Playfair Proponents Get Restraining Order

Spokane horse racing interests surfaced on two fronts Monday.

Attorneys for New Playfair Park Inc. won a temporary restraining order that prevents the Washington Horse Racing Commission from granting race dates to the state’s two other major racing associations, pending appeal.

A Thurston County Superior Court judge granted the restraining order until Sept. 6, racing commission executive secretary Bruce Batson said.

Last Thursday, the commission denied New Playfair Park’s application for a license to operate the Spokane track.

Attorneys Jerry Levine and Mary Prevost asked the court to prevent the commission from issuing 1996-97 or 1997-98 racing dates to Emerald Downs or Yakima Meadows until acting on a request still pending for race dates submitted by Playfair Racing Inc., the current lease holder at the Spokane track.

The current leasee, Playfair Racing Inc., won’t conduct a race meet in ‘96 but it did ask for conditional ‘96 racing dates in Spokane, hoping a new investor would emerge.

New Playfair Park Inc., a corporation formed by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, hopes to take over the lease and eventually turn racing here into a profitable venture.

The tribe had not formally appealed as of Monday, Batson said. When it does, the commission will hear New Playfair Park’s appeal within 20 days.

Meanwhile, a group of Inland Northwest horsemen were in Olympia today, carrying their protest to the governor’s office.

Gov. Mike Lowry is in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. A letter of protest was presented to a member of Lowry’s staff, New Playfair Park vice-president Ted Martin said.

Local horsemen are protesting the racing commssion’s decision to turn down the tribe’s bid for a license to operate Playfair.

, DataTimes