Tony Granitz, who spends the winter racing at Tampa Bay Downs and the rest of the year at Horseshoe Indianapolis, has six employees for his 15 horses in Florida. He jokes that he’ll have to become an Uber driver or Walmart greeter if Florida passes “decoupling” legislation that would let Gulfstream Park retain its gaming licenses while ceasing the current requirement to have horse racing. Of decoupling bills HB 105/SB 408, Granitz says, “I think it’s horrible…. It’s going to crush the breeders, because who’s going to want to buy a Florida-bred when there’s maybe only one track left to race? It will have a domino effect on the whole industry here in Florida.” ” … If we didn’t love the animals we wouldn’t do it, because it’s seven days a week,” says Granitz, who has been in horse racing for 47 years. “We take care of them like family. The workers who work for me, my assistant has been with me for 33 years; my foreman has been with me 23 years. That’s what you call loyalty, and that’s how we are with the horses.”
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