Forest Lake harness track still in the running

Running Aces Harness Park is defying the odds. Attendance is up. Purses have increased. There's a long waiting list of horsemen seeking stalls. Can a track currently in foreclosure also be on the verge of turning the corner?

"They are just right there," Mary Manney, deputy executive director of the Minnesota Racing Commission, said of the track near Forest Lake. "The positive things happening at Running Aces just aren't happening anywhere else in this industry right now. It's amazing."

Management still projects a loss in this, the track's third year. But despite a horse-racing industry facing economic uncertainty, Running Aces has increased the number of races it runs daily, bolstered its buffets and plans to launch a major advertising campaign just days after Friday's foreclosure sale.

That Anoka County sheriff's auction could rescue the $64 million, 165-acre track, or it could interrupt the current racing season just as it appears to be picking up momentum. It also could -- and this would be a long shot -- close the gates of Minnesota's only harness track.

The track's management is hoping that a seamless transition will follow the sale in which there is only one expected bidder -- Black Diamond Commercial Finance LLC.

The Connecticut-based lender already owns 56 percent of Running Aces with its own funds, controls the mortgage and has managed the track since 2008, when the track's local founder, Southwest Casino and Hotel, no longer could meet financial obligations. Barring unforeseen bidding from a tribal group that might want to convert the card-room and track to a casino, Black Diamond will leave the sheriff's sale with 100 percent control of the reins.

"We've had 700 horsemen apply for 250 stalls, and for big race days we're about 5 percent ahead of last year's attendance," said Running Aces General Manager Bob Farinella.

Running Aces has prepared to erect a huge billboard this month along the Interstate 35 corridor, expected to be viewed by an average of 90,000 people a day.

It's also gaining visibility through simulcasts of the park's races to other tracks -- and earning 3 cents for every dollar wagered from afar on its simulcasts.

"It's a building process," Farinella said.

"We hope the sheriff's sale will go as projected. Going through this process is a way of making the capability for this business grow even stronger."

There is a potential snag, possibly a big one. Black Diamond would like to transfer key track licenses from North Metro Harness Initiative -- a name-only company that Black Diamond already owns -- to the parent company and a newly created, newly named Black Diamond subsidiary, RAHP LLC. Black Diamond has not explained the reason for the name changes. But last month, the Minnesota Racing Commission refused to waive a requirement that the transfer of titles be done at least 60 days before a racing period begins. Running Aces' season started June 1 and runs through Aug. 28.

Running Aces' history hasn't been an easy one. It lost $4 million during its first year of racing and laid off 10 percent of its staff. Even before that, the track was initially rejected by the Racing Commission -- in part because of a 2002 bankruptcy court filing by a subsidiary of Southwest Casino and Hotel -- and was the focal point of protesters in Columbus who didn't want the track and its card room coming to their northern Anoka County community. But now the track is showing signs of life.

"Even one of the die-hards who protested against the track was at Running Aces four weeks ago for Sunday brunch," said Columbus Mayor Mel Mettler.

"I usually go on Tuesday nights and I can tell you the races are better and the handles keep going up as people learn how to bet on races. It's in our best interest, for tax reasons and from an employment standpoint, to keep the track going. But they really do seem to be doing things the right way."