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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1.
How many race days is management required to race in Florida to
maintain its slots and its card room licenses? Answer:
Florida
Statutes require that the permit holder (Isle of Capri) must race 140
live performances during the fiscal year to conduct their card room
(Florida Statute Section 849.086) to be eligible for a card room
license in the State of Florida. The 140 race days must be raced in the
year prior to the license application. The slots operation requires 100
live performance days. Based on the excellent financial results of the
card room, it is improbable. 2.
What will the race calendar look like for next year? Will we be
racing at Pompano Park during the summer months? We
will be racing at Pompano Park in 2009. Based on the mandated minimum
140 race days required for the Isle to get its card room permit approved
mathematically the meet must go beyond May 1 to achieve the 140 day
minimum. We are working with the management of the Isle to get the
calendar solidified as soon as possible. 3.
If the Isle gets a quarter horse permit for the summer, do those
dates count against the 140 minimum dates for harness horses? No.
According to Florida Statute 550.3355, quarter horse permits may be
issued from June 1 through September 1 for a 50 day license. Such a
quarter horse license would be in addition to the harness horse dates
and, therefore, would be in addition to the 140 minimum required harness
horse race dates. 4.
When will the Florida bred Stakes races be held if Pompano is not
open this summer? We
will schedule our full Florida bred stakes program as soon as we get the
track dates set with the Isle. The entire Florida bred stakes program
will be raced. We will inform all FSBOA members as soon as we are clear
on the dates. The Florida bred program is sound and will be raced. 5.
What’s going on with the lawsuit? We
filed a motion for summary judgment in Tallahassee and we are set to
attend a scheduling conference with the judge in November. The hearing
date will be set then. Most likely the hearing won’t be held until
early 2009. We will keep the FSBOA member apprised of the litigation as
things progress. 6.
Is the FSBOA doing anything about the quarter horse issue? Yes,
we met with the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering in the summer and plan
to meet with them again in December regarding the potential for quarter
horse racing at Pompano. There is no statutory language regarding purse
dollars from cardroom receipts for quarter horse racing and our position
is that any revenues from cardroom revenues should be used for harness
horse purses only as required by statute (47% of net for purses plus 3%
of net for breeder’s awards) in Florida Statute 849.086 13 (d)). 7.
When will a new Executive Director for the FSBOA be hired?
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