Horse racing in (or at least near) the Best Southwest area?

by Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Now this is an interesting development. It seems a group of investors including State Rep. Yvonne Davis wants to bring a $10 million racetrack to an area just outside Lancaster. It would be a Class 2 racetrack, meaning it could only have horse racing for 44 days a year.

But a lawsuit against the proposed owners could delay those plans. One of Davis’ partners in this endeavor is wealthy Dallas dentist David Alameel, who owns the Jefferson Dental clinic chain. Here’s the part that threw me for a complete political loop. There is apparently nothing in Texas state law that would make it illegal for Davis to pursue this while being a state representative, so the only things stopping her right now are the lawsuit and her own good judgment. Sounds like we’d better start cheering for the lawsuit.

Among the many problems here is that Davis sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees state revenues the Texas Racing Commission has access to. Again, nothing here is illegal, it just looks really, really bad. In an October hearing with the racing commission she said there have been “a lot of innuendos and conversations about who, what, why.” Gee, Yvonne, you think? Davis has already been named to Texas Monthly’s list of Worst Legislators.

Something tells me this latest development isn’t going to do much to lift her standing there.

Maintaining at least the appearance of keeping things honest may not be enough to derail this idea; after all, we are dealing with politicians. What may stop things (if the lawsuit naming Davis doesn’t) is that the proposed track near Lancaster is awfully close to Grand Prairie’s Lone Star Park. In keeping with the gambling vernacular, I’d bet heavily against this venture drawing any support from State Rep. Kirk England (D-Grand Prairie).

Readers, what do you think? Do you want to see a racetrack near the Best Southwest area?