County
Two Enter Race For Les Bois Park
April 7, 2009 
Only two potential operators offered proposals to the Ada Commishes for a 2009 racing season lease on the Les Bois Park horse track and facilities.
Bids were opened Tuesday and now the operators, their staff and track records will be vetted before Commishes decide who gets a shot at running the races. We asked for details on the two entries so readers can do their own research and offer comments prior to the April 14 meeting of the Commishes.
Here is what we have about the two contestants:
• Dave Parrie – Spirit Valley Raceway
201 E. 36 St. Garden City, ID 83714
208-322-1827 – [email protected]
• Scott Sherwood – Alabama/Idaho, Inc. (DBA: Boise Racing – the Greene Group)
P.O. Box 020152 Tuscaloosa, AL 35402
409-770-4654 – [email protected]
Ada County went through a month-long nationwide search to solicit proposals for leasing Les Bois Park. Additional information about these applicants the request for proposals and the contract award process can be found online at www.adaweb.net/AdministrativeServices/Purchasing.aspx.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Apr 7, 2009, 10:22 pm
These bids have nothing to do with the ‘sport’ of horse racing and everything to do with gambling on horses. The bidders are only interested in the year around, off-track simulcast betting operation run out of the adjacent turf club; however by law they need to run live races for a certain number of dates to maintain the simulcast license.
One of the bidders, the owner of a dumpy bar on Chinden, is quoted as saying he knows nothing about horse racing. This sounds just like the clown who owned Shorty’s bar on Glenwood and ran the track (into the ground) several years ago.
As someone who lives near the Fairgrounds, I’d like to see them permanently close the track and turn it into a public park. It’s an eyesore and waste of valuable public ground.
Apr 12, 2009, 5:29 pm
While one of the finalists may be unqualified (and the guy who owned Shorty’s most definitely was), when run by a good organization as the last one was, the track is fun to go to and not an “eyesore” or “waste”. If people want to gamble, there’s worse things than doing it on pretty horses at 2 bucks a pop on a nice sunny Idaho afternoon.
Apr 20, 2009, 4:56 pm
>> the track is fun to go to and not an “eyesore” or “waste” <<
I suggest you walk along the Greenbelt behind the stables out to the foot bridge and then reassess your opinion.