After adding an amendment to include both Thoroughbred
tracks in the state, a Florida legislative panel voted 12-4 to approve a controversial
bill Wednesday that would allow Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to
decouple their racing and gaming licenses.

After hearing emotional testimony from Belmont
Stakes-winning trainer Jena Antonucci and two other horsemen, the House industries
and professional-activities subcommittee took barely a half-hour before following
party lines to advance the proposal. As originally written, the bill would let Gulfstream
Park run its slot machines without having the current 40-day annual racing
requirement.

Approval was signaled early when Brad Yeager, part of a
united Republican majority, won approval of an amendment that also would allow
Tampa Bay Downs to decouple its card room from its racing license.

“This is a friendly amendment,” Yeager said. Later he added,
“In my opinion this doesn’t affect the Thoroughbred industry like was said by
the bill sponsor (Adam Anderson). They can still have live racing all they
want. This does not affect them at all.”

Antonucci fought back tears saying “this is a little
overwhelming” as she begged to differ.

“The idea that Gulfstream Park would potentially not be a
cornerstone of horse racing is absolutely mind-numbing,” she said. “But past
that, more than anything, is what it would mean to our local economies, to the
agriculture in this state and the billions of dollars it generates just behind
tourism and what that means if (there are) less farm owners and less community
and less enrichment. The racing is just a very, very small portion of what
happens.”

Anderson, a Republican whose district includes Tampa Bay
Downs, said his proposal would maintain legislative momentum established four
years ago. That was when decoupling allowed casinos to stay open while Pompano
Park harness and Hialeah Park quarter-horse racing went on their own and
eventually failed. Some frontons hosting jai alai also went out of business
even as their adjacent casino games stayed open.

“This burdensome and anti-business policy (of coupling)
restricted jai-alai and then other horse-racing permit holders,” Anderson told
the subcommittee. “However, the legislation did not appropriately apply the new
policy to Thoroughbred permit holders. So this bill brings Thoroughbred permit
holders who are currently coupled with slot machines in line with these current
statutes that govern all other live events. So very simply put, the bill
applies the core principles that we value in the free state of Florida to the Thoroughbred
industry.”

Jeff Johnston, a lobbyist working for Stronach Group,
which owns Gulfstream Park, followed Antonucci to the podium during public
comment and doubled down on what Anderson said earlier.

“I don’t know if there’s confusion, but nobody said racing
is stopping,” Johnston said. “They’re decoupling the two so they can be
independent, and it gives the track flexibility to do things that they need to
do at the track. Nowhere in the bill, and you can read the bill, does it say
that racing will discontinue.”

Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association CEO Lonny
Powell swung the pendulum back the other way when he pointed out the racetracks
no longer operating after they were given the OK to separate from their gaming
licenses.

“Decoupling just gives the racetrack the option not to run and not to share
gaming revenues,” Powell said. “You won’t find a single track that was given
the option to run, that was given the opportunity to decouple, such as Pompano.
They all decoupled.”

Jan Meehan, vice president of the Tampa Bay Horsemen’s
Benevolent and Protective Association, took it one step further.

“It would be pretty much be the end of Florida racing, because
they’ve already stated in some of their articles that they can’t guarantee
anything after three years,” Meehan said. “They decouple. They can say, ‘OK, we
have our casino. We don’t need you anymore.’ That’s what it’s going to end up.”

Democrat Yvonne Hayes Hinson, whose district includes the Thoroughbred
breeding hub in Ocala, was the subcommittee’s most vocal opponent of decoupling,
pointing out that it threatens 112,000 jobs.

“I’m a little stunned about this bill,” she said. “Florida
is home to the horse capital of the world, world-class Thoroughbreds, breeders
and trainers, and a $3.24 billion equine industry, much of it in my district
Marion County. My question is why on earth would you pull that kind of money
out of the Florida industry? And how is that economical?”

“This bill does nothing to change any funding the industry
actually has,” Anderson said. “It is currently subsidized with $25 million of
direct subsidies, and nothing changes with those subsidies.”

That sentiment carried the day with the subcommittee. The
House commerce committee, which is made up of 19 Republicans and seven Democrats, will be the next step for the bill. An identical version of the proposal that
does not yet include Wednesday’s amendment was filed last Wednesday in the Senate,
which also has a Republican majority

The regular session of the full House and Senate begins its
60-day run March 4. If the decoupling proposal were to be approved and signed
into law by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, it would take effect July 1.

Gulfstream executives promised horsemen last month that
racing would continue through 2028 if decoupling were to become a reality. If
not, they said, they could not make any such guarantee. Horsemen have become
united in their opposition, saying they believe Stronach Group is keen to
profit from selling the land at Gulfstream Park.

Horse Racing Nation covered the hearing remotely online via The Florida Channel live streaming.