Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 5, 1990 TAG: 9005050082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Don't bet on it.
Although it has been 1 1/2 years since Virginia voters, by a 56-44 margin, passed a state referendum on pari-mutuel wagering, the desire of Virginia horsemen to have a racing facility opened in the commonwealth has waned.
"We have heard of groups that have expressed an interest in developing a racing facility," said Don Price, executive secretary of the Virginia Racing Commission. "Most of that interest, however, has been expressed through the media rather than in appearances before the racing commission.
"No one has filed an application for a race track license, and we know of no one right now actively pursuing a race track license in Virginia."
Asked to estimate the earliest a track could be in operation in Virginia, Price said it would not be before mid-1992. Bill Thomas, an Alexandria lawyer and spokesman for Virginia Sporting Association Inc. - a 19-person syndicate that has considered seeking a pari-mutuel track license - said he doesn't expect a Virginia track to take its first bet until 1993, at the earliest.
Virginia's pari-mutuel law requires that a locality pass a referendum permitting wagering in that city or county before a license can be granted and a track constructed. Six counties have passed that legislation - Brunswick, Greensville, Isle of Wight, Mecklenburg, New Kent and Prince William. If it isn't too early to declare a leader in the derby for a track, New Kent has the most appealing offer that has been made public.
The county, in the Interstate 64 corridor between Richmond and Williamsburg, has a 345-acre site that will be offered - free - by the Chesapeake Corporation to the investors who build Virginia's first pari-mutuel track.
Before anybody breaks ground, however, the state will study the feasibility of a track, and whether it should be - or needs to be - operated in conjunction with off-site wagering locations around the state. A joint-study committee that includes two state senators, three House of Delegates members and racing commission chairman John Shenefield will study the issue, completing its work for consideration by the 1991 General Assembly.
Racing analysts have said a new, major track cannot succeed without the extra revenue generated by simultaneously broadcasting races for off-track betting. That is not allowed under Virginia's racing statute.
The racing commission pushed for the legislative study group, because it believes the establishment of off-track wagering sites will stimulate development - not only at the track, but across the state. The ability to simulcast state racing away from the track also could help Virginia avoid the adverse financial starts in other states that have recently introduced racing, notably Alabama and Iowa.
The Virginia Sporting Association has spent much of its early investment on consulting work by Peat Marwick Main of Washington, D.C. Thomas said the syndicate's stance is that two issues must be addressed before it considers filing a license application for a track in the state.
"First, there's a need for the establishment of some kind of satellite wagering facilities," Thomas said. "That notion is driven simply by demographics. The three major population centers in Virginia are all more than 100 miles apart. People are not going to drive that distance regularly to go to a track.
"If you have some satellite operations, the people who visit those places to wager will consider occasionally going to the track. If you don't have [off-track sites], they might never contemplate it.
"We're not saying what Virginia needs is off-track betting parlors on every corner; not at all. What has occurred in Illinois is what might be considered here. People go to a country club-like facility, eat dinner, watch the races and make their wagers. That would make the most sense economically, if you build a first-class racing facility."
Thomas said another issue VSA feels the racing commission must address is "whether the take-out [of taxes] is properly structured. What comes out of every dollar appears to be a little bigger than it needs to be."
The tax on wagers in the Virginia pari-mutuel statute, depending on the type of wager, averages about 2.2 percent. Thomas said the Maryland racing tax - "and Virginia would clearly be competing with Maryland," he said - is only .5 percent. "That's only an issue we feel is worth considering," Thomas said. "We don't have any opinion about it strongly."
The VSA group includes two Roanokers - Roanoke Electric Steel President John W. Hancock and Advance Auto Parts chairman Nicholas Taubman. Bassett's Robert Spilman, chairman of the board of Bassett Furniture Co., also is a part of the 19-member syndicate. Besides VSA, the only other potential investor in a Virginia horse track who has gone public is Northern Virginia financier Dana Hodgdon, the head of a McLean-based group.
The five-member racing commission was appointed by then-Gov. Gerald Baliles in 1989. This year, Gov. Douglas Wilder didn't make any changes in the commission, which includes two members from Richmond, two from Northern Virginia and one from Tidewater.
Price Price, who helped initiate horse racing in Minnesota as that state's racing commission executive secretary for 2 1/2 years, came to Virginia in July 1989. The racing commission meets monthly, and its primary work to date has been establishing state racing rules and wagering guidelines.
Price, a Massachusetts native, said his work in Minnesota - where the only track is Canterbury Downs in Minneapolis - has shown him the need for Virginia investors to avoid some of the mistakes made in other states that have introduced racing.
"I'd say what I'd tell people here is take caution not to overbuild," Price said. "In some states, like Alabama, people have built world-class racing facilities, but they've overbuilt. It seems to be a trend. It seems like people involved in new race tracks get excited, like a person who buys a new car and wants to keep adding accessories to it.
"The desire just to have the track seems to override any consideration of what's going to happen after you spend all of that money."
Price said that, unlike Minnesota, which has a population of 3.5 million in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, Virginia doesn't have a dominant population base. For that reason, a track operator likely would concentrate racing dates between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Virginia's first track is expected to be its only one, at least until it is a proven success. For Southwest Virginians, that track will be more than a three-hour drive away, meaning those who want a race track experience could get just as quickly to the Charles Town Races, a popular spot for Roanoke's horse players up I-81 in West Virginia.
"It makes sense to figure that a track won't be located in [the western] part of Virginia," Thomas said. "But if the state has provisions for a satellite facility, one or two ought to be located in that part of the state, certainly in Roanoke."
Price said the off-site satellite concept, brought before the General Assembly earlier this year, was initiated by the racing commission. He said the commission's concept of the off-track site is a facility "that is an extension of the track" and governed by the track operator.
Thomas said there's "no serious likelihood anyone" will consider applying for a track license until after the General Assembly study commission finishes its work and state legislators consider the matter in the winter.
"If it can't be shown that it can be an economic success, then one of three things will happen," Thomas said. "Either you won't have a track, or you won't have a successful track, or you won't have a first-class facility."
Price said the racing commission - if and when a track is proposed - must see two positive signs long before a starting gate opens.
"One of the most important criteria is determining we have people of good character seeking a license," Price said. "The other is that they have the financial ability to do what they say they will with the application."
by CNB