Pojoaque pitches racino at Downs
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Raton, Tucumcari also in running for final horse-racing and casino license
6/28/2008 - 6/29/08
Pueblo of Pojoaque officials hope to convince the state Racing Commission at a hearing this month that the Downs at Santa Fe would be the best place to locate the state's sixth horse-racing and casino license.
The pueblo, which has owned the dormant racetrack south of Santa Fe for more than a decade, is one of three would-be operators contending for the only remaining "racino" license New Mexico plans to issue for the next 33 years.
Would-be operators in Raton and Tucumcari are also seeking the license.
Racing Commission Director Julian Luna said Friday that he expects two additional applicants might join the contest, both with proposals for operations in the Lordsburg and Deming area of southwestern New Mexico. Luna couldn't offer many details, but said, "I'm in the process of getting two more this week."
The commission this month plans to visit each of the three communities where an applicant has proposed a racino, which state law allows to have as many as 750 slot machines in conjunction with wagering on horse races. These are the only locations off tribal land where casino gambling is allowed in New Mexico, part of an agreement that recognized the decline in horse tracks that coincided with the rise of Indian-owned gambling operations in recent years.
Raton officials plan to close a city street and put on a party to attract local residents to a July 10 Racing Commission hearing there.
Local promoters in Raton are working with Moldenhauer Developments of Mississauga, Ontario, to reopen La Mesa Park, which Raton Mayor Joe Apache said provided a summertime attraction for Texas and Oklahoma visitors from 1946 until the late 1980s.
Pojoaque acquired the Downs in 1996 and ran summer horse-racing meets there for two years. Without slot-machine revenue to subsidize the horse-racing operation, the business was not profitable, Pojoaque Gov. George Rivera said.
An economic impact study of southeastern New Mexico's Zia Park Racetrack, which opened in 2005 in Hobbs, says casino revenues are the primary source of income for racetracks in the state. Gamblers' slot-machine losses enrich purses in horse races, said the study conducted this year for the Racing Commission.
During its first three years, Zia Park shot to second statewide in overall racino gambling revenue, generating 31 percent of the total racino revenue paid to the state since 2005. The report attributes Zia's success as a gambling venue to its distance from other gambling opportunities.
Sunland Park, in the state's southeast corner, near El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and The Downs Racetrack and Casino at Albuquerque handled the most money in local horse-race gambling during those years, due largely to their proximity to large population centers, the report says.
Zia Park, however, attracted more out-of-state betting every year since it opened than all other tracks but Sunland Park. The report associates out-of-state betting volume with the size of purses paid and quality of race meets at a particular track.
Rivera said Santa Fe already has tourism infrastructure in place to accommodate the horse-racing community. "If it's going to be the last racino in the state, and the idea is for the state and the local county to make money off of it, Santa Fe is No. 1 in the state, one of the top two destinations in the U.S., and it's been in the top 10 in the world," he said.
Unlike Pojoaque's gambling operations within the boundaries of the northern Santa Fe County pueblo, its proposed operation at the Downs, including as many as 750 slot machines, would be operated under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Racing Commission and the state Gaming Control Board, Rivera said. The pueblo regulates its own gambling enterprises within the pueblo under the oversight of the National Indian Gaming Commission.
Under state law, racino operators pay 26 percent of their revenues to the state. Pojoaque's revenue-sharing agreement for its casinos gives the state 8 percent of the money gamblers lose there.
Pojoaque plans to open in August what tribal planners call the largest resort hotel in the state, with 1,200 slot machines in one of the largest casinos in New Mexico.
Pojoaque operates two other casinos and has slot machines at a tribally run gas station, under a state compact that Rivera said places no limit on the number of slot machines or casinos the pueblo can operate. That agreement expires in 2015.
Rivera has said Pojoaque's business planners believe gambling operations of various sizes can provide the most revenue for the pueblo by appealing to diverse clientele.
Other pueblos more recently signed compacts that limited each pueblo to two casinos, except Laguna Pueblo, which already had three casinos. The new agreements increased the state's revenue share to 9.25 percent, but remain in effect until 2045, which makes the pueblos' gambling ventures more appealing to financiers.
An agreement reached among Gov. Bill Richardson, the state's Racing Commission and pueblos in the state limits the expansion of horse racing and track casinos, with no more licenses to be issued until 2040.
Potential track operators vying for the sole available license must convince the commission their plan can do the most for the horse-racing industry. "Ultimately, we take into consideration what's going to be in the best interest of horse racing in New Mexico," Luna said.
The Pojoaque hearing is set for at 5:30 p.m., July 22 at a location to be announced.
The Sangre De Cristo Chronicle contributed to this report.
Contact David Collins at 986-3064 or dcollins@sfnewmexican.com.
