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SARATOGA SPRINGS - Racing industry heavyweights from throughout the nation converged on Saratoga Race Course Thursday, eyeing a facility they'd all like to run.
Representatives from Magna Entertainment, Churchill Downs and Delaware North toured the track, one day before firms must indicate their intentions to bid on New York's racing contract.
Earlier this week, the same firms along with Empire Racing Associates and MGM Grand visited Belmont Park and Aqueduct.
"We're just doing what everybody else is doing," said Churchill's Ted Nicholson, vice president of operations. "It's a formal process."
Roughly a dozen officials from the three firms gathered at the security gate that leads into the Oklahoma training track, off Union Avenue. From there, they crossed the street and went to the track's main grounds, led by Robert Williams, executive director of the state's Ad Hoc Committee for the Future of Racing.
Williams wrote the RFP - request for proposals - inviting parties to bid on the right to run Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct. The document was released on June 13.
Firms must notify the state today if they plan to bid and who their partners will be.
Nicholson, who works at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, declined comment when asked if Churchill is partnering with anyone. Churchill's three-man contingent included President Steve Sexton.
Magna's group was led by Brant Latta, the company's manager of acquisition, evaluation and integration. Working out of Arizona, he previously managed Magna's Santa Anita Park in California.
"We're just looking at the plant," Latta said.
Magna, headquartered near Toronto, is North America's largest racetrack operator with facilities from coast to coast.
Buffalo-based Delaware North, which manages the video lottery terminals at Saratoga Gaming & Raceway, was represented by Director of Facilities Roy Olsen and Senior Project Manager Joseph Quagliana.
"Here and Belmont there's a lot of history," Quagliana said. He said the tours of downstate tracks took about four hours, and expected Saratoga's visit to last the same. By reserving comment, he expressed a widespread opinion about Aqueduct's rundown condition.
"I won't say anything about it," he said.
New York Racing Association, which runs the tracks, hopes to borrow $180 million from MGM to build a new 4,500-VLT machine facility at Aqueduct, expected to open next year. A similar project is considered for Belmont.
MGM's absence from Thursday's tour of Saratoga perhaps shows where its primary interests lie.
Empire Racing, which has offices in Saratoga Springs, didn't tour the local track because its leaders have been there countless times.
The state's RFP made it clear that the next racetrack operator must do everything possible to preserve and protect Saratoga Race Course's unique charm and character, so whoever runs the track would have a hard time trying to make significant physical changes. There will almost certainly be major upgrades to barns and dormitories where backstretch workers live, though. Bidders hoping to secure the franchise will have to outline how they plan to improve that area.
Firms have until Aug. 15 to submit bids, and the ad hoc committee must tell the state Legislature by Sept. 15 the firm or firms it considers best suited to run New York racing.
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