Our View: For want of a horse (racing season) |
| Our View: For want of a horse (racing season) Posted: 04 Jan 2011 08:13 PM PST Did the dead horse of horse racing at the Ada County Fairgrounds take yet another flogging last week? Hard to say. Idaho Entertainment LLC — the outfit that held the lease agreement for the Expo Idaho racetrack — has asked Ada County to terminate its deal. That isn't necessarily a fatal development, given the track non-record. The company received the lease in 2009, and never could work out a contract with horse racing interests. Not surprisingly, Kenneth Elison of the Idaho Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association isn't mourning Idaho Entertainment's demise. "That's the best news we've had in three years." The ill feelings between Idaho Entertainment and horse racing groups hardly qualify as news anymore. Neither does this little tidbit: The Ada County fairgrounds hasn't hosted horse racing since 2008. That's three years. And that's enough. The parties have several months to work out a 2011 deal they all can live with. This should be a straightforward and symbiotic relationship. A lease-holder needs live racing to help bring in bettors. Racing groups want the opportunity to race in Idaho's most populous county. How difficult should it be to work out the details and carve up the revenue? Since Ada County commissioners have jurisdiction over the fairgrounds, they also have a role in breaking this impasse. And that will require them to move past some finger-pointing of their own. While incumbent Commissioners Rick Yzaguirre and Sharon Ullman have defended their decisions on the racetrack issue, commission candidate (and, now, Commissioner-elect) Vern Bisterfeldt has been a vocal critic. Idaho Entertainment's non-racing racetrack reign is history. It's time to put the campaign in the past as well, and time for the commissioners to saddle up and lead. WANT YOUR SAY? You must sign your submission and include an address and daytime telephone number for verification purposes. Letters: 200-word limit; one per month per writer. Reader's Views: 600-word limit; one per three months per writer. Reader's Views are selected to further explore topics of broad public interest. Priority is given to writers with unique knowledge or expertise on a subject and to rebuttals from subjects of recent editorials. The Statesman does not print: form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or complaints, poetry, open letters, letters espousing or attacking religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. • All submissions reflect the opinion of the writer. The Statesman cannot verify the accuracy of statements made in submitted material. How to submit • Online: IdahoStatesman.com/Letters. • E-mail: editorial@idahostatesman.com. • Fax: (208) 377-6449. • Mail: Letters to the Editor, Idaho Statesman, P.O. Box 40, Boise, ID 83707. All submissions become the property of the Idaho Statesman. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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