Johnstown could be racetrack site
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A Washington County businessman and stable owner says he wants to build a harness racetrack and casino near Johnstown -- and he says he has the money lined up to do it, something that can't be said of the company that currently holds the rights to build a racetrack in Lawrence County.
Daryl W. Price says he wants the harness racing license that now belongs to Centaur Inc., the company that has been trying unsuccessfully to build a racetrack called Valley View Downs.
Centaur, now in bankruptcy, recently announced that it intends to sell the project -- also in bankruptcy -- but its chances of finding a buyer diminish greatly if the state Harness Racing Commission declines to extend Centaur's development-rights deadline, which is set to expire at the beginning of September.
The commission has a hearing scheduled for Aug. 26 and may decide the issue then. If it decides against extending Centaur's deadline, it could throw open a statewide competition for the harness racing license and the lucrative casino license that would go along with it.
For now, though, "there is no [harness racing] license available for that group to pursue," said Justin Fleming, harness commission spokesman. He also said he doesn't know whether the Aug. 26 meeting will resolve the matter.
Mr. Price heads American Harness Tracks Inc. and has partnered with local real estate developers John Biros and Bob Biros, who will serve as the company's CEO and board chairman. The Biros family, of White Oak, previously pursued a thoroughbred racetrack in South Versailles near the Youghiogheny River but eventually dropped the project.
The ownership group settled on Johnstown, Mr. Price said, after scouting other cities.
"We felt that [Johnstown] was the market that was going to be the most effective for the horsemen, in the central part of the state, away from the other" racetracks and casinos.
Neither John Biros nor Bob Biros could be reached for comment on Wednesday.
All are familiar, if not well-known, names in horse racing circles, though Mr. Price has notoriety. In 1997, the former North Strabane supervisor and operator of Windcrest Stables at what was then The Meadows racetrack (now, there's a casino there, too) was accused by a handful of business associates of duping them out of horses and racing winnings.
Mr. Price, who was 28 at the time, said, via his lawyer, that the dispute was a misunderstanding. Ultimately, the Harness Racing Commission was pressed to investigate the case. The matter eventually settled out of court, but the families involved don't recall their dealings with Mr. Price fondly.
First Published August 19, 2010 12:00 am
