By JIM BARON

LINCOLN — Preparing to suspend its live greyhound racing schedule for the year on Saturday, Twin River has told 27 employees that they will be out of a job on that day.

Nine of the workers being laid off are employed full-time and the other 18 are part-timers. They were informed of the layoff by track management yesterday.
“The loss of any employees is regrettable but the fiduciary responsibility to operate Twin River as efficiently as possible remains, Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle said in a written statement issued Monday afternoon.
Doyle noted that the 27 layoffs is “a far cry” from the 225 jobs the greyhound owners insist will be lost if the racetrack oval is mothballed, pointing out that Twin River has “disputed (the 225 figure) all along.
“Having said that,” Doyle added, “we regret the loss of any one job, but operating greyhound racing at Twin River is done so at a loss.”
Current state law requires Twin River to hold live greyhound races on 125 days each year, although in previous years it has usually run a 200-day schedule. This year, the casino — which is currently negotiating a bankruptcy agreement with its creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court — chose to end racing after 125 days to save money. Saturday will be the 125th day.
The General Assembly passed legislation last June that would require Twin River to hold races on 200 days, but it was vetoed by Gov. Donald Carcieri. While proponents say they expect the veto to be overridden when the legislature reconvenes, possibly in the first week of September, to take up matters left on the floor when it abruptly recessed for the summer at the end of June, but leaders in the Senate, where the measure originated, have not made a commitment to take an override vote.
Jennifer Bramley, spokesperson for the RI Greyhound Owners Association, told The Times Monday, “we’re disappointed that they are going to be sending out the layoff notices to the 27 employees (but) we
believe there will be far more people affected in future months if greyhound racing were eliminated at the track.”
She added, however, that the greyhound owners are “hopeful that in September the legislature will come back and override the governor’s veto. That is essential to keeping the 225 jobs there.”
Why do the dog owners count 225 jobs when the casino is laying off only 27?
“We believe there are more people who are employed by Twin River who will be affected in future months if greyhound racing is eliminated,” Bramley said. “In addition to that, there are over 80 people employed by the kennels themselves at the track, who will remain in place on August 8 and will be awaiting the verdict from the legislature as to whether or not the governor’s veto will be overridden.” Besides that, she said, “there are a lot of people associated with the track such as our veterinary services, our feed suppliers and our track maintenance people whose jobs are also going to be affected.
Bramley called it “a little bit absurd that they would want to stop greyhound racing” because the RIGOA claims it attracts about 5,000 people a week to the facility, who also play the slot machines and patronize the other businesses there.
Doyle said simulcast racing will continue as it has in the past, which is every day except Sunday and Tuesday.