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Pennsylvania Race Track-Casino Project Changes Owners

Posted on October 23rd, 2010

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With the apparent “boom” of the casino industry, states have begun scrambling for the expansion of the casino industries in their localities. One industry though seems to be left behind—horse racing. A number of states have subscribed to the idea of adding slot machines to horse racing facilities to create “racinos,” which some sectors see as the casino industry throwing a bone to the horse racing industry. Whatever it may look like, the industry of horse racing does need help, and it does accept any assistance even from casinos, which are struggling themselves. New developments in the horse racing industry cannot be unrelated to casinos these days, which is exactly what happened in the Valley View Downs project.

The proposed harness-racing track and casino project in Valley View Downs, is still in the planning stages, but it has already changed companies. The project, located in Beaver County already started 10 years ago. It was then moved to Lawrence County. While in its second location, the project was further delayed because of bankruptcy. The company currently handling it is American Harness Tracks LLC, with a business address listed as 241 Fourth Ave., Downtown. According to Centaur Gaming, an Indianapolis-based company which headed the project, it was bought by American Harness Tracks with a winning bid of $5.6 million. Centaur filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2009 and thus had been forced to put the project up for bidding.

The bidding terms were “as-is, where-is,” which means that the project will continue to be located at the site measuring 250 acres along Route 422 in Mahoning, once American Harness works on it again, according to Susan Kilkenny, spokeswoman for Centaur. She identified a managing member of American Harness, Charles A. Knoll as the main contact person on the winning bid. Knoll was asked to comment via phone, but did not return the messages. American Harness, according to the Department of State of Pennsylvania, only became a corporation last September. The company did say last month that it is interested in building its own race track and casino near the town of Johnstown. In a prepared statement released by Centaur, the company claimed that it would cooperate with the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission as to the proceedings of transferring the project to American Harness when the time comes. The statement further explains, “AHT asks for patience and cooperation as it works diligently to pursue this opportunity.”

According to Commissioner Dan Vogler, the commissioners of Lawrence County have been patient for at least six years, but they could not do anything because of the bankruptcy. Vogler explains, “It has put everybody’s patience to the test, since this has been an issue that’s been going on now since about 2004. We haven’t run out of patience yet. We’ll continue to be patient.” Vogler said neither he nor the other two commissioners has gotten word from American Harness. He hopes that the terms of the sale hold true. He commented, “Our goal as a board of commissioners is to ultimately have a racetrack and casino come to fruition here.” With the sale, Centaur will be turning over both the horse racing track and casino licenses, which are very much in demand, to American Harness. Approval from the Harness Racing Commission must be made for the track license. Moreover, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board would also need to approve the casino license transfer. The slots law of the state designates for a harness racing track the casino license. But before any of the two boards act, a bankruptcy court in Delaware must approve the sale first, according to the Department of Agriculture of Pennsylvania, which is tasked in overseeing the racing commission.

Nicole Bucher, spokesperson for the Agriculture Department, said that American Harness has a deadline of until Dec. 31 for its application to the Harness Racing Commission. Bucher explained that the length of the process of application is not definite. She explained, “The winning bidder has to certify that they have been approved by the bankruptcy court.” Moreover, according to according to spokesman Doug Harbach, until the track license is awarded, the