By Dan Ross
Two days after first being quietly unveiled at Santa Anita, the Racing on Demand slot machine-style parimutuel games—with distinct similarities to Historic Horse Racing—were removed from the track by Department of Justice law enforcement officers Saturday afternoon.
In videos shared with the TDN, law enforcement officers are seen wheeling the machines out the back of the Santa Anita grandstand on gurneys.
There have been 26 machines in total operating in the grandstand pavilion since Thursday. They offered $1 bets and required gamblers to select the first three finishers of three random six-horse previously-run races.
The ultimate purpose of the machines was to provide a much-needed additional source of income for Santa Anita's purses, which have struggled to compete with other states where purse accounts are juiced by supplemental revenue sources like HHR machines.
The question had been whether the machines were legal or not without explicit approval from Tribal entities in the state who hold a lock on non-pari-mutuel wagering in California.
In a short statement issued late Saturday evening, Los Angeles Turf Club senior vice-president Scott Daruty maintained that they were.
“We stand firmly behind our legal analysis. Racing On Demand operates under California's longstanding pari-mutuel wagering laws using a wager that regulators already approved. Attorney General Bonta received our comprehensive legal analysis nearly a year ago. His office had ample time to raise concerns. They did not. We proceeded on solid legal ground, and since the state is choosing to challenge that now, we're fully prepared to defend ourselves. We're confident the law is clear,” Daruty wrote.
It's currently unclear what and who specifically precipitated the action Saturday. Politically powerful Tribal entities, however, told the LA Times Thursday that they would have a “full throated” response to machines going in at Santa Anita, arguing that they violate the tribal compact on gambling.
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