Momentum Building to License OTB-Owned Track

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Officials in New York are rushing to get legislation approved to re-open one of the nation's oldest, nighttime harness tracks, Batavia Downs, in time for racing to begin this summer for the first time in three years.

Batavia Downs, located outside Buffalo, became the state's first -- and so far only -- racetrack purchased by an off-track betting corporation, which in New York are publicly owned entities. Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. purchased the ailing track in 1998 for $2.5 million, but was rebuked from opening it for racing when other tracks, fearing competition from a government- owned facility, said the state could not budge from New York law
that bars OTBs from operating racetracks.

But, with the help of some new, high-priced lobbyists that will cost the OTB $120,000 this year, the Batavia Downs owners are hopeful legislation will be approved in the next month or so to change state law now banning them from opening the 47-acre track. If approved by lawmakers, the state Racing and Wagering Board would then have to give its backing, which is expected.

"We have some momentum this time,'' said Martin Basinait, president of Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp., who hopes to begin racing at the track August 1.

In the past, a number of other tracks opposed the re-opening of Batavia Downs. Nearby Buffalo Raceway was the loudest critic until a deal was made last year that will steer $300,000 to the track for the next five years in return for its backing of Batavia Downs. Finger Lakes Racetrack, with its own influential lobbying force, also beat back Batavia Downs the past couple years, but they are said to be in negotiation with the track to resolve some financial issues. Finger Lakes officials declined comment.

Concerned about the precedent of allowing an OTB to run a racetrack, other tracks say it is also unfair to single out one track for help when a host of other issues that could assist all tracks, from simulcasting deals to video lottery terminals, are languishing at the Capitol.

Paul D'Onofrio, a lobbyist for Monticello Raceway in Sullivan County, said the OTB's ownership of an up-and-running Batavia Downs will be felt by tracks across the state as they compete for a dwindling share of betting dollars. He called it "repugnant'' that taxpayer dollars will be pumped into a track that a private company couldn't keep afloat. "If we have tracks already in a fragile wagering economy and you now have a re-surfaced competitor who is funded by the government, you have to worry about who is going to go out of business,'' D'Onofrio said.

In a memo to lawmakers, Monticello also said a shutdown by the OTB of Monticello's signal has cost their track over $100,000 in commissions during the past year. It said state officials also found the OTB in violation of simulcasting laws by failing to pay commissions to Buffalo Raceway and Finger Lakes. D'Onofrio said it would be wrong to now reward such "bad behavior'' with a racing license. He said the state cannot support the number of racetracks it now has.

OTB's Basinait suggested opponents were disgruntled, because in Monticello's case, its offer to purchase Batavia Downs was rebuffed by the OTB. And he dismissed claims that the OTB is not under the same pressures to make a profit -- which it must share with 15 area county governments -- as privately owned tracks. "The day we stop making money we are in serious jeopardy,'' he said. Besides new lobbying power, the Batavia Downs bill is being sponsored in the Assembly by Majority Leader Paul Tokasz, whose district is near the track and who just last month was elevated to the house's number two post. "I'm hopeful to do the bill early in the session,'' Tokasz said. The measure already had strong support in the Senate.

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