Ex-Track
Owner Applies to Build Raton Horsetrack
A former horsetrack owner
has applied for a state license to build a $35
million racetrack and casino in this northeastern
New Mexico town.
Eric Culver and his partners -- the
Horse Racing at Raton Limited Partnership --
want live horse racing in Raton by the summer
of 2007. The track would be the state's sixth.
The track needs the approval of the New Mexico
Racing Commission and the state Gaming Control
Board.
The Racing Commission still has not formally
considered a seven-month-old application by
Pojoaque Pueblo to reopen the Downs at Santa
Fe. Culver filed his application Wednesday.
Culver said he owned La Mesa Park in Raton
in the 1960s and 1970s. That track went out
of business in 1992.
The proposed track and casino would employ
about 300 people year-round, with more workers
during the racing season, Culver said.
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