By T. D. Thornton
A bill to legalize historical race gaming machines passed the Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday by a 79-21 vote and now advances to the Senate for further consideration.
The Feb. 13 passage of HB1609 represents the latest–and strongest–attempt to revive Thoroughbred racing in Virginia, which has not hosted a commercial Thoroughbred race meeting since the 2013 summer season at Colonial Downs.
Revolutionary Racing, a Chicago-based company, has emerged over the past several months as a potential buyer of Colonial Downs, and the company has made it clear that the deal hinges on the legalization of some historical race gaming legalization.
Revolutionary Racing is headed by chairman Larry Lucas, an entrepreneur who formerly served as chairman of YouBet.com, and president Prentice Salter, a management services specialist who most recently led the development of a country-wide network of 63 off-track betting facilities in the Dominican Republic.
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