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Playfair Seeks Answers For 1996 Track Gm Says It Won’t Be Successful Year

By Dan Weaver danwe@spokesman.com

Operators of the state’s three major race tracks are discussing ways to salvage a 1996 horse racing season in Spokane, the general manager of Spokane’s Playfair Race Course said Thursday.

Dan Hillyard, Playfair GM, will meet again today with Ron Crockett, president of Emerald Downs, the new track in Auburn that opens in June.

The goal is to formulate long-range solutions to Playfair’s declining on-site attendance and parimutuel wagering, Hillyard said.

Playfair has yet to request 1996 racing dates with the Washington Horse Racing Commission.

Asked if exploring long-range solutions means management of the Spokane track has given up on next season, Hillyard said it’s his feeling that something can be worked out.

He said he could be ready to seek 1996 dates by next week.

Asked if Playfair president Stan Horton is ready to pay off the final year of his lease with track owner Jack Pring and withdraw from operating the facility, Hillyard said Horton wants to continue to support live, on-site racing.

The commission last week agreed to a 100-day inaugural season for Emerald Downs, from June 20 through Nov. 4. Construction delays have pushed the new track’s schedule more than two months past the proposed opening.

This year, Playfair ran from Sept. 6 through Nov. 27.

“Even if we got into December (of 1996), that would only give us 27 days,” Hillyard said. “The dates aren’t there (for a fall meeting here). There’s not enough room on the calendar.”

Yakima Meadows was granted a 40-day extension of its current winter meet, to June 10.

Hillyard said Playfair had considered an April opening but anticipated a shortage of fit horses.

“I think we’re going to run (in 1996),” Hillyard said. “But this is such a fluky year (with Emerald Downs opening late). Nothing can happen in ‘96 to make it a successful year (at Playfair). We’re going to have to come up with the best we can do. Our goal is a long-term solution that the next guy (who operates Playfair) can step into.”

, DataTimes