
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 15, 1994                   TAG: 9403150118
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LEESBURG                                LENGTH: Short

APPLICANTS' RACE IS OFF AND RUNNING

Two groups vying to build the state's first pari-mutuel horse racing track in Loudoun and Prince William counties presented their cases Monday to the Virginia Racing Commission.

After listening to representatives from the Old Dominion Jockey Club, which hopes to open a track near Washington-Dulles International Airport, the commission met later in the day with the Virginia Jockey Club about its efforts to build a track in Haymarket.

The commission, which is reviewing six applications for tracks in Northern Virginia, Tidewater and Southside Virginia, plans to award one license initially. The panel expects to announce its decision by early September.

Old Dominion, which is part of a company that also operates Laurel and Pimlico race courses in Maryland, plans to create a year-round circuit among the three facilities.

At a public hearing in Leesburg, opinion was evenly divided on the proposed $55 million facility, which would open in 1996.

When one speaker asked for a show of hands for those opposed to the track, about half of the roughly 120 people crowded into the room responded.

Much of the opposition came from residents of nearby subdivisions who said the track would increase traffic, pollution and crime, and would be too close to schools.

by CNB