Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Due to a technicality, an appellate court denied Coronado Partners’ appeal of a case where it hoped to force the New Mexico Racing Commission to issue a horse-racing and casino license in Tucumcari.
The New Mexico Court of Appeals on Jan. 31 filed a mandate to the Bernalillo District Court clerk, stating it denied Coronado Partners’ appeal and closed the case.
Warren Frost, a Logan attorney and a principal for Coronado Partners, said Saturday he would pursue other avenues for a sixth and final racing license to build a more than $50 million racetrack and casino on Tucumcari’s east side and create hundreds of jobs.
The three-judge appellate panel denied the appeal because it ruled Coronado Partners didn’t file a docketing statement within 30 days of an Albuquerque district court’s final order.
“It’s a very complicated deal,” Frost said in a phone interview. “But basically they said that instead of pursuing one (legal) avenue, I should have pursued another avenue, and that was my fault. It was a ‘gotcha,’ nit-picky deal.”
Though that case is over, Frost said he wasn’t done seeking a sixth racing license.
“We’re working on Plan 18,” he said. “It’s on the ‘Let’s get the governor to award the license’ front.”
Frost said he couldn’t elaborate on his next plan for the racino license.
Coronado’s lawsuit, filed in late 2021, sought to prod the racing commission to perform its official duties and issue a decision on its racing application. Coronado had filed an updated application that year.
The racing commission, reorganized in 2020, had refused to make a decision on a sixth license after months of public hearings on the matter in 2018. Other applicants were from Clovis and Lordsburg.
The previous racing commission in late 2018 was scheduled to make a decision on the sixth license, but a restraining order filed by the Lordsburg applicant blocked that.
The reorganized commission then refused to issue a sixth license, citing the fragility of the horse-racing industry and increased competition at casinos.
Frost disputed that at the time, saying there was no evidence or testimony presented at any hearing about either industry.
Albuquerque District Judge Nancy 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 August ultimately rejected Coronado’s lawsuit after hearing arguments from both parties.
Citing state law, Franchini ruled the New Mexico Legislature 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, but “the Court agrees with Respondent that these inactions on its part are not relevant to whether Respondent’s determination itself was arbitrary and capricious.”