May 28, 2007 -- Real estate billionaire Stephen Ross is heading to Aqueduct with hopes of quietly picking up where billionaire Kirk Kerkorian walked away and left behind a gaming empire-in-the-making.
Ross, head of The Related Cos., bought his way into one of the four groups waging a power struggle over control of Aqueduct and two other thoroughbred racetracks, a deal that carries valuable rights to open the city's first legal slots casino in Queens at Aqueduct.
Sources said Ross spent $58 million for a 20 percent stake in Capital Play Inc., a company formed to compete for rights to run Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, which are up for grabs for the first time in a half-century.
Currently, those rights are held by the private New York State Racing Association (NYRA) in a franchise that expires at the end of 2007. NYRA is also fighting for its life in federal bankruptcy court following its financial collapse last November over a cash-flow crisis.
Meanwhile, Capital Play, financed in part by Australian bookmaking tycoon Karl O'Farrell, plans to upgrade the tracks and build slot casinos at Aqueduct and possibly Belmont if it can get Albany's blessings. Bookmaking is legal in Australia.
In New York City, only Aqueduct was approved for video slot machines in 2002 when the legislature legalized slots at nine racetracks to offset economic damage from the World Trade Center terror attacks. Eight tracks opened slot casinos quickly, including Yonkers, but Aqueduct's plan collapsed amid political bickering and other issues.
Aqueduct originally hired Kerkorian's big casino group, MGM Mirage, to build its casino. MGM Mirage started by gutting the entire second floor of the indoor track four summers ago.
Kerkorian eventually walked away from the unfinished project.
Two other groups are also fighting the ailing NYRA to take over the franchise: Excelsior Racing Associates, whose partners include casino mogul Steve Wynn; and Empire Racing, an upstate group whose partners include Churchill Downs and Magna Entertainment.
Gov. Spitzer is scheduled to pick a winner for the franchise prizes in June, but also faces another knockdown battle with the legislature.
