The Arizona Racing Commission voted to revoke the live racing permit for Arizona Downs in a special meeting on Dec. 19, affirming a decision by an administrative law judge.
In May this year, the state's Division of Racing issued a notice to the track indicating its intent to revoke the permit, citing ongoing financial difficulties for the Prescott Valley track. The ownership of Arizona Downs appealed, which triggered a review by the state's Office of Administrative Hearings.
The findings of fact and conclusions of law by Judge Sondra J. Vanella agreed with the commission's concerns about the racetrack's finances. Arizona Downs did not seek racing dates for 2023, but was targeting a meet in May 2024, by which time its owners had hoped it would be on better financial footing. The judge's findings and conclusions, released Nov. 21, indicated the track's balance sheet shows it still owes the horsemen $180,000 and $671,000 in real estate taxes (though some of its tax liability has been paid by another entity).
The commission had also required the track to purchase bonds of $300,000 and $100,000 to cover the effective period of its racing permit, but the commission says the track has since cancelled those.
At an appearance before the administrative law judge and at Tuesday's meeting, track co-owner David Auther said some of the responsibility for the track's financial situation lies with the commission. Auther said he had received interest from Watch and Wager to lease the track for a harness meet, and yet the commission did not act on the entity's license applications in order to make that happen. He also said the bonds remained on deposit with the bonding company, and were not renewed for 2023 because the track did not plan to run this past year.
Some of the uncertainty over the finances for Arizona Downs has stemmed from the uncertain situation around a potential sale of Turf Paradise in Phoenix. The two tracks divide OTB revenue based on their respective percentage of race dates, and Turf Paradise is allocated more dates than Arizona Downs. If Turf were to be sold for development purposes and did not continue racing, Arizona Downs would get much more revenue from OTBs.
Further, Auther suggested that a change in the commission's enforcement of a code dealing with simulcasting has also hobbled Arizona Downs. The administrative law judge indicated that such an issue is beyond the scope of what her inquiry may address.
The judge's report indicates The Stronach Group had been interested in purchasing the track earlier this year but elected not to do so due to “regulatory issues and the climate at the racing commission.”
“Prior to the conclusion of the hearing, Mr. Auther testified that during the course of the hearing, Arizona Downs received an offer for its purchase,” the report read.
That potential purchaser was not identified.
Arizona Downs co-owner Tom Auther declined comment to the Paulick Report on the situation.
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