Judge rejects Tucumcari racino suit

An Albuquerque judge rejected a lawsuit by Coronado Partners against the New Mexico Racing Commission to force it to issue a sixth and final license for a horse-racing track and casino in Tucumcari.

District Judge Nancy Franchini on Friday morning issued an 18-page ruling in favor of the commission.

Citing state law, Franchini ruled the New Mexico Legislature ultimately authorized the racing commission to grant or reject licenses.

Franchini noted in her ruling the commission’s conduct “is not commendable” regarding Coronado’s application, “the Court agrees with Respondent that these inactions on its part are not relevant to whether Respondent’s determination itself was arbitrary and capricious.”

She added: “The Court cannot conclude there was no rational connection between the facts and the choices made by Respondent in its denial of a sixth license.”

“I’m very disappointed,” Logan attorney Warren Frost, one of Coronado’s principals, said in a phone interview Friday. “I thought we had an excellent argument.”

Izzy Trejo, the racing commission’s executive director, hailed the judge’s ruling in an email Friday.

“The record considered by the NMRC and reviewed by the judge provided ample and substantial evidence supporting the NMRC’s denial of issuing the 6th racing license to Coronado Partners,” Trejo wrote. “With the decision, the commission will move forward to do what we do best, regulate horse racing, which includes the execution of a nationally renowned drug testing program while focusing on the welfare of the beautiful equine athletes that participate in New Mexico.”

Coronado proposed a horse-racing track and casino on Tucumcari’s east side, just off Route 66, that would employ at least 500 people and generate up to $55 million in revenue by 2025.

Coronado’s lawsuit, filed in late 2021, initially sought to prod the racing commission to issue a decision on its application. Coronado filed an updated application that year.

The commission, which was reorganized in 2020, had refused to make a decision on a sixth license after months of public hearings in 2018. Other applicants for the license were from Clovis and Lordsburg.

The previous commission in late 2018 was scheduled to make a decision on the sixth license, but a restraining order filed by the Lordsburg applicant halted that process in its tracks.

The reorganized commission then refused to issue a sixth license, citing the overall fragility of the horse-racing industry in New Mexico and nationwide and increased competition at casinos.

Frost disputed that, saying there was no evidence or testimony presented at any of the hearings about either industry.

Franchini in June 2022 granted Coronado’s request for a writ of mandamus against the commission regarding the Tucumcari application. A writ of mandamus compels another entity to perform its official duties.

Franchini in February dismissed the commission’s bid to dismiss Coronado’s lawsuit.

Lawyers for Coronado and the commission had been scheduled to give oral arguments on the case on Monday afternoon.

When asked Friday whether this was the end of the road for the long-sought Tucumcari racetrack and casino, Frost replied: “I don’t know. It may be.”

“It shouldn’t be so hard to bring 500 jobs to your community,” he said later.

Frost said Sunday he hadn’t decided whether to appeal Franchini’s ruling. He has 30 days to if he wishes to do so.