Hold your horses

ALBUQUERQUE — Not so fast: the long-anticipated award of the state’s sixth racino license was tabled Thursday while the New Mexico Racing Commission addresses a lawsuit it received days earlier from one of the applicant groups. Hidalgo Downs, LLC and individuals affiliated with the proposal for Lordsburg disputed the validity and fairness of a feasibility study evaluating its application and those of its four competitors, prompting puzzlement, disbelief and disappointment from others eager to hear a decision.

“The commission felt very strongly that they wanted a fair and impartial process,” said Chief Deputy Attorney General Tania Maestas, who is representing NMRC through the application process. “They did not want this process tainted by this pending legislation.”

Maestas announced the decision to postpone action on the pending award to an audience of about 80 underwhelmed people from across the state, all in attendance at Albuquerque’s African-American Performing Arts Center for NMRC’s special meeting that afternoon. Some had even waited through the two hours of closed-door executive session preceding the announcement, but Maestas said neither she nor commissioners could comment on what was discussed during that time.

The “petition for injunctive relief” was filed Nov. 28 and received by the commission on Monday, according to court records. It says the Nov. 15 report from Convergence Strategy Group (CSG) is “utterly flawed” and “failed to adequately consider the proposals.”

It also said the emergency injunction was necessary in order to “ensure that the issuance of a racetrack license will be made based on the facts as they are — rather than the facts as they are presented in the current, flawed study.”

Among concerns emphasized in an affidavit from petitioner Denis Floge are the alleged total lack of contact between authors of the feasibility study and managers for the Hidalgo Downs team, as well as the report’s “conjecture, omissions and lack of substantive material.”

He said the report “clearly appears to be biased and arbitrary” and that “this study appears to be more of a marketing plan in support of Clovis, NM locations.”

Floge also took issue with the fact that CSG is from New Orleans, writing that “it is apparent that the individual(s) who compiled and conducted this study do not know or understand the New Mexico market, culture, or demographics.”

Representatives for two of the three applicant groups eyeing a Clovis location shared some reactions Friday with The News, while Shaun Hubbard for the Clovis Racetrack & Casino, LLC project declined comment.

“We were surprised to learn of this injunction and intend to thoroughly review it,” read a message from Tom Garrity, president of a public relations group for the Clovis project from Full House Resorts, Inc. “The La Posada del Llano team applauds the Racing Commission for taking the prudent path to resolve this matter.”

Garrity said they were “disappointed with the delay” but still committed to their horse racetrack and slot gaming proposal.

A representative for L&M Entertainment and its proposed “Curry Downs Racetrack and Casino” touched on similar points.

“I think our term, the word we used was ‘puzzled’ by the decision,” said Skip Sayre. “We do intend to continue to pursue this opportunity through 2018 and if it would happen to move into next year we would continue to express our high level of interest.”

Maestas said she could not speculate as to a timeline of when the civil action could be resolved and a decision finally awarded, but noted Friday that the absolute earliest NMRC could meet again on the matter would be Thursday.

She said the state would respond to the injunction “as quickly as possible” and would “expedite this process.”