Hialeah Park has selected 28 November as the first day of live racing under its new quarter-horse racing permit. After more than eight years closure the facility will offer 40 days of racing, ending 2 February, if State regulators approve the racing dates once public safety standards are cleared. The ability of Hialeah to reopen was dependent on Florida’s lawmakers granting permission for slots to be operated once the track had held races for two calendar years.

Hialeah has opted to hold one 20-day race season in November/December and another in January/February, meaning the slot machines could be installed in about one year’s time. Poker games will be allowed when the facility reopens for racing. The right to slots is linked to the Seminole Tribe gambling compact still to be ratified by Florida’s legislature. However, track owner John Brunetti is confident that the Hialeah slots agreement will not be rescinded.

Before the first race is run in November upgrades to air-conditioning, plumbing and handicapped access must be carried out. Before the full restoration of the national Historic Landmark is complete several years and an estimated US$100 million must be spent. Although Hialeah will reopen with quarter horse races (sprints over a quarter of a mile not held in Florida since 1991), the aim will be to bring back thoroughbred racing as in former years. (E-09.18.09)

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