STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 3, 2019.....Thoroughbred horse racing is dead in Massachusetts, having rounded the last turn on Sunday. Within 24 hours of the last race at Suffolk Downs, its operator laid out a vision for the future of racing and race wagering from one end of Massachusetts to the other -- and asked for changes in the law to make that vision a realistic possibility.

Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, the company that operated the track at Suffolk Downs and will continue to operate its simulcast wagering center there, wants to hold up to 40 racing days at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds while still taking simulcasting wagers at Suffolk Downs, or possibly pairing race simulcasting with sports betting at the old Wonderland property in Revere. It's a plan the company first announced last May in partnership with two horsemen's groups.

But in order to make that happen, Sterling Suffolk needs the Legislature to pass a bill (S 101) that would make some specific changes to the gaming laws and reshape the way racing and simulcast wagering are governed in Massachusetts, something the Legislature has been reluctant to do despite the support of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

"This investment would turn a mostly dormant property into a three-season entertainment and recreation venue that, in addition to racing, could host concerts, agricultural events and other equine activities," Chip Tuttle, Sterling Suffolk's chief operating officer, said at a hearing of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure on Monday. "Senate 101 is integral to this proposal."

The bill, filed by Winthrop Sen. Joseph Boncore and co-sponsored only by Berkshire Sen. Adams Hinds, would grant the Gaming Commission "all necessary authority to oversee and regulate all aspects of horse racing in the commonwealth with the object of promoting its efficient operation, and the honesty and integrity of the wagering process related to it," but it would also do four specific things that Tuttle said are necessary for his group to bring Thoroughbred racing back, with the first races eyed for fall 2020.

"It would allow us to bifurcate our license so that we would continue to operate year-round simulcasting here in Suffolk County while staging the races in Berkshire County. Second, it would license us for five years under the authority of the MGC, giving us the certainty to execute a long-term lease agreement and to make the necessary investment in both the Great Barrington facility and a modern, state-of-the-art simulcast center here," Tuttle told lawmakers.

Also key to the Sterling Suffolk plan is the Race Horse Development Fund, a trust fund seeded by casino gambling revenues and meant to support the sport by funding purses and benefits for horsemen. The fund will continue to grow in size with two full-scale casinos now up in business, even as the racing world contracts to just harness races at Plainridge Park in Plainville. As of February, the Race Horse Development Fund had a balance of $13.64 million, according to the Gaming Commission.

"There's all this money building up in the purse fund but since none of it flows to the operator ... we're in this circumstance where the purse money is building up but unfortunately the Thoroughbred horsemen would have no place to run for it if we're not able to pull off the Great Barrington plan," Tuttle said.

The bill would broaden the allowable uses of the Race Horse Development Fund so that some of the money could be used for capital improvements at tracks, like the one Sterling Suffolk wants to refurbish in Great Barrington.

Though there is broader support for changing the way racing and simulcasting are handled in Massachusetts -- the Gaming Commission has for years supported a bill that would give it more authority to oversee racing and wagering -- the other specific changes included in Boncore's bill did not go over well with some interested parties Monday.

"Harness racing is thriving at Plainridge Park Race Track in Plainville, where we have live horse racing 110 days a year," Martin Corry, a lobbyist for the Harness Horseman's Association of New England, told the committee. "That's 110 days a year and the Race Horse Development Fund, which is specifically geared to live horse racing and the purses that are going to support live racing, is doing exactly what it's supposed to do: increasing the value of the horses, increasing the quality of the races and encouraging investment in breeding in Massachusetts."

Others testified in opposition to the proposal because of Sterling Suffolk's involvement in the plan.

Celeste Ribeiro Myers, who in 2013 led the organization that triumphed at the ballot box over developers hoping to bring a casino to Suffolk Downs, said granting the changes that Sterling Suffolk is seeking would allow the company "to continue to profit from prolonging the death of racing in Massachusetts."

"If we are to believe current reports from Suffolk Downs, the Sterling Suffolk group wants to keep a foot in East Boston and a foot in Great Barrington, enabling them to hedge all their bets," she said. "We should be questioning why they should be given another opportunity when they have squandered so many."

As Tuttle explained it to the committee Monday, Sterling Suffolk is hoping for a series of actions to go its way to get back on a solid footing after a tumultuous decade-plus. Sterling Suffolk, which operated Suffolk Downs since 1992, began pursuing a casino license as early as 2007, Tuttle said. That was the company's focus through 2014 when the Boston-area license went to nearby Everett and Wynn Resorts.

The pursuit was costly -- Tuttle said Sterling Suffolk lost more than $100 million as it sought to pair casino gambling with the horse track at Suffolk Downs. In 2014, the company announced it would shut down, "seeing no way forward for the business absent the advantages of expanded gaming at the property," Tuttle said.

The property was sold in 2017 to the HYM Investment Group, though Sterling Suffolk has had discussions with its landlord about staying on the property through at least the end of 2020 for simulcasting.

Now, Tuttle and Sterling Suffolk are looking again to expanded gaming as a means to stay in business. The Boncore bill that Tuttle pitched Monday would also grant sports betting rights to pari-mutuel licensees like Suffolk Downs if the Legislature legalizes sports betting in Massachusetts.

"We also own the former Wonderland property, which is zoned for all of the same simulcasting activities and we have the ability, if we're granted longer-term simulcast rights and perhaps the ability to add sports betting, we would do that at the Wonderland property," Tuttle said Monday.

While the fate of racing and simulcasting laws is critical to Tuttle, and the many others who have a stake in the industries, there's been little appetite within the Legislature to take up legislation overhauling industry rules and governing mechanisms. Lawmakers have instead routinely extended the existing laws for a year at a time.

Monday's hearing was held as racing laws approach their annual July 31 sunset. Last year, the Legislature did not extend the legal authority for racing and simulcasting by the July 31 deadline, and racing became illegal in Massachusetts for about 36 hours until lawmakers could again authorize the activities for another year.

In previous sessions, various racing interests have advocated for legislation revamping the racing and simulcasting process to grant the Gaming Commission greater power to make decisions about simulcasting and live racing. Asked about that approach after last year's lapse, Senate President Karen Spilka said the idea "certainly is a strong consideration."