Bryan Brings Horsemen and Southland Gaming to the Table in Push to Revive V.I. Racing

ST. CROIX, U.S.V.I. — Governor Albert Bryan Jr. convened what he’s framing as a turning point meeting Thursday at Government House on St. Croix, bringing together the presidents of the Territory’s two horsemen associations, representatives of the Virgin Islands Horse Racing Commission, and officials from Southland Gaming of the Virgin Islands in a bid to work through objections to a proposed horse racing agreement before it goes to the Legislature for a vote.
The session marked the most direct face-to-face engagement yet between the administration and the horsemen since Bryan went public with the deal on April 28 — a proposal that would put Southland Gaming in charge of rebuilding and operating the long-shuttered Randall “Doc” James Racetrack on St. Croix while also continuing to promote and operate racing at the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack on St. Thomas.
The administration is backing the agreement as the clearest path to returning racing to St. Croix without reaching into the public treasury. The deal, backed by $25 million in private investment and a performance bond of up to $12 million, calls for resurfacing the track and renovating the barns within eight months of construction starting, with the larger project requiring substantial completion within 36 months. Under the timeline, at least one race day on St. Croix before December 30, 2026 — if conditions allow — is part of the target.
For Southland Gaming, the agreement includes the ability to operate gaming services at both racetracks and establish two new gaming centers on St. Thomas.

Pushback from the track
The deal didn’t land without friction. After the April 28 announcement, both the Flamboyant Park Horsemen Association and the St. Thomas-St. John Horsemen Association raised concerns about specific provisions. Some members of the 36th Legislature also signaled reservations.
Bryan responded by setting a June 5 deadline for any stakeholder — horsemen, legislators, or others — to submit written objections, proposed changes, or alternative recommendations. Written responses came in from Flamboyant Park Horsemen Association President Elroy Bates and St. Thomas-St. John Horsemen Association President Clinton Hedrington. Notably, no members of the 36th Legislature submitted written comments by the deadline.
Thursday’s meeting was designed to give those concerns a direct hearing.
“Today’s meeting was about moving beyond general concerns and getting the people directly responsible for the future of horse racing around the same table to work through the issues,” Bryan said in a statement released after the meeting. “My goal is for the horsemen, the Horse Racing Commission, Southland Gaming and the Government of the Virgin Islands to reach agreement on a responsible and workable framework that can go before the Legislature with the support of the stakeholders who will be responsible for making it work.”

The long road back
The stakes behind the negotiations are real. The Randall “Doc” James Racetrack has been torn down for years, entangled in legal disputes that long predated Bryan’s administration. Racing at Phipps on St. Thomas has been a more recent success story — the track has hosted more than ten race days since May 2024 — but St. Croix has remained without a functioning facility.
“When I came into office, both tracks had been torn down and both were tied up in legal disputes,”

What comes next
The Bryan-Roach Administration said it will continue working with all parties to incorporate areas of agreement and finalize the deal before formally presenting it to the 36th Legislature. Thursday’s gathering was framed not as a conclusion but as a step — getting the actual decision-makers in the same room to negotiate specifics rather than trading general objections from a distance.
Whether the horsemen associations and the Legislature ultimately land in support of the agreement remains to be seen. The fact that no legislators submitted written comments by the June 5 deadline leaves their position — and their appetite for the deal as structured — unclear heading into the legislative review process.
For St. Croix, where the memory of a functioning racetrack is starting to feel distant, the window for getting it right may be narrowing.

Bryan said in April. “I did not create that situation, but I inherited it.”
The Governor was direct about what’s at stake culturally, not just economically. Horse racing is woven into the fabric of Virgin Islands life, particularly on St. Croix, and Bryan has framed the deal as a chance to restore something the Territory has been promised — and denied — for too long.
“The people of the Virgin Islands have waited long enough to see meaningful progress,” Bryan said after Thursday’s meeting. “We now have an opportunity to address legitimate concerns, establish clear expectations and move forward together with an agreement that protects the public interest, respects our horsemen and preserves an important part of Virgin Islands culture.”

Follow On Cue VI for continued coverage as the horse racing agreement moves toward the Legislature.