Mescalero tribe supports Tucumcari racino

The Mescalero Apache tribe told the New Mexico Racing Commission a horse-racing track and casino in Clovis would create a multimillion-dollar effect on its casino near Ruidoso and asked the commission to award a racing license to Tucumcari instead.

The commission’s special meeting Nov. 28 in the Albuquerque Convention Center allowed horse-racing license applicants from Tucumcari, Clovis and Lordsburg to give their final arguments and answer questions from commissioners. The commission also asked Native American tribes in New Mexico with gaming properties to give their opinions.

The racing commission is scheduled to vote during a special meeting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the African American Performing Arts Center at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque on which applicant will receive its sixth and final license. According to an agenda released Monday, the commission is expected to act on the license at 12:30 p.m., after an executive session.

About a dozen people from Quay County — including Tucumcari Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield — of about a total of 200 attended the special meeting.

The Mescalero Apaches, who commissioned a study from Innovation Group of Littleton, Colorado, on the effects of the proposed “racinos,” stated gaming revenue at its Inn of the Mountain Gods casino near Ruidoso would fall by $3.1 million, or 5.8 percent, if a racino opened in Clovis.

The study stated the drop in gaming revenue at the tribe’s casino would fall by $1 million, or less than 2 percent, if a Tucumcari racino opened. With a Lordsburg racino, the decrease would be $1.3 million, or 2.4 percent.

Litchfield said the Mescalero Apaches made it clear they didn’t want a racino in Clovis, no matter who the three applicants were.

“They said they would just as soon not issue a sixth license,” she said, “but if they did issue one, they would prefer that Tucumcari get it.”

Warren Frost, a Logan attorney and spokesman for Coronado Partners that wants to build a racino in Tucumcari, said after the meeting the tribe’s report and its opposition to a racino site in Clovis proved to be the most consequential part of the meeting.

“Clovis is going to hurt them, and they suggested they should go to Tucumcari,” he summarized the tribe’s stance.

A letter Arthur “Butch” Blazer, president of the tribe, sent to the commission Nov. 29 reiterated that.

Blazer said no license should be issued because of the general decline in the number of horse-racing fans and horse owners.

He also expressed doubt whether a Clovis racino would be as viable as its applicants claim.

“Based on the likely geographic origins of prospective Clovis racetrack patrons, even giving Clovis locations the benefit of every doubt as to percentage of cannibalization, it is likely that a Clovis track would realistically bring in $15 million or less in new dollars,” Blazer stated in the letter.

Blazer concluded his letter: “If the Commission is inclined to issue a license, the Mescalero Apache Tribe prefers that a license by issued for Tucumcari and if not for Tucumcari then for Lordsburg.”

It appears unlikely the commission will not issue a license because a commission officer stated in an email last month it would “move forward on the 6th Racetrack License.”

Issuing a license to Lordsburg also seems unlikely. A recent feasibility study by a gaming consultant criticized its application, and the site always was considered a long shot. Litchfield said Lordsburg’s presentation last week didn’t seem to improve its odds.

“I wasn’t real impressed with Lordsburg,” she said. “I didn’t think (its proposal) sounded reasonable.”

Commissioners peppered applicants with questions during the four-hour meeting.

In response to question of when a Tucumcari racetrack would be up and running, Frost replied it would be fully operational by April 2021. In the interim, Frost said Coronado Partners holds an option to use the closed Kmart building at Mountain Road and Route 66 as a temporary casino during construction. Frost said the temporary casino would enable operators to build up a fund for horse-racing purses.

Asked about the readiness of the Quay County workforce for a racino, Frost said the county is one of only two in New Mexico certified as ACT Work Ready and that 200 residents have completed the program.

A commissioner asked how Coronado Partners would turn the racetrack into a “destination.” Frost said the racino would build an equestrian arena for rodeos and quarter-horse shows that would appeal to horse owners in Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle. He also mentioned it would move the New Mexico Route 66 Museum from the Tucumcari Convention Center to the racino.

“The existence of Route 66 right on our project site is a huge tourist attraction,” Frost said.

Commissioners also asked about Coronado Partners’ proposed profit-sharing arrangement with nearby municipalities. It would give 1.5 percent of its revenue to Quay County and Tucumcari and 1 percent to Logan and San Jon.

“I think it was complimentary we were the only ones who were doing that,” Frost said.

When the commission asked about Coronado Partners’ funding, Frost said principal investor Tom Krumland “made it clear” he would commit $15 million in equity, with the rest funded by Innovation Capital, a California lender that specializes in gaming projects that testified about its commitment to the project during an October hearing in Tucumcari.

“They didn’t want another Raton,” Litchfield summarized the motivation behind the commission’s funding questions, referring to a racino that never was built 10 years ago because of financing problems.

Applicants for the $200 million La Posada del Llano site in Clovis also faced questions.

“They weren’t impressed with La Posada because they felt like they weren’t dealing with racing as much as their golf course, water park and the movable grandstand,” Litchfield said. “They felt they weren’t putting enough emphasis on racing.”

Frost agreed with Litchfield’s assessment.

“They were wondering whether racing was going to be a focus,” he said. “That was a major concern in the questions to them.”

When asked how she felt about Tucumcari’s chances after the meeting, Litchfield said “it’s still up in the air” but added: “Warren did a great job. They had their ducks in a row. I still feel positive about it.”

Frost said of Coronado’s presentation last week: “I thought it went great.”

Litchfield mentioned “some of the Clovis crowd was rude when the Tucumcari guys were talking.” When asked to elaborate, she said a couple of people in the audience muttered “‘Yeah, right’ and stuff like that” during Coronado’s presentation.

“There were a couple of snorts when I was speaking,” Frost acknowledged, laughing.

But Litchfield said Tucumcari boosters weren’t without their spontaneous reactions, as well, especially when Clovis applicants tried to reassure the commission about the city’s water supply.

“They said water wasn’t going to be a problem for them. We just sort of sat there and laughed,” she said.