I just wanted to voice my support for the gambling regulations offered up by the Virginia Equine Alliance. For many years, Virginia was the horse capital of the world, long before Kentucky claimed the top spot. If you ask the average American to name the greatest racehorse in history, odds are the answer will be Secretariat. His name is synonymous with power and victory, and he hailed from Doswell, Virginia. His records in racing are still unmatched. Next to George Washington, he’s probably the greatest thing to ever come from Virginia. Over the years, poor, mismanaged government regulations have led to the decline of the great game of horse racing in our state. I watched the Colonial Downs situation escalate and saw our track meet its untimely demise. Hundreds lost their jobs, and the economy took a hit, particularly around the New Kent area. Virginia needs horse racing. And horse racing needs to be modernized in order to appeal to the every day American. These new regulations to gambling would be a very positive thing for our state; fueling our economy, putting people back to work, and moving us back towards being a force in the racing industry. Virginia is not going to become another Los Vegas under these purposed changes. And the correlation between casinos and crime largely debatable. Too much government interference and red tape killed our sport last time. I do not want to see the second incarnation of Colonial Downs suffer the same fate.