(Radio Iowa) – State regulators are starting over on a study of the horse racing industry. Racing and Gaming Administrator Brian Ohorilko says they only received one response to their original request for a proposal to do a study, and are going to try again.”The commission staff will be working with the Department of Administrative services to to initiate another R-F-P to study the horse racing industry, and really to try to assist with promoting the health and sustainability of the industry,” he says. The Racing and Gaming Commission decided upon the study in September of last year, and Ohorilko says they are hoping to find more applicants to do the study.

“The commission will be reaching out to a number of prospective individuals, that may be interested in hopes that people will put in bids and we’ll have some good options to choose from later this summer, when the selections are made,” Ohorilko says. Ohorilko says they are looking for a comprehensive study. “A study like this does take time and requires a lot of interviews, a lot of data. And so it is quite possible that the work will take place over the course of 12 to 14 months,” Ohorilko says. “And so if the study is initiated right now, I think the commission will be looking for results in late summer, or fall of 2024.”

Ohorilko says there are a lot of different opinions now on the state of the horse racing industry in Iowa, and that’s why the Commission decided to conduct a study to get an outside view.