Arapahoe Park officials are making plans for next summer’s racing season, but the long-term viability of Colorado’s only horse track is very much up in the air after a failed ballot measure that would have allowed for a casino there.
Becky Brooks, spokeswoman for Arapahoe Park, said the track’s owner was “very disappointed” that Amendment 68 The measure would have allowed casinos to be built at horse tracks in the state,
Brooks said officials are recruiting jockeys and horses to race at the track, at E-470 and East Quincy Avenue, for the 2015 season, which begins around Memorial Day and runs 39 days through mid-August.
She said there haven’t been any discussions on what direction the track may go because “it’s too fresh” after the Nov. 4 vote, but the owner, Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc., is committed to racing horses at the track beyond 2015.
“We’re just looking to make sure we have a good racing season,” Brooks said.
However, horse racing industry insiders say smaller tracks such as Arapahoe Park that do not have a casino or other amenities will be hard-pressed to survive long-term given all the types of gambling options available, both in person and online. Sports enthusiasts also have more options now than they did in the 1940s, when baseball, boxing and horse racing were king.
Doug Reed, director of the University of Arizona race track industry program, said places such as Arapahoe Park need something more than just horse racing.
He cites the success of the Prairie Meadows Racetrack, which brought in slot machines in 1994, opened a casino in 2006 and approved a hotel and conference center in 2009. The track, which is near Des Moines, Iowa, saw its revenue improve significantly over the previous decade, when it had to file for bankruptcy in 1991, just 2½ years after it opened.
“They started building and made it a destination,” Reed said. “The only way a smaller one like Arapahoe Park can survive without something like a casino is to have other products that draw crowds.
“They can’t survive on racing alone.”
The horse racing industry has been shrinking nationally over the past several decades. In 1990, there were about 72,664 races held in the United States, according to website. In 2013, that number fell to 43,139 races nationwide.
According to The Jockey Club, there are 30 fewer tracks that held races than 10 years ago.
The closures included historic tracks such as Hollywood Park in Southern California, which shut down in 2013. Also, the fabled Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts shuttered its doors last month, leaving the New England area without a thoroughbred track.
“Most of the race tracks I’ve seen close over the past decade are those that do not have a casino property attached to them, like Arapahoe Park,” said Matt Hegarty, a correspondent for the Daily Racing Form, the bible of horse bettors.
sits on 370 acres in unincorporated Arapahoe County, with 150 or so acres that are still undeveloped. It has been continuously open since 1990, although it was built before then and had a few starts and shutdowns.
Twin River owns Mile High Racing & Entertainment, which runs Arapahoe Park. Mile High Racing also has off-track betting locations around the state. Twin River spent nearly $20 million promoting Amendment 68, which was rejected by 70 percent of voters.
While the park’s bid to add a casino suffered defeat, the measure could go before voters in the future.
Arapahoe Park actually did OK at the gate this year. Brooks said attendance was up slightly over 2013.
The total “handle,” or how much is wagered at the track, in 2014 was $5.7 million, which was $200,000 less than in 2013. The track’s daily handle average in 2014 was down $1,800 from 2013.
Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, said horse racing for decades had a virtual monopoly on gambling, outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Then lotteries started popping up, more casinos were built — there are about 1,500 across the country, he said — and consumers now have a wide range of options to place wagers.
About 90 percent of the revenue from thoroughbred racing comes from simulcasting races and online betting, Scherf said. Casinos may be the only option for the overall health of horse tracks.
“People just don’t go to the race track. They stay at home and bet,” Scherf said. “Then you lose all the ancillary business.”
Ironically, Arapahoe Park tried to get a casino built for its long-term survival — the very thing that is also killing the horse racing industry across the country.
It was almost like Arapahoe Park was saying, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” Reed said.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
