Horse Racing to Return to Missoula
Missoula, MT. February 6, 2010 - At one time, the state had 20 operating race
tracks. In 2009, there were only 3. But this year, you can add another to the
list.
After the paperwork is signed, horse racing will return to the Western Montana
Fair for two days in 2010.
Horse racing was discontinued in 2007 because of the costs of liability
insurance.
The county is teaming up with the owner of a California-based company, Oneida
Capital. Eric Spector operates the race track in Great Falls and all of the
off-track betting sites in Montana.
It will be Spector’s responsibility to fix up the race track. His contract will
be for one year. After a year, both Spector and the County will reevaluate its
success.
On top of horse racing, the county is still working on finalizing plans for the
fairgrounds redesign. But commissioners asked the planning consultants to delay
their next visit. It was scheduled for February 10th, but we’re told it will now
happen sometime in March.