
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 7, 1994                    TAG: 9406070342 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940607                                 LENGTH: RICHMOND

CITY MAKES FINAL PITCH FOR TRACK \

{LEAD} Promoters of a proposed $60 million race track in Portsmouth made their final appeal Monday to the state racing commission, all but calling their competitors carpetbaggers while offering themselves as home-grown horsemen with the Old Dominion's interests at heart.

It had all the makings of a courtroom joust - rows of dark-suited attorneys, government officials and an undercurrent of bad blood on Day 1 of a three-day fact-finding conference. The racing commission will determine no later than September the winner of Virginia's first and only license to build a major thoroughbred race track.

{REST} ``Who do you want to be the stewards of Virginia's racing system?'' queried Carrie L. Camp of Virginia Racing Associates, a group of in-state investors backing Portsmouth's proposal.

``Do you want someone from a failed system who threatens open warfare with Virginia tracks if he doesn't receive the Virginia license?'' she said, referring to Joseph A. DeFrancis, president of the Maryland Jockey Club who wants to build a $56.5 million track in Loudoun County.

Then Camp leveled a blow at Kentucky's Churchill Downs, which is proposing a $53.8 million track in Virginia Beach: ``Do you want a system that is an outpost of an integrated gaming empire? . . . Churchill Downs even has riverboats on the cover of their annual report.''

DeFrancis, smarting during a break in the action, retorted, ``Hang on till tomorrow. We'll address all these issues. There was a lot of license taken with the facts.''

Churchill Downs' president, Thomas H. Meeker, seemed to clench his jaw with alacrity during the proceedings. But Cathy A. Zega, the company's director of community relations, said, ``No hard feelings at all.''

``Every applicant is looking at this as their last chance to make their case,'' said Michael J. Mulvihill, a representative of Arnold Stansley, an Ohio track operator proposing a $40.3 million track in New Kent County. ``Obviously, they're going to pull out all the stops. All the stops includes looking at the soft underbellies of the other applicants.''

Virginia Racing Associates wasn't left unscathed. The five other applicants each had eight minutes to cross-examine principals of the Portsmouth track proposal.

The competitors made some hay, questioning the financing and some of the in-state group's key players, but the damage was limited. Virginia Racing Associates came prepared, wielding statistics, reports and nationally recognized racing consultants, like Harold G. Handel, executive vice president and general manager of racing for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

Virginians Inc., the only other applicant to appear before the commission Monday, was subjected to far less scrutiny, drawing a thinner crowd and few questions about its modest $28.7 million track proposal in New Kent County. But one answer may have been enough: Representatives said they have yet to raise the initial $1.8 million needed to secure financing.

Today, Churchill Downs and DeFrancis will take center stage before the commission.

{KEYWORDS} HORSE-RACING HEARING

by CNB