ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
NEW OFF-TRACK BETTING sites had faced a July 1 starting date next year.
Colonial Downs received assurances Wednesday that it will face minimal delays in reopening off-track betting parlors in Chesapeake and Richmond should the track miss the July 1 deadline for its maiden season.
Under state law, Colonial Downs will lose licenses for off-track wagering if thoroughbreds are not running by next summer at a track under construction in New Kent County between Richmond and Williamsburg.
Virginia Racing Commission members said they will reinstate the off-track licenses if the New Kent track opens a few weeks after the July 1 deadline.
``It would be a ludicrous result to have licenses out there in limbo,'' said John Shenefield, commission chairman.
Colonial Downs needed the assurances so potential investors can weigh risks in the track's plans to sell up to $15 million in publicly-traded stock and $40 million in bonds.
The investments have grown riskier in recent weeks, particularly after voters in Manassas Park rejected a proposal to allow Colonial Downs to open a betting parlor in Northern Virginia.
Jeffrey Jacobs, a Cleveland developer who heads Colonial Downs, said the company will try again in northern Virginia next fall.
Meanwhile, Colonial Downs will concentrate on expanding into two of the four Virginia localities that already have approved betting parlors: Virginia Beach, Hampton, Brunswick County and Greensville County.
Jacobs declined to identify localities where Colonial Downs has optioned property, saying he wanted to give community leaders the courtesy of advance notice.
Colonial Downs has permission to open six off-track halls where patrons can bet on races simulcast from venues across the nation. Off-track wagering is expected to account for 80 percent of Colonial Downs' revenue, compared with 20 percent for live racing in New Kent.
Earlier this year, the General Assembly set the July 1 deadline so Colonial Downs cannot postpone live racing indefinitely. The deadline will expire, however, unless the assembly re-enacts it this winter.
State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, who sponsored the law, said Colonial Downs has been lobbying lawmakers to lift the restriction.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines KEYWORDS: HORSE RACINGby CNB