from Running Aces Harness Park

Columbus, MN — The Sunday night (July 3) program scheduled for Running Aces Harness Park has been canceled, just as Saturday night’s was, due to a budget impasse between Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and state legislators. Effective July 1, all “non-essential” government agencies were shut down until a new budget is approved.

Hopes that a judicially-appointed Special Master would include the Minnesota Racing Commission, regulators of the race tracks including their card room casinos, on a list of self-sufficient agencies that could continue to operate were dashed Saturday afternoon when she approved continued operation of the Minnesota Zoo, but denied the tracks’ request to reopen the MRC. By legislative edict, the two tracks completely reimburse the MRC for all its monthly costs, in advance.

Racing Director Gregg Keidel has received verbal commitments from 100 percent of the trainers participating at Running Aces to stay in Minnesota through Friday (July 8) in hopes a state budget resolution can be reached which would allow the track to reopen quickly. In addition to close to 100 horsepersons and 300 horses that have been involuntarily idled by the government shutdown, over 600 Running Aces employees are currently laid off and the track is losing over $100,000 per day in revenues due to the cessation of card room operations.

Running Aces has drawn and hopes to race programs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the coming week, but word that the racing commission has again been “funded” must be received first or those cards will also have to be canceled.