Title: Reviving Tradition: Jack Greer and the Future of Horse Racing in Wyoming

Jack Greer’s earliest memories are at the racetrack. He grew up learning about horse racing from his parents who lived the sport. His mom was a jockey, and his dad owned and trained the horses she raced.

Greer is the fifth generation of his family to be involved in horse racing and is part of its latest evolution as parimutuel wagering was introduced to the state to save horse races. “It’s a real Wyoming sport,” Greer said. “It’s horses, it’s adrenaline. It’s an industry that was super popular here at one time and to see it grow, is just a great thing for Wyoming.”

Greer said the efforts to save the industry are working and Wyoming is becoming recognized as a great place to race horses. “There’s other states that are having the opposite conversation,” he said. “They’re closing racetracks and shutting down racing.”

Racing in the Cowboy State is attracting horses from all over the country, he added. As general manager of 307 Horse Racing and Energy Downs in Gillette, Greer said he sees horses coming from across the nation including California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to race in Gillette. “It’s because Wyoming is proving itself to be a great place to race during the summer,” he said.

It’s A Family Sport

For Greer, horse racing began with his great-grandparents, Lloyd and Jane Shelhamer, founders of United Tote. The tote, short for totalizator, is an automated system that runs parimutuel betting, calculates and displays payoff odds, and produces tickets based on incoming bets. It is the basis for all pari-mutuel pool betting.

The Shelhamers were owners of the Beaumont Club Racetrack in Belgrade, Montana, and could not find a totalizator company willing to service their small facility. Out of necessity, they purchased obsolete wagering equipment to operate in-house and soon branched out to service other racetracks in the region with their portable gaming system.

Greer’s grandfather and namesake owned and trained racehorses. He had the largest thoroughbred stable in Wyoming during the late 70s to the early 90s. Greer’s dad, Randy, was a jockey until he got too big to ride. “He’s 6-3 now, and nobody would believe he ever rode a racehorse, but he actually holds a track record in Casper,” Greer said. His parents met at the racetrack in Billings, and Greer said it is rewarding to be part of bringing racing back to Gillette and Wyoming. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the industry and help continue to do whatever I can to make it as successful as possible,” he said. “It’s one of those industries that once you’re in it, you’re hooked for life.”

The Horses

Although Greer was never a jockey himself, he owns horses that he will be racing in Gillette on the same track both his parents raced on. This year he is running three horses, two of which are part of the Wyoming Bred program. To promote the improved breeding and development of the horse industry in Wyoming, competitors can get accreditations of their Wyoming bred and born horses through the Wyoming Gaming Commission.

Greer just learned that one of the horses he raised and raced last year, Risin Cowboy, was named the 2024 Champion three-year-old colt for the Wyoming Bred program. Greer is eager to see the colt run again this year. “An exciting part of this business is being able to participate alongside these horsemen,” Greer said. “I manage and help regulate the business by following Wyoming state law and state statutes through the Gaming Commission. But I also get to participate.”

His other horses are a four-year-old gelding named One Separate Eagle, a four-year-old filly named Queenelizabethcartel who will run in the Energy Downs Maturity Stakes, and a two-year-old filly, Cowgirl Coal Train. It will be her first year racing, and she will compete in the Wyoming Bred Futurity in Gillette, as well as at other races in the state.

Greer said that breeding and the desire to race are what make a good racehorse. There have been times when you have a horse that perhaps doesn’t have the drive to run or just doesn’t like other horses. The horses start racing when they’re two years old and still just babies. Sometimes, Greer explains, they need more time to mature both mentally and physically. “There are horses that won’t start racing until they’re three or maybe even four years old because of that maturity,” he said. “Every horse is an individual and needs to be treated individually.”

Saving Wyoming’s Horse Races

Horse racing was popular in Wyoming in the 1970s through the early 1990s. Wagering on the races at the track, which is called parimutuel wagering, was allowed but other gambling was not. However, between the late 1990s and early 2000s, horse racing in Wyoming had all but disappeared. People slowly stopped going to the racetrack, and owners had to find a creative way to save the sport, especially since gambling is illegal in Wyoming except on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

When off-track betting, OTB, first started to become popular, Wyoming racetracks began to simulcast their races to outlets, and people would wager on the races from afar. “That helped revive a lot of racetracks and then get some of that revenue back into states like Wyoming,” Greer said. “We had that ability to simulcast, but it just wasn’t enough to make these race meets profitable.”

That was when Arkansas became the first state to legalize historical horse racing machines (HHR) that resembled slot machines. People could place bets without having to pick horses or understand track betting. “It’s not a legalized gambling device,” Greer said. “It’s the same type of wagering that takes place at the track, but it’s been converted into machine form where you don’t have to study horse racing.”

Wyoming legalized parimutuel wagering, and now these Historical Horse Racing Terminals (HHR) help fund the purses for the live horse races. The Wyoming Gaming Commission requires a minimum of 16 live race days for each operator of the terminals. The entire purpose of the HHR terminals, according to Greer, is to keep Wyoming’s racetracks open and hold races that bring in both horses and tourists to the state.

The Future Of Wyoming’s Horse Racing

To meet the requirements of horse racing, strict rules are in place, and Greer said he appreciates the regulations because it keeps his horses and jockeys safe. Wyoming racetracks are required by the Wyoming Gaming Commission to get a prerace inspection, which is held to a similar standard to that of the Kentucky Derby. These inspections were just completed in preparation for the first race in May.

“It is a very thorough test,” Greer said. “They’re reassured that these tracks are operating safe race meets, which is good for jockeys and horsemen and everybody involved.” Opening day for horse racing for 307 Horse Racing in Gillette will be May 16th, and their closing day is June 22nd. It’s six weeks of racing with races being hosted three days a week.

“The live racing is truly what off-track betting and HHR terminals are meant to support,” Greer said. “It was solely for the purpose of revitalizing and supporting live racing.” As Greer prepares the track for a busy race season with his jockeys and horses, he said it is just a super successful thing for Wyoming, and he is honored to be a part of revitalizing an important part of Wyoming’s heritage.