Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately authorize certain wagering at state or county fairs, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Section 5 of chapter 114 of the acts of 1991, as amended by section 9 of chapter 101 of the acts of 1992, is hereby further amended by inserting after the sixth paragraph the following two paragraphs:-

Each licensee conducting a running horse racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair shall return to the winning patrons wagering on the speed or ability of any one running horse in a race or races all sums so deposited as an award or dividend, according to the acknowledged and recognized rules and method under which such pari-mutuel or certificate system has been operated, less the so-called breaks, as defined in section five of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws, and less an amount not to exceed nineteen percent of the total amount so deposited by patrons wagering on the speed or ability of any one running horse, and less the so-called breaks; and each licensee conducting a running horse racing meeting shall return to the winning patrons wagering on the speed or ability of a combination of more than one horse in a single pool, exotic wagering, so-called, all sums so deposited as an award or dividend, according to the acknowledged and recognized rules and method under which such pari-mutuel or certificate system has been operated, less the so-called breaks and less an amount not to exceed twenty-six percent of the total amount so deposited; provided, however, that each such licensee shall allocate a sum equal to seven percent of each wager to be used for the payment of purses to the horse owners in accordance with the rules and established customs of conducting running horse racing meetings and said seven percent shall be paid from the respective nineteen percent withheld and twenty-six percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered.

Each person licensed to conduct a running horse racing meeting, in connection with a state or county fair, shall pay to the state racing commission on the day following each day of such horse racing meeting, a sum equal to seven percent of the total amount deposited on the preceding day by the patrons so wagering at such meeting, said percentage to be paid from the nineteen percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered and from the twenty-six percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered on exotic races.