Our family loves racing of all kinds—especially cars and horses.  We have been waiting to hear the news that Colonial Downs would re-open and give the Virginia horse industry a life line again.  However we are concerned by the recent articles and news reports that the Commission was considering 3,000 simulcast racing machines.  It was noted in the RTD that Kentucky only has 1,700—so why so many here?  We understand the desire to get racing back off the ground, but this is too many and way too fast.  

You also need to consider that voters decided if they wanted off-track-betting sites in their areas. So you all can’t just assume that the same localities and voters are willing and open to new OTB’s once again.  Local governments and citizens need to decide if OTB’s are right for their area, and in which area to place these betting parlors.  Too many OTB’s have failed because they were placed in challenging economic areas that could not support the industry.  You all must take that into account and not come out of the gates so quickly.  In this case, speed may not win the race.  

We encourage you to further limit the number of machines and bring a thorough approach to the opening of these OTB sites across the Commonwealth. Thank you for taking our thoughts into consideration.

Micky & David Ogburn