From: Stop Predatory Gambling
Slots and Safety at New Mexico Tracks
One of the first states to approve slot machine gambling at horse tracks, New Mexico now has been tagged with the worst safety record in racing. Nationwide, the newspaper found the industry “still mired in a culture of drugs and lax regulation and a fatal breakdown rate that remains far worse than in most of the world.” In addition, slots are now the tail that wag the horse, accounting for most of the revenue at tracks and turning racing into a side business, and perhaps the biggest reason for safety plummeting.Slots and Safety at New Mexico Tracks
Additional articles: New Mexico
At least four groups seek 6th license for racino
By Charles D. Brunt / Journal Staff Writer on Fri, Apr 12, 2013
At least four groups are interested in applying for the state’s sixth racino license should the New Mexico Racing Commission reopen the application process that has been stalled for nearly four years....
Pitches appear likely from at least Raton, Hobbs, Tucumcari and Lordsburg.
Recent state Court of Appeals rulings upholding the expiration of Canadian developer Michael Moldenhauer’s gaming and racing licenses for the unfinished La Mesa Racetrack and Casino in Raton could result in issuing the state’s last racino license.
The state’s compacts with casino-operating tribes, which expire in 2037, allow a total of six racinos. Five are up and running.
Moldenhauer, who failed to complete the planned $50 million racino and conduct live horse racing by Memorial Day 2010, has until April 22 to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Calls and emails seeking comment from Moldenhauer and his Albuquerque attorney, Sam Bregman, have not been returned.
Racing Commission chairman Rob Doughty III said Wednesday that the sixth racino license will be discussed at the Commission’s next regular meeting, slated for April 25.
When the sixth racino license first became available in 2008, Moldenhauer and three groups applied for it.
Coronado Partners, a group headed by Albuquerque businessman Don Chalmers, sought a license to open a $50 million racino along I-40 in Tucumcari.
Attorney Warren Frost said Wednesday the group will apply again.
“We’re in the process of putting together an updated application, and we’ll file that at some point — in six weeks or so — when they open that (process) up.,” Frost said.
Penn National Gaming, which owns Zia Park/Black Gold Casino in Hobbs, did not apply in 2008, but is considering doing so.
“Yes, we are still interested,” Penn National spokeswoman Karen Bailey said Wednesday. She declined, however, to say what the Pennsylvania-based gaming conglomerate would do with a second New Mexico license.
Speculation has emerged among some regulators that Penn National might use the additional license to increase the number of slot machines at its Hobbs casino.
David Norvell, chief counsel and former chairman of the New Mexico Gaming Control Board — which issues state gaming licenses — said Wednesday that if an existing racino obtained a second license, it could double its maximum number of slots, currently set at 750.
Racinos must obtain a racing license from the Racing Commission before applying for a gaming license from the Gaming Control Board.
Moldenhauer’s troubles has not deterred Raton from trying to revive racing there.
Two years ago, then-Raton Mayor Scott Berry told the Racing Commission that an investor, who he declined to name, was interested in applying for the sixth license.
“The same investor group is still interested,” current mayor Bobby Ledoux said Wednesday. He said the investors are from Texas and New Mexico, but declined to identify any of them. He said Raton “is completely behind any group that tries to bring a track here.”
Hidalgo County in southwestern New Mexico backed an unsuccessful license application in 2008, hoping to build Hidalgo Downs adjacent to Interstate 10.
Lordsburg Mayor Frank M. Rodriguez said Thursday he still supports a racino for Lordsburg.
“I think it would be a great asset that would increase our tourism and benefit our economy in general,” he said, adding that he is contacting a Native American tribe in California that is interested in partnering with the city and county on a racino.
Pojoaque Pueblo, which bought the shuttered Downs at Santa Fe in 1995, also applied for the sixth racino license in 2008. Several calls to pueblo Gov. George Rivera this week seeking comment on whether the pueblo will reapply for a racing license were not returned.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/04/12/news/at-least-four-groups-seek-6th-license-for-racino.html
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment