That all changed when Wyoming Horse Racing was granted permission by the Wyoming Pari-Mutual Commission to host live horse racing in Rock Springs.

So, on August 20th and 21st as well as September 3rd and 4th Wyoming saw it’s first live horses races.

With the races now over the Natrona County Commission has approved allowing off-track betting in Casper and the surrounding area.

Wyoming Horse racing is the business group that was able to bring live horse racing back into the state.Wyoming Horse Racing won the approval of the commission on Tuesday, September 6th. The business group will no be able to offer simulcast wagering at Sidelines Sports Bar in Casper. Wyoming Horse Racing hopes to have simulcast wagering in Casper operating by the end of September.

My take on this? It’s about damned time.

Why not have horse racing in a state where people race horses on their own? I love Wyoming. I have a friend who owns a dude ranch in Wyoming. He owns horses.

Loves horse racing.

So why not allow him the pleasure of watching and betting on a race if he wants to?

That’s called personal freedom.

38 U.S. states have para mutuel horse race betting.

Will Georgia, the state where I went to college, be next?

I hope so.

Georgia has the state lottery.

Will more gambling be coming to our state? It’s possible, but probably not for a while.

Here’s why:

Horse racing in Georgia is the topic being explored by a study committee led by Roswell Republican Rep. Harry Geisinger.

The group is holding hearings around the state on pari-mutuel betting on horse racing and will made recommendations to the General Assembly by the end of the year.

But getting the issue on 2012 ballots may be difficult.

The state must have a constitutional amendment on the issue.

That would require a two-thirds vote by state lawmakers to put the matter on the ballot for voters to decide.

Good luck there.

While we think there is support for new revenue sources — such as pari-mutuel betting — to help fund education and other needs, many conservatives will balk at adding more gambling in Georgia.

Some people believe additional gambling opportunities would cut into the state’s lottery revenue.

Others think horse race tracks would soon be followed by casinos.

So far so good, right?

Not for the more conservatives in the legislature.

Advocates of horse racing say it would raise millions in tourism revenue and create new jobs in breeding, training and medical care for horses.

I might go to the University of Arizona, where they offer a Race Track Industry Program, to my knowledge, the only program of its kind.

It provides students with the background necessary for a number of career paths in the horse racing industry.

I’m for that.

Should students choose the “animal path,” they will graduate prepared to work as a horse trainer or breeder.

Those opting for the “business path`” will be suited to work on the management side of the industry. So how do students fare in the real world after graduating from such a unique program?

Douglas Reed, the program’s director, told CNN that the graduates “do pretty well.”

“We have a placement rate in excess of 80 percent immediately upon graduation and [students] receive jobs in all facets of the industry due to the nature of the two paths and the broad based knowledge they receive,” Reed says.

“Some students start at a racetrack in mid-level management or entry level jobs, others work with the horses either on farms or at the track for a trainer. Still others enter the business in related companies [like those] that process wagers or service the industry.”

I think  that’s kind of cool. Don’t you? The thing to worry about though is the state of the business nationwide in the U.S.

But…with a degree…maybe YOU are the one who can help revive interest in the sport.

I also love to gamble.

In moderation, of course.

Because I don’t have a lot of money.

So as a former resident of Georgia, I found this news item pretty interesting: seems like Georgia voters could decide whether they want to bring horse racing to their communities under a constitutional amendment proposal filed by a state representative.

Nuff said. I’m all for it. Unfortunately I no longer live in Georgia.

Republican Rep. Harry Geisinger of Roswell filed the resolution oand says the move could be part of a solution to bring more jobs to the state. Under the proposal, proceeds could help pay for college scholarships, pre-K programs or trauma care.

Geisinger introduced similar legislation during the 2009 Legislature, when he chaired a study committee addressing the issue, but the measure failed to gain support. The proposal is expected to draw opposition from social conservatives who generally don’t like gambling.

Note to social conservatives: you have a very vital lottery business. Why not horse racing as well?

I think one of their opinion writers nailed it, when it comes to horse racing’s future, in particular in the state of California, but really….everywhere there is horse racing.

To paraphrase him, he (Bill Barish) wrote that nowhere is there more optimism than at a racetrack. You see, even in troubled times, a convoy of yesterday’s losers can be counted on to return the next morning with their fantasies of winning the Pick Six intact.

The jockeys who got beat by a nose or a neck, along with the trainers whose horses were pinned on the rail or otherwise impeded by fate, are also ready to do battle again.

He goes on to say that optimism abounds at  Santa Anita’s prospects on the opening day of its annual winter meet.

The lovely Art Deco plant is in tiptop shape, the bougainvillea’s flourishing, and track officials have every right to wish for an uptick in attendance that will defy the industry’s downward trend.

If horse racing deserves to thrive anywhere, it ought to be at America’s classiest track.

Once, Angelenos flocked to Arcadia in droves for the major stakes and handicaps. In 1958, a near-record crowd of 61,123 turned out to see the eccentric Silky Sullivan perform in the Santa Anita Derby, for instance.

I’m too young to remember that.

Silky did not disappoint.

We need more Silkys. We need more Zenyattas. And we need to spend time at some of the more beautiful race tracks in this country. And around the world, for that matter.

Don’t you think?

I have a friend who was born in Wales and likes to spend his Christmas holiday with relatives… enjoying their company, sure.

But a turf racing fan, he’s always used his trips to the U.K. as an excuse to bet racing.

This year, thanks to the horrible winter storms in Europe, almost every turf racing facility, where he goes in particular is closed down.

He texted me the other day and said prospects of turf racing before Christmas look bleak as the second big freeze of the winter continues to bite.

The only card remaining before Christmas is at Sedgefield.

“We had minus 6C overnight and it’s minus 3C today,” said the clerk of the course Charlie Moore.

“We’re still going to have a look at 8am, but we’re obviously up against it.

“There is some warm air arriving later in the week, but it looks like it’s going to come too late for us.”

The other remaining jumps fixtures before Christmas – at Hereford tomorrow, Musselburgh and Ludlow on Wednesday – have all fallen by the wayside.

Damn it, my friend “tweeted” to me.

Even the programme on the Polytrack at Wolverhampton is subject to inspection, with the track unraceable this past weekend due to extreme temperatures at the Midlands course.

Clerk of the course Fergus Cameron said: “There were three to four inches of snow here yesterday and temperatures dropped to just below minus 14C last night.

“At the present time,” he said, “the track is unraceable.”

Michael Martinez, the jockey paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a spill at Golden Gate Fields on Sept. 12, has been declined as a candidate for embryonic stem-cell treatments.

The decision was made by Northwestern U’s Richard Fessler. Maybe it had to do with this:

The decision came after a day in which Martinez was to be transferred from Highland Hospital in Oakland to UCSF for an MRI exam, but the transfer was called off when  the state Division of  worker’s comp refused to authorize it.

“The doctors at Highland weren’t entirely in favor of the transfer and in an e-mail to Dr. Fessler they indicated that they thought that Michael was doubtful as a candidate for the embryonic stem-cell treatments,” said Golden Gate Fields physician Dr. David Seftel, who is advising Martinez’s family on his care.

“The family is devastated, but we’re regrouping. I don’t give up; Michael doesn’t give up.”

And I won’t give up hope either, for Michael.

Seftel has contacted Dr. Jorge Paz Rodriguez, the medical director of the Stem Cell Institute of Panama, Michael’s native country – regarding adult stem-cell therapy.

“The benefits of adult stem-cell treatments have been relatively modest, confined to improvement in sensation, bladder control and bowel control,” Seftel said. “But because it is so soon after the injury, it is possible Michael could get some of his motor control back. The sooner we get him to Panama, the better.”

I’ll keep you all posted on his progress.

A little prayer or two wouldn’t hurt.

You’ll forgive me this week if I concentrate on Saratoga Raceway.

I am partial to Saratoga.

I worked for a number of years near Woodstock and travelled up to Saratoga in the summer for my horse racing fixes.

Yeah. That’s right. I have a horse racing fix. Don’t you?

Anyway….

This summer, the troubled raceway will give away (courtesy of the NY Racing Association)two shirts, an umbrella and a baseball cap during its summer meeting in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

NYRA, which operates horse racing at Saratoga Race Course, released the giveaway schedule recently. The number of giveaways is the same as last year.

The four free items are:

• an Irish-themed Saratoga T-shirt, on July 29

• a hat celebrating the race horse Rachel Alexandra, on Aug. 8

• a black Saratoga umbrella, on Aug. 22

• a gray long-sleeve shirt, on Sept. 5

All giveaways are free with each paid admission to the race course.

The 142nd Saratoga meet opens July 23.

Patrons will receive free general admission that day, with racing beginning at 1 p.m.

The meet will run through Labor Day weekend—a total of 40 racing days, the longest Saratoga meet in more than a century.

NYRA was approved for a $25 million state loan in June, which kept the association from having to shut down and lay off all 1,450 employees.

Without the loan, NYRA expected to run out of cash this month, which would have forced it to cancel the storied Saratoga meet.

If you have never been to Saratoga, GO. It’s an awesome place.

If you have been, then you know what I mean.

Next posting, back to talk about horses and racing.