The layoffs announced Monday do not include kennel workers and non-park employees who hold positions tied to racing.

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / KRIS CRAIG

Twin River has handed out layoff notices to 9 full-time employees and 18 part-time workers in anticipation of Saturday’s scheduled suspension of dog racing at the Lincoln track.

“At this point in time we are taking the necessary steps to prepare for the end of racing on Saturday,” Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle said Monday. “This is it. This is the totality of jobs lost as a result of that suspension.”

Among the 27 newly jobless: track announcers, betting clerks and racing-related personnel, as well as some food and beverage workers –– nearly anyone whose job depends on the facility’s racing circuit. Twin River declined to provide an exact breakdown of those handed pink slips, effective Saturday.

That number does not include kennel workers and others who, while not park employees, hold positions directly tied to greyhound racing there.

Jennifer Bramley, a spokeswoman for the group known as the Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association, suggests those job losses could top 200 if dog racing is permanently suspended.

“It’s unfortunate that Twin River would seek to end greyhound racing, a productive partner both for Twin River and for the state,” Bramley said late Monday. “It is even more unfortunate that they would push workers out of jobs at a time when the state’s unemployment rate is at [12.4] percent.”

Simulcast racing, where televisions show out-of-state races, is expected to continue after Aug. 8, the day the park fills its obligation to hold live races 125 days a year. Officials have said such broadcasts drew $30.9 million last year, more than double the $13.2 million bet on live races.

But as the lights prepare to dim on Rhode Island dog racing, major questions remain about the long-term fate of the circuit.

In June, following months of economic woes, Twin River operator UTGR Inc., a BLB subsidiary, filed for federal bankruptcy protection, seeking to reorganize the slot parlor’s operations, because the company was struggling to meet its debt-service obligations of $589 million in loans.

Park executives have blamed at least a portion of those financial problems on an agreement with the dog owners that requires them to pay a $9-million annual subsidy to the owners, despite estimates that racing only nets the facility $1.75 million per year.

(Twin River is widely expected to seek a court motion for relief from that contract, possibility in the coming days. The next Bankruptcy Court hearing is scheduled for Aug 18.)

The General Assembly, meanwhile, passed a law in the closing days of the legislative session to require year-round racing season, while allowing overnight gambling at Twin River seven days a week. Governor Carcieri vetoed the measure, but lawmakers are likely to override that veto when they return from a prolonged summer hiatus.

Legislative leaders won’t say when exactly they will reconvene, beyond the suggestion of September. Their press officials did not return calls seeking comment about the layoffs Monday.

But in another sign that the dog racing dilemma may not be over, the facility is allowing the hundreds of greyhounds housed at the track to stay put, at least temporarily.

Bramley said the kennel workers, too, will stick around to see if the legislature forces the track to resume racing when it returns. She defended the economic value of keeping racing, a feature she says brings 5,000 visitors to the Lincoln facility each week.

“We’re very hopeful in September that the legislature will come and override the governor’s veto,” Bramley said. “That is essential to keeping those jobs in place and the millions coming into the state.”

cneedham@projo.com