Travis Boersma’s effort to revive professional horse racing in Oregon is officially over.
Boersma notified Josephine County officials that his company, TMB Racing, was terminating its 99-year lease to use the county fairgrounds track. Boersma has said he invested $50 million to upgrade the track into a professional-grade facility he called Grants Pass Downs.
But Boersma, a self-made billionaire thanks to the Dutch Bros coffee chain he co-founded, walked away after the state refused to allow his plan to operate an adjacent casino. Boersma, who grew up in Grants Pass, argued the so-called “Flying Lark” was necessary for Grants Pass Downs to be a viable long-term concern.
