Horsemen Say Problems at The Downs of Albuquerque Must Be Addressed

Nov. 4, 2011 - The New Mexico Horsemen’s Association – which represents about 5,000 licensed racehorse owners, trainers and grooms – says problems at the Downs of Albuquerque are hurting horse racing, and that negotiations with any new lessee should address the problems.

“It is no secret that the horsemen have had a contentious relationship with current management,” at the Downs, the association’s executive director, Jack McGrail, wrote in an Oct. 24 letter to interim Expo general manager Dan Mourning.

The Down has leased the property since 1985, but its lease expires Jan. 11, according to an audit by the Legislative Finance Committee.

“Our livelihood depends upon revenue generated from the casino and on track handle,” McGrail wrote. By state law, 26 percent of a racino’s “handle” – the amount bet on simulcast and live races – goes to supplement purses paid during live racing meets. Racinos also pay 20 percent of their “net win” – the amount wagered on slots less payouts and regulatory fees – into their live-racing purses.

“There has been little effort to maximize either revenue stream,” McGrail wrote. “In fact Mr. (William) Windham (part-owner of the Downs) acknowledges in the September 25, 2011 edition of the Albuquerque Journal that ‘…the Downs was very poorly managed’ and that ‘we have a third-story casino in a dump.’ These statements should certainly give pause when considering the award of a twenty five (25) year lease to the same group that has overseen the deterioration of the existing facility.”

McGrail says the grandstands at the Downs are “antiquated and obsolete,” and the simulcast area lacks common amenities like “box seats with televisions, quality food and beverage service, modern tote board and video screens …”

Although racinos can own up to 600 slots – and can lease another 150 – McGrail said horsemen are being shortchanged because the Downs has only 317 slot machines. “This has a debilitating effect on the very industry gaming was designed to support,” McGrail said.

The horsemen’s association also questions the Downs’ plan for a new $20 million casino at the southern end of its 1-mile oval track – well out of view of the finish line and grandstands.

“Any plan that would isolate (the casino) from the track area does a disservice to both businesses,” McGrail says in the letter. “Any model that has a casino separate from the track is fundamentally flawed. The model at every other racetrack/casino in New Mexico and throughout the country is to integrate the two gaming options, not separate them.”

read more: Albuquerque Journal