Word came down Monday afternoon that the New Mexico Racing Commission approved a horse-racing and casino license application to Raton, and not the Route 66 town of Tucumcari, reports the Quay County Sun.
It was a unanimous decision. Santa Fe also lost out on its bid to get a “racino” license.
The Sun reported:
In his final comments before the vote was taken, Commission Chair Arnold Rael cited Raton’s proposal to have approximately 500 more stalls at the site. Commissioner Larry Delgado said he favored Raton’s proposed summer season because it “supported the racing industry better than the spring meet (proposed by the Coronado group) [in Tucumcari].”
It also was reported a few days before the vote that all of New Mexico’s horse-racing tracks sent the commission a letter that urged awarding the license to Raton. The commission didn’t say anything about that, but it had to hold considerable sway in the decision.
This bit of history probably helped Raton, too. According to the Associated Press:
Raton was home to the state’s first racetrack, La Mesa Park, which opened in 1946 and closed in 1992.
“New Mexico started its horse racing history in Raton and we’re pleased it’s going back,” said developer Michael Moldenhauer, who has proposed building the facility at a 225-acre site south of Raton.
Richard Talley, owner of the Motel Safari in Tucumcari, was disappointed, but has the right attitude:
So now we just have to keep our noses to the grindstone, with Historic Route 66 “The World’s Longest Tourist Destination” and the global tourism opportunity it continues to bring to our town. We should now ALL be able to squarely focus on those opportunities, together, and accomplish as much as humanly possible to bring our 6+ miles of Historic Route 66 back to life and the forefront of our tourists as an iconic destination. 1,000’s of Route 66 tourists come here all week long – we’ve got to make sure they know we’re here for them, that we have something for them to do when they get here, a nice place for them to stay and a nice place to eat. If we do that, they will stay!