Gretna Racing is asking the government of Gadsden County, Florida, to authorize a referendum in which that county’s voters would decide whether to allow slot machines at the facility where it is preparing for the state’s first pari-mutuel barrel racing meet.

Gretna Racing’s request is an agenda item for a Nov. 1 meeting of the Gadsden County Board of Commissioners. Gretna Racing’s facility in Gretna, Fla., about 25 miles west of Tallahassee, would be the first Florida pari-mutuel to have slot machines outside the southeast Florida counties of Miami-Dade and Broward.

On Oct. 19, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering (DPMW) approved Gretna Racing’s application to use its Quarter Horse permit to conduct pari-mutuel barrel racing at its facility. Two prominent Florida Thoroughbred associations and a Quarter Horse association had asked that regulatory agency to reject the application.

Marc Dunbar, a 10% owner of Gretna Racing and its attorney, could not be reached for immediate comment Oct. 31. Arthur Lawson, Gadsden County’s interim county administrator, also could not be reached for immediate comment