Gulfstream Park Racing Association has filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida challenging a 2021 law that mandates thoroughbred tracks to hold live races in order to operate slot machines. The suit argues that this law is an unconstitutional “special law” unfairly targeting Gulfstream, the only thoroughbred track with a slot license at the time, thereby undermining its ability to compete with other pari-mutuel facilities. The law exempts harness-racing, quarter-horse tracks, and jai alai frontons from this requirement, which Gulfstream claims violates equal protection and grants it an unfair privilege.

The lawsuit, filed in Leon County Circuit Court and naming the Florida Gaming Control Commission as a defendant, seeks a permanent injunction to stop enforcement of the live racing mandate. This legal challenge follows the failure of a legislative proposal to decouple thoroughbred racing from slot machine operations, a move supported by Gulfstream but opposed by the horse racing industry, particularly in Ocala, which fears it would harm thoroughbred racing in Florida.