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Prospective operators give racecourse the once-over
PAUL POST ,
The Saratogian
SARATOGA SPRINGS - Several firms expected to bid on New York's racing franchise will tour Saratoga Race Course today, officials said.
Prospective bidders - including Magna Entertainment Inc., Empire Racing Associates and Delaware North Companies, which runs the video lottery terminals at Saratoga Gaming & Raceway - toured Aqueduct and Belmont Park earlier this week.
Firms have until Friday to indicate their intent to bid, and must submit bids by Aug. 15.
"It's a step in the process," Empire Racing Executive Director Jeff Perlee said of the racetrack visits. "We know Saratoga like the back of our hands, but we'll participate because it's part of the process."
Buffalo-based Delaware North also owns and operates Finger Lakes Racetrack & Gaming Center and manages the VLTs at Fairgrounds Gaming & Raceway, the former Buffalo Raceway.
Firms must also indicate by Friday who their bidding partners are. Empire Racing Board member Tom Newkirk is a Saratoga Gaming & Raceway shareholder.
Perlee declined comment when asked if Empire Racing and Delaware North are strategic partners in the bid to run New York racing.
"We'll wait and see on that," Perlee said. "They (Delaware North) took the tour independently."
Likewise, Delaware North spokeswoman Wendy Watkins said the company has made no commitments with regard to a partner.
The firm operates 3,324 VLTs at Saratoga, Finger Lakes and Buffalo and another 2,400 at a Wheeling, W. Va. greyhound track, where it recently completed a $69 million expansion that included a hotel, showrooms and restaurants. The company spent $33.5 million for VLT facilities at Saratoga, Finger Lakes and Buffalo, and is in the process of putting them at a West Memphis, Ark., greyhound track.
"As one of the largest racino operators, we've got that experience under our belt," Watkins said.
Whoever wins New York's racing franchise will also oversee 4,500 VLTs proposed for Aqueduct that could generate more than $660 million annually. A similar number of machines might be headed to Belmont.
The state invited prospective bidders to tour Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. This week's visits marked the first time that Delaware North has been mentioned publicly as a prospective bidder.
"It's part of the process of conducting a thorough evaluation and making a determination of whether we'll be bidding," Watkins said of the racetrack tours. "It's a very exciting opportunity. As of right now, we are very interested and will continue to follow the process."
Delaware North also runs greyhound parks in Daytona, Fla. and Phoenix, Ariz. that have no VLTs. In addition, Chairman and CEO Jeremy M. Jacobs has owned the Boston Bruins for more than 30 years and was largely responsible for construction of the new TD Banknorth (Boston) Garden, built with $165 million in private funds.
Magna Entertainment has declined all comment since the state's request for proposals seeking parties to run the racetracks was issued on June 13. But its representatives, along with those from Empire Racing and Delaware North, were touring Aqueduct on Monday while New York Racing Association officials were in Albany, holding a press conference for the upcoming Saratoga meet.
Firms visited Belmont on Tuesday.
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