Prairie Meadows' table games have been so popular that the track wants to add more. The Racing Association of Central Iowa, which operates Prairie Meadows, voted Feb. 16 to add 11 table games to the 33 that were put in operation in December.
Prairie Meadows and the Polk County Board of Supervisors joined efforts to pledge up to $100,000 in matching funds to the Southeast Asia Relief Fund through the American Red Cross and challenged the community to join in the effort.
Prairie Meadows' board of directors has unanimously passed a resolution that would change the makeup of its board in exchange for business support to oppose a Des Moines riverboat casino.
Prairie Meadows received permission July 15 to add table games, but now it must roll the dice on an even bigger issue.
Prairie Meadows could add table games and video poker this fall if Gov. Tom Vilsack signs a gambling bill approved by the Iowa legislature. The track's board of directors voted 12-0 April 21 to seek the games should the bill become law.
Prairie Meadows and two Greyhound tracks will be permitted to offer table games under Iowa legislation that bans new gaming licenses in counties where they aren't currently in place.
Jim Rasmussen, a successful owner and chairman of the Racing Association of Central Iowa until this spring when he resigned after admitting to gambling through a bookmaker, died on Oct. 15 of lung cancer.
Former Prairie Meadows Chairman Jim Rasmussen will not face gambling charges, officials with the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission said.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission will not pursue gambling charges against former Prairie Meadows chairman Jim Rasmussen.
Prairie Meadows has proposed a 96-day Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing season for 2004. The plan is to race only four days a week instead of five.
Former Prairie Meadows chairman Jim Rasmussen turned in his horse owner's license and his River Ridge Ranch stable was legally dissolved May 20. The move looms as a preemptive strike to avert a June hearing at which the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission would have considered action against Rasmussen for making illegal football bets with alleged bookmaker Robert Derryberry.
Jim Rasmussen stepped down as chairman of the Prairie Meadows board of
directors May 9 in the midst of health concerns and charges he had bet
with a bookmaker on football games.
Prairie Meadows stands to save $17 million in gaming tax payments this year and $23 million by 2004 after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled June 12 that it was unconstitutional to charge a higher tax rate for slot machines at racetracks than those on riverboats.
After more false endings than "Die Hard," the Prairie Meadows lease agreement between Polk County and the Racing Association of Central Iowa is finally official.
The Polk County, Iowa, board of supervisors voted unanimously in favor of a five-year, $100 million rental agreement with the operators of Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino.
Negotiations with horse racing interests at Prairie Meadows will be reopened. Polk County supervisors on April 16 said they fear a proposed lease agreement won't protect taxpayers if profits at the racetrack and casino fail to meet expectations.
Prairie Meadows will pay $15 million per year in purses and $20 million annually to its landlord, Polk County, under separate deals worked out by the racetrack. Both agreements will begin in 2003.
The Racing Association of Central Iowa gave itself two weeks to decide if it can put together a viable offer to purchase the Prairie Meadows property from Polk County.
The Racing Association of Central Iowa has offered to purchase Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino for $150 million. RACI, a non-profit organization that currently runs the Altoona track, would pay Polk County $15 million a year for 10 years, according to its proposal.
The Racing Association of Central Iowa will ask racing interests to scale back the 2002 season to free up more money for the association's offer to purchase Prairie Meadows from Polk County. Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners and trainers already have a contract that guarantees $19.9 million in purse money and Iowa-bred bonuses for 2002.
The Racing Association of Central Iowa gave itself two weeks to decide if it can put together a viable offer to purchase the Prairie Meadows property from Polk County.
At least two of Polk County's five supervisors want the county to sell Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino instead of continuing to lease the facility to the Racing Association of Central Iowa.
