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Article: In the Running: On the Winning Track; Clark County plays a key rolein horse racing by supplying strong animals, affordable pasture and skilled people to make it all happen
- Article from:
- The Columbian (Vancouver, WA)
- Article date:
- October 12, 2003
- Author:
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DEAN BAKER, Columbian
The Columbian
10-12-2003
The glitz of Indian casinos and the giant jackpots of state-run lotteries and video poker have lured gamblers away from horse racing across America and killed once-prosperous tracks in Seattle and Yakima.
Portland Meadows also has stumbled hard. Attendance at the 57-year-old, 4,000-seat track has plunged from barn-busting crowds of 12,000 in the 1970s to half-full grandstands of 2,000. It nearly died last year when environmental problems forced the track to close mid-season, potentially putting at risk the segment of Clark County's equestrian community that relies on racing.
But with a new operator, Magna Entertainment Corp., the ...