming in August for the first time in two years.

An investment group headed by the son of a former Wyoming track owner won permission today to run four days of live racing at Sweetwater Downs in Rock Springs. Eugene Joyce and Wyoming Horse Racing LLC also received approval to open off-track betting sites in Evanston and Rock Springs.

"There is still an appetite for betting on horses in Wyoming," Joyce said after the Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission granted his application for live racing and simulcast permits. "We are going to try to win those customers back."

Wyoming last hosted live racing in 2009 and the state's four simulcast betting sites closed six months ago. But Joyce and his partners believe the industry can be revived.

Although live racing doesn't make money, the investors hope to open eight to 10 off-track betting sites this year to keep their business profitable. Even during the recession, gamblers in Wyoming wagered between $9 and $10 million a year on simulcast races.

The first off-track businesses will open in mid-July, according to the plan described at today's commission meeting. Joyce said he'll focus next on opening sites in Casper and Cheyenne. He is currently looking for locations to house the simulcast businesses.

"There is no reason we can't grow this industry by expanding the number of sites," he said. "And that is part of our plan."

Joyce's group plans to run races at Sweetwater Down on Aug. 20 and 21, and again on Sept. 3 and 4. The track hasn't hosted horse racing in almost two decades.


Read more: Casper Star Tribune