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

DATE: TUESDAY, January 4, 1994                   TAG: 9401040123
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CLUB CHANGES SITE FOR HORSE RACING TRACK

The Maryland Jockey Club, one of six applicants to build Virginia's first pari-mutuel horse racing track, on Monday changed the site of its proposed $55 million track from New Kent County to Loudoun County.

The decision was announced on the final day to submit license application amendments to the Virginia Racing Commission. The commission plans to conduct public hearings on the applications before awarding a license this summer.

Joe De Francis, president of the Maryland Jockey Club, said the new site would put the track within an hour's drive of 7 million people, the fourth-largest market in the nation.

Also, the track would operate from mid-June until mid-October, when the jockey club's Laurel Race Course in Maryland is closed. By working together, De Francis said, the tracks could offer a combined $65 million a year in purses - the third-highest total of any racing circuit in the nation.

Other advantages of the site, De Francis said, are that it is "smack in the middle of Virginia horse country," the area's per capita income is among the nation's highest, and it will be accessible by Virginia 625 and an extension of the Dulles Toll Road.

by CNB