HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The threat of Pennsylvania's horse racing commission getting shut down as soon as Friday could not have come at a worse time for local breeders.
Hundreds of horses are on sale this week at the state's annual standardbred horse sale, taking place at Harrisburg's Farm Show Complex. Nearly two-thirds of them are sired in Pennsylvania, according to Paul Spears, President of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company.
"We are very dependent on those Pennsylvania buyers for our success," he said. "But all the controversy that's been generated these last couple weeks has had a very detrimental effect on our sales."
Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding says the state could close the gates on horse racing and its six tracks statewide by the end of the week. In October, Governor Tom Wolf indicated the State Racing Fund was operating without money. Wolf originally planned for an October 30 shutdown, but negotiations between Redding, track owners, and the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horseman's Association have been positive, allowing for a deadline extension.
However, uncertainty in the future of horse racing in Pennsylvania has scared potential buyers away from the Farm Show.
The sale typically lands around $55 million per year, Spears says. Through three days this week, sales are on pace to run approximately 16-percent less than average. For local breeders like Hanover Shoe Farms in York County, the lack of buyer money means less money to spend next year and fewer contributions to the local economy.
"They get paid once a year," Spears says of the breeders at the Farm Show this week. "Whatever they make this week, they have to live on until next year."
On Monday, Redding visited the Farm Show complex on the first day of the sale.
"I'd characterize it as tense, and then cordial," he said of running into many of the people the Pennsylvania government is threatening to close down.
Redding emphasizes the state's racing industry needs an overhaul, including a consolidation of its throughbred and standardbred commissions. He says 12 issues are currently up for debate, with most having been resolved.
"The industry is so interwoven with the gaming, track operators, (and) breeds themsevles that it really ought to be a larger commission structure," Redding said. "The future position of this industry is what's really at stake. I'll remain confident through Friday."