YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A $200 million thoroughbred racetrack -- not a harness track -- would be built in Austintown if the state approves video lottery terminals at racetracks, Penn National Gaming Inc. revealed this week in financial documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The publicly traded Penn National, based in Wyomissing, Pa., said it plans to close its Beulah Park thoroughbred track in the town of Grove City outside of Columbus -- where it plans to open a casino by year-end -- and transfer the racing license to a 186-acre site it's identified in at the undeveloped Centerpointe business park in Austintown.
States the company's chairman and CEO, Peter M. Carlino, in the SEC document: "The state of Ohio has approved the placement of VLTs at the state's seven racetracks and while we await the final regulatory framework, we are actively pursuing the relocation of our existing racetracks in Toledo and Grove City to Dayton and Youngstown, respectively, subject to the satisfaction of regulatory and other approvals."
The Ohio House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on legislation that would clear the way for video lottery terminals at racetracks; state regulators are also expected to give their approval. Still, a lawsuit is pending that challenges former Gov. Ted Strickland's executive order that authorized slot machines at racetracks.
In its SEC filing, Penn National reported net income of $499.6 million in 2011, a big gain from net income of $153.2 million in 2010, when it wrote down much of the value of two of its Illinois casinos.
Total revenues in 2011 were $2.74 billion, up 11.4 percent compared with revenues of $2.46 billion in 2010.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.