Colorado Partners, which wants to build a racino in Tucumcari, New Mexico, has promised to appeal a denial of its license application by the New Mexico Racing Commission. The state has issued five racetrack licenses out of a possible six.
The commission, which unanimously rejected the license application, said the state’s horse racing industry is in decline and couldn’t support another racetrack.
Principal Warren Frost said Coronado Partners would appeal to the same judge that ordered the commission to stop delaying and rule on the license. He said the rejection of the license was expected. “Now, we’ll be asking the district court to overturn that decision,” Frost said.
The racing commission’s executive director, Ismael Trejo, has reportedly said that it is “unlikely” a sixth license will be issued “anytime soon,” according to a report by Yahoo News.
Commission Chairman Sam Bregman said at the time of the hearing: “At this time, I don’t believe it is in the public interest or health of the industry to grant this license.” He added, “I don’t believe the industry is healthy enough to support a sixth license. The industry has only gotten tougher.”
One basis for the appeal, said Frost, is that the commission based its decision on the company’s 2018 application, and not the updated 2021 version. He told Yahoo News, “We filed updates in April 2021 and the beginning of this month — updated financial information, updated option agreements, things of that nature. With a 2018 application, a lot of things have happened since then.”
