What next for silent Colonial Downs racetrack?
Oct 19, 2014 13:52:04 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Oct 19, 2014 13:52:04 GMT -5
I enjoyed the turf racing but I always thought this track wouldn't make it. The location isn't good.
What next for silent Colonial Downs racetrack?
Roanoke Times (via PR)
By Carol Hazard Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND — The dust is settling from Colonial Downs’ decision to relinquish its unlimited license to run the state’s only pari-mutuel wagering race course and shutter the track and betting sites Nov. 1 after 17 rocky years of operation.
What happens to the racetrack on 607 mostly green acres off Interstate 64 in New Kent County between Richmond and Williamsburg?
Jeffrey Jacobs, the chairman and CEO of Golden, Colorado-based Jacobs Entertainment Inc., which owns the track, said it’s doubtful Colonial Downs will reopen. But he also said he wants to hold on to it and see what happens.
“It’s his property, he can do what he wants with it,” said Sargeant “Sarge” Reynolds, chairman of the Virginia Racing Commission.
“He can have a county fair there [like he did this year], run more motorcycle races and he may apply for a limited license to run high-end races there,” Reynolds said.
Jacobs, who has been pushing for high-end boutique meets and fewer race days, did not rule out the possibility of forging ahead with a new horsemen’s group.
He surrendered his license Wednesday upon determining that a new horsemen’s group he supports would not be approved by the racing commission.
Jacobs said 2,000 people responded on the Colonial Downs website in support of the new group, Old Dominion Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, whose president is based in Florida.
The track is shutting down after failing to come to terms for this year’s race meet with the existing group, the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has represented Thoroughbred trainers, owners and breeders since the track opened in 1997.
Jacobs said that by next year, perhaps enough Virginia horsemen will sign with the new group so the commission would consider supporting it. The commission has said it would consider any legitimate proposal.
Jacobs said he believes it is possible that two horsemen’s groups can operate in Virginia like they do in Kentucky.
Kentucky is horse country with five thoroughbred and three harness tracks.
The thoroughbred groups there are the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has contracts with all five tracks, and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, which has contracts with Churchill Downs and Keeneland.
“They get along,” said Marc Guilfoil, director of racing for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. They share members, with some people belonging to both groups, he said. “It’s a shame things didn’t work out there.”
Virginia is home to the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, but it is a breeders organization whereas the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association is a trainers association that runs horses at racetracks.
Colonial Downs President Ian Stewart said Thursday that Jacobs is a developer by nature. “But it would be inappropriate for me to speculate about any alternatives [for the property.]”
“He loves the racing game,” Stewart said about Jacobs. “If he could find a way to make it work, he would be interested in talking about it. ... The industry needs dramatic change and, absent dramatic change, it’s unlikely the track will reopen.”
The track will continue to mow the grass, Stewart said. Beyond that, nothing has been determined, other than a lease is being negotiated for one of the off-track betting sites. Stewart declined to say which one.
Jacobs has been involved with the track since 1996, a year before it opened. In the track’s early years, it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy but never filed for reorganization.
Jacobs took the development private in 2002, buying out all the remaining shares.
He has put the property on the market a couple of times over the years.
“A number of people have approached him, but if they think Mr. Jacobs is prepared to give it away at a bargain price, they are mistaken,” Stewart said. “No one has made a serious offer with the financial wherewithal to make it happen.”
The Colonial Downs property is assessed for $27.4 million, according to county records, with the building assessed at $22.8 million and the land at $4.6 million.
Rodney Hathaway, New Kent County administrator, said some of the property is zoned for commercial and retail, but the horse track itself is zoned only for that purpose.
“This is all new to us, and it was a surprise,” Hathaway said about the track’s decision to surrender its license.
“We have not looked at alternative uses for that site,” he said. “Hopefully, we can utilize this site for horse racing.”
A conditional use permit allows Colonial Downs to use the property for what Hathaway called accessory uses, such as motorcycle racing.
“At this point, I don’t know what the owner has in mind for the property,” Hathaway said. “We hope they will race horses there.”
Colonial Downs and the original horsemen’s group have been at loggerheads since January over the number of race days, leading to no thoroughbred racing this summer for the first time in the track’s 17-year history.
“In the end, the horsemen came around and felt close enough to a deal that they were willing to go to mediation,” Reynolds said. The racing commission’s mission is to promote, sustain, grow and regulate a native horse racing industry in Virginia.
Colonial Downs refused to mediate even at the request of the governor’s office, he said.
“Jeff Jacobs just flat out didn’t want to do business with this horsemen’s group,” Reynolds said.
It’s unclear whether a leadership change at the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association would have made a difference, he said.
The track, which loses money running live races, wants fewer race days and higher purses, while the horsemen say they as well want high-quality races but also enough racing days to run their horses and support the racing industry.
It’s the same predicament every year, but this year it came to a head.
What next for silent Colonial Downs racetrack?
Roanoke Times (via PR)
By Carol Hazard Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND — The dust is settling from Colonial Downs’ decision to relinquish its unlimited license to run the state’s only pari-mutuel wagering race course and shutter the track and betting sites Nov. 1 after 17 rocky years of operation.
What happens to the racetrack on 607 mostly green acres off Interstate 64 in New Kent County between Richmond and Williamsburg?
Jeffrey Jacobs, the chairman and CEO of Golden, Colorado-based Jacobs Entertainment Inc., which owns the track, said it’s doubtful Colonial Downs will reopen. But he also said he wants to hold on to it and see what happens.
“It’s his property, he can do what he wants with it,” said Sargeant “Sarge” Reynolds, chairman of the Virginia Racing Commission.
“He can have a county fair there [like he did this year], run more motorcycle races and he may apply for a limited license to run high-end races there,” Reynolds said.
Jacobs, who has been pushing for high-end boutique meets and fewer race days, did not rule out the possibility of forging ahead with a new horsemen’s group.
He surrendered his license Wednesday upon determining that a new horsemen’s group he supports would not be approved by the racing commission.
Jacobs said 2,000 people responded on the Colonial Downs website in support of the new group, Old Dominion Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, whose president is based in Florida.
The track is shutting down after failing to come to terms for this year’s race meet with the existing group, the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has represented Thoroughbred trainers, owners and breeders since the track opened in 1997.
Jacobs said that by next year, perhaps enough Virginia horsemen will sign with the new group so the commission would consider supporting it. The commission has said it would consider any legitimate proposal.
Jacobs said he believes it is possible that two horsemen’s groups can operate in Virginia like they do in Kentucky.
Kentucky is horse country with five thoroughbred and three harness tracks.
The thoroughbred groups there are the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has contracts with all five tracks, and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, which has contracts with Churchill Downs and Keeneland.
“They get along,” said Marc Guilfoil, director of racing for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. They share members, with some people belonging to both groups, he said. “It’s a shame things didn’t work out there.”
Virginia is home to the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, but it is a breeders organization whereas the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association is a trainers association that runs horses at racetracks.
Colonial Downs President Ian Stewart said Thursday that Jacobs is a developer by nature. “But it would be inappropriate for me to speculate about any alternatives [for the property.]”
“He loves the racing game,” Stewart said about Jacobs. “If he could find a way to make it work, he would be interested in talking about it. ... The industry needs dramatic change and, absent dramatic change, it’s unlikely the track will reopen.”
The track will continue to mow the grass, Stewart said. Beyond that, nothing has been determined, other than a lease is being negotiated for one of the off-track betting sites. Stewart declined to say which one.
Jacobs has been involved with the track since 1996, a year before it opened. In the track’s early years, it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy but never filed for reorganization.
Jacobs took the development private in 2002, buying out all the remaining shares.
He has put the property on the market a couple of times over the years.
“A number of people have approached him, but if they think Mr. Jacobs is prepared to give it away at a bargain price, they are mistaken,” Stewart said. “No one has made a serious offer with the financial wherewithal to make it happen.”
The Colonial Downs property is assessed for $27.4 million, according to county records, with the building assessed at $22.8 million and the land at $4.6 million.
Rodney Hathaway, New Kent County administrator, said some of the property is zoned for commercial and retail, but the horse track itself is zoned only for that purpose.
“This is all new to us, and it was a surprise,” Hathaway said about the track’s decision to surrender its license.
“We have not looked at alternative uses for that site,” he said. “Hopefully, we can utilize this site for horse racing.”
A conditional use permit allows Colonial Downs to use the property for what Hathaway called accessory uses, such as motorcycle racing.
“At this point, I don’t know what the owner has in mind for the property,” Hathaway said. “We hope they will race horses there.”
Colonial Downs and the original horsemen’s group have been at loggerheads since January over the number of race days, leading to no thoroughbred racing this summer for the first time in the track’s 17-year history.
“In the end, the horsemen came around and felt close enough to a deal that they were willing to go to mediation,” Reynolds said. The racing commission’s mission is to promote, sustain, grow and regulate a native horse racing industry in Virginia.
Colonial Downs refused to mediate even at the request of the governor’s office, he said.
“Jeff Jacobs just flat out didn’t want to do business with this horsemen’s group,” Reynolds said.
It’s unclear whether a leadership change at the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association would have made a difference, he said.
The track, which loses money running live races, wants fewer race days and higher purses, while the horsemen say they as well want high-quality races but also enough racing days to run their horses and support the racing industry.
It’s the same predicament every year, but this year it came to a head.
