by Bob Duff

There’s a lot of things you can bet on in the online realm across the state of Michigan. As of Jan. 1, horse racing isn’t among them.

In the Great Lakes State, you can play casino games on your computer or mobile device. You can wager on a multitude of sports from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA, to European soccer, and niche sports such as rugby, volleyball and even surfing.

However, the only way you can now bet on horse racing in Michigan is by visiting a licensed horse racing site in person.

It’s the latest blow to the state, which has offered legalized wagering on horse racing since 1933, but seems to be on a collision course to wipe the sport out across Michigan.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), which licenses mobile horse racing betting apps across the state, informed all of the U.S. sites offering advance deposit wagering on the sport that they could no longer take bets from Michigan residents as of the start of the new year. That’s because MGCB regulations require that any ADW wagering must be connected to live racing in the state.

As of last year, there are no active live racing meets being conducted in Michigan. Northville Downs in Northville, MI, ceased to offer live harness racing in February of last year. That was the last track operating in the state.

It’s been a sad and steady decline in the sport across a state where horse racing was once a thriving industry. There hasn’t been any live thoroughbred racing in Michigan since a meet was held at Hazel Park Raceway in 2018.

Hazel Park was also the standard bearer for standardbred racing in the state for decades. Operating a summer schedule opposite of Windsor Raceway across the border in Ontario, the two tracks kept the top horses and horsepeople racing around the calendar year.

Today, neither track is in existence. Windsor Raceway closed in 2012, six years prior to Hazel Park shuttering its doors. As well, Sports Creek Raceway (2015) and Mount Pleasant Meadows (2013) were other Michigan racetracks that ceased operations of live meets over the past 12 years.

NORTHVILLE REVIVAL OFFERS GLIMMER OF HOPE

There is a chance that ADW could be returning to the state of Michigan later this year. On Oct. 30, the operators of Northville Downs were granted a conditional permit from the MGCB to operate 30 days of live harness racing later this year.

The tentative race dates would cover from Tuesday (April 29), through Wednesday (June 25) and Tuesday (Aug. 12) through Wednesday (Sept. 17). Live racing is to be held two days per week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with not less than eight live horse races programmed per race date and with no more than 16 live horse races per race day.

The race dates are to be conducted at the Hastings Fairgrounds and will require several upgrades and benchmarks to be met by the facility in order for the meet to go forward. The MGCB hasn’t officially issued the license to Hastings at this point. If they do go ahead with licensing, it would make it possible for ADW accounts to again be accessible for wagering in Michigan.

Michigan Harness Horsemen’s Association representatives met with MGCB officials on Dec. 23 and Brett Boyd, president of the MHHA, provided an update from that meeting.

“They did advise the MHHA that at this point in time they did not anticipate that they are going to issue the track license for Hastings prior to Jan. 1 2025,” Boyd said in a video post on Facebook. “We are still optimistic about this application and we are partnering with Northville Downs.”

Boyd also indicated that the MHHA had presented to the MGCB letters of support from the USTA and from ADW operators such as Twin Spires.

“We are hopeful we can get that track license in early January and continue our mission to race next summer at the Hastings Fairground,” Boyd said.

ONLINE WAGERING ON HORSE RACING BLOSSOMING ACROSS USA

The Michigan shutdown is coming at a time when ADW opportunities for race fans are growing exponentially in the USA.

There were already several traditional ADW sites operating and offering their services to Michigan horse bettors. They include Twin Spires, NYRA Bets, XpressBet, DRF Bets and TVG.

Since legal and regulated online sports betting was introduced to Michigan in 2021, these sites haven’t been permitted to offer wagering on horse racing on their sports betting sites. However, several of the major players in the U.S. online sports betting market have since introduced their own versions of ADWs.

The first was FanDuel Racing, which is owned by Entain, the same company that operates TVG. DraftKings launched DK Horse in partnership with Twin Spires. Then NYRA Bets partnered with BetMGM Horse Racing. The latest addition to this group was Bet365 Racing, which launched an ADW horse racing app in November.