DATE: Thursday, July 17, 1997               TAG: 9707170010

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial

                                            LENGTH:   35 lines

OFF-TRACK-BETTING SIX IS ENOUGH

S omeone can't count. Colonial Downs has a license to operate six off-track betting parlors. Two are in operation now: one in Chesapeake, another in Richmond. Two more are under construction and scheduled to open this fall: one in Hampton and another in Brunswick county.

That makes four.

Now Colonial Downs officials are trying to organize petition drives to permit off-track betting in three more locations: Roanoke, Fredericksburg and Martinsville.

That makes seven.

Not to worry. According to an Associated Press story this week, track President O. James Peterson III said that if all three referendums pass he probably will go to the General Assembly and ask for permission to operate more than six parlors.

And why not? The General Assembly has treated the track kindly ever since it was granted a license to operate Virginia's first pari-mutuel race track. Recall that the original race track deal stipulated that if the horses weren't running by July 1, 1997, all off-track parlors would be shut down. But last session the General Assembly granted Colonial Downs a 60-day extension, allowing the New Kent County track to open on Sept. 1 and keep the parlors operating.

Enough already. Gambling is an insidious industry that preys on those who can least afford it. We urge the General Assembly to rein in Colonial Downs and its off-track betting parlors before the commonwealth is buried under losing lottery tickets and old racing forms. The legislature authorized six off-track betting parlors, and six it should remain.

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