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Cover Stories Fall/Winter 2004 Apache Greyhound Park Announces End of Live Racing Apache Junction, Arizona: Three months before the start of the live racing season, the owners of Apache Greyhound Park announced that live dog racing would be discontinued because it is no longer cost effective. Track officials said they plan to look for another property to relocate its simulcast wagering operation. Ed Braunger, the track's general manager, said, "We want to have a presence in Apache Junction and remain a part of the community." The track operated seasonally for 45 years, offering live racing from late November through March, and year-round wagering on simulcast races from greyhound and thoroughbred tracks nationwide. "Live racing doesn't make sense any more," said Dan Luciano, president of American Greyhound Racing in affiliation with Delaware North, parent company of both Apache and Phoenix Greyhound Parks. According to Luciano, Indian gambling has taken a toll on the racing community and after seven months of low profits, Delaware North decided to begin the process of selling the 20-acre property. It was initially reported in mid-August that in preparation for the sale, the facility would be demolished and the property made "shovel ready" for potential developers. Andy Nichol, a spokesman for Delaware North's real estate division, said the 20-acre track site is a very uneven, non-grade piece of property that would be difficult to sell if the site was not prepared before it was sold. Nichol said at the time that the demolition process would begin in the fall. "This time next year, the Apache Greyhound parcel will not have a building on it." However, at the Oct. 13 meeting of the Arizona Racing Commission, Braunger told commission members that Delaware North has decided to delay demolition of the property. He did not disclose why Delaware North had changed its plans for the demolition of the site. Apache Greyhound Park opened in 1959 and operated under several owners before it was acquired by Delaware North in 1980.
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