American Harness Tracks wins bid for Valley View Downs license
October 25, 2010,by John Pawlak, the U.S. Trotting Association
Columbus, OH — A license to build a harness racetrack and casino in Lawrence County, Pa. has been tentatively won by American Harness Tracks, LLC, a company originally formed to build a harness track recently proposed in Johnstown, Pa.
The track, Valley View Downs, was to have been built by Centaur Gaming, operators of Hoosier Park. Centaur auctioned the rights to the license as part of its reorganizational bankruptcy proceedings. Centaur reportedly did not divulge the number of bids it received.
Press reports say that American Harness Tracks offered $5.6 million for the rights to the license. The bid, however, must still be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, and then American Harness Tracks would have to submit a successful license application to the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission. That application is due not later than Dec. 31.
If approved for racing, American Harness Tracks would then have to win approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to develop and operate the casino.
The auction was held under “as is, where is” conditions, meaning that only the Lawrence County location could be developed as a track and racino. Lawrence County, Pa. is located on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, not far from Youngstown, Ohio.
The principle officers of American Harness Tracks are Daryl W. Price, a Standardbred owner from Washington, Pa.; John Biros, who will be CEO; and Bob Biros, who will serve as chairman of the board.
- Centaur seeks to auction Valley View license (Thursday, August 12, 2010)
Centaur, Inc., which holds the license to build Valley View Downs in Pennsylvania, has said it wants to auction the license to build the $455 million racino, but there may not be enough time to sell it.
- Centaur receives one month extension (Sunday, September 05, 2010)
Centaur, Inc., which had sought a two-year extension of its license to build a harness racetrack in western Pennsylvania from the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, received instead a one month extension to secure at least one bona fide written offer for the license.
- Valley View auction set for Oct. 20 (Wednesday, October 06, 2010)
Hopes to build the proposed Valley View Downs in Northwest Pennsylvania remain alive — but not yet off the critical list.
- Centaur’s former site approved (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)
It now appears that a harness track and racino that Indiana’s Centaur had hoped to build in western Pennsylvania may be built after all, but not by Centaur.