Exclusive: End of an era for ‘beloved’ SunDowns horse racing in Tri-Cities. What happened?
There’s nowhere left to run. Benton County looks to be permanently ending horse racing at the SunDowns Horse Racing Track.
The Tri-Cities Northern Racing Quarter Horse Association announced they were calling it quits after Benton County canceled its contract this year over insurance issues.
They haven’t run races at the track since 2019, first due to COVID-19 closures and then due to insurance issues last year.
What happened?
Nancy Sorick, who has led the horse racing association for more than 35 years, told the Herald that she believes the county was trying to push them out in order to use the space for other types of events.
Records obtained by the Herald show the association failed to deliver proof of insurance by the date required in its contract, handing over the required proof only after its contract was terminated by the county.
Then public discussion of using the space for other events followed.
“We were three days late, so they voided our contract,” the group’s president Dwayne Woodward told the Herald.
“Long story short, that contract we had, they wanted to renegotiate the contract so they could do any event they wanted to,” he said.
The association signed a new three-year contract in 2022, which required verification of insurance for the event to be provided by Jan. 15 of each year, with coverage starting no later than Feb. 1.
They canceled in 2022 due to issues trying to obtain the insurance. On Jan. 13, 2023, the county sent a notice letting them know they would have to terminate the contract if the 2023 insurance proof wasn’t provided by Jan. 31.
That date came and went, and records show the county began putting together an item for the county commissioners to vote on in order to terminate the contract Feb. 7.
The county ended the contract during that meeting, then two days later, on Feb. 9, a representative from the racing association brought in insurance documents.
They were dated Jan. 31, effective Feb. 1.
An e-mail and letters asking commissioners to reconsider also were delivered.
One mentioned that the proof of insurance had initially been sent to an incorrect email by the insurer. By that point, the contract already had been terminated, but commissioners indicated they were open to renegotiating a new contract that would see the track tied up for less time around the racing events.
The association believes that was the county’s intent all along, but documents obtained by the Herald don’t show any paper trail of plans being made or any other events being booked before the contract was terminated.
Typically the races run during a three-week period around the time of the Kentucky Derby, in late April or early May. But the association takes possession of the grounds at the beginning of February to begin training and wraps up at the end of May.
“Having worked on this contract over the years, they’ve struggled to put those races on and I guess, I understand the year of COVID, they’ve struggled, it’s just one or two people who organize and do this,” Commissioner Jerome Delvin said during the Feb. 7 meeting.
“They tie up that area for five months, that’s always been a concern of mine. They’re only scheduled to race two to three weekends, it’s very short,” he continued. “I think there’s better use for that area, that’s not to say I’m not willing to renegotiate a timeframe for a shorter period.”
He also was concerned about the need to replace aging railing at the track, and felt that was a cost the county shouldn’t ask taxpayers to shoulder.
“I’m willing to move to terminate (the contract), but let them know we certainly will negotiate that on different terms and maybe they have to make the investment on the railings,” he said. “I don’t think the county should pay for that.”
Commissioner Will McKay echoed Delvin’s sentiments, saying he thinks there could be better uses for the area, but that they could still make a contract work with the racing association that doesn’t tie up the track for almost half the year.
“I agree there’s something where we could renegotiate … to where they have it for a month or so,” McKay said. “I look at so many other venues like Walla Walla, and they use theirs for monster truck races and motorcycle races. And that just brings more revenue into the county and I look at that area and I think eventually we could be using that for more events that are more fun.”
Documents obtained by the Herald show the county was paid about $20,000 for use of the track each year.
Woodard said they often sublet the space during the season for other events.
No path forward
While the documents paint a fairly clear picture of the legality of what happened, some are placing the blame on Fairgrounds Manager Tom French, calling him a “failed manager.”
Sorick told the Herald in February that the county wanted to shut them down. She said French had made “new and unreasonable demands,” but did not provide the Herald with copies of requested changes.
It’s unclear if that was a reference to the county wanting the association to pay for the railing replacement and the potential shorter period discussed after the contract was canceled.
In a later Facebook post blaming French for the shutdown, the page’s administrator said a records request would reveal what the demands were.
A Herald records request under the Washington Open Records Act for all correspondence between the county and the horse racing association between January 2022 and April 2023 did not return any documents that showed the county requesting major changes beyond the new contract agreed to in February 2022.
Woodard told the Herald that he believes the demands were referring to the drastic changes the the county wanted to see in order to negotiate a new contract, after the previous one was terminated. He said these changes demonstrated a lack of understanding of how the races are run, and they would not be able to operate on such a truncated schedule.
“There’s training that starts Feb. 1 and all the horsemen train their horses, and we’re the first track that really has a race meet and they go on from there,” he said. “That was the bottom line. Horses train every day, they’re out there from 5:30 or 6 in the morning until 1 o’clock.”
French told the Herald that the county is still open to a new contract, but the horse racing association has so far declined to pursue one.
“Even though they had missed all the deadlines we told them we were open to renegotiating with this. If they did want to renegotiate we would have a point to start with,” he said. “Nobody at the county has any animosity towards the horse racing (association), it has been a beloved event out here for a long time.”
Woodard provided the Herald with a letter he sent to the county, saying they would not be pursuing a new contract under the new conditions proposed.
“Benton County’s management team of the fairgrounds doesn’t seem to understand horse racing and how it operates. It’s unfortunate their lack of knowledge has put us in a position to cancel this race meet This year and in years to come,” the statement read.
He said that the association has since removed their property from the track.
This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 10:56 AM.
