Playfair Otb Proposal Goes On Table Today

Off-track betting at Playfair Race Course would continue this week under a proposal to be submitted today to the Washington Horse Racing Commission.

The proposal will come from the newly formed Muckleshoot Tribal Horse Racing Corporation, which has acquired the corporate stock of Playfair’s current license holder, Spokane businessman and horseman Stan Horton.

Horton and his partners, Dave Martin and Dave Blankenship, transferred their stock to the tribal corporation headed by current Playfair CEO Don Johnson.

Horton’s license expires Thursday.

The racing commission has called for a 2 p.m. meeting on May 5 at the SeaTac Holiday Inn to consider the proposal.

The tribal corporation hopes to convince commissioners to grant it a license. The commission, to be expanded from three to five voting members, has denied the tribe’s previous requests to assume ownership, citing a potential conflict of interest if a casino operator, such as the Muckleshoot Tribe, is allowed to run a racetrack.

At stake for now is continuation of Playfair as an off-track betting site over the busy Kentucky Derby weekend. A portion of money wagered at the Spokane track on races from Churchill Downs and other tracks goes into the local horsemen’s purse account.

Among the commission’s options is suspending operations at Playfair effective Friday until the license request is reviewed and a new operator approved.

Included in today’s proposal is a request for 43 days of on-site racing at Playfair, from Sept. 6 through Dec. 9, Johnson said.

Johnson said he is optimistic the commission will move to keep operations going at the Spokane track.