Group pledges push for veto of California horse racing bill

Gambling opponents vowed Thursday to lobby Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto a bill to revive the state’s slumping horse racing industry and allow betting on horses to lose starting in 2012.

The bill, originally proposed by Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles), hopes to lure the nation’s top horses by taking a greater share from the bets to increase the purse for winning horse owners. The Legislature took final action on the bill Tuesday.

A spokesman for the governor said he has not taken a position on the bill.

The legislation would also offer the operators of the Breeders Cup championship $2 million in promotional funding to move the race to California. But the bill took a controversial turn in mid-August when Perez amended the bill to let gamblers set their own odds and permit bets against a horse.

The so-called “exchange wagering” system lets one gambler bet on a horse, set the odds and place a wager with an exchange betting business. Other gamblers can then match that wager, in essence, betting on that horse to lose.

Near the end of the legislative session, Perez added language to allow the new betting scheme to begin in 2012 and continue until 2016. The delay would give firms that now accept horse racing bets time to prepare to the new exchange betting system.

A nonprofit group based in Sacramento promised to send mailers to nearly 10,000 churches and individuals in the next few days, urging them to call or write the governor to voice opposition to the bill.

Rev. James Butler, executive director of the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, complained that the bill was significantly rewritten and passed in the final days of the legislative session, giving critics little opportunity to testify against it.

hugo.martin@latimes.com