(Radio Iowa) – The Racing and Gaming Commission has put the horse racing industry on notice that time is running out to set the new race schedule, or they will step in and set it. Racing and Gaming Administrator Tina Eick says they asked the horse racing groups to do something different based a study released last year. “One of the big takeaways from that study that the Commission did was that the status quo of racing horse racing in Iowa wasn’t going to continue to sustain a vibrant industry,” she says.

Horse racing at Prairie Meadows (file photo from the OFFICIAL Prairie Meadows Backside Information Page)

The commissioners vote on a new schedule during their October meeting and Eick says they got an update last week that there is still no consensus on a 2026 schedule.  “The Commission did strongly again urge the parties, the thoroughbreds, the quarter horses, Prairie Meadows Casino and Racetrack, to come together and find a compromise because they have much greater latitude in. What kind of an agreement they come up with,” Eick says.

Eick says if the Racing and Gaming Commission has to step in, they are confined to what the law says. “And, in all likelihood, the meet that they would be required to set is not going to be favorable to any party, or no party is going to be particularly happy with the results,” she says, “so it’s really in their best interest if they’re able to figure out a compromise.”

Eick says there is still time for the horse racing groups to come up with a schedule before the October meeting in Davenport, and the Commission has let them know they will step in if that isn’t done.