Horse-racing to be added to Georgia’s list of attractions?

The AJC is reporting that the state Legislature’s “Special Equine Study Committee” voted this morning to propose a public referendum to legalize horse racing in Georgia — and, it goes without saying, gambling on horse racing.

Thirty-two states now have at least one horse track and many of those also have off-track betting parlors. Even our nearest neighbor, Alabama, has three dog tracks. Stay classy, ‘Bama.

I can’t say I’m an advocate of horse racing, but my hometown in Indiana boasted its own second-tier track, Ellis Park, so I grew up listening to the day’s race results on the local sportscast. It never seemed to me that the Daily Racing Form was the Devil’s own newsletter.

My only reservation is the same one I have for casino gambling: Let’s do it upscale or not at all. Georgia already has serious image problems. We don’t need truckstop Keno parlors and we don’t need a tawdry, fly-by-night racetrack in Riverdale.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I joined some friends at the Keeneland race track in Lexington, KY, the epicenter of horse-breeding in America. We dressed up, sipped mint julips, lunched on hot browns, placed a few small bets and had a perfectly genteel day.

If Georgia can’t manage do horse-racing in a tasteful manner, then all bets are off.