License for N.M. horse track still idle

License for N.M. horse track still idle

	Published : Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:36 By : Agencies Print this Story

ALBUQUERQUE (AFX) - A Canadian investor and a former owner of now-closed La Mesa Park tried Thursday to get the State Racing Commission to take a serious look at approving the construction of a new horse racing track and casino in Raton.

'Get us a license and we'll put up the building,' Eric Culver told the commission at its monthly meeting.

Culver, who owned La Mesa Park 40 years ago, is in a partnership with Canadian developer Michael Moldenhauer. They want to build a $40 million track and casino they say would employ 300 people year-round.

Culver's group applied for a license in September 2005, but the commission hasn't put the proposal on its agenda for discussion. Commission members didn't bite on the partnership's latest effort to get the ball rolling.

'We don't have any plans right now,' Commissioner Arnold Rael told Culver and Moldenhauer when the partners asked if the commission had a timeline for considering the license request.

Commissioner Eddie Fowler said after the meeting that the commission won't consider approving any new tracks until it sees the results of a state study on the impact Zia Park race track in Hobbs -- the state's newest track -- has had on that city's economy.

'Until that thing is completed, we are going to have everything on hold,' Fowler said. 'It's not anything against the people in Raton or anybody else.'

Pojoaque Pueblo also has filed a license application with the Racing Commission to re-open The Downs at Santa Fe. The pueblo purchased that track in 1996 and closed it the following year. A spokeswoman for the commission said consideration of that license too is on hold pending completion of the study on the Hobbs track.

Gov. Bill Richardson has said he wants requests for additional gambling venues in New Mexico put on hold pending completion of the state review into the track at Hobbs, which opened 16 months ago.

Albuquerque attorney Sam Bregman, who represents Culver's partnership, said he doesn't believe Richardson is opposed to expanding the gambling environment in the state.

'I don't think I'd agree with that underlying premise,' Bregman said. 'He's always said that he's had some concerns that as gaming expands, it's done correctly. I think that's why there's been a study on the Hobbs track. My indication is from his discussions with the people in Raton and other people, I don't believe that he is in any way against this race track.'

Moldenhauer, a real estate developer based in Toronto, said the track and casino would be part of a master plan to bring economic growth and other benefits to the Raton area.

'We are doing somewhat of a review on what the needs are of that local community. There are some underlying needs that we think are going unserved,' Moldenhauer said. 'In cooperation with the city manager and the mayor, we are looking at addressing some of those potential opportunities.'

Moldenhauer said the opening of a track and casino in Raton could lead to the construction of new hotels, restaurants, new homes and facilities for senior citizens.

La Mesa Park opened in 1946 and closed in 1992, when horse racing hit a slump. The state's approval of slot machines at casinos operated by the state's five existing tracks have injected millions of dollars into the horse racing industry in recent years.