Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The New Mexico Racing Commission again has placed awarding a sixth license on its tentative agenda for its regular meeting Thursday in Albuquerque.
But with a lawsuit due in an Albuquerque courtroom in about two weeks from a license applicant, it appears unlikely the commission will take action on that item.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the commission's boardroom at 4900 Alameda Blvd. in Albuquerque. The sixth-license item lies near the end of the agenda after several dozen other action items.
When the commission will award a coveted horse-racing license to applicants in Tucumcari, Clovis or Lordsburg remains unknown because of a pending request for an injunction by the Lordsburg applicant to stop the process. The injunction request will be heard 10 a.m. April 4 in Albuquerque District Court, Room 502, said commission executive director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo.
The Lordsburg applicant accused the commission of using a flawed independent feasibility study that graded the applicants. It also alleged one commissioner has a conflict of interest with a Clovis applicant.
It filed the request for an injunction just before the commission was scheduled to make a decision on a sixth license in early December.
The New Mexico attorney general’s office urged the commission to not decide where to award a license until the legal matter is resolved.
Coronado Partners, one of the applicants for a license, has proposed building a nearly $80 million racetrack and casino in eastern Tucumcari, between Route 66 and Interstate 40.