Churchill Downs partners with Saratoga in New York casino bid

2014-05-15

Reading time 1:34 min

(US).- One of the most recognizable names in horse racing has joined the field in New York’s sprint into big-time gambling. The company that owns Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, is teaming up with a racetrack to pursue a full-fledged casino just outside the state capital. The project is one of nearly two dozen coming into focus as the state moves to issue up to four casino licenses. Final bids are due on June 30, with a decision on locations expected in the fall.

On Monday, a state gambling panel assigned to choose casino locations said that bidders in the capital region would be required to invest a minimum of US$135 million to qualify for a license.

The Churchill Downs project promises a US$300 million “world-class destination resort casino,” in East Greenbush, just east of Albany, including a 300-room hotel, restaurants and entertainment facilities, and some 20,000 square feet of retail space. Developers are interested in opening casinos at Tioga Downs, a harness racing track west of Binghamton.

The company, which is based in Louisville, Ky., and also owns several casinos, is joined by a local enterprise, the Saratoga Casino and Raceway, which had previously sought to expand its gambling operations at a harness track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., that already has slot-machine-like video lottery terminals. The company, whose owners include James Featherstonhaugh, a prominent Albany lobbyist, abandoned those plans after stiff local resistance.

In a statement, Bill Carstanjen, the president of Churchill Downs, said the East Greenbush project would “create reliable revenues for the entire capital region, generate thousands of jobs, and be best positioned to keep New York gaming dollars in New York.”

Those points closely mirror some of benefits promoted by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who has promoted the new gambling operations as an economic development engine for troubled upstate communities. But some critics have wondered if those revitalization goals are being overridden by a desire for new tax revenues: A push for a casino in Orange County, close to New York City, for example, has alarmed those who have pinned hopes for reviving the fortunes of the Catskills, to the north, on winning a casino license there.

Competition for a casino license is less fierce in the area around the capital, which has several pockets of relative economic stability, including in Saratoga and the Albany area, where unemployment is below statewide rates.