Coconino County is talking about ending the Fourth of July Weekend horse races that have been held here since 1955.

The races went into the red this past summer, with increasing expenses and declining bets.

The cost of broadcasting the races for betting statewide has climbed annually, now consuming more than 70 percent of the revenues generated.

In cutting the broadcasting service this summer, Coconino County has also seen a large fall-off in betting, from an average of $45 per person last year to $7 this summer.

In all, the races experienced an $86,000 decline in on-track betting this past summer, though 12,785 attended the races this year, according to data from Coconino County Parks and Recreation.

"It's easily the single biggest get-together in town, particularly in a three-day period," said Zach Ellman, owner of Just Wireless and a race sponsor.

He grew up in the Bay Area, has friends who are horse owners, and says it's a great way to network, and a must-try event for Flagstaff residents or newcomers.

"It has to be one of those events, too, that gets affected by the economy we're in in a big way," he said.

He was one of more than a dozen to meet recently to discuss ways to keep the races going, citing numbers that put the economic impact of the race at about $1 million in benefits to restaurants and hotels.

Total revenues from the races have slipped from $456,000 to $141,000 this past year, with the recent loss of off-track betting.

Attendees of a nighttime meeting volunteered to recruit more business advertising, and to volunteer their time to make the races profitable.

Coconino County Parks and Recreation surveyed race-goers and found they wanted on-track betting, didn't care as much about off-track betting, and that half were from Flagstaff.

Off-track betting, local betting, and state funding had been the major sources of income.

Of those people surveyed, 44 percent had been going to the races for more than a decade.

But there's some difficulty in getting younger audiences to the races, volunteers agreed, with the majority of attendees ages 46 and older.

"It seems that the demographics associated with the horse race … shows that we have a customer base of very satisfied people who come to the races year after year after year and are generally in the older age cohorts," said Coconino County Parks and Recreation Director Todd Graeff.

He said recruitment of younger audiences was "not what it could be."

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the issue in mid-December.

Graeff would be reluctant, he said, to ask them to fund a horse-racing program that could not financially sustain itself.

Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.