CASPER, Wyo. — The Natrona County Commission has approved applications for Wyoming Downs LLC to conduct pari-mutuel wagering on live, historic, and simulcast horse racing at three establishments. The commission took up the resolutions at its regular meeting Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Between four and 10 machines would be installed at both Troopers Bar and Grill and The Hangar Bar and Grill, according to Traci Lacock, Wyoming Downs’ attorney. Between four and 25 would be installed in the lower restaurant portion of the new Boomtown Blast restaurant at the Sunrise Shopping Center as well.
The proposals still need the approval of the Wyoming Gaming Commission, to which Wyoming Downs will have to submit a feasibility study considering whether there is still a demand for new betting sites in the county.
The commission’s approval is also subject to the review of last-minute amendments to the three resolutions. In March 2021, the commission rescinded “blanket” approvals for pari-mutuel operators in the county after machines began appearing in locations the commission was unaware of. It has since approved operations on a location-by-location basis. The draft resolutions considered Tuesday were written as though those blanket resolutions were still in effect. Nelson said at the regular meeting that the commission’s approval would be dependent on his subsequent review of the changes.
At an earlier work session, Lacock fielded commissioners’ concerns about the layout of the proposed machines at the locations, particularly The Hangar, to ensure they would be away from children.
Commissioner Jim Milne was concerned that The Hangar was Bar Nunn’s only real option for a night out, and said he’d like the owner to consider partitioning the 21-and-over area where the machines would be placed from area trafficked by children.
Though the final numbers from the state gaming commission are not in yet, Lacock said the company’s existing betting sites generated about $2.7 million for Casper and Natrona County in 2021. Gaming operators report net earnings weekly and pay 20% to the state gaming commission. 45% of that is split between the city and county in which they operate. Another 45% goes to the school foundation program account.
Wyoming Downs currently employs 32 people in the county, Lacock said.
While approving several rounds of new sites for competitor 307 Racing over the past year, the commission asked the company’s CFO, Kyle Ridgeway, whether there was any indication that there was demand for more machines or if the market had been “saturated.”
At the time, Chairman Paul Bertoglio had voiced concern about the source of any theoretical gaming revenues coming from the pockets of citizens. On Tuesday, Bertoglio said he had spoken about the issue with a former owner of an establishment that offered gaming.
“He said, ‘Yeah, to some degree it gets pretty heartbreaking: You look at individuals in there that you know they’re spending their rent check.’”
There is little guidance in state statute to guide a county’s decision to approve or reject more horse racing, so long as the decision is not “arbitrary or capricious,” Natrona County Attorney Eric Nelson noted.
“That’s something this commission has struggled with over the last couple years,” Nelson said.
Lacock said the state gaming commission toured every facility and evaluated market saturation studies. She said those are provided by the permittees. Ridgeway has said that 307 Horse Racing secures third-party studies.
“It seems to me that if there were a way to articulate a health, safety or public welfare issue, and the commission agreed with those reasons … that would be potentially defensible if approval were not given,” Commissioner Peter Nicolaysen said. “Again, I don’t have substantial concerns with these three [Wyoming Downs applications], but this is a concern statewide.“
“We want to be a good neighbor,” Lacock said, adding that the state gaming commission’s exacting standards had nixed plans at another site due to ADA compliance.
As usual, Natrona County Sheriff John Harlin attended the work session, and the commission solicited his opinion on gaming locations and crime.
“Some of our criminals in our community frequent those facilities, but I don’t see a correlation between the facility itself and [an increase] in the number of criminals or crimes that are happening. I can’t say we see a big impact,” Harlin said.
