Portland Meadows Exec Quits

Colin Hegarty has resigned as president of Oregon Racing Inc., the company that operates troubled Portland Meadows horse race track.

Hegarty, whose tenure was marred by a bitter dispute with the association that provides the track’s horses, quit on Sunday, said Don Johnson, a vice president of Oregon Racing Inc. Johnson will succeed Hegarty.

Johnson said Hegarty’s departure did not signal a change in the company’s attitude about the operation of the track. Company officials have said that the track cannot survive financially without off-track betting at several sites in the Portland area.

But the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which provides the horses for the track, has been vehemently opposed to off-track betting, saying it will cut down on the live gate at the track and, consequently, reduce the horse owners’ share of the earnings.

“One of the first things on the agenda will be to see if we can’t find some common ground to stand on with the horsemen so that the entire industry can move forward,” Johnson said.