Photo:

Courtesy Colonial Downs

Proposed legislation would move oversight of historical horse-racing machines away from the Virginia Racing Commission. TheRacingBiz reports that the move raises concerns because HHR machines are the primary source of purse money for racing.

House bill 2498 would move HHR oversight to the Virginia Lottery and then to a new Virginia Gaming Commission, which the bill would create.

The proposal comes as Gulfstream Park owner 1/ST Racing is supporting legislation to decouple gaming machines from racing at the South Florida track, prompting fears about its future.

TheRacingBiz noted that HHR was key to the return of Thoroughbred racing to Virginia in 2019 after being approved the year before.

The proposed legislation comes after a 2022 report by the joint Legislative and Audit Review Committee that found the Virginia Racing Commission had “not taken actions necessary to effectively regulate large-scale commercial gaming,” according to TheRacingBiz. The committee also noted that the racing commission had four full-time employees and that none of them had the experience needed to regulate HHR machines.

The racing commission hired Waqas Ahmed as executive director last summer, according to the report. He had been deputy executive director of Kentucky’s racing commission, specializing in HHR.