A state court in Tallahassee, Fla., on Dec. 13 denied a request by two Florida Quarter Horse associations to shut down the pari-mutuel barrel racing meet Gretna Racing has been holding at its facility since Dec. 1.

In a court order, a three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeals ruled that the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association and Florida Quarter Horse Breeders and Owners Association "have failed to carry their burden of showing sufficient grounds for granting a stay pending the disposition of the appeal on its merits."

Gretna Racing, located about 25 miles west of Tallahassee, is holding its meet under a Quarter Horse license issued Oct. 19 by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering (DMPW). It is the first pari-mutuel barrel racing in Florida and probably in the country.

In a Nov. 30 emergency motion filed in the Tallahassee court, the two Quarter Horse associations maintained that allowing Gretna Racing to hold pari-mutuel barrel racing would "establish a precedent for the significant and haphazard expansion of gambling" in Florida