Possible Wyoming meet would benefit Utah horsemen

Evanston, WY. - April 8, 2011 - Live horse racing could return to southwest Wyoming.

Eugene Joyce, whose family once owned Wyoming Downs, is preparing an application to conduct a meet this summer in Rock Springs.

The application could be submitted to the Wyoming Parimutuel Commission as soon as Friday.

Even a short meet in Wyoming would greatly benefit Utah owners and trainers, who have a limited number of places to run their horses.

“No question,” said Stu Sprouse, president of the Utah Quarter Horse Racing Association. “Anybody putting on racing is going to get our support. I’m sure the horsemen here would support it.”

Joyce heads a group “that would relish the chance to get an industry that is in the ditch out of the ditch,” he said. “… We have a good plan in place” for a product that “can be sustained over time.”

Charles Moore is the executive director of the parimutuel commission.

Contacted Wednesday, Moore said, “We have no applications for living racing at this time. We have no applications for simulcasting at this time. We don’t have anything at this time.”

Moore declined to discuss any applications that have not yet filed.

Said Moore: “If we get an application, we will do our due diligence to make sure the state of Wyoming is protected, the integrity of the sport is protected and the horsemen are protected.”

If approved, Joyce’s application for live racing could be the first step toward acquisition of the license to operate Wyoming Off-Track Betting sites around the state, including one located in Evanston which serves the Wasatch Front.

The impact of Joyce’s application on Wyoming Downs is not known.

The state’s largest race track is owned by Eric Spector but has not conducted a live meet since 2009.

The off-track sites in Wyoming were closed last January in part, at least, because Spector had stopped conducting live racing.

read more: Salt Lake Tribune