In Michigan, Pinnacle Race Course, which opened only two years ago, on July 18, 2008, has announced it will be closing its simulcast operation and shutting the plant down for the winter, with resumption questionable
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Pinnacle was awarded only two days of live racing a week this year -- Saturdays and Sundays -- by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, but ended the live meeting October 31 after 42 days.
It was awarded 84 days of live racing for next year, but general manager Mike Mackey told the Detroit Free Press “I don’t know if I’ll be here.”
He said he might close his office “for the time being.”
Twenty or so people operating simulcasting at the track have been laid off, and Mackey said, “There was not enough business to sustain the simulcast operation.”
(Harness Tracks of America)
This is what happens when
This is what happens when government (the state of Michigan) does not care about helping with favorable legislature horse racing; meanwhile another Indian casino is being built on the I-94 corridor (number of casinos in Michigan is in the high 20s)...Pinnacle's owner put up his own money to build & operate the racetrack, and was able to get the track built & operating in a few months.