Bidders for state racing franchise narrows By BRYAN F. YURCAN

Bidders for state racing franchise narrows
By BRYAN F. YURCAN

Two potential bidders vying to operate the state’s lucrative racing franchise, including Rockland County-based Catskill Regional OTB, have dropped out of the running.

Catskill Regional, along with a group headed by Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn, told the state late last month that they would not continue in the bidding process.

Catskill Regional Off-Track Betting, based in Pomona, was one of six entities seeking to operate the state’s three largest thoroughbred racetracks: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island; and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs.

The other remaining candidates are Thoroughbred Racing-NY, Empire Racing, Excelsior, Capital Play and the New York Racing Association (NYRA), the nonprofit group that currently operates the three facilities.

Catskill OTB president Donald Groth said his organization decided not to pursue its bid after the state said it required an up-front fee of at least $100,000 to “verify the integrity” of each proposal. “We decided that would not be a correct expenditure of public money,” he said.

The Catskill Off-Track Betting Corp. was created by New York state and has operated legal wagering continuously since 1976. Groth said the Catskill OTB, which runs 26 betting centers in the Hudson Valley and Southern Tier of the state, has an “unmatched record of returning revenues to support government.”

Groth said that as a public benefit corporation, the Catskill OTB is already subject to oversight from the state comptroller’s office, and questioned why an additional study would be necessary to verify the integrity of its bid. “We’re going to be watching this competition and be ready in the event a new competition is held,” he said.

NYRA’s franchise expires Dec. 31. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November, citing at the time that the New York State Lottery Division’s failure to approve the installation of video-lottery terminal (VLT) machines at Aqueduct Racetrack pushed them to insolvency. NYRA has operated the tracks since 1955.

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