Great Falls Area News

Horse racing in Great Falls gets green light

Posted: Feb 27, 2013 7:23 PM by Erin Schermele - MTN News

Horse racing will likely make its return to Great Falls this summer as all three Cascade County commissioners voted in favor of allotting four days for the sport in July.

The commissioners signed a memorandum of understanding with the Great Falls Turf club, giving the group permission to proceed with hosting the races.

Now the Turf Club is tasked with raising money and fixing up the existing track.

The Montana Board of Horse Racing has $90,000 to support 25 days of racing across the state.

Great Falls and Miles City are now the only confirmed cities holding a race; whether or not Billings or Missoula will be running will be determined in the next couple of days.

The approved race days for Great Falls are July 20th, 26th, 27th and 28th.

By next week the Turf Club should have a better idea of how much they will receive from the Montana Board of Horse Racing, and how much they will have to generate on their own.

The last time horse racing was in Great Falls was 2010; at that time, commissioners voted to get rid of it as it was not generating money.

Any profits made from the races will go back to improving the Montana ExpoPark facility.