THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020609
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Unless the Virginia Racing Commission grants the state's one horse-racing track license to an Ohio investor, the possibility of a racing circuit with Maryland is unlikely, another track operator said.
Maryland track operator Joseph De Francis told the commission he was able to reach an agreement for a Virginia-Maryland circuit with Ohio track owner Arnold Stansley, who wants to build a $36 million track in New Kent County.
Several of the other license applicants rejected De Francis' offers.
There were ``basic, fundamental differences in philosophies,'' De Francis said Wednesday.
The commission is expected to select by Sept. 28 one of the applicants for the license to build a track and up to six off-track betting parlors.
De Francis, who operates the Pimlico and Laurel race courses in Maryland, wanted to build a $55 million track in Loudoun County near Dulles International Airport.
But fierce opposition from nearby residents resulted in an Aug. 2 referendum on the issue. Loudoun voters rejected pari-mutuel betting, effectively vetoing the track.
But earlier this year, De Francis signed an agreement to manage Stansley's thoroughbred season and form a circuit linking Maryland and Virginia, should Stansley's application be approved.
Under the agreement, racing would shut down in Maryland in the summer and move to Virginia.
After the Loudoun vote killed his plans, De Francis also approached the other applicants. He said he talked to Virginia Racing Associates, Churchill Downs of Kentucky and the Virginia Jockey Club.
The VRA, which proposes to build a track in Portsmouth, said it didn't want to talk until after the license was awarded.
De Francis talked extensively with Churchill Downs, which wants to build a track in Virginia Beach, and the Virginia Jockey Club, which proposes a track in Prince William County. Main points of contention include money and schedules.
In an Aug. 18 proposal to Churchill Downs, De Francis sought reimbursement for his Loudoun application costs, estimated to be at least $1 million. He also wanted Churchill Downs to allow his group to operate an off-track betting parlor in Northern Virginia.
Churchill Downs countered four days later with an offer that covered $50,000 of De Francis' application costs.
Churchill Downs President Thomas Meeker wrote that his company couldn't give its off-track betting license in Northern Virginia to De Francis because the parlor's ``substantial revenue base'' would be needed to finance Churchill Down's track.
A sticking point between the Virginia Jockey Club and De Francis was the racing schedule. The VJC proposed a schedule of alternating racing days, which would feature racing in both states three days each week with one overlapping day. De Francis wanted a program of alternate seasons.
Some applicants view a two-state circuit as inevitable. ``I believe there will be an agreement because business dictates it,'' said the VJC's lawyer, Lawrence H. Framme III.
KEYWORDS: HORSE RACING RACE TRACKS by CNB