Amy Cook Reportedly Leaving Texas Commission By Year’s End

[Wandering Eyes]

Texas Racing Commission (TXRC) chairman Robert Pate reportedly announced that Amy Cook, the commission's executive director and chief law enforcer, is leaving her position “by year's end,” according to two individuals who witnessed Wednesday's commission meeting.

No successor was named during the meeting, nor were any reasons given for Cook leaving her position, according to the sources.

The TDN has reached out to the TXRC for clarification on these questions. This story will be updated as necessary.

Cook has been in the position since November of 2021, and is seen by some in the state industry as a controversial hiring.

Cook assumed the job after a long history in the U.S. military. While she had no prior experience in the horse racing industry, it appears as though her ideological opposition to the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was an important factor in her role.

Indeed, last year Pate told the TDN that Cook in her position has been working with the Texas Attorney General's office “to successfully attack the constitutionality of the HISA law.”

When HISA's racetrack safety program launched in 2022, the TXRC argued it was statutorily barred from joining HISA–a position it has since maintained.

Because the HISA Authority has jurisdiction over the interstate simulcasting of races, the commission argues it is prohibited from permitting Texan tracks to export their signals.

The inability for Texan tracks to simulcast their signals has resulted in massive drops in handle, with major implications for purses and track revenues.

Though purses in the state are bolstered by monies accrued through a tax on equine products like feed and tack, the TDN obtained a memo put together by Texas racing stakeholders earlier this year which argues the industry is still losing approximately $6 million in revenues annually.

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