Oregon Racing Commission

After closing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopening, local interests in Burns, Oregon are attempting to get Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing going again at the Harney County Fairgrounds in that rural, high-desert town, with the hope of regaining a three-date spot on the state's 2027 summer circuit. "The community is highly motivated to reinstate racing," Oregon Racing Commission executive director Connie Winn said during the board's monthly meeting on Thursday. Ideally, Burns, a county-seat town of 2,700 that is known as the "gateway to the...

The Oregon Racing Commission approved 18 fairs-circuit dates at four tracks for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses in 2026 during its Thursday meeting. The Eastern Oregon Livestock Show meet in Union traditionally kicks off the state's summer fairs circuit. It will race June 12-14 in '26. Grants Pass Downs, in the southern tier of the state, will race June 20, 21, 27, 28 and July 3-5. Crooked River Roundup in Prineville, which races at night, will race July 15-18. Tillamook County Fair in coastal Tillamook will race Aug. 5-8. In 2025,...

The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), a service provider and membership organization, has added to its board Dr. John Chancey and Connie Winn, the group said in a press release on Thursday. Both Chancey and Winn were appointed to fill vacant seats by the group's chair, Commissioner Doug Moore of the Washington Racing Commission. Dr. Chancey has been Executive Director of the Oklahoma Racing Commission since early 2023 and he currently serves as the Chair of the Drug Testing Standards and Practices Committee of ARCI. Winn, the Executive Director...

One of Oregon's four mixed-meet racing fairs has dropped out of the rotation for this summer. The manager of the Harney County Fair in Burns told the Oregon Racing Commission (ORC) May 20 the track won't be running July 24 and 25, but that the fair's management wants to improve its focus on racing so the meet can resume in 2022 after a two-year hiatus. Last year none of the Oregon fairs raced because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's lone commercial track, Grants Pass Downs, has been in action...

The in-flux nature of racing at Oregon's summer fairs took an encouraging turn Thursday when Oregon Racing Commission (ORC) executive director Jack McGrail announced that all four stops on the circuit now intend to host mixed meets in 2021. That's an improvement from the update McGrail provided at the March ORC meeting, when the status of Eastern Oregon Livestock Show meet in Union and Harney County Fair in Burns were both considered to be in limbo because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Those two fairs will join Crooked River Roundup...