Racing commission schedules special meeting for Friday

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Racing Commission has scheduled a special meeting for Friday morning, but the commission is unlikely to award a sixth horse-racing license during the meeting.

Three applicants in Clovis, one in Tucumcari and one in Lordsburg are vying for a license that would lead to a racetrack/casino.

The commission sent out an email Tuesday morning about the meeting, set for 9 a.m. Friday in its boardroom at 4900 Alameda Blvd. in Albuquerque.

The agenda for Friday’s meeting includes a closed executive session regarding pending litigation. The Lordsburg applicants sued the commission in late November and requested an injunction to stop the license-awarding process; they claim a gaming consultant’s feasibility study that analyzed the applicants was flawed.

During its Dec. 6 hearing, the commission tabled a much-anticipated decision about awarding a license until the lawsuit is resolved.

Commission Executive Director Izzy Trejo said that as of Tuesday no court date had been scheduled to hear the Lordsburg lawsuit.

Friday’s meeting agenda also contains an item about licensing, with an option for the commission to also go into closed session to discuss it.