Stronach, Genting, Horsemen Agree on Miami Casino
Jan 8, 2014 0:38:38 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Jan 8, 2014 0:38:38 GMT -5
Kumbaya: Stronach, Genting, Horsemen Agree on Miami Casino
by Ray Paulick
The Stronach Group, the Genting resorts casino company, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association have formed a partnership that hopes to bring slot machines to a waterfront location near downtown Miami in Dade County. The proposed Resorts World Omni would be built on Miami bayfront land – formerly occupied by the Miami Herald – purchased by Genting for $236 million in 2011.
It’s a kumbaya development among four diverse groups that do not traditionally get along with one another but banded together for what they see as their common good.
Genting, a Malaysian gaming company which operates Resorts Casino at Aqueduct racetrack in New York, plans to build high-rise condominiums and a resort hotel on the property, in addition to a 2,000-machine slots casino, a smaller-scale project than the $3.1 billion destination casino complex shot down twice by Florida legislators.
The agreement among the four groups calls for the casinos to be authorized using the pari-mutuel and slots permit acquired by the non-profit Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred Aftercare Retirement Program, which is affiliated with The Stronach Group, owner of Gulfstream Park. The non-profit, which News Service Florida reported has been renamed Gulfstream Park After Racing Program (GPTARP), held two pari-mutuel races of 150 yards Dec. 18, 2013, near the start of the one-mile chute of Gulfstream Park’s dirt track. That portion of the racetrack property is in Dade County, with the remainder of Gulfstream Park situated in Broward County.
Gulfstream Park and GPTARP officials maintain that operating pari-mutuel races in Dade County qualifies the non-profit for a license to operate slot machines in that county.
Tajiana Ancora-Brown, spokesperson for Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulations, told News Service Florida in an email that “the Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After Racing Program (GPTARP) permit is a Broward County Permit.”
To go forward, the deal would require either legislative or administrative approval. The legislature meets from March until early May.
Lobbyists for other permit-holders, including the Dade County based Calder Casino & Race Course (owned by Churchill Downs, Inc.), have already spoken out against the proposed waterfront slots parlor. “If they issue a permit that allows this to happen, it will draw a legal challenge,” Wilbur Brewton, a lobbyist for Calder, told the Miami Herald. “This is an expansion of gambling.”
Brewton contends state statute says slots gaming can only be conducted by pari-mutuel permit holders and at the location where pari-mutuel activities take place.
The planned slot machine casino would also operate a race book, with pari-mutuel wagering, said Lonny Powell, CEO of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association.
GPTARP would contract with Gulfstream Park to conduct a race meeting at the Hallandale racetrack. That meet would benefit charitable organizations that support retired Thoroughbreds and disabled jockeys, among others, Powell added. Revenue from the casino and the GPTARP meeting would stimulate purses, Florida-bred races, and also establish a pool for long-term facility improvements and a marketing fund for promoting horse racing and recruiting new fans.
“The racing industry benefits from this,” said Powell. “It’s the first racino model that actually has an emphasis on building the racing side of the business. It’s a game-changing kind of
Powell did not disclose specifics for revenue sharing in the four-party agreement.
“The economic footprint of this stretches from Miami all the way to the horse farms in Marion County,” he said. “For the breeders and people invested in the horses, it’s got a state-wide impact you see so rarely in these types of economic development projects. It took cooperation and collaboration of people who don’t always agree.”
by Ray Paulick
The Stronach Group, the Genting resorts casino company, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association have formed a partnership that hopes to bring slot machines to a waterfront location near downtown Miami in Dade County. The proposed Resorts World Omni would be built on Miami bayfront land – formerly occupied by the Miami Herald – purchased by Genting for $236 million in 2011.
It’s a kumbaya development among four diverse groups that do not traditionally get along with one another but banded together for what they see as their common good.
Genting, a Malaysian gaming company which operates Resorts Casino at Aqueduct racetrack in New York, plans to build high-rise condominiums and a resort hotel on the property, in addition to a 2,000-machine slots casino, a smaller-scale project than the $3.1 billion destination casino complex shot down twice by Florida legislators.
The agreement among the four groups calls for the casinos to be authorized using the pari-mutuel and slots permit acquired by the non-profit Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred Aftercare Retirement Program, which is affiliated with The Stronach Group, owner of Gulfstream Park. The non-profit, which News Service Florida reported has been renamed Gulfstream Park After Racing Program (GPTARP), held two pari-mutuel races of 150 yards Dec. 18, 2013, near the start of the one-mile chute of Gulfstream Park’s dirt track. That portion of the racetrack property is in Dade County, with the remainder of Gulfstream Park situated in Broward County.
Gulfstream Park and GPTARP officials maintain that operating pari-mutuel races in Dade County qualifies the non-profit for a license to operate slot machines in that county.
Tajiana Ancora-Brown, spokesperson for Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulations, told News Service Florida in an email that “the Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After Racing Program (GPTARP) permit is a Broward County Permit.”
To go forward, the deal would require either legislative or administrative approval. The legislature meets from March until early May.
Lobbyists for other permit-holders, including the Dade County based Calder Casino & Race Course (owned by Churchill Downs, Inc.), have already spoken out against the proposed waterfront slots parlor. “If they issue a permit that allows this to happen, it will draw a legal challenge,” Wilbur Brewton, a lobbyist for Calder, told the Miami Herald. “This is an expansion of gambling.”
Brewton contends state statute says slots gaming can only be conducted by pari-mutuel permit holders and at the location where pari-mutuel activities take place.
The planned slot machine casino would also operate a race book, with pari-mutuel wagering, said Lonny Powell, CEO of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association.
GPTARP would contract with Gulfstream Park to conduct a race meeting at the Hallandale racetrack. That meet would benefit charitable organizations that support retired Thoroughbreds and disabled jockeys, among others, Powell added. Revenue from the casino and the GPTARP meeting would stimulate purses, Florida-bred races, and also establish a pool for long-term facility improvements and a marketing fund for promoting horse racing and recruiting new fans.
“The racing industry benefits from this,” said Powell. “It’s the first racino model that actually has an emphasis on building the racing side of the business. It’s a game-changing kind of
Powell did not disclose specifics for revenue sharing in the four-party agreement.
“The economic footprint of this stretches from Miami all the way to the horse farms in Marion County,” he said. “For the breeders and people invested in the horses, it’s got a state-wide impact you see so rarely in these types of economic development projects. It took cooperation and collaboration of people who don’t always agree.”