The Choctaw Nation will close Blue Ribbon Downs at the end of the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meeting on November 28, six years after purchasing the track in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. 

Even with the installation of 250 slot machines in 2005, the track was losing about $1-million a year, Oklahoma Racing Commission Executive Director Constantin Rieger told the Oklahoma Journal Record.

“The sport of horse racing is struggling nationwide,” said Judy Allen, a spokesperson for the tribe. “We did our best and invested a lot of money to improve the local racing experience, but there just was not enough patron support to continue to operate the track.”

The Choctaw Nation is encouraging Blue Ribbon’s 100 full-time and part-time employees to apply for jobs at the tribe’s new hotel and casino in Durant, about 160 miles northeast of Sallisaw.

Rieger said Will Rogers Downs in Claremore has expressed interest in picking up some of Blue Ribbon’s live dates.

Blue Ribbon went through bankruptcy proceedings in both 1997 and 2002. The Choctaw Nation bought the track for $4.25-million the day before the facility was to be offered at a sheriff's auction.