12/24/2009 10:00:00 PM 2009 IN REVIEW: #8 - Federal loan saves Yavapai Downs' volatile year #8 STORY OF THE YEAR
Matt Hinshaw/ The Daily Courier Saving the track also saved about 300 jobs and a racing venue that attracts about 600 owners, trainers and jockeys during the summer.
PRESCOTT VALLEY - It was a year of change for the Yavapai County Fair Association and its Yavapai Downs horse racetrack, both long-time symbols of Prescott's western heritage.
Early on, the changes weren't so good. Later, they were great.
The track suffered through a 7-percent revenue decrease in 2008, and by December 2008 the Fair Association had stopped making payments on a multi-million-dollar bank loan.
So the Fair Association was hoping for improvement when the track season opened on Memorial Day weekend.
But those hopes were dashed when, possibly for the first time in its history, the track didn't open for the first two days of the season. And it didn't even notify fans ahead of time.
Then-General Manager Jim Grundy and then-Racing Operations Manager Randy Fozzard blamed rainy weather for the two-day delay.
But representatives of the jockeys, horse owners and trainers blamed management for long-standing track condition problems. The track's original builder said he warned them about the problems before the track season began.
Three horses suffered injuries during the eight-day pre-meet practice period and had to be euthanized, but an Arizona Department of Racing report concluded that none of the injuries occurred because of the track.
The report also concluded that Fozzard did the right thing by closing the track for two days until experts could improve it. The agency interviewed 28 trainers and jockeys, as well as Fozzard, about the incident.
In another setback, the Fair Association soon closed its Achieve Academy charter school because of a lack of students, so it also lost monthly rent payments of $17,860. The past Arizona Department of Racing director had expressed concerns back in 2007 that the track was too dependent on the lease payments.
Facing the closure of the track after organizing summer horse racing meets for approximately 80 years in the Prescott region, the volunteer Fair Association basically sacrificed itself to keep the track alive.
The association's volunteer board of directors didn't have much choice. It was increasingly unable to make its monthly payments on nearly $14 million worth of loans remaining on the construction of its new $22 million racetrack that opened in 2001 along Highway 89A in Prescott Valley.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Administration had provided one of the two loans, then guaranteed another with the National Bank of Arizona. The Fair Association couldn't get the bank to reduce its variable 7.5 percent interest rate, and the government's rules wouldn't allow it to refinance a loan it already guarantees.
So the Fair Association had to create a new group called the Yavapai County Farm and Agriculture Association to seek a new federal loan to replace the bank loan. The board approved the idea on May 28.
Gary Spiker took over the general manager job in late May from Grundy, who retired after 10 years on the job. Spiker said Grundy left because of long-standing health problems, not because of the opening-day problems.
By the end of June, Spiker replaced Fozzard with Greg "Boomer" Wry, the track's former announcer.
The Farm & Ag Association closed on the federal loan with a 4.375 percent interest rate this fall. Spiker estimates it will save the track about $350,000 annually in interest.
Saving the track also saved about 300 jobs and a racing venue that attracts about 600 owners, trainers and jockeys during the summer, Spiker noted.
The Fair Association now is in transferring most of its assets to the new group, which also includes Fair Association member Phil Bybee on its board. The Farm & Ag Association probably will expand from five to seven board members and is seeking applicants (call Spiker at 775-8000).
The Fair Association will continue to run the Yavapai County Fair near the racetrack.
The Farm & Ag Association has applied to the Arizona Department of Racing for a racing license transfer.
And the track has paid off all its debt.
"We finished 2009 on a positive note," Spiker said. "We're looking forward to a bright New Year."
Spiker and the new group have a lot of plans for 2010 events during the racing off-season between Labor Day and Memorial Day.
They cleaned up the racing grandstands that had been the subject of complaints for a long time.
They also cleaned up the events center next to the racetrack that the Fair Association leases from the Yavapai County government, and bought turf to cover the dirt in the events center arena so they can use it for a wider variety of events.
They built a 1.5-mile off-road track in the center of the horse track, where off-road trucks can race as early as February.
And they are updating the Yavapai Downs website so people can buy tickets for racing and other events online.
Posted: Friday, December 25, 2009
Article comment by:
Former Horse Fan
There's still a lot of clean-up to complete before Memorial Day horse racing, especially the infield, the ugliest in the entire country. Off-road truck racing - that should add some class to this facility that's crying-out for a qualified marketing professional! One year from today the closure of Yavapai Downs may be the #1 news story of the year.
